[OW] EnVyUs punts a critical moment in Overwatch Contenders Grand Finals

EnVyUs misplayed a critical moment fighting to take Objective B on Temple of Anubis. They ended up winning the map anyways, but the punt give their opponents a window in which to regroup and potentially hold. Times mentioned refer to the video sub-clip below.

The situation: EnVyUs (in blue and on attack) is leading due to victories on prior maps and has just taken Objective A. Eager to wrap up the game, they quickly make a move for the second point. Tracer and Sombra’s mobility puts them well ahead of their team. Working together, the two score a pick on the FaZe’s Sombra (at 14:43 in the clip). Note at this moment that EnVyUs’ Lucio is at 86% of the way towards his Sound Barrier ultimate, a key tool for teamfights. Further, though they don’t know it, their opponents’ SB is at only 52%.

Hungry for blood from the pick, EnVyUs’ Effect (on Tracer) overcommits, quickly dying at 14:48 (aside: Effect overpushed and died alone for no reason a number of times this match, e.g. as Reaper shortly after the end of the portion clipped here). The overcommitment also baits her Winston, who splits from the still-approaching team with leap to die alone on point at 14:51. A mere 3 SECONDS later, their Lucio’s Sound Barrier becomes ready, and he pops it immediately in the 4v5 (though its shield on the far-back Widowmaker is essentially irrelevant, so it’s basically a 3-man SB). The attackers kill Genji at 14:58, then burn D.Va’s Self Destruct at 15:01 for no kills (but the first 1/3 checkpoint of cap time), followed by Sombra’s EMP at 15:07 right before she dies. Despite the hype from the commentators, EnVyUs gains no real traction here and they lose control of the point. The short respawn distance for the defenders means they are able to hold and regroup. The attackers burned many ults while the defenders used only one (a late Self Destruct from their own D.Va at 15:20). FaZe is left with some time to defend in relative comfort with their ult advantage, forcing Envyus has to burn some time before finding another credible opportunity to push.

With better communication and less bloodlust, EnVyUs could have delayed their dive for just a few short seconds and been able to use a 6-man Sound Barrier against the 5 defenders that had no SB of their own available. It almost certainly would have resulted in a clean wipe and a map win. This one mistake cost them time, dragging the game out for an additional 4 minutes. They gifted FaZe a chance to stay in the game. Though EnVyUs did in the end take the map, it’s important to learn from victories as much as from defeats, and the dives from Tracer and Winston before their one-sided Sound Barrier could come up was a key mistake at a critical juncture.

[OW] Flame reviews C9 vs AFBlue Match

Overwatch player/caster flame critiques C9's play in a match against AF Blue. Here are a few key moments of analysis.

Both teams field tanks Reinhardt and Zarya and supports Lucio and Ana, characters very strong at the top level on king of the hill maps. Team Cloud9 fills out their remaining two slots with with Roadhog for tank/burst/disruption and Tracer as their single DPS. Team AF Blue instead runs double DPS in the form of Genji and McCree. Flame prefers AF Blue's comp for having more options for ranged (McCree) and close (Genji) DPS, and for having more permutations of ability synergy to enable good engages even without Zarya ultimate. Cloud 9 will need to take out the ranged McCree in order for the close-range Tracer to have openings to threaten the supports, and the Roadhog will need to find successful hooks to be relevant:
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[AoE2] Key commentary selections from EGM Grand Finals Game 1

I previously posted the games of TheViper vs Daut in the Age of Empires 2 Escape Gaming Masters grand finals. Here I've pulled out some key moments in the coverage of game 1.

Right off the bat TheViper makes a grievous error with the placement of his initial lumber camp. The camp is badly blocked in by trees, causing a bottleneck of wood-delivering villagers at the small accessible portion. TheViper in effect has fewer villagers than he should, due to the accrued idle time. It does not take long for the difference to make itself felt, as he is left without the option of placing down a Dark Age rush ("drush") timing barracks:
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[AoE2] EGM Grand Final – TheViper vs Daut

Commentators ZeroEmpires and T90Official provide coverage of an Age of Empires 2 grand finals between players TheViper and Daut. I will in another post revisit some of the key commentary moments, but for now: enjoy!

Game 1:
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