Winners and Losers Finals: Overwatch League Countdown Cup Match Report

The final day of matches in the Countdown Cup was hugely important both for the teams playing and for fans of the League. For the teams still fighting to get into the Playoffs and their fans, these were their last chance to clinch one of the two remaining Playoffs spots. Whereas for all fans the end of these matches meant that the Playoffs and then the Grand Finals were coming up next.

The matches were also the last to be played on the current patch before the qualifying teams move over to the recently leaked patch that the finals will be played on. With nerfs to some of the most played heroes in the current meta and new Support hero Kiriko, the meta going into the Playoffs is likely to look very different.

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Here's a breakdown of the action.

Winners Finals - Toronto Defiant Vs Florida Mayhem

Map 1 - Oasis

Boostio in the Overwatch League?

Out of the gate, Florida Mayhem surprised us by not opting into the current Zarya meta. Showing us main tank Someone's flexibility as he brought out first Winston then Reinhardt. Despite their flexibility, Florida could not find an edge against the standard Genji/Zarya comp from Toronto. Neither round was one-sided, but in the end, Toronto won both to go one map up in the series.

Control maps have a tendency to play out differently from other map types, and this match was no exception. After going 1 map up Florida were able to turn their fortunes around. Delivering three convincing map wins one after another on Eichenwalde, Circuit Royale, and Colosseo.

Map 2 - Eichenwalde

A desperation Grav from Hotba that didn't amount to anything

After the comp shenanigans of Oasis Florida get serious. Opting in for the meta-mirror matchup of Zarya, Genji, Sojourn, Baptiste, and Lucio. In the pre-show, the desk pointed out that the Florida players have been putting up some of the best stats on these meta heroes recently, and it really shows in their gameplay. Florida rarely looked out of control in the match, instead forcing Toronto into risky desperation plays. In the end, Toronto were only able to push the payload halfway to point B, a feat that Florida beat without too much trouble.

Map 3 - Circuit Royal

Toronto needed to throw down both an Amp Matrix and Graviton Surge just to make it out of spawn

The third map went much the same way as the second. Toronto weren't able to push past the second checkpoint. Both teams were able to pull off the aggressive spawn camp that's become popular on Circuit for longer than two minutes. Despite this, superior DPS play won the map for Florida.

Map 4 - Colosseo

Checkmate pulled off three kills in approximately half a second

With Toronto's season hopes on the line, it all came down to Colosseo. With about 20m of progress between them, both teams showed moments of brilliance. Yet again and again the DPS duo of Hydron and Checkmate were able to turn fights in Florida's favour. Looking completely comfortable on the Sojourn and Genji respectively

Result: 3:1 victory for Florida Mayhem

Florida advanced to the Playoffs and Toronto Defiant go down to the Loser's bracket finals with one more chance to make it to the Playoffs.

Losers Final: Toronto Defiant vs Boston Uprising

During the pre-show the whole desk predicted Toronto to win. Given that they made it to the winner's final and won a map against Florida, arguably the best team in the Play Ins, it's easy to see why.

Map 1 - Ilios

Punk milliseconds away from contesting on Ruins

Both teams brought out the meta Zarya comp for this map, no messing around on Winston when your tournament life is on the line. Toronto were able to pull off a convincing win. Helped by huge plays from Finale on Genji and the ever-reliable support lineup of Twilight and Chorong. However, Boston were not without signs of life. Punk's Zarya was unsurprisingly a standout.

Map 2 - Eichenwalde.

Winning a map with a team kill, stylish!

Toronto continued their dominant run in this match into the second map. Holding Boston just before the end of the second point, and then barnstorming through to beat the Uprising's progress with a whopping four minutes to spare. Both Defiant DPS players turned up huge on this map. Heesu repeatedly getting the better of Seeker, his opposite number on the Sojourn.

Map 3 - Circuit Royal

Doomfist and Tracer???

At this point in the match, Toronto are facing one of the hardest mental challenges in esports. With their chance to continue in the tournament on the line, they need to turn their fortunes around and win three consecutive maps. If they succeed it will be a huge upset and lead to many people to reconsider their ranking of the team, but lose one more map and you're all going home until next year.

Despite a strong start pushing through the spawn camp, Defiant managed to snarl up Uprising's push at the end of the second point. Echoes of their Eichenwalde attacking round. Both teams got huge fight wins this round but it didn't translate into a map completion for Toronto.

Toronto were able to take care of the attempted spawn camp in a similar fashion. A sign of these teams' preference for attack rather than defence perhaps. A stronger defence on point A from Boston gets overwhelmed by some hero plays from Heesu to take the Defiant into Point B. The Defiant looked unstoppable on their Point B push. As the kills roll in the Uprising scramble to get back to the payload, bringing out the desperation Doomfist and Tracer but it just wasn't enough.

With a commanding 3-0 victory Toronto Defiant become the eighth and final team to secure their place in the 2022 Overwatch League Playoffs.

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