We’re nearing the end of the Overwatch Pit Championships playoffs, and the teams are sure making it interesting for us.
If we take a quick trip down memory lane, and think on the European group stage, we will remember how gloriously close those matches (usually) were. Let’s also not forget about the recent upset in the playoffs, where Movistar Riders took an impressive 2-0 victory against NiP, and the fun and games continue as we go deeper down the playoff hole. The European schedule got a bit messed up, however. Right before the hyped up game of eUnited vs. Misfits, Blizzard’s servers decided to break down, seeing the game postponed to the next day.
Misfits acted as the favorites going into this stage of the tournament. They won their group with five wins and no losses, and looked solid most of the time. But at the start of the playoffs, they “gave” a map away to Laser Kittenz. Sure, the cats have been playing very well, but Misfits should be the more dominant team for sure. Let’s put some focus on two games from the past two days.
Misfits vs. eUnited - eUnited wins, 2-0
Most would say this game was worth the wait. It was a close story, where both teams managed to play well with few individual mistakes. Both these teams consists of “veteran” Overwatchers, who’s traveled across the world, and been on the biggest stages already. Misfits started out strong, and had two rounds won on Lijang before they got reverse swept by a hungry looking eUnited.
Then they went to King’s Row, Misfits' choice of map and one of their best. Misfits again started out looking very clean, and eUnited did not manage to push the payload to the end. But then… Well, eUnited fully held Misfits, making it a much quicker game than anticipated.
Singularity Ninjas vs. Vivi’s Adventure - Singularity Ninjas wins, 2-0
Both Vivi’s and Singularity have been a breath of fresh air in the EU scene in this tournament. So this game was sort of the battle of the little brothers, as the Swedes of Vivi’s and the Danes of Singularity battled it out. The first map was Route 66, where Vivi’s struggled quite heavily both on attack and defense. On the next map, Nepal, they managed to give it a better fight despite still losing, but with that 2-0 loss Vivi’s is the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs.
The European playoffs continues tonight, with some really interesting games. For example, both NiP and Misfits are in the lower bracket, risking elimination. The games will as always be streamed over at twitch.tv/overwatchpit, with the games starting at 16:00 CEST/7am PDT.
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