Nydra's Minutes: The Mickie factor in EnVy's APEX victory

On December 4, EnVyUs swept Afreeca Freecs Blue to win their first LAN title at APEX. Yet for all their dominance in the grand finals, the quintet behind Internethulk was in less than desirable position exiting the group stage. Talespin, their star DPS had left, claiming he didn’t see the same level of commitment in his teammates. To remedy that, a last minute sub was brought in, which not only meant EnVy would compete with an untested roster, but undergo multiple role swaps. They were also about to face Rogue, the dominant team in the west which had robbed them at the Atlantic Showdown semi-finals in August.

In the span of three matches, EnVyUs grew from a hesitant group in their first game against Rogue to the impervious powerhouse that was flawless in the finals. As with every such gradation, the key to success isn’t to be found in a single cog in the machine but in a variety of factors all contributing to the final outcome. Taimou played outstanding Roadhog to pick kills and create man advantages in all of the playoff matches. KongDoo Uncia found trouble shutting down HarryHook’s perfect positioning and godlike hitscan shots. Afreeca Blue experimented with a clearly untested 3/0/3 comp to essentially give away Nepal and with that – their strongest map type.

Yet, if one is to highlight a cog in the EnVyUs engine that is the signing of the aforementioned sub – Mickie – and his now famed D.Va.



Role swaps at Talespin’s departure



Although most individuals in EnVyUs have historically shown expertise on multiple roles and heroes making for a very flexible roster, the parting with Talespin limited them in the playstyles they can execute at the highest level. With no dedicated Genji on the team, EnVy was locked out of aggressive dive compositions with Cocco on Zarya and Hulk on his signature Winston, a style they often favored. No Talespin also meant no outstanding Mei on the team and from there – none of the zero DPS triple and quad tank pick comps which they mirrored against Lunatic Hai on Anubis.

The parting wth Talespin limited nV in the playstyles they can execute at the highest level.



Bringing in Mickie as replacement for Talespin obviously did not automatically cover the DPS role so changes had to be made, changes which tangentially benefited EnVy ahead of their playoffs matches in APEX.

The obvious one is moving HarryHook on the DPS role, ultimately unleashing his potential in a meta that has shifted to favor hitscan heroes. A mechanically gifted aimer, HarryHook could be fully utilized on staples such as Soldier and McCree to make Talespin's absence be felt less. Previously a support player and a shotcaller, HarryHook could also benefit from his eagle-eye awareness of the game in aiding with target call-outs now that he was wearing the DPS shoes.

Bringing in Mickie on the tank position further aligned EnVy with the cookie-cutter, triple tank meta and created a solid style of play with a foolproof frontline which the team could rely on game in, game out. As Mickie would always play D.Va and play her well, Cocco being a resident tanker already and Taimou having favored Roadhog for a long time, half of the roster was already in their comfort zones, and that’s not even counting the veteran Chipshajen who’s been playing support religiously not just on EnVy but IDDQD, too.

While it seems as if the only potential flop in the role swaps remained Internethulk’s move to support, EnVy didn’t lose a lot in taking him off the flex role. On the contrary – the team is only looking forward to reaping benefits. A captain of the squad, Internethulk playing Lucio allows him to keep a vocal position and lead the team through a match. Not particularly known for being mechanically flawless, Hulk’s move away from flex raises the skill cap for the role as players such as Taimou and HarryHook now have more opportunities to branch out and play key parts in different compositions.



The Mickie factor and the battlefield benefits

Bringing in Mickie on the tank position further aligned EnVy with the cookie-cutter meta.



While out-of-game factors are without a doubt crucial to a team’s success, matches are won through skirmishes on the arena. In those, Mickie has been an invaluable part of EnVy, getting more acquainted and homogenous with his team-mates as the APEX playoffs developed.

Mickie’s first game against Rogue saw him play almost as a one-man army, clutching matches through individual displays of brilliance. His self-destructs were instrumental in Rogue’s elimination on Eichenwalde, getting a quad kill to hold Rogue’s push in round one and getting a triple kill to complete the attack of EnVy in round two. Although it was fundamentally a team-effort, Mickie’s two ultimates are stand-out plays which highlight the power of the position he occupies.

Moving on to face the Koreans, Mickie performed more in-tune with his team than against Rogue. Playing right beside Cocco, Mickie made sure that EnVy were winning the Reinhardt mirror battles, shredding the shield and enabling follow-up Self Destructs. While many of those Self Destructs gave direct eliminations to the D.Va player in question and made him shine, others were more of tactical nature, scattering opponents and enabling big Death Blossoms for a HarryHook clean-up, for example.

Mickie’s invaluable presence was perhaps felt most in the APEX grand final against Aftreeca Blue. Known for their aggressive dive style, Afreeca found themselves countered by Mickie’s superior positioning and intelligent target focus. The Thai would either systematically glue himself to Arhan and rein the Genji danger, or – should Arhan find a way through the defenses – isolate Yesman and Dayfly, cutting out Afreeca’s support and weakening Arhan’s dive. On many occasions, Arhan would thus find himself alone and helpless, easy pray for Taimou’s hooks. Neither of those playmaking or counter-play options were really available to EnVy prior to them getting a dedicated D.Va.

"nV is looking forward to a long, hard learning curve, starting now."



Aftermath



EnVy did break their LAN curse and took first major title but there’s much to look forward. The triple tank plus hitscan meta won’t stay in fashion forever and EnVy won’t always play teams who can’t find a way to punish low hero pools. When tides change, Hulk and co. will have to adapt to stay relevant.

Even though Mickie brought stability to EnVy’s world, the team is looking forward to a long, hard learning curve, starting now. The most experienced DPS on EnVy, Taimou is faced with the challenge of picking up the heroes that were abandoned with Talespin’s farewell. Mickie has been exceptional on D.Va and also played high-level Zarya in the Overwatch World Cup but we haven’t seen him on heroes like Winston, for example, nor in any other role besides tank.

Hence, the raised skill cap on the flex role mentioned earlier comes as a double edged sword. EnVy could either seize the opportunity and re-assert themselves as a powerhouse or risk losing the war to more diverse teams.

H/T to Wilson "Scr1be" Xu for the insights.

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