The winner advances to the Stage 2 Playoffs, and the loser commences their Stage 3 preparations. This was everything that one could hope for in an Overwatch League match. Scrappy and long team fights, momentum shifting back and forth, the excitement was through the roof. Only one team advanced, and it worked in the favor of the Hangzhou Spark.
Final Score: Spark 3 – 1 Dynasty
Lijiang Tower: Seoul 2 – 0 Hangzhou
In excellent fashion, the teams walked out of spawn in a classic GOATs bash in the first round. The Dynasty looked fantastic, reaching up to 99% right away as they effectively focused Spark players each fight. Seong-Wook “Ria” Park gave Seoul some issues, spreading the team with his Self-Destruct and eating Dong-eon “FITS” Kim’s Graviton surge. Both teams at 99%, poor positioning by Cai “Krystal” Shilong was capitalized on by FITS and led to a hard carry.
After a drawn-out first fight in the second round, both teams prepared to unleash their six ultimates. In-hyuk “Michelle” Choi swung the fight in the Dynasty’s favor, eating Kyeong-bo “GodsB” Kim’s Graviton Surge. Hangzhou would soon fight back, as the Spark caught FITS getting greedy for eliminations, swaying the next fight in Hangzhou’s favor. Min-seo “Marve1” Hwang provided a huge help in the final fight, landing a Fire Strike to eliminate Ria and stalling long enough on Hammond to win the map 100-99%.
Hanamura: Hangzhou 4 – 3 Seoul
Hanamura provided the momentum that the Spark would carry throughout the rest of the map. In the first defense, Marve1 struggled to find an effective Shatter, missing Hui-chang “BeBe” Yoon and his Transcendence. After a Ria Self-Destruct took two Dynasty players, the Spark capped easily. Seoul wouldn’t complete their attack as fast, put provided effective plays through Michelle’s D.Va bomb that cause the Spark to split. This led to Hangzhou being peeled one by one, and the Dynasty eventually capped after some Spark stalls.
Seoul came out aggressively in overtime, and it both helped and hurt them. The Dynasty pushed Hangzhou out of the point without an elimination, garnering two quick ticks. Once the Spark became uncoordinated and tried to push through in a panic, Seoul melted the team in pink. The Dynasty’s final push on attack had a Jehong “ryujehong” Ryu pick and another Michelle-eaten Graviton, but FITS falling started the slow decline of a failed second cap. The Spark would slide through the Dynasty easily on their push, as Marve1 missed a shatter that led to an ultimate advantage for Hangzhou. The Spark quickly capped A and eventually gathered the tick on B.
Blizzard World: Hangzhou 5 – 4 Seoul
The Dynasty faced off against the Spark’s Sombra-GOATs, and there was just no answer on their attack. Every EMP by GodsB melted Seoul, his Sombra so efficient that he had one player hacked every 12 seconds. This wasn’t the end of the lopsided round, as the Dynasty only mustered three eliminations to the Sparks’ 29. Seoul completed their attack in the exact same amount of time as Hangzhou, 1:30 left in the timebank. The Dynasty left Xu “guxue” Qiulin flabbergasted, as FITS, ryujehong and Marve1 sent him back to spawn during the round.
FITS continued to play well into overtime, releasing another effective Graviton and making the final picks. Hangzhou would reach all the way out to 98 meters though, and the Dynasty needed a strong push in order to win out. Michelle released an astounding bomb on Seoul’s overtime push, picking two eliminations that lead to a team kill. Just before the golden box though, the Spark held the Dynasty alongside Jaehwan “Adora” Kang picking off Marve1 with the swing of Brigitte’s mace.
Rialto: Hangzhou 4 – 3 Seoul
The Dynasty needed a near-perfect Rialto in order to save their playoff hopes. The Spark got to attack first, and they were making Marve1 run the marathon. The main tank was eliminated four times within the first three team fights. Seoul didn’t win a single fight until Hangzhou was just about to complete the map, but Ria’s self-destruct picked Jin-mo “tobi” Yang and led to map completion.
The Dynasty fought tooth-and-nail on their attack to stay alive, and eventually they completed their Rialto attack. After capping Point A quickly, a light-hearted coincidence happened as FITS was booped onto the moving boats in the canal, still alive to right-click as he took the ride. The fun ended shortly after, as Ho-jin “iDK” Park booped a shattered ryujehong, FITS and Sang-beom “Munchkin” Byeon off the map. Marve1 carried Seoul through the map on their final push, shattering three Spark players to end the round in overtime.
Overtime was short, and disheartening for the Dynasty. In the only team fight for Seoul’s attack, Adora quickly made work of tobi with a shield bash. When Hangzhou moved into the offense, GodsB was a man on a mission, eliminating three Dynasty players to secure a spot into the Stage 2 Playoffs.
😆@Fits_ow just enjoying the scenery in Rialto. #OWL2019
The @SeoulDynasty are fighting to tie up the series & grab the Stage 2 Playoffs spot!
Join us & find out if they can do it: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/dmgGSgC3j2
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 6, 2019
CONCLUSION
The Dynasty didn’t make the Stage 2 Playoffs, but strangely dropped the final three maps after a win on Lijiang Tower. They couldn’t swing the momentum of the Spark, as Marve1 continuously either got caught first or missed an Earthshatter. It will be back to the drawing board for Seoul, having a favorable schedule for the next stage. The Dynasty will have another chance at the Spark, as they face off in Week 3.
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