Alright, this is where we make a comeback. After sharing a poor set of predictions last week, I made a ton of changes to my power rankings, and I think we're set up for success once again. After having two weeks of Hero Pool-restricted play, the cages have been opened, and D.Va, Brigitte, Sombra and Echo have been unleashed. I'm very excited to see what's going to happen this week, especially on the new patch with those probably meta-shaking Genji buffs.
Once again, I expect teams to play heroes and comps that they're comfortable with rather than figure out a meta in such a short span of time, so let's get into my predictions for Week 21! Wish me luck!
DAY 1
1. Chengdu Hunters vs. Guangzhou Charge- Charge wins 3-0. It's not hard to discern the skill difference between both these teams, since the Charge have looked quite formidable on multiple occasions even against top-tier opponents. It remains to be seen whether the Hunters decide to be inspired by the Genji changes and let JinMu try and pop off, or whether they try to continue playing Double Shield with leave and Baconjack on Tracer-Widow/Ashe. The Charge have a similar decision to make, with both Eileen and nero being competent on the sword-wielding Shimada. However, I'd imagine they'd play to their strengths and run Double Shield as much as possible, letting Eileen and Happy play their own games and pick people off. It's not impossible for Chengdu to prove me wrong and put up a fight, but it's unlikely nonetheless. So turns out I was right about Guangzhou wanting to play Double Shield as much as possible, and although they weren't as smooth as they usually are, they were able to beat the Hunters 3-1. I was, once again, puzzled by Chengdu's coaching decisions. The only map this team won was Gibraltar, and that was the only map they played Dive on. Why not soft-force Dive a little more if your team can do well at it? JinMu looked great on his signature Genji, and their EMP-Nanoblade setups were well worth it. It also goes to show that the Charge have some trouble dealing with Dive comps on Double Shield, so we'll see how that plays out against the NYXL tomorrow.
2. Seoul Dynasty vs. Shanghai Dragons- Dragons win 3-0. It's going to be a massive upset if Shanghai loses this. With the recent Genji buffs, Fleta will have the chance to break out one of his signature heroes and wreck face; not to mention that the Dragons are excellent at Dive. I can't see Fearless and Fleta losing to Seoul if they play Winston-Genji and go after their backline. Even if Seoul switches to Anti-Dive (which I doubt they will), Shanghai can counter-counterpick and play Double Shield. Seoul managed to bag Ilios with their Winston-Zarya comp, but the Dragons showcased some remarkable teamwork on the remaining 3 maps and took the series.
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| Match of the Day: A Spark of Competition amidst the stomps |
3. Hangzhou Spark vs. London Spitfire- Spark wins 3-2. Although the addition of QoQ and Architect has bumped up Hangzhou's stocks, I believe London has got the tools to match, and maybe even outmatch what they bring to the table. Despite the Spitfire's losses to most Asian teams, they've had very solid performances from Glister, Babel and BERNAR, which might be enough to give the Spark a tough time. I still think the Spark have a higher skill cap, which is why I'm touting them as the winners of this series. The London Spitfire ended up getting an easy 3-0 win against the Spark. It all came down to who made the most individual plays, and most of London's players were on the top of that list. It's sad to see that despite their star-level additions, the Spark are noticeably inconsistent, and that's going to affect them in the long run.
4. Florida Mayhem vs. Houston Outlaws- Mayhem wins 3-0. We're set up for another amazing Tracer head-to-head in this series, as Yaki goes up against Danteh. I don't know how much the Genji buffs will affect either of these teams since they haven't shown us that hero at all in recent times, but I think it's safe to say that Florida are noticeably better than Houston, and are set to take this series fairly easily. I'm sure a few of you will question this prediction since Danteh carried his team to a win against the Gladiators last week, but I'm confident history won't repeat itself. In a series full of ups and downs, and surprisingly good plays by the Houston Outlaws, we saw the Florida Mayhem get a hard-fought 3-2 win, preventing themselves from getting reverse-swept. We saw Yaki bring out the Genji rather than the Tracer for most of the match, and although it was sad to see him not going head-to-head with Danteh a lot, it was entertaining nonetheless.
5. Dallas Fuel vs. Toronto Defiant- Fuel wins 3-0. Despite all the rumours about Decay benching himself going around, I think the Fuel are in a great place to beat the Defiant. Onigod's debut was pretty good in Dallas' match against the Titans, who really stepped up their game and won 3-0. I think the reasons behind that loss were multifold, and that Onigod wasn't one of them. He played a good game, and even though he isn't carry-level, the guy has potential. If Toronto has a good day, I think they can challenge Dallas, but all-in-all, I see the Fuel winning this pretty easily. A brilliant showing by the Dallas Fuel, who capitalised on Doha's intelligent Genji play, led to a pretty convincing victory against the Toronto Defiant. Although Agilities played his mind out in the Genji mirror, the rest of his team wasn't up to the task. Luckily, that meant I'd get a perfect prediction.
6. Vancouver Titans vs. Boston Uprising- Titans win 3-0. Considering how well Vancouver played against Dallas last week, I'm convinced that they've found their footing. Getting a win against Boston shouldn't be a problem for them, considering how powerful Double Hitscan will be even on the new patch. Shockwave and Dalton can put up carry-level performances. If the Uprising surprisingly pop off with Colourhex's Genji, that's a different but unlikely story. As I anticipated, the Vancouver Titans swept the Boston Uprising, thanks to their improved synergy and playmaking ability. A lot of people think that the Uprising are a much better team now, but the truth is that they rely on solo plays rather than teamwork and communication to try and squeeze out fight wins and map wins. They still have a very long road to go before they can contend with most other teams in the League, and this match just proved my point.
7. Washington Justice vs. Los Angeles Gladiators- Gladiators win 3-0. I'm sure we all agree on this prediction. The Justice are a much weaker and far more inconsistent team than the Gladiators, so they should crumble in this matchup. I think they benefit from the Genji buffs, since they could try playing Dive with TTuba on that hero, but the Gladiators' coordination and unique playstyle are too good for them to lose, or even be bothered by that mix-up. The Gladiators won 3-1.
DAY 2
1. Shanghai Dragons vs. Hangzhou Spark- Dragons win 3-0. After seeing how loose Hangzhou's teamwork was today, I'm convinced they're going to lose quite easily to the Dragons. A perfect prediction. Shanghai will not be stopped!
2. Chengdu Hunters vs. Seoul Dynasty- Dynasty wins 3-0. It's not outside the realm of possibility for Chengdu to do Chengdu things and throw-off the Dynasty, but I think the soldiers of Seoul have got it in them to win with a sweep. The Hunters have been playing more mainstream comps this season, and that'll work in Seoul's favour, since they don't do too well against off-meta strategies. And a second! Thanks to Chengdu's poor coaching and execution, they lost fairly easily to the Dynasty.
3. New York Excelsior vs. Guangzhou Charge- Excelsior wins 3-0. Despite the hype around Guangzhou showing no signs of dying out, I believe that the NYXL can light the match to start that process. We all saw the Charge struggle against the Hunters' Dive comp on Gibraltar today, and if there's a team that can play Dive better than the Hunters in APAC, it's the NYXL. With Haksal's Genji, Saebyeolbe's Sombra, and JJoNak's Ana, the EMP-Nanoblade combo is sure to be as deadly as we expect it to be on paper. The map pool also favours Dive comps to a great extent; there's Nepal, Anubis and Gibraltar in there, all of which can accommodate Dive at least in part. I don't know, I'm sensing a pretty clean win here if NYXL go the Dive route, and maybe a slighly tougher one if they use Double Shield. A rather odd series of events saw the NYXL absolutely popping off when they had Haksal on Brigitte, and then absolutely crumbling when they put him on Genji and Mei. I'm not sure what their strategy was, but they couldn't match the Charge's Double Shield, which they surprisingly managed to counter Dive with. You could see how well Guangzhou was adapting to the EMP-Nanoblade combo today, finding enclosed spaces in Gibraltar and covering them with Torb's lava while the Genji is looking to slash and dash. Very well played by them, and they won 3-2.
4. Los Angeles Valiant vs. Paris Eternal- Valiant wins 3-2. This should be a fantastic match. The Paris Eternal have a pretty good lineup, but they've not been performing too well as of late. The Valiant, have, but they're still trying to shake off their inconsistencies. With the recent Genji buffs, I think Paris is likely to have a better showing with Sp9rk1e, and it'll be up to the Valiant's DPS line to shut him down. It remains to be seen which damage dealers they run; do they stick to KSP and Shax, or do they throw in KSF or Apply for their Genji play? We'll have to wait and watch, but I think they're in a pretty good spot to take this series, close as it may be. The Valiant stuck to their guns, and played KSP-Shax's signature Double Hitscan comps all throughout the series. Unfortunately, the Eternal didn't flinch for the most part, and seized a 3-1 victory with Sp9rk1e's Genji, and SoOn and Xzi's brilliant hitscan play.
5. Atlanta Reign vs. Vancouver Titans- Reign wins 3-0. Despite the Titans' fantastic showing against the Uprising earlier today, I'm quite sure that the Reign can beat them easily. Atlanta's Double Hitscan lineup is very impressive, and they've also got the option to run Erster on Genji, which the Titans will have to counter. Since Vancouver's damage line only has hitscan players, their comps will be predictable, even though Shockwave can flex to and play a great Echo. Not much to say about this match; the 3-0 was basically destiny.
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| Match of the Day: A clash between the two strongest teams in North America |
6. Philadelphia Fusion vs. San Francisco Shock- Shock wins 3-1. This is the match everyone's been waiting for. Two of the greatest teams in NA, battling it out in a series for the ages. You've seen my prediction; the Shock should take the victory here, since they've been playing at an extremely high level for most of the season, and have beaten tougher teams than the Fusion. The main asset Philly has is their superior consistency, which will certainly help them challenge the Shock, if not beat them. Time to set my alarm; I'll be waking up super-early for this one. Umm...hello? Fusion? Are you there? Because you didn't show up at all in this match! The San Francisco Shock dominated the Philadelphia Fusion super hard, winning 3-0. ANS was the star of the match, as he put up some incredible numbers on Widowmaker, outmatching both Carpe and Heesu on playmaking and accuracy. My God this team is unstoppable right now. If you can beat the Philadelphia Fusion so smoothly, you might as well just pick up the Summer Showdown cup and walk away!
7. Washington Justice vs. Boston Uprising- Justice wins 3-2. The match to determine the final seed of the NA Summer Showdown. I vote for Washington, with no reason except intuition, since it's super late right now and I'm very sleepy. The Justice won 3-1.
This week, I got 11/14 (78.57%) winners and 5/14 (35.71%) scores correct, which is definitely an improvement from last week! Hopefully we can maintain the upwards trend well into next week, and accurately predict the results of the Summer Showdown. Subscribe to this blog for the Showdown's predictions, folks! It's going to be a banger!
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