After a nervous performance at the Atlantic Showdown that disappointed, many were cautious of predicting big things for Misfits. They had no need to fear though as they looked utterly sublime against LG with a 3-0 victory on Nepal and a 3-1 domination on Hollywood.

Misfits came into the Overwatch Open without two of their usual roster and with their former support on dps. Hidan and ryb had meshed well and given them a strong result in the Lenovo Cup but now they were on the big stage. LG came onto a hot streak shortly after signing with Luminosity but had begun to cool down just before the tournament. Misfits, despite their Atlantic Showdown performance and their roster shakeup, came into Group B expected to do well as the dark horse of the tournament.

The map elimination left Nepal, King’s Row, and Hollywood for the teams to play.

Nepal

Misfits kicked things off on Village with a Tracer/Reaper composition alongside Hidan on Zenyatta. They took control of the point where Kryw reigned supreme until an offensive Transcendence let LG back in. LG’s aggressive Tracer and Genji defense kept the Misfits on their toes, powered by star players Eissfeldt and Tseini. It took a setup with Sound Barrier and their own Transcendence for Misfits to regain the point and take the round. Nepal began with very disciplined ultimate-focused gameplay, Misfits edging it with the initial cap to go up 1-0.

Temple next and Eissfeldt immediately went deep and got three kills on Reaper. LG took it to 46% before Zebbosai’s team capped but they quickly stole it back with the aid of Manneten. During OT for LG both Zen ultimates were popped, but it was SoOn and Zebbo who turned the tide of the fight and brought Misfits back into the round. The round reached a climax as Misfits also reached 99%; SoOn again got crucial picks onto the supports of LG and they couldn’t breach the highground. LG wiped to go down 0-2.

Misfits trapped their opponents in balcony on Sanctum but couldn’t handle Eissfeldt as he burst out and picked up two kills with his shotguns. The two teams traded time on point as they tied things up, flipping the point back and forth to 60%. Misfits generated an ultimate advantage by winning their teamfights with raw deathmatch and were able to roll that into lead in the round. LG got back in and captured but as they pushed forward to lock Misfits out SoOn slipped behind and backcapped. Luminosity stumbled back towards the centre of the map but were annihilated in their retreat, losing the map 3-0.

Hollywood

Misfits started on attack and had an opportunity to begin strong in the Overwatch Open. ryb stormed into the back lines as Winston as Nevix engaged on Genji, but were easily dealt with. Hidan chose not to run an Ana for the attack, instead piling damage into the opposition as he had on Nepal. A huge Dragon Blade by Nevix wasn’t enough to take the point and the repush with Sound Barrier was looking shaky until Kryw generated his Graviton Surge. The black hole sucked LG’s hopes for a solid forward hold into the ether and unlocked the payload.

A series of cleverly set up teamfights let them drive the limousine further through the streets of Hollywood, giving them just under four minutes to crack the warehouse defense. Nevix swapped off to Mei and his team battered away LG, dismissing them to finish the map with 2:15 still in their timebank.

LG had a tough ask to reply. In a change from the norm both teams independently decided to run Ana for the round, showing her face first on the side of Misfits as SoOn’s Nanoboosted Reaper helped hold off the attack. In the midst of a Blizzard from Nexiv, Eissfeldt came in to show he could perform on Reaper too and let his team get the cart rolling with three kills.

Eissfeldt and Manneten continued to play at an excellent level, helped by Mineral, but LG simply couldn’t get through the streets. Every time they battled through to the end, spawners were coming in fresh from the fight and ready to meet them. Misfits pushed up their defense to the first choke at every opportunity and hid SoOn on the roofs to cause mayhem in the ranks.

As Goldenboy and Mr. X said at the time: if you hadn’t been told they were using stand-ins you would never have guessed. Their teamplay looked excellent as they stopped LG dead in the streets and won their first game of the tournament.

They went on to face Rogue to get out of groups.