The two series of the final round of single-elimination playoff competition in the Overwatch League’s APAC region on Saturday did not disappoint. One was an exciting back-and-forth affair while the other was a rout.
The first match of the day saw the third-seeded New York Excelsior (16-8) outlast the sixth-seeded Chengdu Hunters (8-14) in a 3-2 series win. Both teams played well around each other, adapting with composition and occasional roster changes. Chengdu’s unique style nearly overcame New York’s sheer star power, but the veteran experience of the Excelsior won out in the end.
The Excelsior fielded the DPS lineup of Jong-ryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park and Hyojong “Haksal” Kim throughout the series, which stacked up well against the Hunters’ persistent pressure. New York started with a 2-1 win on Busan, but then heroic Wrecking Ball play from Chengdu tank Ding “Ameng” Menghan gave the Hunters a 5-4 win on King’s Row to tie the series up at 1-1.
After halftime, both teams continued to trade blows. The Excelsior dominated Temple of Anubis for a 2-0 win followed by the Hunters taking Havana 3-1 to tie the series at two games each. Chengdu had done well fighting their way to map five, but New York’s superior fragging power was too much to overcome.
New York fired on all cylinders while Chengdu floundered, taking Oasis 2-0 for the series win. Chengdu’s playoff run after a middling year should be a good sign for the team going forward, while New York will look to break the franchise’s poor postseason reputation against the top-seeded Shanghai Dragons (27-2) in the next round.
In Saturday’s other series, the fifth-seeded Seoul Dynasty (12-12) dominated the fourth-ranked Hangzhou Spark (12-11) in a 3-0 sweep. The biggest difference in this series was both teams’ approaches to the meta. The Dynasty opted for the Roadhog compositions we’ve seen being run in North America, putting their two main tank players, Jaehui “Gesture” Hong and Min Seo “Marve1” Hwang, on traditional offtanks in Roadhog and D.va, respectively. In contrast, the Spark tried to run brawl compositions featuring a rotating cast of DPS players on Reaper to try to counter the Roadhog.
As it turns out, though, if the Roadhog can delete your counterpick, you don’t stand much of a chance. Seoul blasted through Hangzhou on the back of Gesture and DPS Junyoung “Profit” Park, the latter of whom played Pharah to great success. The Dynasty took Lijiang Tower 2-1, Hollywood 3-1 and capped off the series with a 2-1 win on Temple of Anubis.
The Spark’s failure to move on in the playoffs has to be a devastating blow for a team that made “win-now” moves in the middle of the season, including the acquision of players such as former world champion DPS Minho “Architect” Park. This roster might need time to gel, but the future is murky for most of the Spark’s pieces. As far as Seoul goes, they looked impressive as they earned a spot in the final four of the region, but they’ll need to maintain momentum against the second-seeded Guangzhou Charge (18-7) on Sunday.
—Field Level Media
—Field Level Media