Roster instability plagues competitors while LG Evil asserts its dominance

Week four of the Overwatch Carbon Series has come to a close and playoffs will soon be underway. As expected, Luminosity Gaming Evil and Renegades have finished at the top of the group, with Immortals and compLexity Gaming snagging third and fourth, respectively.

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Monday — Wednesday @ 5:15 PST March 23 — end of group stages

March 25 + 26 — playoffs

The tournament has highlighted mid-tier North American (NA) Overwatch teams, as established and historically top-tier teams Fnatic, Team EnVyUs, and Cloud9 were competing in Season 2 of OGN APEX. The aforementioned teams were swiftly eliminated from OGN, and while they remain at the top of NA, their dominance is by no means assured.

New teams looking to gain prominence must stand out in these smaller online tournaments and for now, LG Evil has secured a commanding 8–0 lead.

Via Carbon Entertainment

Previously known as Hammers Esports (or -bird noises- for OG fans), LG Evil’s roster has remained unchanged since at least January 2017. The team took first in January’s Alienware Monthly Melee (AMM) and second in February’s (becoming the subject of a cheeky Fnatic Hafficool tweet), and though they became relevant during the tri/quad tank meta, the meta shift has not slowed them down.

Luminosity’s newest team took easy 3–0 wins versus Immortals and compLexity, but struggled in a nail-biter 3–2 series against its sister team and predecessor LG Loyal, the worst performing team in the tournament. Similarly, they took a 3–2 win against Renegades.

LG Evil and LG Loyal both pull out insane overtime pushes to tie up the series on Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

Interestingly, LG Evil has continued to run D.Va, often accompanied by a Pharah and Mercy damage/support duo, whereas other teams have abandoned the tank completely after nerfs. D.Va has been substituted for Zarya both in standard Zarya/Reinhardt comps and in traditional dive comps alongside Winston, Tracer, and Genji. LG Evil has experimented with Sombra throughout the Series, joining compLexity as a team that picks the hacker regularly.

Their closest competition, Renegades, is arguably the most fun team of the tournament to watch. During the brief but glorious days of Bastionwatch, Renegades embraced the omnic more than any other, running him on offense and defense to varying degrees of success. Mei, Pharah, and Torbjorn are not unexpected picks, and Junkrat has been used on Nepal: Sanctum — in short, if you are looking for a team that runs relatively varied heroes, then Renegades is it.

But crowd-pleasing has a few caveats. The team is currently 5–3 after losses to Immortals, LG Evil, and compLexity, and seems to struggle with the same “consistency” shortcomings that keep mid-tier teams mid-tier.

Renegades beat Immortals in a convincing 3–0 one day, only to lose to them in the same fashion a day later. In the February AMM, they beat the tournament runner-up LG Evil 2–1, but did not advance after poor showings against Rogue, FaZe Clan, and compLexity.

While Renegades may run hot and cold, they are the team most likely to overtake LG Evil in the playoffs.

LG Evil took a convincing map five on Eichenwalde.

The Carbon Series has been fraught with roster changes, and the week four standings reflect it. Immortals and compLexity trail at 4–4 each, while Team Liquid sits at 2–6 and LG Loyal at 1–7.

In week four, LG Loyal benched Mineral (support) and EISSFELDT (damage) in favor of Realzx and Flippy, respectively. Team Liquid replaced Minstrel (support) with Lui in week one and was forced to substitute Grego for Rapha (tank) in week two. Renegades swapped Sypeh (damage) for Iko this week.

Similarly, senior team compLexity continues to struggle to find its footing and place in the competitive Overwatch community; the organization has cycled through six players — Kao, Txao, Bischu, Dcop, Nesh, and Mezamorphis — in various roles since week one.

Immortals and LG Evil remain the only teams not to have changed their rosters whatsoever, and something must be said for such stability. Regardless of the individual skill of new additions, familiarity and cohesiveness matter in creating an effective lineup. It is no coincidence that Team EnVyUs has remained dominant since launch — they were among the first rosters to solidify and the first to acquire a team house.

Going into week five of the Carbon Series, LG Evil will likely maintain their flawless record, if their recent performance in the March AMM is indicative. Renegades will have another opportunity to overcome their losing streak against compLexity, while LG Loyal and Team Liquid will battle it out for last place.

A lthough it is unlikely that any of these competitors will overtake long-standing NA favorites in the short term, they are certainly teams to watch.