The most explosive thing to happen over the Fourth of July weekend wasn’t excessive fireworks. It was a wild finals series in the Overwatch League.
Over the long weekend, Paris Eternal defeated the Philadelphia Fusion in an intense and back-and-forth seven-map battle, becoming the Overwatch League Summer Showdown champions for North America.
The entire knockout stage was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Overwatch League fans. Washington Justice beat Los Angeles Gladiators despite the Justice being only the 13th seed. Then the 11th seed Toronto Defiant beat the Los Angeles Valiant. If that wasn’t enough, the Houston Outlaws beat Florida Mayhem despite the Outlaws being the 10th seed.
While these upsets were exciting to watch, all three underdog teams ultimately fell short of the finals.
Paris Eternal came into the Summer Showdown as the 8th seed. The OWL community was surprised when they took down San Francisco Shock, the first seed team. The five-map semi-finals match showed a lot of San Francisco Shock’s weaknesses, most of which revolved around refusing to run Genji meta compositions.
Paris Eternal rie SP9RK1E’s Genji to victory
On the flip side, Paris Eternal had Yeon-han “SP9RK1E” Kim, a Genji main that had a lot of thrilling plays throughout the series. He continued to dominate in the finals against Philadelphia Fusion.
One of his shining moments included clearing the Fusion off the payload during their final push, ultimately winning Paris Eternal the tournament. Ki-hyo “Xzi” Jung was also full of highlights, including his Deadeye combo on McCree with his team’s Sigma ult. The casters went crazy when he shot down half of the opposing team out of the sky.
ggs
@Fusion
health was so bad that I had a hard time during the game, but my team members did a great job I love love love my team Nice xzi,sp9rk1e duo
Fusion had some strong DPS players of their own. Jae-Hyeok “Carpe” Lee impressed on Ashe on the final escort map, Rialto. But it wasn’t enough against Paris Eternal’s intense combination of double shield meta compositions and strong hitscan heroes.
It was hard to look away from Paris Eternal as they jumped up and down in their team house after the victory. But a quick glance at the bottom of the screen showed devastation and tears on the faces of the Fusion players, who had been expected to easily take the title.
The OWL is taking a two-week break for now. The competition will return with the monthly Countdown Cup tournament on July 17.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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