A large change to the game had most teams in scramble going into playoffs, but few as much as the Excelsior. Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson, a desk analyst for the Overwatch League broadcasts, told the Daily News over the phone that their strong performances so far formed a blind spot. The team seemed to relax near the tail-end of the season, letting games get closer than they previously had. Accusations of “sandbagging” due to their assured playoff berth were thrown around, later remarked on by one of New York’s players Yeonjun “ArK” Hong on Overwatch talk show OverSight: “It’s not that we didn’t try or something. Though it’s kinda true that we sandbagged, like, one or two matches, I would say.”