The last monthly tournament of the Summer Showdown had a disappointing finish after the Dynasty made a miracle run through the Hangzhou Spark, Guangzhou Charge and faced the Shanghai Dragons during the May Melee. Can the Seoul Dynasty claw their way back after the rough four games leading up to the Countdown Cup? With the Spark picking the Dynasty as their opponents because of their losing streak, there is even more motivation to show that the Spark picked the wrong team to go up against. Most important they need the extra wins that placing high gives a team as the team is currently sitting in 12th place.
Courtesy of China OWL
The Hangzhou Spark and the Seoul Dynasty have an interesting history together. The Spark knocked the Dynasty out of the Season 2 playoffs, and then the Seoul Dynasty paid that back in favor by knocking them out of the May Melee. They aren’t close on social media like the NYXL and the Seoul Dynasty. The Spark are also not rivals with the Dynasty. There is no bad blood between the two teams, but they also seem to cross paths in essential matches to move on to bigger matches within the tournaments.
Photo Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment.
These two did meet at the beginning of the Countdown Cup in a 3:0 fashion in favor of the Spark. That day Dongeon ‘FITS’ Kim was not having the best performance. The major issue was in the coordination. This is something that the team has struggled with throughout the Countdown Cup, but in the recent matches has shown improvement. It is the small mistakes that need to be fixed. The one ult that was panic thrown in during a losing fight, the staggers, or not resetting that makes the Dynasty lose. They played a five match set with Chengdu, had two close maps with the Dragons as well as the Charge. It needs to be tightened up. They need that in-game leadership, an Injae ‘Esca’ Kim, to tell them when they have a 5 minute time bank to not let their guard down and to stay calm.
The Spark have shown in previous matches the long wrap around on maps that need to watch out for so not to be surprised by it. The Dynasty has shown good collapsing of targets, which needs to be on point when the Spark goes too aggressive. The biggest issue is going to be shutting down the blades from Minho ‘Architect’ Park.
Prediction: 3:2 Seoul Dynasty
There are a few aspects that go the way of the Seoul Dynasty when looking at this match up. First is that ‘it’ tournament factor. Junyoung ‘Profit’ Park, Seungtae ‘Bdosin’ Choi and Jaehui ‘Gesture’ Hong have always played up the tournament standard when it is needed. Examples of this would Season 1 play offs and the May Melee when they rose to the challenge. Second is the improved planning. The strategies seem to be more prepared, the players are more flexible in changing heroes mid match (FITS attack Torb). Seoul Dynasty needs to come out strong to build their confidence and have that in-game leader that keeps the team both motivated but also level headed.
Courtesy of OWL
Bebe during the Spark’s last matches have come up clutch. His Ana play delayed pushed with massive bio grenades. His sleeps were reminiscent of some of the Jehong ‘Ryujehong’ Ryu sleeps that were prominent in APEX. The was a massive part in the Spark being able to drain the time-bank on maps, which the Dynasty had issues with when the Guangzhou Charge did the same tactic in their match in Week 26. If the Dynasty are able to either dive or use their barriers to cut off healing that could force Bebe off to another hero which would be huge. The strong support could swing the fights either direction, so the performance of Bebe would be integral to the outcome of the match.
Will the Seoul Dynasty be able to perform like they did in the May Melee. Can they make lightning strike twice? What the Seoul Dynasty needs to get their spirits back up in a long run in the tournament. The best scenario would be for the Seoul Dynasty to face up again against the Shanghai Dragons. They could get a second crack at defeating their friendly foe of the Dragons to get redemption.
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