The veterans of the Dallas Fuel know what it feels like to win at the highest level.

Before the inception of the Overwatch League, Team Envy's Overwatch team was among the best in the world.

Seasoned players like Jonathan “HarryHook” Tejedor Rua and Timo “Taimou” Kettunen have hoisted silverware.

Some of the current Fuel players have had glimpses of that success, like during the end of the 2018 OWL season and beginning of the 2019 campaign.

But now the Fuel are, to put it plainly, owners of a double-digit losing streak. Dallas (10-16) faces a winless final stage after their 3-1 loss Thursday to Hangzhou (16-10). That's 10 losses in a row for those keeping score.

It isn’t uncharted territory for some OWL teams, but it is for Ash “Trill” Powell, the only Fuel player who hasn’t tasted OWL victory.

“(This losing streak) is very new to me,” Trill said in a phone interview after the match. “ ... Obviously we’ve had some hiccups where it’s not going so well, but at the end of the day people realize what we need to do."

Trill was part of Envy’s highly successful Contenders team before he was promoted to the Fuel in the middle of Stage 3. Like many young gamers who are at the top of their esport, Trill hasn’t necessarily been part of a losing team-- or at least one as stuck in the mud like Dallas.

But since he is under contract with the Fuel, he has to deal with it. How he does that is up to him, but he's already shown how he will react.

Despite loss after loss, he’s approached it admirably. And he’s getting a head start on 2020, akin to a young baseball player who’s been called up to a rebuilding team in September.

“I think the big thing about Trill is he definitely is really good about attitude and listening and working with the team,” head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins said in a phone interview Thursday night. “So I think his improvement right now is continuing to mesh with the team and see how it goes from there.

“I think with more time, he’ll do a lot better.”

One of the biggest differences between OWL and Contenders, Aero said, is that mistakes are pounced on in the big leagues, no matter how small.

Against Hangzhou, there were some small mistakes. There were also some big ones.

Dallas once again won the first map (that’s five of their last six), only to crumble in the second half. Map 2 was close, while Dallas’ offense on Map 3 never really mounted. By then, down 2-1 going into the final map, the Fuel couldn’t slow down the Spark.

“Even though we lost, I’m still proud of the guys for how they responded” Aero said. “... Overall I’m still a firm believer that there’s a lot to look forward to.”

The Fuel have been close this stage, give them that much. Though their overall map differential is now -21, they have won maps in three of their last four matches. The signs of growth are there.

And for young players like Trill, that means opportunity. Trill is aware he needs to grow as a player. He also knows it won’t come overnight. It takes time.

Next season will bring plenty of change to OWL. The contract status for OWL players is not made public by the league, but Trill, in all likelihood, will be back with the Fuel, barring an offseason trade or abrupt retirement.

That means he can spend these last few matches learning -- maybe that means going from being gracious in defeat to humble in victtory.

“Obviously it sucks we didn’t get the win,” Trill said, “but I think we played fairly well on some points -- but we played bad on some points -- we can take away things and learn from them.”

On Twitter: @TommyMagelssen

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