The first week of Season 2 of the Overwatch League started off with a #bang. Whether it was the Torbjorn play of Daniel “dafran” Francesca or the Symmetra play of Lane “Surefour” Roberts, this weekend was filled with a plethora of incredible highlight plays. But, which play takes the cake as the best play of them all?
The Game Haus will be breaking down the top 10 plays of each weekend over the course of the season, as well as highlighting the biggest plays of each stage. These plays are measured on their levels of individual mechanical ability, impact on the game, and overall teamwork required in each play. Without any more delay, let’s see which plays from Week 1 crack the top 10.
10: Gritty Takes the Overwatch League by Storm
Before any player took the stage, there was Gritty. While this was not a play that happened in-game, there is absolutely no doubt that Gritty blessed the Philadelphia Fusion before they took the stage to dethrone the defending champions, London Spitfire. In the end, the fuzzy orange creature had to be on the top 10.
9: Shu Denies the Solo Ult
Here Jin-seo “Shu” Kim hits an impressive sleep dart on a piledriving Hammond, then turning around to kill the enemy Hanzo that had attempted to kill him with a Dragonstrike just moments before. While this was not a team play or one that had a particularly significant impact on the map, one has to respect and admire the individual mechanics involved in this play. Shu is certainly a player to keep an eye on throughout the remainder of the season.
8: IDK What You Were Thinking, Valiant
In what became a signature style for the Hangzhou Spark, Ho-jin “iDK” Park hits a very important Lucio boop onto the enemy team just as his teammate, Seong-Wook “Ria” Park triggered a devastating D.Va bomb. This happened time and time again for the Spark, but this particular combo is amongst the best. With a total of eight ultimate abilities used in this fight, the winning team would claim the point with a strong chance to close out and win the map. With precise timing on the boop from IDK, the Spark ended this fight on the winning side and claimed victory on the map, in what was a thrilling five-map series.
7: “aKm is back!”
In the final match of the weekend, the Dallas Fuel looked to correct their Week 1 image against the Seoul Dynasty. At a crucial point on King’s Row where Dallas had one minute to claim the first point or lose the map, Dylan “aKm” Bignet did this on Widowmaker. Dallas ended up taking King’s Row 4-3 and eventually the series, 3-1.
6: Look Both Ways, Kids
In a series full of chaotic and confusing team fights, there were some absolute gems hidden amongst the chaos. One such gem comes from a sneaky Earthshatter hit from Austin “Muma” Wilmot, which led to a successful team fight for the Houston Outlaws. Toronto ended up taking the series 3-2.
5: Linkzr Swiftly Reminds the World of His Widowmaker
In the same series, the Outlaws played a variety of non-GOATS compositions, especially on Busan. This allowed Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin the chance to settle back into his Widowmaker that he became so known for in Season 1. In this play, LiNkzr hit several impressive shots, including a headshot on a Tracer that was in the middle of her animation for being slept. Anytime fans and casters were gifted with opportunities to watch something other than GOATS, the energy in the Blizzard Arena seemed to climb a few decibels.
4: The Charge are Hunted Down
On the final round in the last map of the series, the Guangzhou Charge had just retaken the point and were in a position to settle in and take the victory. Then, before anyone could say “Lets Go Dude,” the Charge had overextended and the Chengdu Hunters found themselves back on the point to claim the victory. While this may not have been the most mechanically savvy play, it demonstrated a great deal of communication from the Hunters to realize their ultimate advantage and act on it so decisively. With the series on the line, this was an unbelievably clutch play.
3: Move Over Poko, Ria is now the King of D.Va Bombs (With the Help of IDK)
Similar to the clip from earlier, each team entered this fight with five ultimates, meaning the winner would walk away with a great deal of progress made. Yet, despite how many ultimates each team had, the Spark only needed two to secure this team fight. Despite the enemy Reinhardt having used Earthshatter, the Spark’s combination of a Graviton Surge, D.Va bomb, and Lucio boop was the perfect recipe to dominate the Dragons in this engagement. This mechanical skill, mixed with the coordination and timing required to pull it off, made this an unforgettable highlight play from Week 1.
2: The NYXL Light a Spark of Their Own
In an eerily similar play to the one just seen, the NYXL pulled off an incredible combination to end the Washington push on Rialto. Through combining a lofted D.Va bomb from Tae-hong “MekO” Kim, an Earthshatter from Dong-gyu “Mano” Kim and a perfectly timed boop from Tae-sung “Anamo” Jung, the NYXL perfectly coordinated a team fight win. This play, coming with less than a minute on the clock and right after the Justice had used three ultimates, certainly dashed their hopes for a comeback. The Justice lost this fight with two ultimates still online, so one has to ask; if they don’t get wiped here, could they have turned this around?
1: R0ar Sends the Dynasty Into Another Solar System
The Seoul Dynasty attempted to approach through the outdoor/space section of Horizon Lunar Colony, but, in the top play of the weekend, OWL Rookie, Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye, pulls off a pulverizing Primal Rage that sends them all flying. R0ar earns his ultimate and, mid-fight, triggers the Primal Rage just as the Dynasty come through the airlocks. This sent several of them flying and left the rest exposed for r0ar to finish off. While this play did not earn the Gladiators the win, it was perhaps the most unique of the top plays in terms of the mechanical skill required and the teamwork from the Gladiators to protect their main tank.
Be sure to check back in next week to see which plays rank amongst the top 10. The Overwatch League returns for Week 2 on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6:00 pm CT. Until then, enjoy this dancing Gladiators fan.
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