Fighting for a spot in the Stage 2 finals, the NYXL had to take on the undefeated Vancouver Titans in a tense 5-map series. New York gave Vancouver a run for their money, pushing them to their absolute limits and keeping the audience on their toes. Unfortunately, in this series, the Empire State underdogs did not come out on top, falling to the Titans and ending their playoff hopes for Stage 2.
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
In a long match, both teams struggled to secure kills off of each other. Finally, after a long fight, New York secured first blood and first control over the point on Sanctuary. In one final fight, the Titans tried their hardest to wipe the Excelsior from the point, and at 97% New York was finally forced to back down and reset. In one final fight, the NYXL finally flipped the point back in their favor and sent the round into overtime to take the first round.
Downtown, Libero fell first forcing the NYXL to fall back and give up first capture to the Titans. Vancouver managed to keep New York at bay until Mano hit a massive 4-man Earthshatter, wiping the Titans and allowing them to capture the point. Ultimately, though, the Titans were able to come back swinging and retake control, taking the second round.
On MEKA Base, New York was once again unable to take first control of the point. However, in overtime, the NYXL was finally able to push the Titans off of the point and gain some capture percentage for themselves. They held the point through to 99%, but got off of the point and allowed the Vancouver Titans to capture the point and take the map.
On attack, the NYXL moved up onto the high ground, pushing around the back of the point and wiping the Titans in one push, leaving them with five minutes to push the payload through the rest of the map. Just before the second checkpoint, the Titans slowed the NYXL and tried their hardest to push them off, but were ultimately unable to keep them from advancing to the third part of the map. However, just after they pushed into the final stretch of the map, the Titans pushed the Excelsior back and kept them from advancing any further. With 12 seconds left in the round, the Excelsior were finally able to push through and finish the map.
Knock ’em down @Mano_OWL
➡ https://t.co/aoksKyN8os ⬅#EverUpward #OWL2019 pic.twitter.com/Rls3gudn7P
— NYXL (@NYXL) May 11, 2019
On defense, the Titans ran a quadruple DPS composition into the NYXL’s typical 3-3 comp. They were able to gain control on the second push and then immediately switched back onto their ever-popular GOATs composition. New York pushed the Titans back to their spawn twice before having to retreat and set up their defenses further up. They were successful in holding the Titans back from gaining control of the payload and pushing past the second checkpoint through Overtime, winning the second map.
On their first defense, the NYXL were unable to hold the first point for long. The Titans tried to snowball onto the second point and were able to capture 93.5% of the point before the Excelsior finally pushed them back and secured their defense of the point. After a close few fights, the Titans were finally able to secure their control of the second point with 1:55 left on the clock.
Just a reminder that @Liberot99 can play pretty much any hero
➡ https://t.co/aoksKyN8os ⬅#EverUpward #OWL2019 pic.twitter.com/a2nQV5jqa4
— NYXL (@NYXL) May 11, 2019
On attack, the Excelsior came out of the gates swinging with a triple DPS composition. Quickly taking the first point, the NYXL switched back to their GOATs composition. They were unable to gain any control on the second point for the majority of the remainder of the time, and in overtime were finally able to capture the second point, tying up the map.
On their final defense, the NYXL were unable to stand against the Titans’ DPS heavy composition. They fell to the Titans
On attack, the NYXL pushed through the first point with ease, only being slowed for just a moment before being able to progress. The team looked largely unstoppable for most of their attack but were slowed through the end of the map. In a long fight in overtime, the NYXL fell, unable to finish the map only a few meters from the end of the map.
On defense, the NYXL slowed the Titans just before the first checkpoint with only a minute left but were unable to stop them. The Titans pushed through the remainder of the map without much difficulty.
On Garden, the NYXL captured the point first, getting to 67% before giving up control to the Titans. After a long fight, it was looking for a moment like the NYXL were going to be able to retake, but
Vancouver’s Lucio contested the point for so long that the Titans were able to come back and defend despite being wiped by the Excelsior, taking the first round.
On Control Center, the Excelsior were gained first control once again, only losing control for a moment during a long fight and otherwise holding the point for the remainder of the round, tying up the map.
On Night Market, New York was once again successful in taking first control. At 66%, the NYXL were taken down and forced to reset. After one unsuccessful push, the NYXL came back hard but were ultimately unsuccessful in their push. With only a few seconds left in the round, the NYXL were unable to touch and contest, losing the match and the series.
The NYXL gave the Vancouver Titans the fight of their lives, but it was ultimately not enough to topple to Titans. New York should learn from their mistakes in this match and work on target prioritization and sticking together when fights get tense. Even in spite of this loss, the Excelsior can definitely hold their heads high after having given Vancouver this hard of a fight.
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