Here we are the final week of the 2021 regular season for Overwatch League. This week the Countdown Cup tournament wrapped up in the usual double bracket format. Let’s get into it.
The Teams
To set the stage, here are the four teams that made it into the Countdown Cup tournament:
- Seoul Dynasty
- Chengdu Hunters
- Atlanta Reign
- Los Angeles Gladiators
Looking at this list last week, I thought that the Seoul Dynasty were by far the weakest team in here and that was borne out in tournament matches this week. Seoul were the first team to be knocked out after losing 3-1 to the Atlanta Reign and then losing 3-0 to the Chengdu Hunters in the lower bracket.
Following in their footsteps were the Atlanta Reign who managed to get past the the Dynasty but faltered with a 3-0 loss against a resurgent Gladiators squad. Down in the losers bracket they would face off against a Hunters squad that was also looking extremely strong and to no one’s surprise, the Hunters wiped the Reign out in another 3-0 series to knock them out of the tournament.
The remaining two teams felt like they were destined to meet in the grand finals, the Chengdu Hunters lost a close series 3-2 to the Gladiators with their first match in this tournament and then made a run through the losers bracket to face off the Gladiators in one of the best series this year.
The Finals
The last match of the 2021 regular season was an absolute banger. A 4-3 slobber knocker of a series. After the Chengdu Hunters took the first map in the series, the purple lions woke up and won 3 maps in a row to bring the series to a 3-1 match point for them. At this point, it felt like the Hunters were going to lose the series with a disappointing 4-1 score but they made a resurgence happen at the last moment to win two more maps to bring the series to a map 7.
On this seventh map of Rialto we saw Gladiators DPS Birdring turn up the heat another notch. The Gladiators were able to take the payload almost to the end of Rialto and that would prove to be the beginning of the end for the Hunters. On the Hunters’ attack, they were held just before point B in a stellar defence from the Gladiators.
For the first time this season, the Gladiators seem like the team they were supposed to be. I am looking forward to seeing what this team can do in the postseason. This is a team that is looking ready to win it all.
Conclusions
The last tournament of the year ended on a fantastic note and I’m looking forward to what the post season has to offer. I hoping for a new champion this year and not another San Francisco Shock grand finals victory. Thankfully, the Shock are looking much weaker this year and there are a multitude of teams that can also win it all.
The play-ins start September 4, so see y’all after that’s wrapped up, bye!