The Overwatch League's Kickoff Clash finals has come and gone, with the LA Gladiators masterfully handling the Dallas Fuel to claim the title.
overwatch league
To say that the fuel was completely overwhelmed in the final is a massive understatement, as the Gladiators managed to sweep all games. As reported by DotESports, the Gladiators, who locked the third seed in the tournament, were able to maintain their stellar play until the end. And this was evident as early as the starting map Ilios.
In the first game, the Fuel noticeably struggled to contest the Well as multiple Nano Boosts Jin "Shu" Seo-Kim kept his tank and DPS teammates juiced up for most of the fight. Kevin "kevster" Persson on the Echo was excellent at controlling the backline to help the Gladiators seal the Well point first time around.
Daniel "FunnyAstro" Hathaway was also stellar as Lucio, maintaining a high ground position and keeping opposing Fuel players off-balanced with timely boops. The Gladiators ended up taking Ilios 2-0, never giving the Fuel an inch.
For the second round on King's Row, the LA Gladiators opted for a rush comp to help dislodge the Fuel from the point. This doesn't discount the fact, however, that Dallas managed to win two fights at the point. At the end, the 3-1 result made the Gladiators' first win even more convincing.
Onto the third round on Route 66, LA kept the Fuel desperately looking for a counter as evidenced by the Dallas Fuel's constant switching of heroes to see whichever might work. Kevster once again proved to be a major catalyst on Tracer, with him basically dealing damage at will and charging up his Ult at an insane speed.
In the fourth and final round, the Fuel managed to put up a far more decent fight at the Colosseo map. To close things off in spectacular fashion, Patiphan "Patiphan" Chaiwong's sneaky Tac Visor proved to be the killshot that ended Dallas' run in the Overwatch League Kickoff Clash. It would be the LA Gladiators who would hoist the trophy up as the West champs.
THE STRONGEST METAL IS FORGED IN THE HOTTEST FIRE: OUR BLADE STRIKES TRUE.
WE ARE YOUR KICKOFF CLASH WEST CHAMPIONS!#ShieldsUP pic.twitter.com/x57Tp6Rh7o— Los Angeles Gladiators (@LAGladiators) June 5, 2022
Read Also: Overwatch 2's Sojourn Gets A Detailed Look At Her Abilities, Backstory
Other Overwatch League News
The current season of the Overwatch League is full of major stories - perhaps the biggest being that the tournament is using a playable build of the still-unreleased Overwatch 2. In an article by The Washington Post, OWL players, coaches, and casters sounded off on the game as it handles at the moment.
Many comments seem to not refer to how much developer Activision Blizzard added to the game, but rather how much they took out. Among the most noticeable changes include team composition (it's not 5v5 instead of the original 6v6), as ActiBlizz removed one of the two tanks. This led to team fights getting shorter in general, because there's literally one less opponent to try to eliminate.
Overwatch 2 trailer screencap - YouTube
Aside from that, the game's removal of one Tank position meant Activision Blizzard had to make some major hero changes too. Doomfist, a former Damage player, was converted into a Tank, for instance. This already changed the overall dynamic of the game considering just how mobile Doomfist can be as a Tank hero.
Either way, the game's current build seemed to have nothing too bad for players who participated in the OWL Kickoff Clash. As reported by DotESports, the tournament went on with not a lot of hitches.
Related Article: 'Overwatch' League Forces Florida Mayhem To Replay A Round After Using An 'Illegal' Play
Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
