SHAZ – LOS ANGELES GLADIATORS – ZENYATTA
Shaz absolutely dominated on Zenyatta during one of the first matches on Wednesday against Shanghai Dragons.
What really catches the eye with Shaz’s playstyle is just how aggressive he is while using Zenyatta, one his signature characters. Notably, too, during the second of Temple of Anubis, he managed to deftly balance healing and throwing out even more DPS firepower than anyone else on the map. While most players struggle to get that Rapid Discord trophy, Shaz makes it seem like a breeze just with his normal gameplay.
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Someone remind @Shaz_OW he's a support! #OWL2018 pic.twitter.com/n0R2n2YwZR
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) January 11, 2018
Shaz is also amazing at staying alive despite using one of the squishiest characters in the game, therefore making the most use out of his discord orbs and making mincemeat of the opposing team. During the last match on Illios against Shanghai, he got player of the match with 21 eliminations, 18 offensive assists, and over 5600 healing done despite only dying five times in total.
With his pro use of the discord orbs, the amazing accuracy with Zenyatta, and the incredible manner in which he maintains high healing numbers, Shaz was a blast to watch.
TAIMOU – DALLAS FUEL – ROADHOG
Although Taimou played a variety of characters this week, his Roadhog plays standout as being extremely well planned and effective, especially while playing Los Angeles Valiant on Friday.
Not only was his hook accuracy numbers insane, reaching nearly 60% on some maps, his use of Whole Hog showed off that accuracy even more with his ability to not only kill enemies at eye-level but even an ulting Mercy above him as well.
Is it possible to go more than Whole Hog because @DF_Taimou just did. #OWL2018 https://t.co/U6dIioZfOU pic.twitter.com/p1c1rSaOjb
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) January 13, 2018
Another notable quality of Taimou’s play is his amazing game sense and awareness of his surroundings while in team fights or overtime scenarios. For example, in this clip you can see him keep an ulting Ryujehong as Zenyatta away from his team using his own Whole Hog ability, thereby negating any of its healing effects.
By combining his consistent hook accuracy with plays like these, Taimou was a clear standout with his use of Roadhog this week.
FLETA -SEOUL DYNASTY – WIDOWMAKER/PHARAH
Seoul Dynasty ended up being one of the teams that went 2-0 this week, and 18-year-old Fleta played amazingly both during the game against Dallas Fuel on Wednesday, and Los Angeles Gladiators on Saturday.
Although he played a huge variety of players over both games, he stood out especially as Widowmaker. Fleta got player of the match during both days, with the majority of his highlight reel coming from amazing finishing shots as Widowmaker.
Nobody is safe when @ow_fleta is on the field. #OWL2018 https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/85rMuPy4Pz
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) January 14, 2018
Fleta demonstrated an exceptional awareness throughout the map, always knowing where his enemies were at all times, like when he takes out Effect (also a great Widow player) while making it look too easy.
Fleta also has an amazing ability to destroy Pharamercy combos all while in the air as Pharah without a Mercy of his own. During the Illios map on Saturday, when Seoul went up against Los Angeles Gladiators you almost couldn’t count the number of times Fleta struck down the enemy Pharah with calculated ease. Overall, his Pharah rockets and barrages were well executed and effective.
In one match he got 33% weapon accuracy as Pharah with 21 eliminations overall. If Fleta continues to perform this well he has a shot at becoming the season one MVP when the season wraps up in the summer.
SOON – LOS ANGELES VALIANT – TRACER/WIDOWMAKER
Like Seoul Dynasty, London Spitfire, and New York Excelsior, Los Angeles Valiant went 2-0 this week but ended up taking the top spot in the official league standings overall. French player SoOn contributed significantly to these early victories. Though he’s best known for his skills as Tracer, SoOn performed exceptionally as Widowmaker this week.
From the first match for Valiant on Wednesday against San Francisco Shock, SoOn was landing some insane headshots, the most memorable probably this predictive kill on the enemy Babybay as Genji while defending on Temple of Anubis. Check it out below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozTSq-wACs8
He was awarded player of the match on Wednesday for his efforts, with props going to his consistent damage done across all four games. Dominating the next match against Dallas Fuel with Tracer, SoOn received the same honors again.
SoOn finds success with Tracer not only due to impressive accuracy but also in having a keen sense of when to pick fights and when to run. Incredibly, he achieved a 109 elimination to only 19 death ratio versus Dallas Fuel. He was then able to back that performance up with some stunning plays on the Junkertown map, too. He’s definitely a player to watch as the season progresses.
PINE – NEW YORK EXCELSIOR – MCCREE
Pine from the New York Excelsior team absolutely stole the show this week with his insane McCree accuracy despite only coming in as a sub.
In some clips seen below during the Well map, he lands shot after shot and immediately changes the pace of the team fight in favor of New York. The announcers and crowd go crazy as he carries his team with huge amounts of damage, and of course Pine finishes off with a dab for his fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF7t_E3YfCE
His heatshot predictions during fast paced movements are also next level. While fighting the enemy Saebyeolbe as Tracer earlier in the week against Boston Uprising in this clip, he stuns her and lands a body hit, but as she blinks away he rolls and perfectly lands a headshot around a blind corner. This was after he already had killed the enemy Pharah, Lucio, and Winston of course.
New York’s next game is against Los Angeles Valiant on Thursday who are currently at the top of the Overwatch League standing with 2-0. Make sure to check out that match as we likely will see some more of Pine and his incredibly aggressive McCree plays.
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