The Blizzard Estadium in Taipei, Taiwan, was the location for the Overwatch Pacific Championship, which had a $98,000+ first place prize on offer. Eight teams competed for the title with ahq e-Sports Club, Blank Esports, DeToNator.GOLD, Flash Wolves, FireBall, Hong Kong Attitude, Machi Esports and SunSister all doing battle.
Flash Wolves the clear champions
Flash Wolves dominated from start to finish on their way to becoming Season One champions of the Overwatch Pacific Championship 2017. Flash Wolves showed their class throughout the Regular Season, securing an incredible 25-3 record to claim the automatic berth for the Grand Final. The other two teams to qualify for the Playoffs were Blank Esports and ahq e-Sports Club, both of whom were the only other sides within the league to surpass 20 wins.
The Playoffs for this event were a bit unusual, in that each round encompassed a best-of-three spread over three days with each individual day a best-of-seven. In the Qualification Round of the Playoffs, Blank Esports defeated ahq 2-0 (4-2, 4-1) to set up a match-up between the top two teams all season long in the Grand Final.
Flash Wolves use set team composition
The first map on day one was Lijiang Tower, where Flash Wolves showcased the team composition with which they essentially ran for the entirety of the Finals. The composition involved the typical 2-2-2 [tanks, DPS and healers] based around the ability to dive and maneuver around fights.
In a meta game that has been continually filled with dive, the major wrinkle that Flash Wolves and Blank (who ran a similar composition in many scenarios) included was the addition of Soldier 76 in place of the likes of Genji. While not being able to dive the backline the same as Genji, Soldier 76 provides consistent damage from afar while also providing the utility of his small AoE heal.
Flash Wolves took control of Lijiang Tower early, claiming the first two rounds. After losing the third round, Flash Wolves quickly recovered, gathering the final round and thus a 1-0 map lead.
The second map was King’s Row, where Flash Wolves had their best showing of the tournament. King’s Row is a hybrid map on which the offensive team must first capture a point and then move the payload (car) to the goal (end). Not only did Flash Wolves fully move the payload with over a minute remaining, but they also full-held Blank on the first point, meaning Blank were unable to even enter the payload phase as Flash Wolves used Ana instead of Zenyatta on defense, one of the few changes to the hero line-up.
The final two maps of the day were similar stories, with Flash Wolves taking victories on both Hanamura (4-3) and Dorado (2-1), giving them the first best-of-seven win.
Surprise loss to open second day
The second day started off on the wrong foot for Flash Wolves as they dropped their first map of the tournament, Ilios, 3-0. Flash Wolves did bounce back, however, securing a marathon of a game on King’s Row (5-4). Just as quickly as Flash Wolves had countered though, Blank recovered with a victory on Volskaya Industries (2-1). Blank used a triple DPS composition here, with Sombra in place of a healer. This was executed to perfection as they snowballed the second capture point immediately after the first to claim the map win.
However, Flash Wolves then went back to the strategy they had used on King’s Row, when they used Ana on defense and Zenyatta on offense. This time they did it on Dorado though. After holding Blank from fully capturing the payload, Flash Wolves carried their momentum to their offensive execution as both Jongie and Baconjack secured crucial early kills. This momentum continued throughout the rest of the map as Flash Wolves continually picked off the separated tanks of Blank. This gave Flash Wolves the advantage they needed to take the map win.
With the score now at 2-2, Flash Wolves finally put together two solid map performances in a row, first by securing Numbani 4-3. With just one win needed, Flash Wolves were not to be denied as they completely decimated Blank on Nepal 3-0. This saw them claim the crown and dispense with the need of a third day.
Flash Wolves dominant throughout
What rings home about Flash Wolves was their sheer dominance throughout both the Regular Season and the Playoffs. The ability of S1nkler and Realment to stay alive while the other members of the team dove the opposition speaks volumes about both their mechanical prowess and ability to play as a team. The only concern for Flash Wolves moving forward is Blizzard’s pattern of adjusting heroes. Can Flash Wolves adapt and continue their run of form if their preferred champions are reduced in strength? We shall see.
