Today, the third week of the Overwatch Apex league concluded with a couple of incredibly hyped matches. Today was that last day of Apex before a two week hiatus for BlizzCon. It was an incredible day of games, and in case you missed the action, we’ve got you covered with our recap.
Rhinos Gaming Titan (RGT) vs. Rogue
This match seemed predictable, with Rogue currently being hailed as the best team in the world. RGT looked to have an uphill battle as they would have to face Tviq in the middle of one of the most amazing hot streaks we’ve ever seen in Overwatch.
The series began on Nepal: Sanctum and Rogue quickly showed off their prowess. A poke heavy composition from the European team put so much pressure upon RGT and created room for AKM on McCree to fire freely. Rogue easily took the first point and carried their momentum onto Village.
Initially, on the second point, RGT was able to counter Tviq’s Bastion by using Claris’s Mei walls. But the crossfire Rogue had established was more than enough damage to hold the point until 99 percent, where RGT then benefited from a positioning mistake from Tviq, who dealt almost no damage, allowing RGT to capture the point temporarily. Rogue returned, and with their ultimate advantage, finished off RGT to take Nepal 2-0.
Rogue was on a mission to prove themselves as the best team in the world as the series moved to Numbani. RGT was able to find some traction on their attack but they were never able to start a snowball. Rogue constantly stalled them out and some insane McCree play by AKM was critical in stopping RGT from finishing the map.
Rogue once again went for their notorious Bastion on the high ground, but RGT was more than prepared for it and Claris on Genji reflected the damage right back at Rogue. But once Rogue went to a more standard composition, they hit their stride and crushed through point A and the streets phase, only to be held mere feet from winning the map. Some key shielding from Reinforce’s Reinhardt created the space for his DPS players to work, and they closed out the map and took a 2-0 victory.
For some strange reason, RGT took Hanamura as the Assault map, despite Rogue being famous for excelling on the map. However, RGT had so far been obviously prepared for some of Rogue’s tactical decisions, like their Bastion usage, so we would have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, we were let down.
RGT attempted to use the Mei wall to maneuver their team around the side of the second point to an area that normally requires a mobile hero to reach. It was going well, as each member of their team reached around the side, until their Bastion played by Munchkin failed to make the jump. This gave up the gambit and promoted RGT to reset their attack.
This wasted momentum ruined their lead and allowed Rogue time to establish their defense, and AKM continued to decimate the entire team of RGT with his McCree on the high ground. As such, RGT only captured a single point. When it came time for the Rogue offensive, it looked as if they may be held without capturing a single point.
But AKM continued his MVP performance, and swapped to Tracer to carry through point A. Unlike RGT, Rogue continued their momentum from the first point through the second to easily take both points and win the series 3-0.
Lunatic Hai vs. Team EnVyUs (nV)
While the last series had an obvious favorite in Rogue, this match was completely open ended. Lunatic Hai has been heralded as the best Korean team, while nV has already established themselves as the best North American squad. This match was incredibly important, as it would likely decide who left the group with the number one seed, and was a possible preview of a playoffs match.
As usual, the series began on Nepal, this time on Shrine, and it immediately went poorly for nV. They chose to run a single tank into the triple tank team of Lunatic Hai and they simply could not deal enough damage before they were killed. An amazing quad-kill Death Blossom from InternetHulk allowed nV to capture the point briefly, but they were unable to maintain their lead and Lunatic Hai took the first point.
The second point was Village, and once again, nV fell behind early. Both teams got desperate to take the point and constantly threw themselves at the objective. Both teams coordinated their ultimates poorly and the fight turned into a brawl. In the end, both teams had 99 percent captured, but Lunatic Hai managed to scrape together the point, taking Nepal and the series lead 1-0.
For the second time on the night, the second map was Numbani. nV moved steadily through the map off of the momentum picks Taimou’s Roadhog created. But the lack of Reinhardt in nV’s composition was punished by the Graviton and Deadeye combination from Lunatic Hai, which turned the match and stalled nV in the streets phase for the remainder of their time. As such, nV failed to even finish the second phase of the map.
Harryhook decided he was sick of leaving the carrying to his allies and switched to his famous Soldier 76. His consistent damage from the high ground saved nV in multiple fights where they initially lost players. Lunatic Hai failed to adapt their composition in order to dive the Soldier in the backline and were unable to even capture a single point, giving nV the map and tying the series 1-1.
The series now went to the least hated of all assault maps, Temple of Anubis. Both teams ran triple tank compositions with a Mei, and on the initial point of Lunatic Hai’s attack, it was the supports of nV who were coming up with the frags. But Lunatic Hai wasn’t discouraged; they continued to attack and eventually found the picks they needed to capture the first point. InternetHulk hit a beautiful six man Graviton to reset their attack on point B, as Lunatic Hai used their famous ultimate coordination to return and take both points with just over two minutes in the time bank.
When it came time for nV to attack, it was actually Esca accidently using Blizzard that opened up a chance for them to attack point A. They were stalled until only a minute was left on the clock, and it left them with little time to attack. They attempted to rush straight to point B, but some heroic individual plays from Miro and his famous Winston allowed Lunatic Hai to hold strong and take Temple of Anubis.
For the first time tonight, we went to a fourth map, and the payload map of the series was Dorado. Also, for the first time in this series, Talespin truly came into his own. His Pharah and Taimou’s Reaper played tag team to crush through the first point on their offense. Lunatic Hai did at least swap Esca onto McCree to attempt to deal with Talespin’s Pharah, but it was an ineffective answer.
It wasn’t until Dean on Reinhardt changed up his play to a more aggressive style that Lunatic Hai was able to stall nV underneath the bridge. They never found their momentum again and failed to finish the second phase of the map. The pressure was now on nV to have a strong defense to keep their series life alive.
nV went all-in on a first point defense, and ran a single support composition, which allowed Harryhook to play Roadhog and Tracer in order to add another massive damage source. It nearly worked, but an odd flank from Esca’s Mei froze most of nV in place and allowed Lunatic Hai to finish the first phase of the map in overtime.
In the streets phase, Esca once again dealt the damage he needed to. Supported by Tobi’s Lucio, he was able to set up a couple of critical Deadeyes in order to force nV off the payload and allow Lunatic Hai to close the map, taking the series 3-1.
Who do you think will best use the two week break for BlizzCon to prepare for the rest of the season? Comment below or tweet your answer to us @GAMURScom.
GGs, Elbion
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