It was an upset that was a long time coming – after three consecutive Contenders Australia championships in 2018 , the Sydney Drop Bears finally lost a championship match in the 2019 Season One Grand Final. They were taken down by their rival, ORDER, who now reign as the 2019 Overwatch Contenders Australia Season One Champions.

Taking down a dynasty

With the Australian scene getting increasingly competitive across each Contenders seasons, it was only a matter of time before the reign of the Drop Bears ended. “The World Cup experience [in 2018] really did level up the rest of the scene, not just [the Drop Bears],” said ORDER Head Coach Andrew “Rqt” Haws. “Other teams’ players learnt from those players. I was able to get experience myself, having [Team Australia Head Coach] Gunba there – he did wonders for the team. There’s definitely just been an overall improvement in terms of all the teams, not just us and Drop Bears, but [also] Blank, [Melbourne] Mavs… It’s way more competitive now and this is probably the most competitive finals so far.”

On the second day of competition, ORDER took down the Drop Bears 4-1 on the second stage at IEM Sydney. ORDER DPS and Brigitte player James “Yuki” Stanton said he put more effort into this season than he had in any season previously. “For a start, I don’t think I was putting in as much effort as I should have been, to be honest. I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t put the effort in, in the past. But this season I’ve been grinding harder than I’ve ever had before, the whole team has been grinding harder than they ever have been and the effort paid off I guess.”

A Shanghai Showdown

Later this month, ORDER will head to Shanghai for the Pacific Showdown, where they’ll face the top two Chinese and Korean Contenders teams, along with the top Pacific Contenders team. Despite the strength of the ORDER squad, it will be no easy feat. ORDER, along with many other Australian teams, already scrim Chinese and some Korean teams, but they do so at a high ping disadvantage. Heading to Shanghai, it’ll be an opportunity to finally compete with the teams on a level playing field. “One thing is for sure,” said Yuki, “we’re going to be a lot more comfortable in terms of ping.”

“No more ping excuses, it’s just down to teamwork,” he said. “We’re not really expecting to win [the tournament] or anything, or win a game. If we win some games, it’s awesome, but in the end, we’re just happy to try and put on a good show and get the most out of the experience.”

I asked Rqt whether they would approach the showdown similar to how Team Australia approached the World Cup Finals at BlizzCon last year – with odd compositions and throwing the unexpected in Team South Korea’s face. “That was more playing to the World Cup roster’s strengths,” he said. “[In Shanghai], playing to our strengths is still a lot of GOATS, which is pretty much all we’ve been running as a team for two seasons now. We’re usually the more consistent team that just plays the same thing and tries to get better at it.”

“We’ve had decent results against some of the higher level Chinese and Korean teams. Obviously they’re just scrims and they don’t really matter. But when you factor in ping and preparing for those teams in particular, there’s definitely a shot … it’s not just put your feet up and enjoy the holiday.”

“Honestly,” said Yuki, “I think we have a really good shot, just because a lot of us have played together as a team for so long. We all know how each other play, our strengths and weaknesses… I would definitely say we have an advantage.”

Regardless of which team made it through to the Pacific Showdown, it’s a net positive for Australian Overwatch, says Rqt. “It’s just great for the scene. It sheds light on a scene that is still overlooked in terms of opportunities and players, for the most part. Obviously, we’ve definitely had some improvements, with Colourhex, Trill and even Punk. But for the most part, it’s still a great opportunity not only for that team to get scouted, but it also just gets more eyes on Australia across the board.”

Donning the Green and Gold at BlizzCon

Another great opportunity for Australian players and staff is the Overwatch World Cup, which is fast approaching and no doubt on the minds of the ORDER squad. Considering his successful coaching run with ORDER and his experience as Team Australia General Manager, I asked Rqt if a shot at Team Australia Head Coach is on the cards this year. “If I do [go for World Cup role], I’d like to do GM again. It’s a role that fits me, in terms of preparing and figuring out the roster. I’ll still obviously help the coach in whatever capacity the coach would want, but I can kind of kill two birds with one stone.”

As to whether we would see much of the same roster for this year’s iteration of Team Australia, Rqt isn’t so sure. “There’s definitely a case to be made for some new players to come up through. For some people, they might not even want to come through again – more so the people who have got out of the Australian scene specifically – just to give other players an opportunity.”

“It is a huge opportunity. It’s the reason Trill is in NA, it’s the same reason Punk is in NA. Whether those players want to do it again, or try to do it again… There’s still a case to be made for some new faces to be thrown in there. There’s definitely some underrated Australian players on the lower teams that just don’t get that opportunity.”

ORDER will compete in the Pacific Showdown in Shanghai later this month and then defend their championship in Season 2 of Contenders Australia later this year. You can find more details on the Overwatch Contenders website.

Featured image provided by Reni Indrawan for Blizzard Entertainment.

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