Both the Philadelphia Fusion and Atlanta Reign have had a rough third stage. The Reign have not won a single series, while the Fusion only just defeated the Boston Uprising last weekend. Would the Philadelphia Fusion be able to keep up that momentum?
STARTING SIX
Su-min “SADO” Kim
Gael “Poko” Gouzerch
Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee
Josh “Eqo” Corona
Isaac “Boombox” Charles
Alberto “neptuNo” González
Nepal: Philadelphia 1-2 Atlanta
SANCTUM
Philly started with a traditional GOATS composition, but they were quick to swap onto double sniper after being destroyed by Andrej “babybay” Francisty on Bastion. Carpe’s Widowmaker is always a beautiful sight to behold; he was continually popping off and getting great picks on the Reign. It seemed as though the Fusion would be able to maintain their hold of the point, but Babybay would isolate Carpe and Eqo in a Graviton Surge that would force the Fusion to back off. Deciding to swap back onto GOATS, Philly would be denied entrance back into the sanctum, and they would lose the map.
SHRINE
The Fusion would run a Pharmercy composition with Carpe on Sombra as well. Carpe would get a pick on Dusttin “Dogman” Bowerman, but SADO would overextend and get picked off as well. This would allow the Reign to cap the point first again. Taking the point after Eqo used his Rocket Barrage, Boombox would proceed to get amazing picks on Hyun-jun “Pokpo” Park and the Reign’s support line. Taking out Boombox, babybay would use his Graviton Surge to help the Reign take back the point. Swapping onto a Sombra GOATS composition, Poko would melt down the Reign on Zarya, and the Fusion would take back the point. Unfortunately, SADO would find himself the victim of a fire-strike, and Philly would be forced to back off. Coming back, Carpe would use his EMP to disable the Reign, allowing SADO to wipe them out with his hammer and take the map.
VILLAGE
Deciding to run a traditional GOATS composition would end up being the Fusion’s downfall. The Reign would hold supreme on Village for the majority of the map. Although Poko managed to eat babybay’s Graviton Surge, the Fusion would be unable to capitalize. The Fusion would lose Nepal 1-2.
Lunar Colony: Philadelphia 2-1 Atlanta
Defending first, the Fusion would get obliterated in one of babybay’s Graviton Surges after losing Poko early on in a team fight. For a moment, it seemed as though the Fusion would get steamrolled, but Carpe would throw out a Graviton Surge of his own that would allow them to stabilize. Throughout the majority of team fights this series, Boombox would consistently get great picks on the Reing’s support line and deny them any chances to storm the point. Dong-hyeong “DACO” Seo would do his best to get behind the Fusion and take out Boombox, but Eqo would prevent him with a major stun that would allow the Fusion to take him out. Playing around Boombox, the Fusion would hold Point B.
On attack, the Philadelphia Fusion would rotate to the high ground to get the advantage over the reign. Boombox would get a pick on Joon “Erster” Jeong, and the Fusion would storm the point on the back of one of Boombox’s transcendences. Moving onto Point B, SADO would land a massive Earthshatter, but the Fusion would be unable to capitalize on it. Playing slowly, Carpe would use his Graviton Surge to pull the Reign off the point. The Fusion would win Lunar Colony 2-1.
Numbani: Philadelphia 2-0 Atlanta
On attack, the Fusion would run a quad DPS composition that looked like something straight out of a quickplay game. With Poko on Hanzo and Boombox on Tracer, the Fusion would somehow make this work. Despite getting picked off, neptuNo would bring back Poko to use his Dragonstrike and wipe out the Reign. Unfortunately, Atlanta would spawn camp the Fusion until the clock hit overtime. With literally no time to spare, the Fusion would do the impossible and take out Pokpo, causing the Reign to back off. This would allow them to push the payload to Point B. Although they managed to push the payload close to Point C, the Reign would hold them off.
The Fusion would run their signature Winston GOATS defense composition. SADO’s Winston would keep the Atlanta Reign at bay for the majority of the Fusion’s defense. Atlanta would manage to get two ticks on the back of one of babybay’s Gravitons, but Boombox would get a key pick on Dogman that would cause the Reign to pull back. As time dwindled, the Reign would make one last push onto the point, but Eqo would wipe them out on Brigitte. The Fusion would full hold Atlanta and take Numbani 2-0.
Havana: Philadelphia 1-2 Atlanta
On Havana, the Fusion would start with a clean attack push. Carpe’s use of EMP would allow the Fusion to push the payload through Point A quickly. However, babybay would land a fat Graviton Surge on Philly that would enable the Reign to take them out. Regrouping, Neptuno would get a pick on Pokpo, but a pick on SADO would force them to fall back once more. Trying to rotate from the alleyway, babybay would take out SADO once more. The Fusion would be denied any significant attempts to group on the payload and would be unable to push the payload to Point B.
On defense, the Fusion would aggressively try to hold the Reign at their spawn. Unfortunately, all this plan did was charge babybay up, and he would take out the Fusion one by one. Pokpo would land a fat Earthshatter on the Fusion that would allow the Reign to push the payload to Point A. The Fusion would manage to scare the Reign off the payload with SADO’s Earthshatter, but Carpe would also use his Graviton Surge during the same fight. Babybay would come back to the battle fully charged, and the Reign would overrun the Fusion. Philadelphia would lose Havana 1-2.
Ilios: Philadelphia 2-0 Atlanta
WELL
Atlanta would once again run a quasi-bunker composition. Babybay would destroy the Philadelphia Fusion on Bastion, and it would take all of the Fusion’s ultimates to finally break the Reign down. Capping the point, the Reign would swap onto a mirror Winston GOATS composition, but the Fusion would outplay them constantly. Boombox would get an excellent pick on Pokpo that would allow SADO to destroy the Rein’s support line. For a brief moment, it seemed as though the Rein would be able to take back the point, but Poko would come in clutch with a huge Self Destruct that would allow the Fusion to take the map.
99% – 99% on Map 5? Leave it to @poko. 💣 #OWL2019
🔴 https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/GVvkKvMtzD
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) June 22, 2019
RUINS
Things would not start great for the Fusion. Erster would get a high pick on neptuNo that would force the Fusion to pull back. Pokpo would land a fat Earthshatter on Philly, but miss Boombox entirely. Boombox would be able to use transcendence to save his team. Poko would get a pick on Dogman, while Eqo took out Petja “Masaa” Kantanen. Taking down the support line would allow the Fusion to cap the point. Philly would push the Reign back, but SADO would overextend and get picked off. However, the Fusion would be able to pull back and maintain the point thanks to Eqo’s Rally. Carpe would try to sneak behind the Reign and use his Graviton Surge, but Masaa would boop him off the cliff and into the ocean. The Reign would briefly take back the point, but the Fusion would overrun them with Carpe’s graviton surge. The Fusion would take Ilios 2-0.
CONCLUSION
The Fusion played well this series. This was the most flexible with their team compositions that they have looked all season. Allowing Eqo and Carpe to play DPS more often has been working fantastically for the team. Boombox had a lot of clutch plays tonight, and overall, the team just looked a lot more in sync. Fans are looking forward to their game next week against the Boston Uprising.
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