Washington Justice (0-1) vs London Spitfire (0-2)
Although London went 0-2 in the first week, many still believed in the Season 1 Champions to take down the Justice. However, Washington put up a good fight and it’s safe to say no one expected this match to be the rollercoaster of emotions that it was.
Busan: Justice 2-1
In the first round, the Spitfire played quadruple DPS into Washington’s GOATs, which did not end well for them. The Justice put up a solid defense with their deathball, never losing a fight. The only team fight they lost in this round occurred when Spitfire used a lot of their DPS ultimates. In the end, the Justice held strong and took this map.
The second round was on MEKA base, a map more friendly to birdring’s Widowmaker. As a result, Washington had a lot of trouble staying on the point without effectively contesting birdring. Together with Profit’s nano-boosted Tracer, London picked apart Washington’s GOATs and they lost the map, tying up the score 1-1.
On the third round, the same picture played out with London playing triple DPS into Washington’s GOATs. The Justice capped first and although London won a few team fights off the back of their ultimates, Washington managed to re-cap the point until 99%. London tried to switch to GOATs to contest. However, Corey built two Graviton Surges during that teamfight and Gido built his Transcendence in time for Profit’s Graviton Surge. This gave them the tools they needed to defend. The Justice won Busan 2-1.
Numbani: Justice 3-2
London’s defense started with dive GOATs, where the Reinhardt was switched out for Winston. The Justice capped quickly and pushed past the streets phase. London didn’t stay on the point and lost point B, but held right after the choke on B. The Justice didn’t manage to push past it until overtime, which unfortunately meant they got held in the middle of point C.
Washington’s defense held strong with Janus and Corey’s impressive tank play. Although it seemed like they might full hold, Profit’s Graviton Surge won London point A. The Justice put up a strong stall on point B. This allowed them to hold London right before the end of point C and they took Numbani 3-2.
Horizon: Spitfire 4-2
On defense, they held forward on point A to delay the capture progression. Although London’s point A capture looked like they might snowball through point B, Gido picked off one of the Spitfire, halting their momentum. Washington held for two minutes until London won off of better ultimate usage.
Despite their smaller time bank, London capped round 3 with just under a minute remaining because they managed to use their ultimates wisely. The Justice did put up a valiant fight, though, stalling the second point capture for over a full minute.
In round 4, Washington’s initial rotations no longer worked as well because the Spitfire were prepared to deal with it. Gesture’s Winston play pulled apart their offense. They almost captured the point, but a big Self-Destruct from Fury in overtime cleaned up the Justice. They lost this map 2-4.
Rialto Justice 2-3 Spitfire
Washington on defense held point A into overtime. Although Gesture died to a Self-destruct from Sansam, Profit’s Graviton Surge still managed to push them through to capture point A. After that, the Justice put up little resistance as Corey failed to get any effective Graviton Surges. The Spitfire capped with just under a minute remaining.
On attack, the Justice showed up with this impressive play between Sansam and Fahzix to cap point A and push past the bridge. Not to be outdone, Janus put down a massive Earthshatter on streets pushing them to cap point B. However, the team got picked off gradually with London holding very aggressively. The Justice didn’t manage to push past London’s forward defense, meaning they could not touch the point, let alone capture point C. They lost Rialto 2-3.
Nepal: Spitfire 2-0
Hyeonu was subbed in for Fahzix. Although Washington won the first team fight and stalled out the map, London eventually capped it. Unfortunately, the Spitfire held strong. In spite of a smart Graviton Surge from Corey that pushed the point into overtime, Fury scored a Self-Destruct that picked off two members of the Justice. This clutched it out for London and won them the first round.
In round two, Washington’s play was taken apart by Profit’s Zarya. With more effective Graviton Surges and Gesture’s shatters, the Justice never had enough capture progress on the point to win the map. Despite capturing it with London at 99%, they eventually lost a team fight with Profit’s Graviton Surge and they lost map 5 0-2.
Conclusion
Even though the Justice eventually fell to the Season 1 Champions, this matchup and how it turned out is still a win for them. They put up a much better fight and are clearly growing and improving. The players definitely look a lot more comfortable on the Overwatch League stage. Hopefully with time and growth, the team can grow to display more consistent play and show up in the future matches in Stage 1.
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