After a thrilling weekend of competition culminating in one of the best matches OWL has seen, the book has finally closed on the first stage of OWL season 2. While our heroes over at the Fusion may not have been able to go the distance this time around, it was an altogether successful outing for our boys in orange.
Now that we have gotten through an entire stage under the new scheduling structure, it seems appropriate to take this time between stages to reflect on how successful the new system actually is. While some believe it to be a perfectly adequate structure reminiscent of traditional sports, others, like the SF Shock’s Matthew “Super” DeLisi seem to think the advantage that scheduling can give can be a bit unbalanced. When responding to a comment about other (potentially worse) teams being seeded higher, he stated, “They got lucky with easier schedules.”
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
At the end of their run in the Stage 1 playoffs, the assorted press members of the Overwatch League sat down with players and coaches from the Fusion to discuss their thoughts on the new structure, the effect of GOATS meta, and the future of the league.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Now that we are through the first stage of 2019, how are you feeling about the structure of the league?
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Coach Elliott Hayes: Honestly, I think it’s a big improvement from last year. I don’t think there’s anything I would really change. It’s good for a lot of players and staff; we have more time and more breathing room now. Right now I’m really happy with the format.
Boombox: Yeah, I’m happy that we play fewer games, now I can chill more.
Q: Is there anything different about preparing for a stage final this year as opposed to last year?
Boombox: Well, you have a lot more time to prepare with a week break. Last year it was straight after normal season games, and it was all done in one or two days. So it’s a lot nicer now when you have more time and can prepare for individual teams and just practice more.
Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Q: In this meta, we see a lot of chaos with six ultimates going off at the same time, and particle effects filling the screen, how do you keep track of target priority and ability discipline through all that?
Hayes: A lot of the intricacies of it come down to the timing of when you use your cooldowns, like when to use your Graviton, based on when the enemy uses their Graviton. I don’t particularly want to give too much information on how we do that since it can gives teams an idea of what we’re going to do, but just know that it has to do with the order of the cooldowns, Gravitons, bubbles, defenses, etc.
Q: Considering the emphasis on flawless communication and unity this meta demanded, do you think the game has been changed forever in terms of how teams approach their strategies?
ChrisTFer: There are definitely certain skills that teams have had to pick up for this meta that they didn’t have before. I think that will continue to be important in every meta going forward. There are certain concepts that are very important in GOATS which were not so important in Widow meta. Like, you could waste ults in widow meta and it might not matter as long as you just clicked the right heads, but if you waste one ult in this meta it could snowball more than one fight. I think that this new mindset made a lasting difference, for sure.
Boombox: I think that GOATS meta has a lot more teamwork than sniper meta or dive meta, and a lot of teams struggled with that. I think this meta helps teams to understand the importance of playing as a team, working together and helping each other even as they individually pop off.
Q: Boombox, you haven't lost a game in the regular stage yet, what is so crucial about your presence that gives your team an edge?
Boombox: Well, I think we played very well as a team. The two games we lost this stage I don’t think were very fair. We had a main support playing flex, which obviously isn't going to work as well. I think if I had been playing we would have won both of those games, but I don’t think I bring anything in particular; I just try to remain consistent.
Poko: He brings a lot of positivity, I think. He’s a very good PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) guy, and he’s really good at tracking enemy ultimates, which is very helpful to me since it can get very messy in fights. We are also very used to playing with Boombox since we have played with him for such a long time.
Q: Do you feel like people underestimate Boombox?
Boombox: Well, I don’t really read or care about what people have to say about me. I just go out every day and try to play my best.
Hayes: The one interesting thing I noticed was that when Boombox came back, everyone seemed to really appreciate him more, they really missed him (laughs).
Q: Now that we know what patch it will be on, what are your speculations for the meta next stage?
Boombox: It will be interesting (laughs). It’s going to be a lot of chaotic team comps as everyone tries to figure out the meta, then one team will find one that’s OP, then everyone will start playing that.
ChrisTFer: I feel like we are really confident going into the next Stage. I’m feeling like we are playing the best that we’ve ever played right now.
Q: Geolocalization is happening in 2020, how do you feel about the idea of bringing your team to Philly?
Hayes: Personally I’m very excited. The Philly fans are extremely supportive, so I’m really looking forward to playing in our home stadium and seeing our fans. I’m not sure how it’s going to feel traveling around. That’s going to be interesting to find out how the league manages to run that, but I’m looking forward to it, it should be good. We are going to get to visit awesome new cities that we may have never been to before, so it should be very interesting.
Boombox: I’m just looking forward to traveling the world for free (laughs).
Overwatch League Stage 2 begins with an opening match between the Philadelphia Fusion and New York Excelsior on April 4 at 4 p.m. PST.