LET'S FUCKING GO! C9 almost threw that defense, but game 5 baby.

My boi SPACE go get em!

This defense from C9 though. Holy shit I'm actually impressed by their progress.

Not expecting a crazy performance tbh, but just a joy to see those guys together.

https://twitter.com/A_Seagull/status/916716000791236608

Another way to add in a few thousand viewers to the mix.

POOOGCHAMP

Mikey oh my! C9 on fucking fire right now.
God LAN Overwatch is something else. Never been more happy being wrong in a prediction than right now.

nV 3-0 FNRGFE
FaZe 3-2 eV

Misfits 3-0 C9
Gigantti 3-1 123

https://twitter.com/mattr0d/status/916673751630139397

It's a very unlucky situation.

Also, anytime Poi, always learn a big deal about the EU scene thanks to you.

He made the jump from translator to assistant coach though, you really think that's standard ?

And who said anything about Huk coaching the team ? His title is president of gaming, like does he have to be top 500 *5 on 3+ accounts for that too ?

Either way, let's wait and see what team Boston has before talking shit about the guy.

Really dude ? LuL

I agree that his Rein wasn't at a top tier level in pro play, but his monkey was insane imo. Only tank I'll agree with you on as equally deserving to get an OWL spot is Christfer who is a beast, the other 3 I'll have to disagree with.
It's complicated to talk about meritocracy in a heavily team based game like OW, but it's safe to say that the Arc6 guys grinded the fuck out of this game to get where they got, especially knowing about their situation with Denial. Placed 3rd in their first OMM ever then won the next one, was quite impressive. Tonic and Mowzassa haven't won anything, Skipjack won DH 2016 but has been replaced a couple of times after the big EU roster shuffle (although I'd put Tonic above the other 2 just for his performance in Contenders S1).
There's also less exposure about the underground EU scene where some of these players come from so that might've hurt them too.

As for Dante and Neptuno, they don't fill the same heroes as Danteh so it's hard to compare them. Also there are plenty top tier flex/main supports LFT in NA only (which makes it easier for the orgs if they're already based in or from NA). Always thought Toxiken was a sick player, what happened to Dignitas was really unlucky as they had really strong players, but he has dropped off the radar for a while as well. Unfixed is just not on the same level for me tbh.
I'd love to see Snillo in OWL though, haven't heard of him before Contenders and he really popped off, but he really only played Tracer, so it's hard to gauge his hero pool just from that.
2easy is a weird case, I don't really know why he didn't get picked up, maybe orgs are afraid of his 'bad image' ? I always thought he was fine but maybe there are things going on that we don't know about. He definitely deserves to be in, just to spam LAN 2easy PogChamp every game.
I also wanna see Finnsi, that guy is a god.

On a side note, Danteh has picked up Tracer in one month between the 2 OMMs and popped off in May's. Even outplaying Sinatraa a few times who was, at the time, already considered one of the best Tracers in NA. Also played Genji, Sombra and Zarya really well.

Unfortunately, there are factors that can largely hinder one's purely based on skill merit for a spot (attitude in/outside the game, chemistry with other players, etc). I appreciate you sticking out for the EU boys though, it's kinda sad that S1 will be heavily NA oriented, but hopefully after a season or 2, scouting will develop and also some teams will be based in EU to create more opportunities for them.

Only big club he worked in before becoming a coach was Barcelona, and it was during their 5-6 year 'title drought', under Robson/Van Gaal. But that's not the point. My point was sometimes people put their trust in a person they think is qualified for the job, and it payed off for Porto. And that's one example among very many.

No one in Huk's spot has accomplished anything yet in OW, don't see why he's getting the garbage end of the stick.

I don't downvote formulated opinions, I actually enjoy discussing topics with people who have different points of view.

You don't need to apologize my friend, it's an understandable opinion. Also out of curiosity, if you were to make a shortlist of people not in OWL to replace them, who'd be on it ?

What has Mourinho done besides being a translator ? Some people get shit done and whoever it matters to feel it can work.

Never been a fan of Huk's, in fact I thought he was really really bad on the desk (and he got roasted for it), but maybe behind the scenes he knows how to pull shit off behind the scene.

Not saying it is, but might be a reason. Especially in the hitscan role, there are many players to chose from.
And an org dropping 20 mil on a spot doesn't mean they have green light to spend left and right. Everything's on a budget in businesses. Housing, player and staff salaries, everyday life, etc.
So if a player like aKm has a buyout fee (which he most likely has), some orgs might think it's better to pick a 'downgrade' for free or at a cheaper price.

I see a lot of people saying teams bring in who they know, but isn't that how it works everywhere, honestly ? Networking and public image (not talking about being the 'good nice guy' here) are also very important.

Danteh and xQc are really good at what they do though.
I understand that people might not like them and others personality-wise, completely fair, but can't take away that they're talented players.

I think Soon and Unkoe will be the only survivors of the Rogue break up too, which is kinda sad tbh cause I liked Rogue.

How does one even come up with this ? We only know of 3-4 rosters out of 12, which are not even complete given what has been announced.

Also sad for aKm, I think this is the downfall of bringing a full french (one nationality in general) roster to NA and perhaps didn't make that exposure a player of his caliber would want in this situation happen. Only 76 that I think of better than him worldwide would be Dafran. Top tier hitscan all around.
It'll be a long year for some talented players sadly.

Lookin good

If Gods joins EnVy I'm gonna flip. One of smartest players and definitely the best flexer in the game. Literally can play anything. Also one of the funniest guys in the scene and shiniest head by far.
I'm not sure about his relationship with Seagull though and whether it was one of the reasons old LG broke up, but if we can get Seagull and Gods back together I'll be a happy camper.

I'm thinking back up main tanker. And maybe an extra flex player specialized in offtanks (an extra Hog player wouldn't hurt, especially if they wanna run Widow), they got everything else covered.

Envy were slumping way before that. When they lost their 56 (57?) win streak. And you could make the ongoing meta a case for every team that's succeeding/not succeeding.

Point being, people are too quick to draw conclusions. LH and EnVy have been at the top for multiple months and across different metas, that's what it means to be a great team. Can't expect teams, no matter how good they are, to dominate forever.

Guys chill it's 2 series.
People were saying same things about EnVy when they were slumping look at them now...
People were saying the same thing about Meta Athena at one point and look at them now...

Let's not jump in to some unlucky conclusions shall we.

Makes sense I guess. The Gladiators entering the Coliseum, aight aight.

Although I doubt it'll be the LAN venue but who knows.

Bischu is rumoured to be on an OWL team (LA Gladiators) already.
Was watching his stream yesterday for the first time, and legit it's a Zarya Dva masterclass. Guy's so good.

SF Shock sounds good to me actually. Plenty you can do with skins too. NY Excelsior is 50-50 for now, gotta get used to it, just like Fuel.

Rolled and Smoked.

WhoRU hasn't showed up either, bar a couple plays. He's been consistently shut down by Gesture and WOOHYAL who are playing out of their minds right now.

This was not just Gido getting outclassed. Profitt popped off but HaGoPeun absolutely massacred Jehong on Zen. Better at building ults and using them, not getting picked first as much as Jehong did.

But as much as I want Busan to take this, I bet LH will win at the end. Give me the upset BlessRNG

Gido not getting a highlight clip monkaS

https://twitter.com/Reinforce/status/916242320315514880
https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/74hk42/possible_san_francisco_overwatch_team_name/

What you guys think ?

Don't add this guy, he promotes not joining voice chat Kappa

Same here. I got 4.

Umm what's wrong with that exactly ? It's not like a burden to go to LA and play LAN finals...
And the previous round was 8 weeks of online play, so unless you want teams playing at 100+ ping vs ~20, it is the only way for this to work.

Don't you mean on adderall ?

Fair point. I just thought it was too generic, like picturing them in a team meeting brainstorming about names for 5 hours then you get this one guy that just wants to get the fuck outta there pitching the LA Gladiators lol.
I can see the logo and skins being really good, I hope so at least, it's just the name that sticks for me when introducing a new team.

Also LuL at Cleveland Browns, made me chuckle.

I don't know man. Seems like the first person who threw a mainstreamish name for a sports team got it. What does Gladiators have to do with LA or Overwatch anyhow ? :thinking:
Honestly prefer Dallas Fuel over LA Gladiators, but that's just me.

I really don't know what to make of Dallas Fuel. I need to get used to it... Sounds weird in my mouth

EU and NA will play their respective bracket. It’s to make things clearer. I wish we had a grand finals BO7 between the winners of the 2 brackets though.

I'd love to join in but I'm using headphones which for some godly reason don't allow me to speak in voice chat (read somewhere that headphones don't allow you to communicate in game although I'm sure some people are able to with them).
So if anybody got any ideas on how to solve this issue, would be much appreciated.
Also I'm a fresh out of college broke dude, so I'm saving a little before getting myself a proper headset.

I don't see how this is Mercy nerfed to oblivion. To put things in perspective, and in a realistic scenario.

Best and most case scenario is Mercy having res and Valkyrie at the ready, which means an instant double resurrection. When a team has a 2 man advantage, that team won the fight. Not only Mercy cancels all that, but she gets to res someone else 10 seconds afterwards, and rarely do you see a team getting 2 kills at the exact same time in ranked (bar the use of a grav combo or a similar wiping combo), so it's safe to say that 3 people on the enemy team are gonna be brought back to the fight if the Mercy manages to stay alive.

I 100% agree that the game needs more supports, but I don't know about '1 trick DPS mains'. That's contradictory. If they can fill multiple heroes at a specific role, it's fine. Plus DPS players willing to flex for the team have more incentive to play support if it's Ana or Zen as it is the closest in that role to what they main. And the only support that has been nerfed in the last few months is Mercy, since yesterday (in PTR).
Also, competitive is in a bad place because of individual SR gains that have stacked for 4 seasons now, matchmaking literally being a joke more often than not, one tricks (all of them, even a Rein 1 trick is bad in the long run) and toxicity (which is a way more complicated topic than the community give it credit).

I will agree that taking away her movement speed is a bit too much, I would've preferred a reduced speed kinda nerf. But no one can realistically argue that the res nerf is too much, doubling the res distance during Valkyrie is a good compromise. Her ult is still good too, group heals for full hps and 30% damage increase is nothing short of useful when played correctly.
Honestly, only players enjoying new Mercy are Mercy players, I don't blame them, but she was definitely broken.
It is Blizzard's fault for giving her too much in one go imo, but when you see people like EeveeA complaining about quitting the game just because she got toned the fuck down is borderline childish, and ridiculous if you ask me.

Mercy wasn’t just top 3, she had a spicy 98% pick rate. That by itself is insane.
I’m on phone so can’t type much right own but I will write about this tomorrow.

Apparently neither Muma, CoolMatt nor Flame have spoken to Wolf. Some people are kinda pissed about that article.
But leaks are welcome here, we can keep secrets KappaRoss.

Besides instant ult depletion, Mercy's res doesn't reset after casting Valkyrie, and the cooldown stays at 30 seconds.

Fucking. Finally.
Don't know if it's enough, but it's a start.

When I read the title I thought we'd get leaks monkaS.

Good insight on EnVy's origin story and well written too.

Well I meant in a tournament setting, Arhan only plays Genji and Tracer as you said. But Recry plays all hitscans, Pharah and Mei at least.
I get that every team needs a DPS that can flex around and a specialist, but Arhan has been really underwhelming since S1. He has been doing better in S3 (and probably S4) but still, feels kinda weird cause to me Recry has been consistent since the OG Afreeca days.

This is good to know. Also I have a question about Arhan and Recry. It always seemed to me that Recry was way more consistent at a top level, why is Arhan still regarded as the 'better' DPS in AF ?
I haven't watched their S4 games so I might be wrong here, but to me Arhan only really popped off in APEX S1. Not a big fan of either if I'm being honest but Recry has a way larger pool than his counterpart, seen him play pretty much anything and deliver. Also one of the few great Mccrees in Korea.

On a side note, big feelsbad for Hoon, I think he suffered the most (out of the top korean Zaryas) from the meta change. He was nutty to watch in the Meta rolling days.

This is fucking gold. Although I don't understand how the team name is 4 legs and you refer to Orisa's back legs as pointless :thonking:

LAN Nomy PogChamp. Let's go 123.

Hit it Meza.

Cypher, Forsak3n and Anak all have double nationality (listed on their Liquipedia pages) so I believe that's the reason here, although Cypher never played for team Russia if my memory serves me correctly.
Sharyk was an exception, I'm guessing because it was a last minute issue and they were in need of a main tank (who was supposed to main tank for team Russia this year anyway ? I forgot).