Atlanta Reign (3-1) vs (2-1) Paris Eternal
Atlanta Reign 4-0 Paris Eternal
Today the Atlanta Reign dominated a team considered by many to be one of the top 3 in the league. With this second 4-0 victory of the season over the Paris Eternal, the Reign cemented themselves as a team to be respected and feared.
Ilios – Reign 2-0 Eternal
The day started at Ruins on Ilios where Atlanta showed dominance from the start. With consistent push and strong team play, they were able to take and hold the point for the entire round. The Reign showed a ton of aggression while defending the point which allowed for proactive moves against the Eternal. Atlanta focused on splitting up the offense and annihilated them repeatedly, including Masaa landing huge boop kills.
Round two was on Well where dafran started with the Torbjorn once again. Although it didn’t go the distance and he swapped back to Zarya, it didn’t stop the Reign train. Pokpo delivered multiple halt kills into the well, while Masaa continued to do boop work. Paris were able to put up a fight, however, and the round did go to 99% for both teams, ending in a scrappy final fight. Atlanta was scrappier, however, and finished the fight that mattered the most to take Ilios 2-0.
Hollywood – Reign 3-1 Eternal
Atlanta started on attack on Hollywood, and made a slow, methodical push to the back of the point. With careful team play and a gradual push forward, the Reign were able to find an opening and take down Paris in their first encounter. The Eternal made a stand in the first choke, however, and Atlanta had to resort to trickery to push through. With a speedboost from Masaa on the Lucio, dafran was able to jump over the roof of a building using Zarya right clicks. He landed just behind the unprepared Paris team, dropping a Graviton Surge and successfully pulling off a contender for play of the season going forward.
The Reign continued marching forward, losing a couple of fights, but ultimately not being contested too much. They were able to take all three points with over two minutes left in the time bank thanks to a final Zarya grav.
The Eternal started off in a similar fashion. They were able to take point A in a single, slow push. The similarities to Atlanta’s push ended here, however, as Paris looked to be climbing up a mountain against the Reign’s defense. While a few fights were won, it wasn’t enough to secure even point B, and Atlanta took another quick victory over the Paris Eternal to go up 2-0.
Temple of Anubis – Reign 2-0 Eternal
The teams were then taken to the Temple of Anubis, where Atlanta started on attack. Paris had Soon on the Bastion, which initially cause problems for the Reign. After a few failed dive attempts with a combination of Winston, Wrecking Ball, and D.Va, they were finally able to take out Soon. With their main defensive tool defeated, Paris were removed from point A.
With momentum in their favor, Atlanta moved onto point B and absolutely demolished the Eternal’s defenses. They were able to wrap up both points with 4:30 left on the clock, and Paris having their work cut out for them.
That work was made even harder by ErsTer on the Junkrat who was able to completely decimate the Paris offensive. With several multi-kills, and a Rip-Tire to save point A, he was able to help the Reign completely shut down Paris. With a full hold, Atlanta took Anubis and won the series 3-0.
Route 66 – Reign 3-2 Eternal
Finally the teams ended up on Route 66, where Atlanta’s initial attack seemed like they weren’t focused since they had just won the series so decisively. When the clock started running down and they had yet to push to point A, their focus kicked back in. Once point A was taken, there was no stopping them as the Reign marched firmly towards point B, then C. Taking both with confidence, but thanks to the point A hold, little time left.
Paris took over on attack wanting to at least take a map and prevent the 4-0. They, like Atlanta, struggled to capture A, but when they had, they continued to strongly push. As they pushed through point B and approached C, the Reign had had enough to finally shut down the last remnants of hope for Paris. Atlanta prevented the point C capture, and won the day with a decisive 4-0.
Conclusion
With such dominance over a highly lauded Paris team, the Reign have shown that they can compete with the best. With the most difficult test behind them, Atlanta can now look to focus on finishing out the stage. With eyes set on the stage playoffs, the Reign need to focus on consistency of play. If they can stay consistent, they will be up against New York and Vancouver sooner than scheduled.
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