After some notable delays to the schedule, our first fixture on Day 1 of the Atlantic Showdown saw Misfits facing off against Fnatic in a spirited battle of former team mates and friendly rivalries.

With King's Row being the predetermined as the first map for the opening matches in the groups, the action was set to begin in familiar surroundings. However, Misfits had no intention of making things comfortable though. Nevix started his LAN campaign as Overwatch's newest hero, Ana, rapidly building up a Nanoboost to unleash on skipjack's Reinhardt. Fnatic were more than ready for the demonic axeman and quickly kited backwards with a timely Speedboost from Vonethil's Lucio, baiting skipjack forward past the taxi in to the waiting arms of Stoop who promptly pinned his fellow shieldman with a well-timed charge. At the same time coolmatt69 had found himself in possession of an early Graviton Surge, which he used to isolate the rest of Misfits and tee up buds Reaper to clean house.

That was just the first play of the first half of the first map, but was to be a foreshadowing of how the rest of this match-up would play out. Fnatic with great reads on a typically aggressive Misfits side and big plays from big players. Push #2 saw Misfits commit deep on a Sound Barrier advantage, but fail to secure the kill on the enemy Lucio, cue the counter Sound Barrier into iddqd's Deadeye and Misfits wipe again. Push #3 was a scrappy one, but forced out a sloppy Transcendence from Custa and gave Misfits a glimmer of hope in what was fast becoming a nightmare start to the tournament. Zebbo's boys would finally capture Point A on the fourth time of asking as the round timer was entering single digits, earning another 3 minutes to hit the mean streets of London town.

Misfits would eventually deliver the payload in overtime to set a time of 9:05, but, as noted by the desk's intriguing smile analysis, they looked visibly shaken. Both halves on the map would be punctuated by ineffective Graviton's from both coolmatt69 and Kryw, but ultimately it was Fnatic who proved to be the more effective aggressors, setting a winning time of 7:25 despite Misfits clearly growing in confidence from their shaky start.

1-0 Fnatic.

A trip to Nepal was next on the itinerary as Misfits cashed in their loser's pick and ran for the safety of their go-to KOTH comfort zone. Mirrored compositions were the order of the day. Zarya, Winston, Reaper, Tracer, Lucio and Zenyatta clashed with their doppelgangers on the opening Shrine stage (which would be the closest of three rounds played) producing a nail-biting 100-99 win for Misfits - baiting out a Fnatic Graviton and leaving just enough time for them to come back in with their own and steal control and the round. Misfits had shaken off the nerves by the time the second round concluded with a brutal 100-0 beat down on Sanctum and didn't appear even slightly phased by buds' switch to Genji.

Round 3 on Village started the same as the other two, with the death of Stoop's Winston (who was far more prolific today on Reinhardt) and Misfits with early control. They held the high ground and maintained control with miserly use of their ultimates in the face of continued Fnatic pressure. Kryw with a great read on one such raiding party caught nearly all of Fnatic in his Graviton, but support ults won out and Fnatic would survive to grab control after buds dropped in from the heavens with a flanking Death Blossom – another recurring theme in the fixture. Minutes later Misfits would deny buds his final chance to deliver another clutch Blossom, sealing out the round 100-77 and taking the map in emphatic 3-0 fashion.

Fnatic 1-1 Misfits.

Although it was Fnatic's loser's pick, both teams entered the third map, Dorado, with impressive historical win rates – it was apparently anyone's map. Misfits choosing to attack first opened with a skipjack Winston and Zaprey Tracer. The emphasis on closing the distance and getting in their opponents faces worked out well as Fnatic opted not to hold the ramp choke point, instead giving their opponents oceans of space and choosing to defend with their backs against the wall at the capture point. The perfect storm saw Misfits breeze through and take the 1st Point in 48 seconds and then continue to skirmish through the streets with SoOn's Reaper instrumental in delivering the payload to the courtyard area.

Misfits safety was not assured though, as coolmatt69 produced out a Graviton Surge right before the gates of the power station that would force out multiple ultimates from the rampant rabbits and set Stoop up for a momentous five-man Earthshatter to reset the offense. Scrappy back and forth action saw the payload creep closer to the objective as lives and ultimates were traded continuously. At one point realising he gifted the enemy the Graviton advantage, coolmatt69 switched up to D.Va and began munching Kryw's ults like Pacman. His team still got slammed in that fight despite his best efforts. Just in the nick of time Stoop came screaming of spawn to deny Misfits closest push, but it was buds Reaper that put the final nail in coffin of the attackers dreams of completing the map.

Fnatic's turn to attack and a prolonged staring match in the market place swings their way when Misfits blink first - SoOn and Kryw get caught out of position and body bagged. Minimal casualties are incurred by Fnatic as they secure the capture on their first attempt. They go on to fall foul of some trademark aggressive defence from Misfits as the payload passes through the streets, but bounce back from that reset with a huge speedboosted flank play from iddqd and Vonethil snaking through the Bank to appear on the high ground from behind, left clicking SoOn before finding two more with a Deadeye from above and ensuring Fnatic reach the LumériCo Power Station.

From there the action resets and Misfits rebuff their first advance toward the heart of the reactor, but on the second attempt Fnatic push the payload right up to the threshold before a missed charge by Stoop leaves his team mates exposed and Misfits regain their foothold on the defence. Their respite is only a brief one though as Fnatic find success with their next assault and take Dorado with 2 minutes to spare.

Fnatic 2-1 Misfits.