[ENG] Rooster Recap — OWL Week 13
Overwatch League is like a merry go-round : you have fun and every few rounds, you run into Paris vs Philadelphia again. It’s the fans’ greatest pleasure and always a fantastic show to watch and this week-end was no exception to the rule.
But before we dive into the action, there’s a few things we need to recap. Things have changed since the last Paris Eternal game : Jon Spector, the Vice-President of the League was on the post-show last week to announce a few exciting changes to the format.
To add a little more incentive, the month of May (insert *NSYNC reference here) has been transformed into its own little tournament, with 3 weeks to qualify and playoffs between May 22nd and May 24th. Performing well in the playoffs gives you cash prize rewards but also additional wins to add to the regular season scoreboard. The tournament winner gets 3 extra wins, second place gets 2 and third place gets 1.
Extra bonus : hero bans will be temporarily disabled during the playoffs !
With that extra motivation in mind, all teams started the week-end off strong. On Sunday night, all Paris fans were in front of their screens ready to cheer on their team, going against the terrifying Philadelphia Fusion for the third time this season. Their performance this year has been impressive, with only one defeat so far — but the fact that Paris was the one to add that scratch to the otherwise perfect scoreboard gives the rivalry its riveting aura.
Previous games had always had several staples : high energy games, a reverse sweep and high BPMs for everyone watching. This match was no exception to the rule. Paris seemed rather absent and off-tempo for the first two maps, letting Philadelphia roll over them without much protest on Oasis and Numbani. Fury was quite impressive, eating many of SoOn’s Pulse Bombs, leaving the French player without ults or recourse to get rid of the D.Va.
Looking at their last two matches, it seems pretty obvious that Paris Eternal is a diesel engine, like many of their noble French predecessors. Slow to start up, but powerful once they’ve found their tempo. There were a few adaptations during the half-time break : NoSmite replaced BenBest in the main tank position, allowing for a flex to Winston for more dive-y comps, which were quite useful on Volskaya in particular. Aside from SoOn’s unfortunate drop into the abyss on Tracer, we saw great plays from the Eternal players, especially a few crucial shut-downs of the enemy Echo by Fielder.
And there’s the next topic everyone’s raving about : Fielder ! Barely 18, barely announced and already playing in the big leagues with everyone else. “Huh, he must’ve been with Paris Eternal already,” many people thought, looking at the roster announced for the evening. Fielder was not in fact with Paris Eternal, but rather playing from his home in Korea, with over 200 ping at 4 A.M. We can only salute such a performance for his first appearance in OWL — coming into a pre-established team can only be difficult, but succeeding with such panache is quite the accomplishment. We can’t wait to see what he does next, especially once he’s freed from his Rock Lee weights and is able to play with his full power.
Paris fans let out a breath after Volskaya, and then immediately started sweating when they saw which map was up next : Route 66, a Philadelphia favorite. The Fusion attack was halted a few meters from a total completion, giving the team a shot at closing out the map after one round. It didn’t start out so well for Paris however, with a breath-taking first point overtime cap that left all fans clutching their chests. They continued their attack with an adaptation of dive, pushing Philadelphia back into their spawn, NoSmite primal raging to ensure a victory while HanBin and Nico managed clean-up. Nico’s copy of Mei with an almost-instant ult build-up was definitely instrumental to their victory.
And back to the now traditional map 5 ! Sadly, this time, a miracle didn’t occur. Between Paris Eternal’s now legendary distaste for control maps and Philadelphia Fusion’s particular affection for Nepal, the luck wasn’t in our favor and we fell 2–3. This time, it’s our turn to wear the mustache (please, no).
In all, a beautiful game that kept us all on our toes until the end — and we can only praise Paris for managing to hold on despite a difficult first two maps, to bring it back to the brink of victory, only to fall short in the last map. There’s a clear path to improval and further victories here, especially considering the difficult conditions the team is facing : losing 2 supports in a few weeks, one of their DPS in Korea for medical issues, another underage, their second off-tank stuck in the UK since the beginning of the season with medical and visa issues. Paris is plagued with unlucky circumstances beyond the general pandemic situation and still manages to pull off impressive performances. We should look forward to seeing them at full power.
Next week, we’ll be taking a break from the usual East Coast routine to face the Los Angeles Gladiators ! The match will be hosted on Chicago servers in the middle of both regions in order to ensure equal ping for both sides and no unfair advantages. Tune in at 9 PM Paris time, on Saturday 9th to encourage your favorite roosters !
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Article by Gaila.
