The second day of the Overwatch League playoffs started with the Watchpoint desk asserting the DPS and help function stars, with 4 of the 5 Atlanta Reign gamers incomes their recognition. That ended up being the one factor the Reign gained in Toronto.
The Reign, the No. 1 seed and much-predicted eventual champions, grew to become the primary squad to be eradicated from the OWL 2023 playoffs after they had been swept by the London Spitfire. Regardless of their regional and worldwide dominance over your complete 12 months, the workforce struggled to adapt to their opposition within the new meta, main to 2 consecutive and brutal losses to finish a season through which they’d by no means beforehand misplaced two occasions in a row.
Wanting again at Atlanta’s efficiency, they’d a number of points that led to their early departure. To start out, the meta shift from the Sept. 7 update, which groups had restricted time to get used to, left many gamers uncomfortable as to how they’d carry out within the playoffs. Atlanta selected to stay to Sombra play from Lip and the Doomfist and Winston from D0NGHAK. This plan began out sturdy, however the Hangzhou Spark made some key swaps of their own and reverse-swept the Reign.
Whether or not it was overconfidence within the workforce or lack of expertise within the meta, the Atlanta Reign started their second match in opposition to the London Spitfire very like how they ended their collection in opposition to the Spark: poorly. Regardless of their plan to run the Doomfist to counter Hadi’s Reinhardt, the motion and coordination across the Symmetra on London was an excessive amount of to take care of.
It felt like pure desperation when Hawk was introduced in to switch D0NGHAK, particularly since he simply ended up enjoying extra Doomfist and solely performed round a minute of Orisa. It didn’t change a lot, because the Reign misplaced the ultimate map and had been eradicated from the event. Not solely are the expected favorites out, they’re out first, breaking most prediction brackets with their losses.
The Reign did present extra weak spot within the Summer time Stage than the Spring Stage, however they nonetheless had been by far the perfect workforce of 2023. Their total document, together with the Midseason Insanity event, was 17-3, solely shedding 16 maps in that total span. Then, within the OWL 2023 playoffs, they went 0-2, and misplaced six maps in a row.
It was a meteoric fall for the Atlanta Reign, for the workforce that everybody will bear in mind as the perfect workforce of the 2023 common season, however the first out in Toronto.
In regards to the creator
