Stage 4 of the Overwatch League has been absolutely insane and fun to watch because of the introduction of Brigitte. Now that dive comps aren’t so powerful anymore, we’re seeing a better variety in character picks from the various pro teams. It’s also resulted in a crazy shakeup in terms of Stage standings as some teams are starting to emerge and flourish due to the meta change.
Dallas At Their Best
Ever since their abysmal start to the Overwatch League season, the Dallas Fuel has just continued to languish. They weren’t any good at playing dive, they had all sorts of main tank drama, and then this eventually resulted in some DPS drama as well, leading to the team’s release of Korean player Rascal. Before the start of Stage 4, their star Tracer player, Effect, also returned to Korea, and fans thought the team was basically done this season.
However, that wasn’t the case at all. The Dallas Fuel has adapted to the Brigitte meta very quickly, and their main D.Va player Mickie has proven to be more than proficient with the new hero. This past week, they won both of their matches against Boston and Philadelphia, two teams that were considered to be serious juggernauts in the previous Stage.
It’s not just Mickie’s Brigitte play that’s elevating them either; it’s their all-around team play and coordination. It’s extremely fortunate that the team has had Seagull practice D.Va for the entire season, as this gives Dallas a lot of flexibility for their tank and DPS roles whenever they need to make quick switches. When the team needs a projectile DPS hero, Seagull can provide that while Mickie goes back to his D.Va role. And when it’s time to bring out Brigitte and run a three support comp, Seagull goes to D.Va while Mickie plays Brigitte. With Seagull finally getting to be a starter for the Fuel, it also looks like they’re communicating a lot better now, and we’re so happy to see Dallas proving that they have the potential to become a top-tier team in the Overwatch League.
Houston Woes
The other Texas team hasn’t had much luck with the new meta. Despite Brigitte seeming like a hero that would totally fit Houston’s anti-dive play style, they’ve just looked like a hot mess this Stage. They lost both of their matches against the Shock and Gladiators this week, and those defeats were crushing. They only won one map this week, and it was on King’s Row in the Gladiators match-up, which was their best map anyway.
In the match against the Shock, not only did they not win a single map, they only scored one point in the entire series. They managed to pick up the first point on Blizzard World but proceeded to get completely shut out in the next three maps, allowing San Francisco to take the series 4-0. It was bad.
Houston still has a slim chance of brute forcing their way into the season playoffs, but they need to pick up the slack now.
Birdring Is Back
As we all know, the London Spitfire is a team that’s been struggling since Stage 2, and their performance seemed to dip when Birdring had to step back due to his wrist injury. Even after he was put back into the lineup, his performance just hasn’t been enough to help the team bounce back, and their matches were pretty painful to watch. Now, however, it’s starting to look like Birdring has found his groove once again, and it really showed during both of London’s matches this week.
The San Francisco Shock are no longer a team to sleep on or overlook; with their new additions and coaching staff, the Shock is becoming a pretty scary team to contend with. However, London managed to secure a close 3-2 victory against them, and it was largely thanks to Birdring stepping up his Widowmaker play. He was able to outclass Architect (who’s certainly no slouch as Widow) in a lot of key battles, paving the way to victory for his team.
A lot of the Spitfire’s recent success can also be attributed to the team’s recent decision to parse down their roster a little and really focus on a core lineup of players. Now that they’ve got their starting lineup down, it should be much easier for the players to build synergy with each other, leading to better showings in future matches.
Our Favorite Play of the Week
The hero play from @MickiePP! 😍😍 #OWL2018https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/UMCcah1hEY
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) May 27, 2018
Mickie is hands down the best Brigitte player in the Overwatch League right now. In the Fuel’s match against Philly, they were on the verge of full holding the Fusion on Hanamura. The Fusion had one last chance to make a big push, and it was all up to EQO to pull off a hero play with Genji’s Dragonblade. However, well, Mickie had other plans.
As soon as EQO used the Dragonblade. Mickie was ready with Brigitte’s shield bash, and he used it to stun him out of the animation. And then he proceeded to whip him to death with the deadly flail. This kill basically stopped the Fusion’s push altogether, and the rest of the Fuel was able to just clean up the point and take Hanamura with ease.
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