Philadelphia Fusion’s downfall may have been running Mei-Reaper comp

The Philadelphia Fusion seem to be uncertain on how to handle the double barrier meta that has begun to take over the the Overwatch League Play-Ins. 

The Shanghai Dragons were able to come out of their seven-game match victorious, despite a draw and a broken rule. Part of that was because of their quick adaption to the new meta, and part of that was because Philadelphia surprised viewers by rolling with a possibly outdated Mei-Reaper combination. 

In the first map, the Dragons were able to easily come out victorious against the Fusion. Both teams were sporting double barrier meta, but the Fusion’s Mei-Reaper composition didn’t seem to be too effective against the new hero. 

Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee is a very popular name in the Overwatch world thanks to his skilled Widowmaker play, but double barrier isn’t shaping up to be a meta that favors snipers. Two layers of shields protected the heads of the Shanghai players, which saw him struggle to land clean shots. He ended up going back to Reaper, who he played for the majority of the match. The Dragons were able to easily take the first two maps against the Fusion, who never stopped playing Mei-Reaper. 

It wasn’t all bad for the duo, though. After a draw on the third map, Philadelphia finally proved the old comp’s potential in the current meta on the fourth map. Josue “Eqo” Corona was able to hold the Dragons off the point with Mei’s wall on a few occasions. On the fifth map, Carpe carried the team as Reaper, showing the DPS hero’s strength as a tank killer.

While Philadelphia may not have won this round, Carpe still showed Reaper’s potential in this meta when he took out Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh’s Orisa and then Min-seong “Diem” Bae.

Reaper has been used quite heavily throughout the Play-Ins, but usually not paired with Mei.