Image courtesy of the Chengdu Hunters
Last week, the Chengdu Hunters couldn’t compete with the Shanghai Dragons, losing 4-0. The Dragons entered this match following their first win in franchise history against the Boston Uprising. With Youngjin “Gamsu” Noh leading the charge as their new main tank, the Hunters were completely outmatched. In particular, Menghan “ameng” Ding was eliminated early in several engagements.
Despite being outplayed last week, the Hunters did show some signs of life. Tianbin “lateyoung” Ma’s Zarya was consistently troublesome for the Dragons to deal with. Similarly, Hu “JinMu” Yi pulled off some spectacular plays as several different heroes during the match. While it wasn’t enough to secure a victory, lateyoung showed a lot of promise for future success.
Image Courtesy of Sean Costello for Blizzard Entertainment.
This week, the Chengdu Hunters face two very tough opponents. They start the week with a match against the Toronto Defiant. The Defiant have been particularly strong so far. If the Hunters wish to come out on top, they will need to make several adjustments in a short amount of time.
Apart from better coordination with ameng, the Hunters will need to pay special attention to Toronto’s Zenyatta. SeHyun “Neko” Park is one of the best Zenyatta players in the league, and his teammates all focus on supporting him. Ameng’s aggressive playstyle might come in handy, as being able to jump into Toronto’s backline and quickly eliminate Neko could be the key to victory. However, the rest of the Hunters need to support ameng to make sure he isn’t eliminated during the attack.
One more interesting point is that Kyeongmu “Yakpung” Cho – Toronto’s main tank player – died early in quite a few engagements recently. Perhaps by exploiting Yakpung’s vulnerability, the Hunters can defy the odds and defeat Toronto.
Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
As one of only two undefeated teams in the league, the Vancouver Titans will be the toughest opponents the Chengdu Hunters face in stage 1. If the Hunters wish to stand a chance of attacking the Titans, they will need to play flawlessly. If Chengdu is able to adapt to Vancouver’s strategies mid-match, execute coordinated strikes on their backline and keep the whole team alive while doing so, they might stand a chance. Otherwise, defeat is all but certain.
As stated several times already, ameng’s Wrecking Ball is the centerpiece of this team. When ameng performs well, his team succeeds. Likewise, when he performs poorly, his team suffers. The Chengdu Hunters’ entire strategy revolves around ameng, which means their coordination needs to be perfect. This week, keep an eye on how well-prepared ameng’s teammates are for his attacks. If his teammates can keep him alive, we may see these underdogs pull off a win this week
Follow me on Twitter: @spaceaviator97!
You can also “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles written by other TGH writers!
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
