Olivia R. June 9, 2019
The Guangzhou Charge may have won 3-1 over the Chengdu Hunters in one of the most anticipated matches of Stage 3 Week 1, but that's not what people are talking about.
The Chengdu Hunters stole the show with an intense, anime-style entrance, adorable panda hats, and the Wrecking Ball stylings of Mengham "Ameng" Ding.
The dynamic, DPS-heavy match was an intense back-and-forth battle of the anti-GOATS. And it had the crowd screaming with excitement. Charge's Yilliang "Eileen" Ou crouching around the corner on Volskaya, and then setting off an EMP as the Hunters marched towards Point B. Hongjun “HOTBA” Choi racing around on Tracer. Widowmaker versus Hanzo face-offs. And Ameng skillfully flying through the air, perfectly planting his Minefield on top of the Charge.
The Hunters took the final map, Dorado, when they switched off of Ameng and instead chose their new tank Yansong “Jiqiren” Wei to lead a GOATS push. The Hunters have proven time again throughout the second season that they can do GOATS, and they can do it quite well. But where's the fun in that?
"I’m feeling quite upset because I think I didn’t do well enough. And we lost," Ameng told us after the match ended.
What could have gone better?
"I think I could improve our cooperation."
Ameng is a man of few words. But there's a lot on his mind. With over 61 percent of his time in the OWL spent on Wrecking Ball, he's the most successful Hammond in the league. He's been playing him since the PTR.
"I think he is a lot of fun."
But is Hammond any good in this current meta? What is Amang's usual strategy when playing Hammond?
"Just kill their support."
Sometimes, though, Hammond isn't enough. Amang also picked Reinhardt.
"If the opponent is focused on Wrecking Ball, I change to Reinhardt."
Simple. And Ameng was noticeably being picked on by Eileen's Sombra, who kept eliminating him in 1v1s.
"We lost, not because his Sombra is good. But because we didn’t do well."
Fair enough. Despite the use of Tracer, McCree, Junkrat, and other off-meta picks, Ameng admitted that GOATS is currently the strongest meta. So why not use it?
"I don’t think every team can run GOATS very well. I have confidence that if we use multiple DPS we can take them down."
Ameng also played Orisa throughout the match, utilizing the Bunker meta. That's when Orisa shields a Bastion and other DPS on choke points, holding back the other team. Even if they're playing GOATS. It was once thought to be the death of 3-3 thanks to Baptiste. But that's apparently not happening any time soon.
Discussing the current meta is interesting and all, but there was a very important question that had to be asked of Ameng. A burning question many viewers at home most likely had themselves. Where was Ameng's panda hat when he walked on stage?
"I gave it to a fan outside."
Just when it seemed impossible to like the Hunters even more.