It has been the DPS that has been on display during the Overwatch League’s Summer Showdown. Each APAC team have their own style and priorities when it comes to their DPS players. The Shanghai Dragons and Chengdu Hunters are the two teams representing the APAC region in the Summer Showdown. Both come with strengths and weaknesses, as well as a love to play Pharah. Here is a look at how well the main DPS players of these two teams synergize with each other and their overall strength levels.
Shanghai Dragons: Byungsun ‘Fleta’ Kim and Jaewon ‘Lip’ Lee
Fleta and Lip are now on their second season of playing together. In the first season of the DPS duo-ing they won multiple mini-tournaments but weren’t able to grab the overall win of the Overwatch League despite looking strong all season. This season they came out strong showing that they still have their eyes on the overall prize of being the Grand Final winners.
It seems as if these two have almost perfected their ability to go in and know where the other is going to be. Though the Shanghai Dragons have other DPS players it is rare to see either of the DPS swapped out. Both Fleta and Lip have flexibility on their side. If Tracer needs to be played it can be either Lip or Fleta who can hop on, depending on who has more of an ult charge on the other DPS. It can be seen in a few matches of the two of them just swapping DPS heroes. There is no hero that Overwatch currently has out, that between these two the Dragons could play in a match.
Both players have signature heroes that they are known for. For Lip it is definitely Sombra. He plays Sombra as if it is Tracer. His charge time for the EMP is insane, being able to fully charge it after one good fight. Though his EMPS are hit or miss, Lip is always a constant threat to the backlines and pressures out the Wreckingball on dive attempts. For Fleta, though he has been playing a lot of Tracer lately, but his beloved hero is Pharah which has turned into Echo. This is well known as his MVP skin is an Echo skin. Fleta is able to use Pharah effectively on maps like Lijiang Tower without being shut down. He may not play it as much as other teams’ DPS but it is still a fan favorite.
The biggest strength is that on top of the DPS duo themselves being strong they are surrounded by an equally strong team. The biggest weakness is not having impactful EMPS for the team to follow up on. Many times the Dragons are able to make it work even if it is a zero-man EMP but against teams such as the Dallas Fuel that could make or break a series.
Chengdu Hunters: Huang ‘Leave’ Xin, Yi ‘Jinmu’ Hu, and Lei ‘Jimmy’ Yujia
With Leave, Jinmu, and Jimmy, as there are three of the DPS that are alternated into the line-up, it is usually pretty apparent what the team wants to play off of who they have in. Leave can easily be compared to a Fleta or a Profit. His ability to flex onto multiple heroes at a high level is one of the biggest assets that the Hunters have on their team. His Tracer was able to go up against Junyoung ‘Profit’ Park without any issue in the last match that the Hunters had against the Seoul Dynasty. He will easily go from Tracer to Hanzo and still be impactful in the match. He is a constant in the DPS lineup.
Jinmu is a little less flexible to a level as high as Leave, but is the best DPS duo. Jinmu is known for his Pharah, pulling it out much more than Fleta and on many different types of maps. He is not afraid to go Torb or any other non-meta DPS. Jinmu is responsible for the Sombra on the team. Though he doesn’t have the fasted EMP charge, unlike LIP, his manual hacks, as well as EMPS, are high value.
Jimmy is their Widow specialist. He has been on other hitscan as well, but he is at his most comfortable when on Widow. He is usually seen on a Junkertown or a map with long sightlines. When Jimmy comes in he would be in for Jinmu. For many heroes such as Torb or Sombra, Jinmu is the stronger option of the two players. Recently he hasn’t been played as much as the Hunters has decided to put in Jinmu alongside Leave for this meta.
Tarocook1e has recently joined being promoted up to the main roster. He hasn’t played as much as the other three. During the Shanghai Homestand, the Hunters were pretty set on Leave, and Jinmu being in for most of the maps.
The DPS Duos
Both the Shanghai Dragons and Chengdu Hunters have a hard road in front of them. Neither the Dallas Fuel or the Atlanta Reign will make the journey to win the Summer Showdown easy. All the DPS will be facing equally skilled and competitive North American DPS talent. Will it be on the backs of Fleta and Lip to get a back-to-back win for the smaller tournaments or will the underdogs of the Hunters surprise everyone to catch the top spot off of Leave and Jinmu’s DPS coordination.
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