After a successful first weekend, the Paris Eternal prepared to take on the New York Excelsior as their first battle of the week. The Excelsior remain one of the best teams in the Overwatch League, but there have been several times this season where cracks in their armor have been exposed. Would Paris be able to do the impossible?
STARTING SIX
Nicolas “NiCOgdh” Moret
Karol “Danye” Szcześniak
Benjamin “BenBest” Dieulafait
Finnbjörn “Finnsi” Jónasson
Harrison “Kruise” Pond
Luís “Greyy” Perestrelo
Nepal: Paris 1-2 NYXL
On Village, Paris decided to run Danye on everyone’s favorite Ice Queen, Mei. With Mei, Danye was able to cut off various members of the NYXL, securing picks for his team. The Eternal’s defenses were strong on this map, but the Excelsior would finally flip the point in their favor during overtime. It took a bit of poking and prodding from Paris, but eventually, Paris would flip the point and take the map on the back of one of Danye’s Blizzards. On Shrine, Danye would swap onto Zarya for a traditional GOATS composition. The battle for the point was a nail-biter on both sides. Neither team wanted to give up the point, but eventually, the New York Excelsior would take the point after Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang negated Danye’s Graviton Surge with transcendence. From there, the NYXL would dominate, and Paris would be unable to even get a toe on the point.
Finally, on Sanctum, both teams would run mirror Winston GOATS compositions. They would primarily play in the hallway on the opposite side of the point, and in a confusing move, NiCOgdh would rush out of position and into the angry beam of Dong-gyu “Mano” Kim. With NiCOgdh out of commission, NYXL would finally take control. Paris were able to capture the point during overtime; they would be able to hold it for a fair amount of time, but all good things eventually come to an end. Danye would accidentally take himself out, and Paris would begin to unravel. As chaos ensued on the point, Finnsi would throw a Self-Destruct and get himself taken out in the process. Danye would then trickle onto the point and throw a Hail-Mary Graviton Surge, but JJoNak would once again negate it with transcendence. Finnsi would attempt to go Wrecking Ball to stall the point, but the New York Excelsior would come out on top. Paris would lose Nepal 2-1.
Volskaya: Paris 0-2 NYXL
With Jong-ryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park subbed in, the Eternal were up for a significant challenge on Volskaya Industries. Saebyeolbe’s Sombra was nutty last weekend, and tonight he did not disappoint. Although Danye was also on Sombra, Saebyeolbe would out-class him easily. Being the first to land his EMP, Saebyeolbe would pave the way for the NYXL to wipe out the Eternal and take the first point. Paris would regroup, but their defense would not last for long. Danye would use his EMP in an attempt to stall the NYXL as they walked onto the point, but even with Finnsi’s Graviton Surge, there would be no follow up from the Eternal. The NYXL would cap both points with more than five minutes left in the bank.
On attack, Danye would get a pick on Saebyeolbe, but BenBest would get taken out mere seconds later. Paris was forced continuously to regroup as the NYXL took advantage of players being out of position. Danye would do his best to poke the backline, but with the team unable to group up properly, there was nothing that could be done. One EMP from Saebyeolbe would be all the NYXL needed to full hold the Eternal. Paris would lose Volskaya 2-0.
Numbani: Paris 1-3 NYXL
On Numbani, Paris hoped that they would be able to hold the NYXL off by running an Ana GOATS composition. Unfortunately, the NYXL would run a triple DPS composition that would take them by surprise. NYXL would cap the point with ease and begin the payload’s long trek through the city of Numbani. As the payload neared Point B, Paris would stabilize after Saebyeolbe missed his EMP on Kruise. Saving his team with Beat, the Eternal would invest most of their ultimates to stall. While this usually ends in disaster for most teams, Paris would be able to hold the NYXL off for quite some time. Even though BenBest would miss his shatter, he would still take out Sabyeolbe and Mano. Paris would whittle the time away for the NYXL, but eventually, the Excelsior would come back, and Paris would be unable to contest.
On attack, it would take some time for Paris, but eventually, they would capture the first point. Again, the Eternal would struggle with players being picked off for being out of position. As the clock neared overtime, they would start trickling in one by one instead of making an effort to regroup. One Graviton Surge from Yeon-kwan “Nenne” Jeong would be all the NYXL needed to hold the Eternal off. Paris would lose Numbani 3-1.
Dorado: Paris 2-1 NYXL
On Dorado, the Excelsior would sub in Yeon-oh “Fl0w3R” Hwang for Saebyeolbe. Frustrated, Paris’ defenses would quickly fall against Hae-seong “Libero” Kim’s Hanzo. With Taesung “Anamo” Jung also going ham on Lucio, the NYXL would push the payload through Point A. After that, something seemed to awaken within the Paris Eternal. The Excelsior would get close, but Greyy would take out the NYXL with ease after BenBest landed an Earthshatter on the NYXL. Taking control of the high ground, Paris would keep the New York Excelsior at bay for the remainder of their time bank.
On attack, the stream would cut out for most viewers, but Paid Chat would be able to watch from player’s perspectives. In a surprising turn of events, Paris would push the payload through Point A and be able to take out the NYXL during overtime on the backs of Kruise’s beat and Greyy’s Nano onto BenBest. Paris would win Dorado 2-1.
Final Score: NYXL 3-1 Eternal
CONCLUSION
Going into this match, fans knew it would result in a loss. They started strong on Nepal, but the NYXL were able to locate their weaknesses quickly. While things looked dire for a while, Paris did manage to turn things around on Dorado. The Eternal still has another shot for a win this weekend in their match against the Florida Mayhem.
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