The Overwatch League has officially kicked off at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City (home of the New York Excelsiors) with four matches over the course of the two day weekend.
Things kicked off with former Halo pro and retiring Overwatch League caster Chris Puckett officially starting the 2020 season by introducing Toronto Defiant and Paris Eternal for the first match. If you don’t know already, Puckett announced that he would be moving to New York City meaning he would no longer be able to host the league but thanks to the match taking place in the Hammerstein stadium, the caster gave the league a farewell with the introductions.
With both teams ready to play, the match began with a control point on Lijang Night Market where both teams struggled to gain control over the point; Paris managed to get a hold pretty quickly with FDGOD’s Lucio getting two kills, helping his team take the point. Then, he kept up the momentum managing to boop Logix’s Reaper straight off the map. From there, Eternal kept a firm grip on the point, securing it for the first round.
Paris kept up the dominance into Lijang Tower until Toronto’s Agilities’s Mei threw down a blizzard, giving Nevix’s D.Va the perfect opportunity to eliminate the support and a tank, further giving the team a chance to take the point. While Paris attempted to recover, Logix took a risky play by teleporting behind enemy lines and (ironically) destroying their teleporter. The play garnered some oos from the crowd. Eventually Paris managed to take back the point by executing a team kill, keeping Toronto off the point which secured them the match.
Next up was Eichenwalde where Paris played defence only to be melted by Toronto Defiant who took the payload in one fight. The roll didn’t last long though as Paris managed to push them back to spawn before they regained the payload with a team kill, taking it straight to the door before meeting resistance from Paris. They did manage to shut down XZI’s high noon which was looking to drum up a team kill. After that, Toronto managed to clean up with Beast’s Rein triple kill taking them through the door and onwards to the last point. It all came to the final play, however once Nicogdh’s Mei lays down another blizzard which enables the team to clear out the castle of Defiant players. The team find their footing again and head in for another try, using Agilities’s blizzard to push Eternal back and make it to the last point with just 1 minute and 23 seconds to spare.
TORONTO FANS! 🖤♥️ #RiseTogether #OWL2020 pic.twitter.com/iZzoepI8Ps
— Toronto Defiant (@TorontoDefiant) February 8, 2020
In the second half, Paris replicate Toronto’s payload capture melt and push all the way to the door before Agilities pulls yet another blizzard stopping Paris dead in their tracks. Despite the almost team kill, the attackers manage to push through Defiant’s defences and make it to the third point with 1 minute and 16 seconds to play with in overtime.
Toronto are up first for defending and manage to keep Paris off the point with some major eliminations from Surefour’s McCree leaving Eternal with no progress on the point, giving Toronto a chance to take the match which they did by keeping Paris off the point and securing the second match with ease.
Horizon Lunar Colony was home to the third match which Toronto cleaned up by taking the first point quickly before moving onto the second where they met heavy resistance from Paris. Surefour manages to clear the point of enemies, allowing Toronto to capture the point. Next, it was Paris’s turn who were quick on the first point but Toronto managed to run down their clock (which stood at 4 minutes) to nil, giving Toronto a 3 minute advantage.
Paris manage to hold Toronto off for the majority of the 3 minutes, but it isn’t enough for them to take one tick, winning them the match.
In the fourth map, Havana, Toronto manage to melt their way through to the third point with 24 seconds to spare. Paris however face some major losses in fights when trying to push for the first point and end up being picked off by Logix’s Widowmaker, forcing them off the point and winning Toronto Defiant the game.
The game looked promising for Paris Eternal at the beginning but their momentum was quickly crushed as Toronto went on to dominate over the three games. Agilities was, in my eyes, player of the game thanks to their constant blizzard ults which helped Toronto wipe Paris multiple times over the four maps.
Defiant til the end, and it pays off!
Toronto 🏅scores🏅 the first win of #OWL2020 #RiseTogether https://t.co/moDojNlAre pic.twitter.com/sO2ROklqCD
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 8, 2020
With the first match going to Toronto, it was now time for London Spitfire and hosts New York Excelsior to take the stage and duke it out.
The first map opened up on Lijang Night Market with New York taking the point by quickly diving onto it and securing the cap by making Spitfire back off. The tactic worked until Nenne’s high noon gets booped, giving Spitfire the space they need to capture the point. Their point take didn’t last long though when Excelsior took control once again by putting Glister’s McCree to sleep which strips Spitfire of the potential to cause some major damage. Despite the play London recover just as Excelsior hits 99% and manage to get one of their own and go on to win the match but not before New York’s Hotba (who plays D.Va) eats Babel’s (who plays Mei) blizzard. Regardless of the ult loss London Spitfire take the first map.
The next map, Lijang Tower, sees New York taking a firm lead with Whoru’s Mei landing a kill on Sanguinar’s Lucio while the rest of the team are pushed back to their spawn. London manage to recover and cap the point but are swiftly shut down by Excelsior thanks to Nenne’s quick finger with McCree but Spitfire takes the point by using Glister’s Reaper skills and Bernar’s Orissa, giving London Spitfire the round.
To celebrate their victory Spitfire returned home on the next map, attacking the payload in Kings Row. They manage to push through New York’s defences and push steadily (thanks to Bernar’s D.Va ult) only to be countered by Hotba’s D.Va ult which manages to wipe out Spitefire’s supports and Glister’s McCree, giving them the chance to halt the payload before it reaches the first point. Hotba does it again later on just as Spitfire reach the second point, halting them before they can make it to the third. At this point, a technical difficultly occurs where an unexpected ad hits the screen, despite the game still going on. The disruption goes on for a minute and blocks out another Hotba pop. When the stream returns, London has made a significant push just 2 metres away from the payload but are stopped by New York before they can reach the final point.
For the second round, New York go right from the spawn and up the stairs with the entire team flanking London which proves to be a successful tactic, eliminating Spitfire and taking the point. London recover using their ults and stop the payload just as it goes through the arch. Bernar’s D.Va ult doesn’t get the kills Spitfire needs but he somehow manages to melee three players while Glister cleans up the rest with McCree. New York take the point back and then fight their way through to the third point, successfully touching it thanks to Hotba pulling yet another D.Va ult. New York Excelsior takes the map.
The third map takes place on Horizon Lunar Colony with London on defence and manage to lose their hold on the first point thanks to JJonak’s Ana kills. New York continue to dominate on the second point and take it with 3 minute and 38 seconds to spare. In the second half, London also manage to make a quick cap on the first point but struggle when it comes to the second when Nenne’s Tracer goes for some quick kills, making the remaining players of Spitfire scatter and regroup, only to yet again face the wrath of Nenne and his pulse bomb ult which takes out Anamo’s ult. At this point, London just can’t make it back in time and suffer losing the third match.
Junketown was home to the fourth and final map where New York was up first for pushing the payload. Nenne reprises his role as Tracer who manages to take out Glister’s Widowmaker giving New York space to push to the first point. Glister gets revenge however when Nenne switches to Widow but it isn’t enough for Excelsior to go over the point. The next fight is a difficult one for New York as London take a firm grasp on the payload. While they lose the payload, the third point is taken by Hotba’s D.Va ult (yes, again). New York Excelsior take the point with no time to spare.
London Spitfire’s turn is much less successful with Hotba managing to find the kills, ruining Spitfire and stopping any chance of pushing to the first point. With that, New York Excelsior win on their home turf with London Spitfire going home without a win.
The Big 🍎 bites back!
In the first Battle of the Atlantic for #OWL2020, @NYXL successfully defends their city! #EverUpward pic.twitter.com/ACNjwbzNVz
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 8, 2020
Shortly after the match finished, cameras were switched on at Stadium Arlington where Los Angeles Gladiators and Vancouver Titans duked it out. The key player here was Fissure who has become notorious for shunning loyalty to one team. The two teams went head to head on the Nepal control point map. Stitch’s Reaper leads Titans onto the point with Fissure’s Reinhardt play managing to keep Gladiators off the point long enough for them to secure the round. The second part is a bit more difficult for Vancouver when Shaz’s Moira manages to get some serious damage on the Titans using his ult. From there, Gladiators keep a hold on the point and secure the round, making it 1-1.
