Vancouver Wins 3-2
Starting Lineup
Xianyao “Yveltal” Li
Chungting “Kyo” Kong
Tianbin “Lateyoung” Ma
Wenjie “Elsa” Luo
Menghan “Ameng” Ding
Hu “Jinmu” Yi
Ilios
Lighthouse featured the Hunters running a Pharmercy with their trademark Wrecking Ball. This was as enjoyable to watch as ever, but it didn’t really work until the Hunters finally capped in OT. The Hunters then put together a somewhat messy but competent defense, but eventually the Titans broke through and took the round.
Ruins had the Hunters going with a comp that would have been GOATs if it weren’t for Ameng on the Wrecking Ball. This didn’t really immediately work out, but a positional error allowed Chengdu to take the point. This turned out to be a brief cap, however, as the Titans took the point back easily. The Titans then proceeded to put away the Hunters in relatively short order.
Titans win 2-0
Tzuheng “Baconjack” Lo in for Lateyoung
Hollywood
The Hunter’s defense featured Baconjack on Ashe, as well as an Orisa/Junkrat core. The Titans took some time to actually figure out how to work around this. The Titans eventually muscled through using some good positioning and took point A. The Hunters then went back to the Hammond, as well as a double sniper composition with Widow and Hanzo. This actually worked pretty well, with Baconjack coming in with some key picks. It wasn’t particularly clean, but the Hunters ended up halting the payload right before the point B checkpoint.
Triple DPS was on the menu for the Hunters on attack, with Tracer, Sombra, and Pharah being used. This allowed the Hunters to take point A relatively easily. The Hunters then began to lawnmower their way through point B, using the immense amount of pressure their comp provided to keep the Titans on the back foot. The Hunters were never stopped on Hollywood, taking the map with ease.
Hunters win 2-1
Anubis
The Hunters actually went with a 2-2-2, in a semi-dive utilizing Ana along with a Pharmercy, Sombra, D.Va, and, of course, Hammond. This was an interesting attacking strategy, and it actually worked, as the Hunters slowly wore down the Titans and took the point. The Titans prevented a snowball by coming in with a good hold. The Hunters then did the unthinkable and swapped to a GOATs comp. Chengdu was clearly not super comfortable on this, but they did get close to capping at the end.
The Hunters went with a Widow/Junk/Orisa composition on defense. The Titans adjusted and chose a Genji in order to counter this. It took some time, but the Titans did end up capping point A. A snowball attempt was foiled by a steadfast Hunter’s defense, and the Titans swapped back to GOATs. The Hunters managed to hold on, and the Titans were completely stymied by a excellent Hunters defense.
Hunters win 2-1
Route 66
The Hunters went with a double sniper on attack against a Vancouver team that featured McCree. This McCree shut down the Hunters completely, so Chengdu went over to GOATs. The Titans held for a little while longer, but Chengdu eventually muscled through. This momentum carried through to point B, where the Hunters almost capped on their first push through. The Hunters then shoved through and pushed into point C. The Hunters almost finished the map, but they were eventually stopped.
A Soldier: 76 made an appearance on the side of Chengdu. This didn’t work out at all, so the Hunters swapped to GOATs. Unfortunately, the Titans had already gained momentum, and point A was lost in relatively short order. The Hunters quickly bounced back and halted the Titans right after the checkpoint, but the Titans got going again relatively quickly. The Titans took point B and motored on towards the finish line. The Hunters finally stabilized before attempting to put together a stable defense, but the Titans eventually shoved through.
Titans win 3-2
Lateyoung in for Baconjack.
Nepal
The Hunters went back to their favorite hamster tank hero on Sanctum. The Titans took the map first, but the Hunters did take back the point relatively quickly. The Hunters then put together a decent defense, but Vancouver took the point back and didn’t relinquish control again.
Shrine had the Hunters go with a GOATs comp to start. The Titans came out on top to start the map off, and didn’t relinquish control until 77%. The Hunters then somehow managed to almost get the point into OT, and an incredibly scrappy last fight ended up going in the Titans favor.
Titans win 2-0
A Promising Performance
It is a shame that the Hunters couldn’t quite pull off the huge upset, but this is still a huge achievement. A team of underdogs that rarely plays along with the meta just took one of the league’s best teams to 5 games. That in of itself is a huge accomplishment, and the Hunters should be proud of themselves even if they didn’t get the W.
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Featured Image Courtesy of The Chengdu Hunters
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