With the once dominant Fusion facing off against the rising Spark, the odds were stacked in Hangzhou’s favor. Despite the Fusion’s history, the Spark took the series with ease, sweeping Philadelphia.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
With both teams running mirror GOATs compositions into each other, the Spark were able to take the first capture by force, bullying the Fusion off of the point. Despite the Fusion’s best efforts, the Spark managed to push them from the point time and time again. Philadelphia managed to tag in for overtime and flip the point at 99%. After throwing a zoning D.Va bomb into the middle of the point, the Spark flipped the point one last time and took the first round on University.
On Gardens, Guxue’s ever-dominant Reinhardt bullied Philadelphia from the point to secure first capture. However, the Fusion managed to flip the point at 62%. They held for two fights, keeping Hangzhou at bay through overtime when the Spark managed to pick off Carpe and Neptuno, forcing a reset and taking back control. The Spark held through one last fight in overtime, taking Oasis.
On attack, the Spark managed to take down Philadelphia’s main tank, creating an opening for them to collect 82.8% of capture percentage before being forced to reset. With just 40 seconds left on the clock, things weren’t looking great for the Spark as they tried to force their way into an overtime capture. However, Hangzhou were able to secure a few key kills to capture the first point. In an attempt to snowball, the Spark took down half of the Fusion’s team and succeeded in a quick second point capture, leaving 2:45 in the time bank.
On defense, the Spark played with incredible aggression, pushing the Fusion back into their spawn not once but four times. However, in overtime, the Spark were forced to give up the first point. Despite pushing the round into overtime, the Spark were ultimately too aggressive for the Fusion, bullying them off of the point and securing the second map.
Look! There’s a slept https://t.co/MIyys9KTW1 ! Let’s gooo! ┏(＾0＾)┛
No, it’s a trap! ( ﾟдﾟ)つBye #bang pic.twitter.com/5IhLh0lDGr
— Hangzhou Spark (@Hangzhou_Spark) June 8, 2019
Picture courtesy of Overwatch
With an early pick on Philly’s Brigitte, the Spark quickly and easily captured the first point resulting in an over five-minute time bank to push the payload through to point B. Pushing forward, the Spark were only slowed as they attempted to cross the bridge to point B. They came back quickly despite this roadblock, taking one extra fight to push through the Fusion’s defense and through the final point quickly and easily with a timebank of 2:36.
On attack, it was looking like the Spark were going to full hold as the Fusion seemed to struggle with breaking through their strong defense. Seemingly with ease, the Spark did full hold the Fusion through the end of the match, securing a win for their first match of the stage.
Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.
The Spark seemed to falter for a moment, slowing as the Fusion managed to collapse their defense of the cart fight after fight. However, the Spark eventually managed to roll into point a and through point B with just under three minutes to spare. The final leg of the map was conquered with ease, finishing out the round with a little under two minutes left in the time bank.
On defense, the Fusion pushed through the Spark’s attempts to gain control with ease, capturing the first point with four and a half minutes in the timebank. In the second leg of the map, however, the Spark regained control of the cart and defended it well. Hangzhou had the payload at a standstill through the duration of the Fusion’s impressive timebank, pushing the round into overtime before the Fusion were finally able to get their bearings and regain control of the payload. In overtime once again, the Fusion nearly made their way through the third and final point before Hangzhou were able to retake control and defend the cart through the Overtime tick down.
The Spark showed up and showed out in their first match of the stage. The fan favorites were certainly dominant against the Fusion, who seemed lost in comparison. Moving forward, if the Spark can maintain this same level of dominance against all of their opponents, the cotton candy-colored team can certainly expect to continue their steady rise in the ranks.
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