Full of overtime pushes, game-changing ultimates, and incredible solo efforts, the series between LW Blue and RunAway earlier this morning was one of OGN Overwatch APEX’s best yet. The semifinal match-up between the two teams was filled with big plays, as both showed their top level of play in order to make it to the finals of APEX Season 2. RunAway easily took the lead on the first map, Lijiang Tower. LW Blue looked slow and uncoordinated on the first map and failed to capture a single point. A strange King’s Row led to an LW Blue win despite multiple mistakes. RunAway snowballed on Hanamura, while LW Blue clutched out a win on Route 66. The series culminated in an exciting finish on Eichenwalde, which led to RunAway’s map—and series—win. Both teams used one common Overwatch combo to great success through the series. Teams used their Ana and Genji to combine for the Nano Boosted, Dragon Blade. Kim “Kox” Min-soo and Kim “Haksal” Hyo-jong on RunAway went up against Jang “Luna” Gyeong-ho and Hwang “Fl0w3R” Yeon-oh for the best Nano Blade combo. Haksal showed his skill in this play on Lijiang Tower that pushed LW Blue further back into their spawn room.
Another great use of a champion’s abilities was showcased by Kim “Mek0” Tae-hong on D.Va. Meko has been a consistently good D.Va player, and the change to her Defense Matrix (a projectile doesn’t have to travel a set distance to be blocked by the ability) made her a great counter to certain heroes with projectile ultimates. Meko often absorbed the Zarya ultimate to swing the fight in LW Blue’s favor. In this clip, Haksal has the Graviton Surge ready and is about to unleash it on LW Blue. It’s a bit hard to see, but Meko flies in and uses the Defense Matrix to get rid of the ult. Though Ryu “Kaiser” Sang-hoon got off a good Earthshatter, LW Blue still won the fight because of Meko getting rid of the Zarya ult.
LW Blue pulled off amazing overtime pushes on both Route 66 and Eichenwalde. On Route 66, their push allowed them to set a tough mark for RunAway to match in the second round and gave them the map win. This push started a few meters before the first point on the map. After a long team fight, LW Blue captured the point. Since it was the second round of attack and no extra time was added, LW Blue was forced to remain on the cart at all times. Their push ended just after they captured the second point.
On Eichenwalde, RunAway seemed to have held LW Blue as the time ticked off the clock. LW Blue only captured the first point and the payload was stopped underneath the bridge. Though the push seemed lost for LW Blue, they came back and pushed the map to the second point in overtime, eventually pushing the payload the length of the map with no time remaining. Despite the great plays and pushes from LW Blue, Kaiser had the final say in the series. An Earthshatter by Kaiser won RunAway both Eichenwalde and a spot in the finals. Kaiser’s play was stellar, often carrying RunAway to teamfight victories—and he made the play at the end of Eichenwalde that sealed the deal. With Janus’ attention focused elsewhere, Kaiser had no one contesting him for his ultimate. He swung his hammer down and knocked five LW Blue players to the ground. He got the Ana Nano Boost and proceeded to lead the charge in wiping out the opposing team. The magnitude of this Earthshatter cannot be understated; it was the highlight play of the series and possibly the entire tournament to this point.
There were many fantastic plays made in this series—too many to highlight. The series is a must-watch for any fan. It was a semifinal that felt like a final, as RunAway made their Cinderella run to the APEX season’s grand finals.
