Overwatch: What OWL Teams Should Take Away from the NA Contenders Finals

NA Contenders came to a close, with Fusion University taking the series (again) over Atlanta Academy. This was a very exciting match, as it pitted two very good teams against one another. Neither team really played to their absolute fullest potential, and there were a lot of questionable choices from both sides, but both teams also had some really good plays. OWL teams could potentially look at this game (and Contenders as a whole) in order to infer some things about what is to come in OWL Season 2.  There could be a million takeaways, but here are some major ones.

Consistency is Key

Image Courtesy of the Atlanta Academy

Inconsistency can ruin an Overwatch team. Even having one player that might be off sometimes can lead to an extra 5-10 losses in a long season. It happened to multiple teams in OWL Season One, and it happened to Atlanta Academy.

Specifically, it happened to Blake “Gator” Scott.

Gator had a very up and down game. Sometimes he would look brilliant; coordinating and playing his trademark hyper aggressive style to absolute perfection.  Other times he would take the hyper aggro style way too far, as he would sometimes completely leave his team behind or waste Earthshatter.

Having a inconsistent main tank player can make your entire team inconsistent as well. Atlanta should really try hard to get as much out of Gator as they can. He is an incredibly talented main tank player when he is on point. They just need to get his consistency down pat as soon as they can.

This game should be a reminder to any OWL team that hasn’t gotten the message yet. Consistency is key. Make sure everyone is consistent, or else you will be left behind in season two.

Ashe Has Big Time Potential

Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

We admittedly didn’t see a whole lot of Ashe in the finals, but what we did see was immensely impressive. Simon “snillo” Ekström brought her out on Hanamura, and holy cow did he bring her out.  Sure, Ashe definitely has some problems. All heroes do. But with that kind of skill ceiling anything can happen.

The next meta is admittedly a bit of an unknown, but it doesn’t seem like it would necessarily hurt Ashe. D.Va and Brigitte nerfs are pretty good news for her, and a good Ashe should be able to deal with Reaper relatively easily so long as ol’ Gabe is kept at a distance.

Ashe could be a very interesting pick going into OWL Season 2. It doesn’t take watching this match to know that Ashe has a high skill ceiling, but this match does put into perspective what she can do. Teams should at least look into some strategies utilizing her as long as the meta doesn’t turn out to be too hostile to our outlaw friend.

There’s Still a Big Gap Between Contenders and OWL

Image Courtesy of Overwatch Contenders

Saying that these finals were’t exciting would be lying, but saying that they were crisp and well played wouldn’t be entirely true either.

There were some consistency problems as mentioned before, but some other flaws shone through. Questionable compositions (the attack Sym was fun to watch, but come on) and poor positioning headline these issues, but there were many smaller problems as well. Tanks going in without support. Bad ultimate usage. The list kind of drags on.

None of this would fly in the Overwatch League. The teams at the top level clamp down on every little mistake and make the opposing team pay. These players definitely have potential, but all of them have a lot to learn before they can make the jump.

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Featured Image Courtesy of Overwatch Contenders

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