The Overwatch Open Division Season 2 started with the first set of matches last Sunday, September 10. In random draws, the first round had Mineski and Fatal Faction matching against each other. Miraculum drew the match-up against Singaporean team of BBONG. With all the series of the Open Division being best of 7’s, the score of 4 was on everyone’s mind.
Mineski vs. Fatal Faction
Map 1: Lijiang Tower (Control) The first map of the series was on Lijiang Tower, due to Mineski’s choice. The map started on the Garden variant, which Mineski won with ease, due to a great Pharmercy combo by Angelo “Meister” Martinez and Gilbert “Gibo” Sales. The map then moved on to the Control Center variant, with Meister bringing out a Doomfist for this area. Mineski capped the point and took the fight near Fatal Faction’s spawn. Fatal Faction rallied with some kills, but a great Graviton Surge from Harry “HAVENTLUVYOU” Lee’s Zarya allowed Marvin Anthony “whome” Roque’s Genji to clean-up with his Dragonblade, stopping Fatal Faction’s push. Mineski’s aggression was punished near the end of the round by Fatal Faction, who used 4 ultimates (Winston, Soldier:76, Lucio, and Zenyatta) to take the point at Overtime. With no ultimates left for Fatal Faction, Mineski came back at them with a NanoBlade combo from whome’s Genji and Gibo’s Ana. Mineski took the first map of the series, 2–0.
With great picks from Fatal Faction giving them the numbers advantage to take the point, HAVENTLUVYOU catches most of Fatal Faction with a Graviton Surge, allowing whome to clean up with his Dragonblade.
Map 2: Watchpoint: Gibraltar (Escort) With the format of the Open Division, the team that lost the previous map decides which map to play next. Fatal Faction opted for Watchpoint: Gibraltar as the second map of the series, and started the map on the attack. Mineski took the defensive role. Mineski defended against Fatal Faction at the first checkpoint well, draining Fatal Faction’s time to a critical point. Fatal Faction then got a good push at Overtime due to Panut “Proxu” Sudram’s Soldier:76 picking off whome before he could use the Dragonblade. Mineski retreated to the second checkpoint without using their ultimates but were killed off by the advancing offense. Mineski and Fatal Faction then clashed as HAVENTLUVYOU on the Zarya and whome on the Genji used their ultimates to force a fight, but a combination of HAVENTLUVYOU being in the way of the Ana Biotic Grenade of Gibo’s on Mineski’s side and a well-positioned barrier put down by Rjonne “Feint” Ortiz’s Winston protected Fatal Faction from the heal-ban effect of the Biotic Grenade. This allowed Emmanuel “Emhun” Gabriel’s Zenyatta to protect Fatal Faction with a beautiful Transcendence. After a series of kills on both sides, Fatal Faction took the second checkpoint as Jianpu “Mariachi” Lee’s Zarya caught Mineski with his Graviton Surge. Mineski then stopped Fatal Faction’s advance before they reached the third checkpoint, as whome switched to the Tracer and got the kills on Fatal Faction’s supports, ruining their final push. With Mineski now on the attack, they were wiped out early on by Fatal Faction, as Jeano “Shiro” Paguirin’s Genji led the teamkill with a great Nanoblade. Mineski still had ultimates after being wiped and coordinated them well to secure the first checkpoint with a comfortable time bank. The second checkpoint was the same story, with Fatal Faction defending as Shiro once again led the team kill, with help from Mariachi’s Zarya and Proxu’s McCree. Mineski responded in kind, and steamrolled their way through the second checkpoint. The third checkpoint was all Mineski, with a good advance from 5 members getting them great positioning to wipe out Fatal Faction’s defenses, winning them the map, 3–2.
A beautiful play here from Fatal Faction’s Shiro, netting the team wipe for his team. Map 3: Temple of Anubis (Assault) The third map of the series was Temple of Anubis, chosen again by Fatal Faction. With Fatal Faction on the first attack, they got kills on the defending Mineski, allowing them to secure the first tick of the first point. A combination of defensive play from both John Carlo “SuperLocs” Panlilo’s Winston and Jerahmeel “Jorun” Ibasco’s Lucio delayed Fatal Faction’s capture long enough for Mineski to regroup and save their first point. Fatal Faction did not give up , and a well-placed Graviton Surge from Mariachi and an on-point Biotic Grenade from Emhun allowed Fatal Faction to take the first point. Moving on to the second point, Mineski opted for a Sombra defense alongside two supports. Fatal Faction was able to take the point with only 3 seconds to spare, with Proxu activating his Tactical Visor before Meister could hit him with the EMP. Superlocs was also forced out of position by Fatal Faction and did not have the Jump Pack ready to get back on the point. Now on the attack, Mineski made quick work of Fatal Faction. With fast pick-offs by their tanks, Mineski captured the first point in a minute. With whome running a Sombra on the attack for the second point, Mineski secured a good position. Fatal Faction contested with stalling heroes such as Reaper and Mei, but this was not enough as Mineski captured the second point, securing almost 6 minutes on their time bank for the next round. With only 1 minute to attack, Fatal Faction gambled on playing a Widowmaker. This did not work out as their offense was scattered, and Mineski held against the initial push. Fatal Faction’s second and final push was countered by Mineski with ease, as Mineski had the Tactical Visor and Pulse Bomb ready and used them to great effect. With Mineski having almost 6 minutes for their attacking time, they started with off with off-meta picks. Running a triple support lineup of Mercy, Zenyatta, and Ana on Jorun, Meister and Gibo respectively, they struggled against Fatal Faction’s defense of Shiro on the Torbjorn protected by Feint’s Orisa and Mariachi’s Reinhardt. Mineski did end up switching to a meta-lineup after a few attempts. Mineski secured their push as Superlocs isolated and killed Shiro, whome got the clutch solo kills, and the team advanced onto the point, netting Mineski the third map, with the score of 3–2.
Great Support Ultimates from Fatal Faction’s DayWatser and Emhun keep Shiro alive to get two kills with his Dragonblade.
Map 4: Hollywood (Hybrid) With the series’ score now 3–0, Fatal Faction knew they needed this map to keep their hopes alive. They delivered on this, with their attack starting off with Shiro and Proxu achieved picks on Mineski. With Robin “DayWatser” Gonzales leading the charge on the ground with their tanks, Fatal Faction secured the first point. The second point was the Proxu show, as he was left uncontested in the air as both Meister on the McCree and Gibo on the Zenyatta struggled against him. With a quick two points, Fatal Faction was poised to take a good time for their first attack. While Mineski had some good contests to waste some time, Proxu’s impressive display on the Pharah, supported by Shiro’s Widowmaker and Mariachi’s Zarya, secured Fatal Faction the third point. Now on defense, Fatal Faction gambled on a Bastion-Torbjorn defense for the first point, protected by a Reinhardt and Orisa. This did not work out as Mineski destroyed their defense with Superlocs’ Reinhardt leading the charge, allowing Mineski to capture the first point. The second point was also initially in Mineski’s favor, with a great Earthshatter from Superlocs setting up good kills and future positioning for his team. While Mineski had a well-executed combo of a Graviton Surge with a NanoVisor, Feint on the D.Va wasted enough of Meister’s Visor long enough for Shiro and Proxu to use their ultimates, allowing Fatal Faction to hold out. Mineski then came back at Fatal Faction, with Meister using his impressive aim and then having the Tactical Visor to get a quad-kill on Fatal Faction, securing Mineski the second point. The third point push was contested by Fatal Faction, netting a team kill for the defense, but Fatal Faction used 4 ultimates for 1 fight. Mineski knew this and used their ultimate advantage to get the kills needed and advanced forward to the spawn entrances. Mineski took the third point, and another wave of attack and defense was set to go. With Fatal Faction on the first attack, Shiro opted to go for the Hanzo pick. Mineski had other plans, as both Superlocs and whome dove against the attacking team, catching Fatal Faction off guard and ruining their first push. Fatal Faction tried a triple-tank for their final push, but Mineski countered this and held the point. Now on the attack, Mineski went with a Junkrat pick on Meister. While it allowed Mineski to get onto the point, Fatal Faction contested at the very last moment. They fought Mineski off as Mariachi had full charge thanks to Meister’s splash damage. With Mineski’s second attack, Mineski was ready to use their ultimates. Meister’s Rip-Tire chased down and killed Emhun, denying Fatal Faction of their Resurrection. Superlocs went in and killed Feint’s Orisa with the Fire-Strike, achieved a clutch Earthshatter, and got a kill on 3 members of Fatal Faction with his Charge. Whome used his Tactical Visor to kill the last member of Fatal Faction, securing the point, and the map, 4–3.
Great Ultimates from Mineski, as well as an impressive triple charge kill by Superlocs, secure them the map and the series! Mineski wins the Series, 4–0! As not all series are cast, Miraculum was reported to have struggled against BBONG and lost their series, 0–4. Talking with Miraculum, both Joshua “Grand” Ogame and Dexter “Daily420” Paglinawan said that while they could contest against BBONG, BBONG always had the upper-hand by the ends of their maps. With the first week done, Mineski stand with a 1–0 record, while Fatal Faction and Miraculum are at 0–1. The rules of the Open Division state that teams are dropped from contention when they lose 7 games. After this process, the remaining 8 move on to the playoffs for the region. For the next series, Mineski will go up against J3X.Eternity, Miraculum will face Gamehome in a streamed match, and Fatal Faction will face Scroll Down Gaming R. With games every Sunday, will a Filipino team survive the weeks of the Open Division and move on to the playoffs?