Fans of professional Overwatch have had plenty to be excited about the last couple of weeks. Contenders Europe concluded just today and Overwatch will see the first female player ever compete in a grand finals matchup with the South American finals on Monday.
Still, the big story on many fan’s minds is Fusion University’s fourth consecutive Contenders North America victory.
The academy team of the Philadelphia Fusion, Fusion University is a perennial favorite to take it all. Indeed, they were the three-time defending North American champions. Heading into the last week before playoffs, Fusion University was running high on a whopping 30-0 record. Many of these were down-to-the-wire 5 game sets, leading to the meme that Fusion University are paid by the hour. Nonetheless, the team had never lost a single match since their inception.
This was record was shattered though in the seventh week of this season by the Mayhem Academy. It was uncertain if Fusion University, demoted from top seed for the first time in their history, still had it in them for another grand final win.
Contenders S1 2019 hasn’t been an easy road for Fusion University with their roster shifts. Main tank Adam “Beasthalo” Denton split time with Chang-sik “Changsik” Moon, who was playing from Korea on high ping, along with teammates Kyung-bo “Alarm” Kim and Ho-sung "Na1st" Lee. Carson “CarCar” First, formerly of Second Wind, also stepped in to fill the substantial shoes of Elijah “Elk” Gallagher, who now primarily plays with the Philadelphia Fusion.
Despite their roster being partially rebuilt, Fusion University were as strong as ever. In the semifinals, they won against the Montreal Rebellion in a close set that went all five games. Finals came more easily against the Gladiators Legion. However, true to form, Fusion still brought the match to a fifth game before winning 4-1.
With their fourth consecutive Contenders championship secured, Fusion University have now punched their ticket to the upcoming Atlantic Showdown. This LAN tournament, along with its Pacific counterpart, aims to highlight the best of international Tier 2 Overwatch. Qualifying teams of the showdowns will have the chance at another international LAN event in the Gauntlet, held later this October.
The Pacific Showdown will be held from May 24-26 in Shanghai, China and the Atlantic Showdown will be held May 31-June 2 in Krefeld, Germany.