PHILADELPHIA FUSION 1-2
NEPAL 0-2
Cockiness got the better of the Fusion on Nepal. On Sanctum, Philly managed to get the point to 99 percent but overextended. Florida managed to flip the map and hold it, despite Poko’s best efforts to back-cap. In a genuinely bewildering stage of events, the same thing happened on Shrine. The Mayhem took the map 2-0.
NUMBANI 4-3
Having Boombox out proved to be rough for the Philadelphia Fusion’s heal lineup. While both Elk and Neptuno are great healers, having Elk on off-healer did not seem to work for the team. Elk’s Lucio is better than Neptuno’s. There were countless times where Neptuno could have dropped beat to save SADO, but he was always a few seconds too late.
Thankfully, the Philadelphia Fusion managed to turn things around. They pushed the payload to Point B, which allowed a chance for Philly to redeem themselves. The Fusion full held on defense, meaning they only had to get one tick to win. With everything on the line for the Mayhem, Tviq went Pharah. His Pharah proved to be a big problem for the Fusion. Florida managed to hold the Fusion off until the very end. EQO and Carpe hard carried the Fusion during Overtime. With a perfect stun on Xepher, EQO, Elk, and Carpe managed to get the tick. Philadelphia took the map 4-3.
ANUBIS 4-4
Anubis was the most confusing map of the night. The Fusion started strong and managed to cap the second point with Elk on Tracer and Poko on Sombra. Unfortunately, Florida was also able to cap the second point when it came time to attack, and with more time in the bank. Things were rocky from here on out. The Fusion managed to hold on the first point when it came time to defend again, but so did the mayhem. In a truly stunning series of events, the map ended in a draw.
WHAT AN ENDING ON ANUBIS! #OWL2019@Fusion vs. @FLMayhem. It all gets decided on the next map.
Don't MISS IT: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/wRM9DmJVfT
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 22, 2019
ROUTE 66 0-1
The most disappointing map of the night, the Florida Mayhem dominated on Route 66. They managed to full hold the Fusion on the first point. The Mayhem decimated the Fusion’s defense, and Florida took both the map and the series. Florida won 0-1.
CONCLUSION
While being an offense minded support might have worked during Moth Meta, it does not work now. SADO was dead before team fights, leaving his teammates unprotected. While this is usually due to being over-extended, more times than not, SADO was with his team. Neptuno was late with dropping his beats, or he was focusing on getting kills. With Boombox out, Elk did his best to play the role of off support but was unable to make up for the lack of heals. Healing was a significant problem for the Fusion this series. If Philadelphia wants to do well in their match against the Dallas Fuel on Saturday, they need to work on their communication between their healers and tank line, especially if Boombox is to remain out sick for the rest of this weekend.
Be sure to tune in for the Philadelphia Fusion’s second match of the week against the Dallas Fuel at 4:30 PM EST on February 23!
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