Photo courtesy of Blizzard

The first of four round robin segments has ended in the Pacific Championship as teams have now had time to adjust to the LAN environment in Taiwan. The top three teams Blank Esports, Flash Wolves and AHQ Esports have established convincing momentum towards their playoff dreams, with Hong Kong Attitude trailing not far behind, while the rest of the competition looks unlikely to claim one of the three available playoff spots. Week 4 will provide us with some must-see rematches, with AHQ v FW on Friday and HKA v Blank on Sunday.

Still On Top:

Blank Esports 7W-0L:

The Australians remained undefeated at the end of the first round robin, only losing four maps across seven best of five matches. Only one of these map losses has come outside Hanamura or Temple of Anubis, assault maps being Blank’s most glaring weakness in competition against top four teams. The most likely case for such contrast between Blank’s assertion outside 2CP and their relative weakness on 2CP maps is simply a lack of practice. With 14 maps in the pool and little time to boot-camp before the start of the event Blank may have chosen to prioritize other map types in scrims over practicing on Assault. However, with three more round robins remaining the team has the time to better their play on 2CP before playoffs start. Blank’s struggles against HKA in a messy five map match will be concerning for the team, with a fantastic play by Trill potentially proving the difference between a close win and the Aussie’s first loss. Sunday’s rematch against HKA will be one of the most critical engagements in the second round robin. A 3–1 or 3–0 scoreline will help to dismiss the doubts raised over Blank’s perceived dominance. Expect a much cleaner match this time around, regardless of the final score.

Competing for Playoffs:

2. Flash Wolves 6W-1L:

Flash Wolves haven’t trailed far behind, with only one loss across the first three weeks of competition. DPS players Zonda and BaconJack have continued to star for the Taiwanese team alongside a strong supporting cast, shredding all non-Australian competition in the tournament. FW’s most obvious weakness lies in it’s awkwardness running Genji. Zonda’s Genji play isn’t quite on the level of his Soldier 76 and Pharah. This is troublesome for the team in the current meta as players like Blank’s Kiki are able to nullify a lot of Zonda’s star talent by running D.Va into his Soldier 76 and Pharah. Barring sudden development of Genji play from Zonda, this will continue to be a factor that hampers Flash Wolves. Be sure to watch this weeks match-up between the Wolves and AHQ, as both teams approaches to D.Va play may prove to be vital to the end result.

3. AHQ Esports 5W-2L:

Week 3 was a break from facing top tier competition for AHQ as they picked up two easy 3–0 wins against DeToNator.GOLD and Machi Esports. AHQ will be hoping for better results against the top 2 of Blank and Flash Wolves now that they’ve had time to properly scrimmage. Their match-up against Flash Wolves on Sunday will prove to be the best indicator yet of AHQ’s true standing in the event. An embarrassing 3–0 loss to Wolves, a team considered to be in rivalry with AHQ for the top spot in Taiwanese Overwatch, in the earliest stages ot the tournaments could be all but forgotten if the team bounces back and secures a win. They certainly have the ability to do so, flashing brilliance in their strong defensive triple tank lineups on Assault and Escort/Hybrid maps. Hitscan player DizZy has at times looked outmatched against higher tier DPS players, especially on control maps where his tracer play has failed to impress. However, when he is clicking and outputting high amounts of damage room opens up for flex player c0wman to clean up kills on Genji. Overall, AHQ’s biggest challenge entering the second round robin will be establishing a consistency that results in the team receiving the room it needs to operate efficiently.

4. Hong Kong Attitude 4W-3L:

With a bit of luck AHQ could have been in a very different place entering this week of play. Impressive performances against Blank and AHQ resulted in 3–2 losses, with HKA pushing Blank further than any other team has so far. They certainly haven’t been shy with their play, unveiling an El Presidente Bastion lineup against Blank on Numbani, providing us flashbacks to the earliest days of competitive. While we shouldn’t expect to see much more Bastion play from HKA, this provided an insight into the rosters willingness to try new strategies against elite competition. At this point in the competition HKA need to start bringing home some of these close matches against the top three, as victories will only become harder to come by as coaches scout out the competition.

Not Quite There:

5. Fireball 3W-4L:

The strongest takeaway from Fireball’s performance in the first three weeks of competition is that oPuTo is the real deal. Nearly all of Fireball’s success can be linked to dominant play by the Thai DPS player, showcasing legitimately great skill on Mcree, Soldier 76 and Genji. Unfortunately for Fireball the silver linings all but end there. No serious threat has been posed against those ranked above them as tank and support roles in the team have shuffled back and forth in an attempt to build around oPuTo’s fragging ability. The Thai roster faces a tough first week of the second round robin, with matches against Blank and HKA. Don’t expect any more than one or two maps to go their way across the two matches barring a major upset.

6. Machi Esports 2W-5L:

Machi face similar problems to those experienced by Fireball, except Machi lack the star talent to carry when times are tough. Rai’s tracer has been good in recent matches but good is not enough when your roster lacks star talent to clash against the formidable top teams in the event.. A map victory over HKA, in which Machi took full advantage of the new 2CP rule-set, was a bright spot in the teams otherwise lacking play in week 3. Machi should pick up two wins against the Japanese teams this week but don’t expect them to pose any formidable challenge to Flash Wolves.

Bottom Dwellers:

7. DeToNator.GOLD 1W-6L:

DeToNator claimed their first victory in the very last match of the first round robin in a close 3–2 match against fellow Japanese team SunSister. At this point in the tournament that’s just about as much as the roster can hope for, with both Japanese teams taking the role of a punching bag for the rest of the competition.

8. SunSister 0W-7L:

The good news: SunSister claimed their first two map wins in week 3. The bad: both came against fellow Japanese team DeToNator. Well known player XQQ recently joined the team in Taiwan so expect to see some substitutions and role changes as the team tries to find some consistency.

Week 4 kicks off on April the 28th and will be broadcast in English on FullCircle, a schedule for the tournament can be found here. Follow me on Twitter here.

Link to week 3 rankings.