Coming off of a huge win against the New York Excelsior, the Atlanta Reign were looking to carry their momentum forward. The Guangzhou Charge, on the other hand, have had little success this stage. Both teams looked fairly equally matched throughout the maps, with some going insane distances! Unfortunately, the Reign struggled when it mattered, losing key fights and allowing the Charge to take the win.
Courtesy of: Gamenews
Busan was back and forth on a fight by fight basis. Atlanta would take the point, but Guangzhou fought back and overtook their percentages. Unfortunately, the fights that mattered to secure the points fell to the Charge, despite somewhat strong play from the Reign. Notably, Dogman was being focused. After his standout performance against New York, Guangzhou knew that he is a player to keep an eye on.
By utilizing a heavily spread out DPS comp in round two, the Charge were able to continually pick apart the Reign’s more traditional 3-3. Without an answer, Atlanta fell and gave Guangzhou the leg up in the day.
Atlanta gives Guangzhou the win and goes 0-1.
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The teams moved over to Hanamura where things started to get crazy. Defenses seemed weak on both sides at both the Charge and Reign pushed through Points A and B multiple times each. Guangzhou tried a bunker comp with a Bastion and Mei on Point A, but the Reign were able to swap to dive and dismantle it. The Reign tried to defend with their standard 3-3, but the Charge found picks and made their way through it.
Even though Atlanta were able to find more time in the first round of attack, Guangzhou fought back and brought it to 6-6. With only a couple of minutes on the clock, Atlanta failed to make headway for the first two pushes, but found footing on the third. With ultimates coming out, a pick was found on the Charge’s Lucio Chara. The fight spread out and the Reign got scrappy, finding kills around the point and finally securing it with a Grav from Babybay.
Atlanta ties it up 1-1.
The insanity continued on King’s Row as the fights once again kept going for the offense. Both the Charge and Reign were able to capture the first point with only minor effort, and both managed to march the payload confidently to the end of the map. The Reign finished with substantially less time than Guangzhou, however.
Photo courtesy of Overwatch
With little time, the Reign were able to take the payload for a long walk and finish King’s Row for a second time. This made the Charge’s 4 minute time bank look a bit less daunting. Guangzhou may as well have had no time on the clock, though, as they confidently marched the payload across the map a second time as well. Miraculously, both teams had managed to secure the final point twice on King’s Row.
It wasn’t over, though, as the teams were both able to recapture point A with only a minute. Unfortunately for the Reign, the Charge were able to bank ultimates and utilize them better, securing a key fight in the choke after the first point that allowed them to capture the win and go up over Atlanta.
The Reign fall behind 1-2.
Courtesy of Gamepedia.
Rialto was rough for the Reign. The Charge came out on attack with Eileen on the Doomfist and Atlanta didn’t really have a good answer for it. While the Reign were able to slow down Guangzhou, they weren’t able to stop them. The Charge pushed the payload all the way through the map with only a small time bank left for a second push.
It wouldn’t be needed, however, as the Reign would fail to even secure the first point. Atlanta looked tired and Guanzhou looked hungry for their first win, and they would get it. The Guangzhou charge took the map, the game, and the last chance Atlanta had at stage playoffs.
Atlanta loses 1-3.
Atlanta once again proved that they lack consistency. Few teams in the league could beat one of the top teams so handily, and then go on to give several poorly performing teams key victories. Emotions tend to run high, and those emotions lead the Reign to get caught in ruts. On a good day, Atlanta can beat any team in the league, but on a bad day they can lose to a winless Los Angeles Valiant or a Guangzhou Charge on a losing streak.
The Reign get a week off for the Dallas Homestand. Hopefully they can continue to work on their teamwork and train to replicate their performance from Friday. The Atlanta Reign play the New York Excelsior once again for their final match of the stage on May 4th.
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