The first two weeks of the stage saw a Paris Eternal that was seemingly on the rise. Their communication seemed a lot more improved, and it was the best that the Eternal had looked all season. Fans were hopeful that they would break their bad habit of stumbling mid-stage. However, Week 3 would throw the boys a massive hurdle in the forms of the Houston Outlaws and Boston Uprising.
Week 3
Unfortunately for Paris, the Houston Outlaws had been on a major success streak after a dismal first half of the season. More and more teams are starting to run DPS based compositions as the League heads into a supposed 2-2-2 lock next stage. Houston was using their DPS lineup to their advantage during this series. Powered by lemon water, Dante “Danteh” Cruz is one of the deadliest Sombra players in the league. Alongside Danteh, both Jacob “JAKE” Lyon and Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin are crazy good when unleashed. JAKE is most well known for his Junkrat, but his Pharah play stole the show. Watching him let justice rain down from above on the Eternal was tough for fans to watch.
With how great Houston had been looking, most fans did not expect Paris to come out with a win during that series. However, they did have a lot of hope for their game against the Boston Uprising, who the Eternal had defeated mere weeks earlier. Before this game, the Uprising were winless. Fans were confident that Paris would walk away with at least one victory this weekend. Things started great for Paris; they dominated on the first two maps, but the Kings of the Reverse Sweep came back with a vengeance after halftime.
Boston is another team that thrives when their DPS players are allowed to do what they do best. Both Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang and Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse popped off during this game on Pharah, Widowmaker and Doomfist. Alongside their DPS, Boston finally went back to their tried and true support line of Kristian “Kellex” Keller and Minseok “AimGod” Kwon after shuffling through different starting lineups for the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately for the Eternal, they would not be able to make a comeback and suffered another disheartening loss.
Players of the weekend: Danye and Finnsi
Despite the Eternal’s losses, they did have brief moments of greatness. Both Karol “Danye” Szcześniak and Finnbjörn “Finnsi” Jónasson popped off on Widowmaker during the Eternal’s game against the Boston Uprising. They also did well on Zarya. Out of the Eternal’s three designated Zarya players, Danye has proven to be the most successful. Both Terence “SoOn” Tarlier and George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha received a lot of flak this season for their Zarya gameplay. While Danye is the better Zarya out of the three of them, Finnsi being an actual flex tank makes him the better Zarya overall. Fans were excited to see him play more of everyone’s favorite Russian hero while Danye returned to his DPS role.
Week 4
Seoul Dynasty (3-2)
The Paris Eternal’s final match of the stage will be against the Seoul Dynasty. The Dynasty have had an okay stage thus far. Like Paris, they also had a great start at the beginning of the stage. They defeated the Florida Mayhem and Guangzhou Charge with ease. They also smacked down the Atlanta Reign., but with how poorly the Reign have been performing, it was hard to gauge whether or not Seoul was performing well.
The San Francisco Shock crushed Seoul, but it was their game against the Hangzhou Spark that showed what these boys are capable of. The Spark have been killing it this stage. The fact that the Dynasty were able to take them to a Map 5 was a significant indication for fans that their two lineup strategy is working in their favor. However, the Dynasty suffered a loss this week to their roster that may or may not put them at a disadvantage this week. Last night, the Seoul Dynasty announced the retirement of Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek. Fissure is a significant part of the Overwatch League’s history.
[ Thank you, Fissure ]#RoarOn pic.twitter.com/nvpyXlKQ3w
— Seoul Dynasty 🐯 (@SeoulDynasty) June 27, 2019
One of the best (most handsome) main tanks in the league, Fissure made a name for himself last year while playing for the Los Angeles Gladiators. His transfer to the Seoul Dynasty was quite controversial due to the issues surrounding why he did not play alongside his teammates during the season playoffs. Many thought Fissure was going to be on the starting lineup for Seoul this season, but he was relegated to Dynasty’s second lineup. While Seoul swapped him in now and then, he did not have as big of an impact with Dynasty as he should have. His retirement probably will not affect Seoul that much. Paris will have to be at the top of their game this week if they want any shot at taking the Dynasty down.
Prediction: Paris 1-3 Seoul
Player to watch: Benbest
Going up against Min-seo “Marve1” Hwang, Benjamin “BenBest” Dieulafait is going to have his work cut out for him. Marve1 is an incredible main tank; he has become the backbone of Seoul’s front line. Without Fissure there to sub in, everything now rests on Marve1’s shoulders. He will not be taking that responsibility lightly. BenBest is a good Reinhardt. He has proven himself to be capable when going up against other great main tanks in the league like Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth and Austin “Muma” Wilmot. However, the Eternal lack what the Dynasty have: excellent communication. Seoul is an incredibly well-coordinated team. Fans will be keeping an eye on BenBest during this series to see if Paris can work with him to possibly achieve one last victory.
Stay Connected
Follow me on Twitter: @Sybil_OW! I’m always happy to discuss anything I’ve written!
Follow The Game Haus for the latest on all things sports and esports:
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus Esports
Want to show off how much you like TGH? Check out our merch shop here!