This was the match of the week. The battle for the Lone Star state. Last season Houston won every match against Dallas, now the ball was in the Fuel’s court. The excitement from the crowd could be felt through the stream. Both teams clearly put in their all and Dallas won on their home stage, against their rival for the first time. Some tactical crouches came out from the Fuel, but it was well deserved after how intense the matches became. The Dallas Fuel took the series 3-1 and gave fans the game of a lifetime.
Lijiang – Dallas Fuel win 2-0
2019-04-27 – Overwatch League 2019 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
The Dallas Fuel stormed out of the spawn and immediately deleted the Outlaws without any hesitation. The bloodbath continued all map long, Dallas was on fire. Houston couldn’t even touch the point and the boys in blue took map one.
Gardens saw DPS from both teams and the Outlaws took control with a Pharah. Dylan “aKm” Bignet took the point back with an EMP then swapped to the McCree. The Cowboy proved successful against Houston’s dive. The Outlaws were forced onto GOATS and Dallas held them in White Room until they got ultimates and took the win.
Anubis – Dallas Fuel lose 2-1
The fabled Jakerat came out along with a bunker composition from Houston. Dallas swapped to a classic dive composition. The Boys in Blue were stifled until they got EMP Nanoblade and broke the bunker. Point B saw the fury of Mei and Brigitte, and Dallas only walked way with one tick as they could not stop the bunker heroes.
The Fuel’s defense saw Sombra dive and aKm built his EMP’s incredibly fast. Eventually Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson was caught out from rotations and Point A was lost. The second point was an inevitability for Houston, slowly but surely they muscled their way through Dallas and took Anubis.
King’s Row – Dallas Fuel win 3-2
2019-04-27 – Overwatch League 2019 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Dallas Played point A defense with an Ana, and Houston counted on Sombra. Fights kept breaking out for both teams which was a disadvantage for Dallas as they had further spawns. The Fuel stabilized on Point B and began to fight back. Minseok “OGE” Son was warmed up on Reinhardt, he started to stunt on the Outlaws. It was scrappy but Dallas began to survive through EMP’s. The electricity surged through the stadium as Dallas stopped Houston dead in their tracks at Point C.
The Outlaws stayed on their composition, and Dallas played GOATS with Ana. Without a D.Va, uNKOE got a four man Anti-nade to win Point A. Dallas was stopped at the end of Point B after speed running the cart. Mirror GOATS with Zenyatta came out and after taking some dry fights Dallas took Point B. With momentum and everything to prove, Dallas strolled the cart to the finish for the win.
Watchpoint: Gibraltar – Dallas Fuel win 4-3
2019-04-13 – Overwatch League 2019 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Dallas needed one more map to close out the series. There was no messing around from either team, and they went with mirror GOATS. Blink and you would have missed Point A. The second point favored defenders as they had high ground advantage. Dallas made a call and swapped to Winston, then solo Graved the enemy Zarya to take Point B. The last point was a wash for the Fuel and Houston was Graved in spawn to force a C9.
The Soldier: 76 and Sombra came out from the DPS on Dallas, risky as it was their first time trying the strategy. Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo was on Sombra. Dallas was their own demise on Point A as they tried to flank with a Nanovisor. The Fuel again stabilized on Point B, then again fell at the very end. Houston had the snowball on Point C, and extra rounds were in.
Sombra GOATS from Dallas’ defense, Ana GOATS from Houston. Two huge EMP’s came out from aKm and the Fuel held on Point A.
With mirror GOATS for the last fight, OGE died first, but there was enough time for him to come back. Again aKm showed up and built Graviton before Houston. After ultimates came out from both teams, one pick for Dallas lead to the next in the carwash. The Boys in Blue took the fight, booped the Outlaws away and took the series.
Conclusion
This was a nail-biter. The crowd raised the stakes for both teams and Dallas used it to thrive. The only times Houston was in control of the fights was when they had cheese like Mei on Anubis, impenetrable high ground and ultimate advantage. Dallas was the cleaner GOATS team, straight up. Everyone on the Fuel was performing to their greatest ability and feeding off the energy of their crowd. A very intense match, but Dallas runs the Lone Star state now.
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Featured image courtesy of Overwatch League
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