On a mission to redeem themselves from their first loss of the second season, the NYXL faced off in an intense rematch against the Atlanta Reign. In a five map series, New York looked uncertain and shaky at points but ultimately went the distance, losing map 5 in a heated final round.
On university, the NYXL were able to push the Reign off of the point first. They managed to get their capture percentage up to 35% before Mano got picked off, pushing the Excelsior back to spawn. After recapturing the point once, the Excelsior were subsequently pushed off and kept at bay by the Reign.
Well, that was unexpected. #OWL2019
We’ve got @BrenCasts here breaking down the Ult usage in this game in this week’s Ultimate Economy thx to @StateFarm! pic.twitter.com/9fISBRUlII
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 4, 2019
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
On Gardens, the NYXL got the first capture yet again, but not for long. The Reign managed to dive the Excelsior’s supports, killing off Anamo, Jjonak and Libero in rapid succession. However, the NYXL came back hard, clearing off the point very quickly and regaining their control. After a failed push by Atlanta, the NYXL fell with their capture percentage reaching 82%. Engaging with Anamo’s Sound Barrier, the NYXL managed to clear off the Atlanta Reign and keep them off for the remainder of the round.
On City Center, after a long fight, the NYXL managed to gain control briefly first before the Reign managed to push them back. In their counter push, the NYXL used their graviton surge to keep Atlanta off of the point and flip the capture percentage briefly. They came back for real afterward though, recapturing in overtime. In a tense final fight, the NYXL attempted to retake the point from the Reign and win the round, but were unsuccessful in their attempts and lost the map.
On defense, the NYXL set up right at the choke and were toppled quickly by the Reign’s triple DPS composition, but were successful in stopping the Reign from snowballing onto the second point. The NYXL’s defense on the second point seemed to be unbreakable, pushing the Reign back time and time again, but on their last push, the Reign managed to push the NYXL back and capture the point in Overtime.
On attack, the NYXL finally captured the point with a minute remaining in the round after a long few fights.
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The Excelsior attempted to snowball onto the second point but were stopped. Their next push, however, was successful in pushing the Reign back into their spawn. They managed to capture a little over half of the second point before being pushed back. The NYXL, with under a minute remaining, managed to capture the second point.
On their second defense, the NYXL tried to hold their defense a bit further back from before, playing more true to their “watch and wait” playstyle. With under ten seconds left, the Excelsior were taken down and forced to give up the first point and set up shop on the second point. Mano came in with a flank shatter, clearing most of the Reign from their push and managed to gain control of the point on their first push with over thirty seconds left. The NYXL managed to capture the second point, snowballing onto point B and tying up the series.
CLUTCH#everupward #OWL2019 pic.twitter.com/Zzx5UvIAN5
— NYXL (@NYXL) May 4
The NYXL quickly captured point A, giving them over five minutes to push the payload through the map. After being pushed back into spawn by the Reign, the Excelsior managed to retake the payload and push through the first stretch of the point, nearly pushing the point through point B before Donghyung “Daco” Seo managed to secure a triple kill using his D.Va bomb. On defense, the Reign captured point A just as quickly as the Excelsior did, pushing through to point B and winning the map.
Photo courtesy of Polygon
On defense, the NYXL managed to slow the Atlanta Reign just before they captured the first point. However, with the round’s timebank ticking down, Atlanta managed to clear the Excelsior off of the point and pushed the cart through point A. Quickly pushing through point B, the Reign seemed unstoppable, but the NYXL pushed Atlanta back with under a minute left. Atlanta attempted to push through the end, but were pushed back and picked off before they could make any progress.
On attack, the Reign tried to spawn camp the Excelsior but were pushed back with ease as the cart rounded the final corner on its way to the first point. They were finally slowed just before point B with two and a half minutes left on the clock, but were able to push through the Reign’s defense and win the map, sending the series to a map 5.
On Garden, the NYXL were pushed back to spawn, unable to get the first capture on the point. They were nearly full held but managed to flip control in overtime. At 53%, the NYXL lost control of the point and lost the first round of the map.
On Night Market, however, the Excelsior captured the point first, keeping control of it through 98% capture percentage, but were cleared off of the point and kept at bay by the Reign, who managed to continue to keep up their defenses through the remainder of the round, winning the series.
New York had an opportunity to really redeem themselves this week from their previous loss against the Atlanta Reign. However, with the Excelsior losing to a team like the Reign twice in a row, it’s definitely possible to suggest that the NYXL’s playstyle may be outdated and in need of a bit of a revamp. New York’s fault is often their lack of adaptability, and in order to grow moving forward, the Excelsior desperately need to give their strategies a refresher.
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