If teams were unsure if Chicago can play Hackney Yard Hardpoint, they have been put on notice. Heading into CDL Seattle the Huntsmen held a Hardpoint record of 2-2. Upon completing their championship run, Chicago emerged 5-2. As the Huntsmen went deeper into the tournament their margin of victory increased as well. What started as a 14 point victory against the Legion, became a 49 point victory against the Subliners and ultimately Chicago beat London by 90 points. Chicago are becoming lethal on multiple Hardpoint maps. The Huntsmen’s recent performance begs the question for teams: “which map do we veto?”
Chicago Open up Tire Shop
Tire shop is famous for being a tough hill to break. According to JP Krez, an Analyst for the NYSL, Tire Shop is the largest money hill with an average score differential of +38. Thus, if you control Tire Shop twice per map, the team is likely to earn 76 points on average. Additionally, teams score 50 or more points in 54% of Hackney Yard P2, which is ahead of the next highest by 21%. Locking up P2 on Hackney Yard is arguably the largest catalyst for teams winning on this map. The Chicago Huntsmen did just that.
Paris Legion
The weekend started with Chicago playing the Paris Legion. The Huntsmen began to dominate Tire Shop early. Chicago started with good spawns and did not let them slip. The Huntsmen accumulated a nearly perfect 57-second hold which propelled themselves into the lead. The second set of rotations, the Huntsmen unfortunately did not capture the Tire Shop spawns; however, this did not deter them from playing the retake perfectly. Despite giving up the initial 39 points, Arcitys managed to sneak through and break into the hill. Not only that, but Legion were spawning into P2 as Chicago spawned out for P3. Arcitys’ break affected the score by about 30 points and mitigated the damage done by the Legion.
New York Subliners
Against the New York Subliners, Chicago did a great job managing the map and the Tire Shop hill. Unfortunately, Chicago did not start with the better spawns. Despite this setback, the Huntsmen managed to wreak enough havoc to earn 25 points on the first rotation. Chicago made the small in-game adjustment top teams do so well. On the second time around, the Huntsmen rotated early, earned spawns for P2 and earned 46 points on the hill. While Chicago continued to hold down key money hills against New York, earning a majority of time on Tire Shop was instrumental in their victory in this match and throughout the weekend.
London Royal Ravens
The time was upon Chicago to take home their second title of the year. Of the three victories that weekend, in this one Chicago was the least successful of capitalizing Tire Shop. Starting with the good spawns, the Huntsmen only managed to earn 32 points on the opening set of rotations. However, on the second set of rotations, Chicago proved what they do better than most teams on this map. Without the spawns, the Huntsmen disrupted the flow of the map. Scump managed to break through and earn four kills before dropping. In that time frame, the Huntsmen managed to pick up 24 points and continue to keep their lead against the Royal Ravens.
The Huntsmen Anchor Down at Docks
While Tire Shop may be the hill in the spotlight on Hackney Yard, the Huntsmen also did a phenomenal job on Docks during matches with the Legion and Royal Ravens. All weekend, Chicago did a fantastic job of breaking setups when other teams were in power positions. On both rotations to Docks against the Legion, the Huntsmen were out rotated. Against Paris, the Huntsmen lost both rotations to P5. The combination of the sheer gun skill of Chicago and Paris losing sight of everyone created the perfect storm. The Huntsmen managed to earn the majority of time on Docks, accumulating 71 points and ultimately defeated the Paris Legion.
Chicago was better prepared against London in the finals. The Huntsmen created an impenetrable fortress surrounding Docks in the finals. London could not break the Huntsmen’s setup to save their lives. Chicago earned an impressive 56 seconds on Docks and spring-boarded themselves into a larger lead. Chicago was so dominant on Docks that there was not a second rotation to Docks. No matter how Chicago was originally positioned, they made the best of some very sticky situations. The team set up very well on money hills throughout the map. Even when the team was not positioned correctly, they typically created enough mayhem to limit the time their opponents earned. Chicago is now a huge threat on lots of Hardpoint maps and will be a problem heading into the end of the season.
Featured image courtesy of Activision
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