In a highly anticipated match-up, Mineski and Miraculum faced off during the 4th week of the Open Division Season 2. With both teams tied at records of 1–2, this was a series that both teams could not afford to lose. As a last-minute addition to the stream and the last series cast for the week, this was one worth the watch.
Mineski vs. Miraculum
Game 1: Lijiang Tower With the game’s new updates, Mercy has become a staple pick within the meta, and both Miraculum and Mineski followed suit. Starting the map on Night Market, both teams ran the Pharmercy. Mineski won the first clash, taking the point and beating back Miraculum with a double environmental kill by Jerahmeel “Jorun” Ibasco on the Lucio. While the teams clashed for another bout, Miraculum was able to distract and slip past Mineski to capture the point. Miraculum kept a good defense, forcing Mineski to use their ultimates to try and get the point. However, with good trickling in and the Resurrection from Zyrille King “Zyrille” Algenio, Miraculum held the point. On Mineski’s last push, Miraculum unleashed the ultimates they stored up, keeping the point 100% to Mineski’s 76%. With Miraculum in the lead with a score 1–0, the map moved on to the Control Center variant. Miraculum went for the Junkrat on Fil “Xenos” Mayor, however, Mineski had a great flank from the left by both Marvin Anthony “whome” Roque and Angelo “Meister” Martinez. With an onslaught from the Tracer and McCree, Mineski won the initial fight, capturing the point first. Mineski then had a great defense, forcing out ultimates from Miraculum including a Sound Barrier on only two people from Dexter “Daily420” Paglinawan and an Earthshatter from Yuuki “Fascinate” Tanaka blocked by Mineski’s John Carlo “SuperLocs” Panlilo. Superlocs then caught a Graviton Surge coming from Joshua “Grand” Ogame, forcing the Graviton Surge to hit the tanks rather than the back-line supports Grand was aiming for. However, this worked out in Miraculum’s favor. Mineski’s Harry “lioncraft” Lee’s then fell off the ledge, losing the high energy on his Zarya and forcing Mineski to a hard reset, which Miraculum used to take a better position. Mineski went for the attack, with Meister getting great picks onto Gian “Alaya” Santos, limiting Miraculum’s damage options. Mineski pushed this advantage and took the point from Miraculum, ending Control Center with a 100% to a 99% capture.
Superlocs blocks Fascinate’s Earthshatter, allowing Mineski to continue the Deadeye and get key kills. On the final variant of Garden, both teams mirrored each other’s compositions, running the Pharmercy with a Lucio, D.Va, Winston, and Tracer. Mineski won the initial clash, taking the point and pushing back Miraculum. Meister even committed the Barrage on to Grand to de-mech his D.Va and delay Miraculum’s push even more. Meister was then killed after this but was brought back by Gilbert “Gibo” Sales. Alaya saw the out-of-position Mercy and went after him, forcing the rest of Miraculum to follow suit. This displaced Mineski, causing them to fight off the point and allowed Miraculum went for the cap. After Miraculum’s capture, Mineski was still around and wiped Miraculum, and they retook the point. Miraculum had one push left in them, but this went sideways as their supports were picked off by Meister and Whome, giving Mineski the win 100% to 24%, and the map with a score of 2–1.
Game 2: Watchpoint: Gibraltar Watchpoint: Gibraltar started with Miraculum on the attack, and their Pharmercy dominated the first checkpoint. Even with Xenos having freedom in the skies, Mineski held the line with whome taking out the rest of Miraculum. Miraculum’s second push was more successful, with Meister’s Nano-Visor rendered ineffective as Zyrille was able to avoid him and Resurrect his team, allowing Miraculum to get the first point. Miraculum used this momentum to push Mineski to the end of the second point. This time Meister’s Nano-Visor carried the defense and Mineski stopped the payload just 3 meters shy of the second point. Miraculum then initiated with a Self-Destruct from Grand, getting the Mercy of Jorun, and steamrolled their way to the payload. Whome used a Pulse Bomb to get two of Miraculum and Jorun came back to Resurrect his team while in Valkyrie mode. In the end, ultimates were used up and Miraculum was able to the cap the second point. For the third checkpoint, Miraculum looked like they were going to get the payload to the end, but were stopped by Mineski at the archway near the third point. With the final clash in Miraculum’s favor, Superlocs was able to get a Self-Destruct and get both of Miraculum’s supports, and as the supports returned whome was able to attach a Pulse Bomb to kill them both once again. Miraculum was only able to get 2 points for their attack. Switching to Mineski on the offensive, they steamrolled the offense with great damage coming from Meister on the Soldier:76 and Jorun on the Zenyatta. Capturing the first point, Mineski advanced to take the high ground and pushed the payload near the end of the second point. With an effective Valkyrie from Zyrille however, Miraculum was able to respawn in position and take down Gibo, denying Mineski of Resurrects as Miraculum held the line. However, Miraculum pushed a bit too deep and were punished for it as Meister used the Tactical Visor to lead the charge for Mineski, allowing them to take the second point. Mineski went on to get kill after kill, but a great volley from Alaya as he took down 5 members of Mineski allowed Miraculum to reform their defense. Mineski had one last push, and a Self-Destruct followed by a Tactical Visor from Mineski halved Miraculum’s squad. They moved on to mop up the rest and captured the point, winning the map with a score of 3–2. Mineski solidified their lead in the series, with a score of 2 maps wins against Miraculum’s 0.
Alaya takes down five to allow Miraculum to reform their defense.
Game 3: Horizon Lunar Colony Miraculum started the offense on the moon, running a Sombra on Alaya alongside 2 support picks- Lucio and Mercy. While they struggled to get to the point, they were able to catch out Meister on the McCree and take a defensive position on the point. As Mineski came back, Gibo was picked off and Mineski traded blows with Miraculum, with Miraculum sealing the first point capture with a Barrage from Xenos’ Pharah. Progressing to the second point, Miraculum went for the EMP push, but they were still picked apart by Mineski. A second push with an EMP worked better for Miraculum, where they took 1 tick of the point, but a Graviton Surge from lioncraft shut this down. Miraculum then switched the Sombra to the McCree, and with pressure from Xenos’ Tactical Visor on the high ground Miraculum was able to win the clash, taking the second point with 1:10 in their time bank. Switching sides, Mineski and Miraculum both went for a Reaper on the DPS, due to the tight corners of the sides of the first point. Fascinate held the corners well as Miraculum positioned themselves on the second floor beside the airlock. Mineski then went on the attack, picking off Alaya’s Reaper in conjunction with a smart flank from Meister and Superlocs. Meister got a Flashbang on both Xenos’ Soldier:76 and Zyrille’s Mercy, stunning them long enough for him to get the kill. Mineski then took the first point. With 6 minutes for Mineski’s attack, Mineski had to stop and regroup due to a great Earthshatter from Fascinate. For the first 5 minutes, Mineski and Miraculum traded blows with one another, with Mineski getting only 1 tick as Miraculum held the line. For the final minute, Mineski went in with a jump from Superlocs’ Winston and a Nano-Visor from whome, but Miraculum countered with an Earthshatter from Fascinate and a Death Blossom from Alaya. Both Jorun and Zyrille popped their Valkyries and kept their teams topped up, but in the end, Miraculum kept their point and won the map, 2–1.
Superlocs initiates as Meister flanks, getting a flashbang on both Zyrille and Xenos.
Game 4: King’s Row With Miraculum on the board, Mineski still held the lead 2–1 for the series. Miraculum attacked first on King’s Row, running a Hanzo on Xenos. They got the first tick of the point on their first push but were pushed back as Zyrille got picked off. For their second push, Miraculum seized the point as Mineski’s front line defenders were still on the way back, and a Graviton Surge from Grand and a Deadeye from Alaya allowed them to capture the first point. Miraculum looked to choke Mineski on the second point, unleashing the Xenos’ Dragonstrike along the narrow path, but Mineski countered with a Graviton Surge from lioncraft and wiped Miraculum. Miraculum switched the Hanzo to the Pharah, and after being beaten back once again they regrouped and had a successful push due to Fascinate leading the rally. Mineski came back near the end of the second point and beat back Miraculum, but advanced all the way to the attacker’s spawn, which Miraculum was quick to punish. Miraculum hastily went back to the payload with their numbers advantage and captured the second point. The attack did not stop there, with an offensive Charge and Sound Barrier committed by Miraculum to push back Mineski and get the payload close to the third point. After a short back-and-forth between the 2 teams, Miraculum finished the map at Overtime to take the full 3 points. Mineski then were given the attacking role and struggled at first against Alaya. Due to his on-point McCree game, Mineski committed many ultimates to establish a foothold on the point to get 2 ticks. After a Graviton Surge from lioncraft, followed by a number of ultimates from Mineski, the first point was captured as the damage needed on the trapped Miraculum players was done. For the second point, Miraculum did not fold and fended off Mineski’s initial momentum. This did not last as while Alaya was casting the Deadeye, a Rip-Tire from Meister came from the side, killing Miraculum’s supports while Alaya was helpless to shoot at it. Mineski then captured the second point and followed it up with a Rip-Tire and Graviton Surge combination to kill half of Miraculum. While Miraculum used their ultimates to delay Mineski, Mineski easily pushed the payload to the end with 17 seconds remaining.
Alaya casts the Deadeye and spots Meister’s Rip-Tire that he cannot shoot without canceling his ultimate. The second round of action gave both teams a minute addition to their time banks. As Miraculum had less time, they attacked first, running the Pharmercy for the vertical advantage. Mineski defended well, giving Miraculum a hard time coming close to them due to whome’s Reaper. Mineski sealed their defense with a great Deadeye from Meister followed up by the rest of his team, and it was now Mineski’s turn to attack. Mineski gambled on running both snipers, Widowmaker on whome and Hanzo on Meister, to try and get one-shot kills on Miraculum. With both of Mineski’s DPS heroes on the high-ground, Miraculum got the picks on the opposing supports and tanks. While whome and Meister did get a pick each, it was not enough and Miraculum ran down Mineski after an Earthshatter from Fascinate, tying the map up 3–3 and forcing a tiebreaker.
Game 4 Tiebreaker: Nepal Village As the rules of the Open Division call for a Best of 1 on a Control map, Nepal Village was the stage chosen for this. Both teams ran almost similar lineups, with only the Pharah for Miraculum and the McCree for Mineski differing. Both teams ran Zarya, Winston, Mercy, Lucio, and Tracer for the map. Miraculum won the initial clash, with Alaya getting key kills and then capturing the point for his team. Alaya’s onslaught on his Tracer controlled the tempo of the map, and Mineski was scattered by Miraculum’s follow-up offense. Mineski found a chance when Meister’s Deadeye caught the Pharmercy of Miraculum, and Mineski not only captured the point but forced out the Graviton Surge from Grand’s Zarya. With no Graviton Surge for Miraculum, Mineski played offensively and used their Graviton Surge to initiate and this led to a wipe of Miraculum’s first attack. Miraculum struggled with their next push, and Mineski held the point to win the tiebreaker, 100%-91%. The series was now 3–1 in favor of Mineski.
Alaya’s Tracer was the highlight of Miraculum’s offense, with his shutdown of Mineski’s attack with his good tracking and chasing.
Game 5: Oasis The fifth map of the series, Oasis, started on the City Center variant. Miraculum once again ran the Pharmercy against the McCree-Mercy pairing of Mineski, alongside the Winston, D.Va, Tracer, and Lucio. Xenos used the map well, dominating from above on his Pharah and gave Miraculum the first capture of the point. Miraculum held the point for a time, fending off Mineski, but Mineski came back at them with a lightning offense and picked off Miraculum before they could react. Now on the attack, Miraculum tried to focus on Meister’s McCree, but he killed 4 of Miraculum’s players without dying. For the next wave, Miraculum was able to avoid the Self-Destruct from lioncraft while picking off the other members of Mineski and re-captured the point. Mineski now had one chance to have a proper push, and with the Valkyrie from Gibo’s Mercy allowed them to be at full strength even after Xenos’ Barrage. Mineski took the point and it seemed like the round would be theirs but Grand on the D.Va came in and killed both Meister and Gibo, and then used the Self-Destruct to delay for Miraculum to come back and re-capture the point once again. Miraculum took the round, 100%-99%, and led the map 1–0.
Grand goes for the last-ditch effort play with his D.Va. Moving on to the University variant, Gibo switched from the Mercy to the Sombra. This surprised Miraculum as Gibo came out of invisibility as Superlocs’ Winston jumped on them, giving Mineski easy kills and the first capture of the point. Miraculum’s next attack was a successful one, almost capturing the point as Mineski threw body after body at it in an attempt to prolong their progress. With the time bought by his teammates, Gibo used the EMP as Meister was ready with the Deadeye, and this destroyed Miraculum’s offense. With only one push left, Miraculum jumped on Meister again, and this time killed him. As Gibo also fell, Jorun was able to cast the Sound Barrier to keep the rest of Mineski alive, and they were able to use their ultimates to get the kills onto Miraculum. Mineski took the point, 100%-0%, and evened up the map’s score. With the map moving to the Garden variant, Mineski returned to their original composition. In the first fight, Grand got both of Mineski’s supports and Mineski had no sustain for their clash, allowing Miraculum to take the initial capture. Mineski regrouped and went for a new attack, slipping Meister past Miraculum’s front line so he could be able to kill Xenos. The tanks of Miraculum were forced to fight the backline of Mineski, which allowed Mineski to take the point as clashes were still ongoing. Mineski kept a solid defense, killing Miraculum as they went to the point, but Fascinate’s Winston provided a solid distraction as he used his Primal Rage, allowing Xenos’ to get some key picks and Zyrille to cast necessary Resurrections for Miraculum to re-take the point. For Mineski’s final attack, Mineski and Miraculum had an even back-and-forth, with members of both teams using ultimates left and right. However, with whome, Meister, and lioncraft left on the side of Mineski, they all went for health kits at the same time, and no one was there to contest the point for Mineski. Miraculum took the variant 100%-83%, and the map 2–1. With this victory, they kept the series alive, but Mineski still held the lead, 3–2.
Game 6: Dorado With the series on the line, Miraculum went on the attack first. They stuck to their tried and tested Pharmercy, and pushed the payload under the archway when disaster stuck. Daily420 disconnected from the game, and game play was resumed without him. Even if it was a 5v6, Miraculum caught Mineski sleeping and initiated onto them, using all their ultimates to secure the payload and push it to the first checkpoint. As the gate opened onwards to the second point, Mineski trickled in and Miraculum punished them by picking them off one-by-one and were uncontested halfway to the second checkpoint. Mineski did setup at the top of the bridge of the second point, but Alaya, who used the ledges to flank, snuck up on Meister and Gibo and demolished Mineski with his McCree. With the payload right beside the second point, Mineski used the Nanoblade through whome’s Genji, and their combined effort barely beat back Miraculum. Miraculum still had time so they slowly pushed their way in, and they were able to cap the payload to the second point. Moving on to the third point, its indoor nature forced Xenos to switch to the Soldier:76. Mineski waited on Miraculum to get through the gate and struck at Miraculum with precision. A great jump from Superlocs’ Winston took out the only remaining support, Zyrille on the Mercy, and Miraculum’s offense collapsed without his sustain. Miraculum’s last two pushes were beaten back by Mineski through a Nanoblade for the first push, and a Graviton Surge to keep them from touching the payload for the second one. Miraculum finished the map with 2 points, playing 5v6 the whole time.
Alaya in a class of his own in this sequence. For Mineski’s attack, they decided to go for the Junkrat on Meister to apply severe pressure on Miraculum. Lacking heals, Miraculum’s defense collapsed as a result of Mineski’s onslaught and they conceded the first point. For the second point, Daily420 returned to the game, and Miraculum was back to a full squad. Miraculum used the Speed Boost from his Lucio to try to initiate onto Mineski, but Mineski countered well. As the payload closed to the second checkpoint, Miraculum used 3 of their ultimates to get a team kill onto Mineski. As Mineski came back, Meister switched to the Soldier:76 and was uncontested after he killed Grand’s D.Va. With Meister getting enough kills to even up the active heroes for both sides, Mineski was able to come to him and take the second point. Miraculum scrambled as the payload edged nearer to their finishing point, and they shut down Mineski’s first two attacks. Whome decided to switch to the Reaper for the close quarter combat, and he shredded the Miraculum as Jorun’s Zenyatta supported him with the Transcendence. Mineski took the map 3–2, and they won the series, 4–2.
Meister returns the favor on their attack.
Mineski wins, 4–2!
The intensity of the series showed how close these two teams are in skill, proving there is competition in the local scene. But still, Mineski moves on to a 2–2 record, while Miraculum falls to a 1–3. Mineski is set to take on Arctics, while Miraculum will face Are We Winning? for the 5th round of Open Division play.