Chengdu Wins 3-2
Starting Lineup
Yi “Jinmu” Hu
Ding “Ameng” Menghan
Ma “Lateyoung” Tianbin
Li “Yveltal” Xianyao
Luo “Elsa” Wenjie
Kong “Kyo” Chunting
Nepal
Chengdu kicked off the game with their trademark Hammond on Shrine. Ameng was utilizing the Ham-Slam to great effect, disrupting the Mayhem’s GOATs every time they tried to push in. The Mayhem finally capped in OT after they dumped every ult they had into the fight. The Hunters then came in and recapped with ease, taking Shrine relatively easily.
Sanctum had Chengdu running the same Hammond GOATs composition. The Mayhem were so fed up with Ameng’s Hammond that they ended up solo-graving him. This did confirm a kill on the Wrecking Ball, and eventually allowed the Mayhem to take back the point. Chengdu then swapped to a standard GOATs. They ended up not liking this standard comp and went back to Hammond immediately. The Hunters ended up “C9ing” in OT, allowing Florida to take the point.
Pharmercy was brought out by both teams on Village, and Chengdu won the initial fight. Both teams went with anti-meta trends, as the Hunter’s comp also featured Moira and Hammond while the Mayhem even ran Tracer. The Mayhem took the point briefly, but the Panda Bears put their paws down and finished the job.
Chengdu Wins 2-1
King’s Row
Reaper and Genji were the DPS for the Hunters, along with Hammond, Ana, Lucio, and Zarya. This comp took down the defense on the second try, utilizing a classic Nanoblade to finish the fight. The Reaper comp was halted halfway through streets. The Hunters then swapped to Ana GOATs. The Mayhem countered with the rare Mei comp. This did not save point B, as the Hunters mowed them down. The Mei comp finally halted the payload a few meters from the finish line.
The Hammond GOATs was the defensive choice for the Hunters. This defense didn’t hold for long, and the Mayhem took the point easily. The Mayhem kept up the momentum, only being halted a little bit before the point B checkpoint. Florida regained their mojo quickly and took the point with time to spare. Kevyn “Tviq” Lindström swapped back to the Mei for point C. This ended up working out well, as the Mayhem finished the map and tied the series.
Florida Wins 3-2
Lo “Baconjack” Tzu-Heng comes in for Lateyoung
Anubis
Pharmercy was the comp of choice for the Hunter’s attack in an attempt to counter the Ana GOATs that the Mayhem were running on defense. This composition shredded the defense and prompted the Mayhem to swap to a bizarre dive defense with Roadhog. This weird Frankenstein comp didn’t work at all, and the Mayhem snowballed through Anubis.
The classic Junk/Orisa/Widow defense went up against a Florida Dive GOATs. The old classic completely shut down the new fangled DOATs, and the Hunters took Anubis easily.
Chengdu Wins 2-0
Rialto
More Pharmercy came out of the gate for the Hunters on offense versus more dive GOATs from the Mayhem. This Pharmercy surgically cut through the Mayhem defense, and the Hunters rolled through into the next phase. The Hunters were briefly halted right before the checkpoint, but they eventually muscled through. The Hunters swapped to GOATs for point C. This really didn’t work at all, and the Hunters were stopped about halfway through point C.
Double sniper defense was on the menu for the Hunters. This defense completely stymied the Florida attack for three minutes, but the Mayhem eventually pushed through. The Hunters swapped to GOATs on the point B defense, but the Mayhem’s Hammond GOATs made quick work of Chengdu. An EMP finally stopped the Mayhem a few meters from the finish line. The Hunters had a couple of miracle holds, but eventually the Mayhem took the map.
Florida Wins 3-2
Lateyoung comes in for Baconjack
Busan
Hammond GOATs allowed the Hunters to cap first on MEKA Base, but the Mayhem’s unorthodox Tracer/Soldier/Sombra triple DPS allowed Florida to retake relatively quickly. The Hunters retook the point, and didn’t relinquish their grasp despite Florida dumping all of their ults into the effort.
The Hunters used Roadhog on Sanctuary against another triple DPS comp from the Mayhem, except this time Jeong-woo “Sayaplayer” Ha was on Widow. An extremely prolonged fight allowed the Hunters to build up to 68%, and Sayaplayer’s Widow was on point as usual. His skill was a big reason the Mayhem managed to keep up at all, but in the end it wasn’t enough. The Hunter’s retook the point and finished it off, winning the map and the game.
Chengdu Wins 2-0
A Solid Performance
This wasn’t exactly a flawless performance from the Pulverizing Pandas. Their standard GOATs looked very poor, and a few of their experiments didn’t work well. However, Chengdu proved once again that GOATs isn’t a flawless comp. Their Hammond and Sombra play tore apart the Mayhem, and almost everything else they tried worked to some capacity. This team continues to buck the trends and make it work to a certain degree. This is incredibly impressive in a game like Overwatch.
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Featured Image Courtesy of The Chengdu Hunters
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