This week, most Overwatch League teams were on a break. However, this does not mean there was no Overwatch action as the best players from the league faced off in the 2019 All-Stars.
Talent Takedown
This week, the Overwatch League took a break from their normal competition for two days of lighthearted, though high-caliber, Overwatch in the 2019 All-Stars event. The event featured many of the same modes from last year’s events, as well as some new ones. One of the more silly events returning from last year was the Talent Takedown. This match flipped the script, allowing casters and analysts from the Overwatch League to faceoff in a best of three matches. Like last year, some of the most popular players took on the role of casters for the match.
The casters and analysts were divided into two teams, representing each division. The Atlantic team consisted of Bren, Puckett, MonteCristo, DoA, Sideshow, Hexagrams, and Zoe. Opposing them was the Pacific team, featuring Mr X., Danny Lim, Mica, Uber, Achilios, Wolf, and Semmler. While certainly one of the more laid-back matches of the weekend, the match still highlighted some entertaining play. In particular, Bren showed off his prowess on Widowmaker as he helped secure the Atlantic team a 2-1 victory.
We were not prepared for the Bridowmaker! #OWL2019 @BrenCasts is taking NO prisoners today!
Join us for the Talent Takedown: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/VYRaiij7zH
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 16, 2019
While the Talent Takedown was entertainment, the real action began when the pros took the stage. The first team fans got a chance to see the All-Stars in action was during the All-Star Arcade. This best of five matches pitted All-Stars against each other with special roles, such as Support, Damage, and McCree only games. It also allowed players to show off their versatility with Tank players getting a chance to play Damage, and vice versa.
The Talent Takedown might have been dominated by the Atlantic Team, but the Pacific All-Stars struck back during the All-Star Arcade. They took convincing victories in the first map, a mode with three Genjis and three Hanzos on each team, as well as the second map when each team had six Supports. The third map had teams play all-damage team compositions. The Atlantic team was able prevail to bring the series to 2-1. However, the Pacific Team was able to wrap up the series on the fourth map featuring all McCrees. With their 3-1 victory, the Pacific All-Star team was able to assert their dominance in the first match featuring the All-Stars.
Widowmaker 1v1
The first night of the All-Star event concluded with a 1v1 Widowmaker tournament. Eight of the top snipers in the league went head to head in a best of seven series. Each player played Widowmaker and the only way to kill their opponent was with headshots. Heading into the tournament, one of the fan favorites was the Philadelphia Fusion’s Carpe, who finished second in last year’s tournament. However, he was knocked out in the first round by New York Excelsior’s Nenne. Nenne would go on to defeat his teammate Pine in the next round, earning his spot in the finals.
In the finals, Nenne faced off against the Shanghai Dragons’ Diem. Earlier in the tournament, he was able to defeat Guangzhou’s Shu and Seoul’s Fletta, another fan favorite. He was able to continue his success and defeat Nenne in the final with a score of 9-5, securing himself the title of the best Widowmaker in 2019. The Widowmaker tournament is always a fan favorite, and judging by the crowd’s reaction, this year was no different. In fact, it was made sweeter due to the fact that the current meta is dominated by Tanks and Supports. It was a breath of fresh air for fans to get to see some good old-fashioned Widowmaker duels.
The Widow’s kiss. ☠️ #OWL2019
Congratulations @diem_ow on winning our Widowmaker 1v1!https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/FLXpUKJBUF
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 16, 2019
All-Star Game
The second day of the 2019 All-Star event ended with the match everyone had been waiting for. The 24 best players from each division faced off against each other in a best-of-four season. The starters for each team consisted of the six players that the community voted on. Among these starters included players like New York’s Pine, who despite not starting for the Excelsior this season, was still enough of a fan favorite to earn a spot in All-Stars.
Despite the hype surrounding the All-Star Game, it was over rather quickly. The Atlantic team showed off a dominant performance, winning the first three games off the match. While the Pacific team was able to bounce back and win the fourth map on Dorado, the Atlantic team wrapped up the series with a victory on Busan. Regardless of the blow-out score line, the series was still entertaining. For fans used to seeing the G.O.A.T.S meta in normal Overwatch League maps, it was nice to see players return to flashy, DPS characters. While entertaining, the players will most likely return to more meta champions when they return to OWL action in when Stage 3 starts up again.
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