đź“ť Spacestation Gaming vs. VARREL Full Match Recap
Both teams came into this game with something to prove - Spacestation Gaming needed to keep their run going in this tournament and regain some confidence after a tough loss to Crazy Raccoon. VARREL, on the other hand, had raised the bar significantly by taking a map off of Team Falcons the day before. They wanted to prove that the Japan region could compete at the highest level with the top teams from the West and felt they had a real chance against SSG.
Unfortunately, the reality for VARREL wasn’t so bright and hopeful. SSG would take a dominant 2-0 victory against Japan’s best, and despite some clutch moments from the VARREL stars, Xander “Hawk” Domenq and the SSG squad made it look easy.
Map 1: Ilios (SSG pick), Spacestation Gaming ban Zarya, VARREL ban Lucio
Both teams opted to play the D.Va - Hawk’s signature hero, but not something that KSG is known for. Spacestation started as they meant to go on - after a slow and disciplined pre-fight, Hawk finds the shift onto Kim “Sley” Jae-hwan and forces VARREL to take a backstep. In the next fight, Jeong “TOPDRAGON” Seung-yong finds the kill on Lep to open the fight, and despite a pulse bomb from Kamden “SUGARFREE” Hijada onto Sley, VARREL are able to find the rest of the kills and flip the point their way.
The ensuing fight is slow and scrappy, but Cjay kept himself and his team alive, and eventually, KSG is forced out of the mech by Sugarfree. Lethal finds Nico with no Defence Matrix to rescue him, and SSG clean up VARREL and take a 1-0 lead.
Lighthouse is next, and TOPDRAGON moves over to the Echo. SSG immediately slow down as Cjay is pre-fighted by TOPDRAGON’s Sticky Bombs. They give up the point, and extend their lead to 31% as Joseph “Lep” Cambriani falls the same way as Cjay did - Echo Sticky Bombs from across the map.
SSG are eventually good for the retake, with Hawk finding Qloud and Nico on the high ground, restricting them from getting any value. Another slow fight ensues after this, but SSG are unable to turn any kills despite their good position, and VARREL come out on top. Lep invests in the Rally late in a disaster situation for SSG, but they still lose the fight.
In the final fight, SSG do a great job of pressuring KSG to prevent him from engaging on their backline, which gives Kronik an opening to find Nico again. The rest of VARREL fall, but not before Lep gives away another Rally in a situation where SSG had already sealed the deal.
Thankfully, Sugarfree finds TOPDRAGON, who was hiding behind to get a final point touch, and without him, VARREL are forced to trickle onto the point one by one, and SSG get the map win.
Map 2: Shambali Monastery (VARREL pick), SSG ban Venture, VARREL ban Kiriko
VARREL roll out on a similar composition to the one that took a map off of Falcons - Ashe, Ramattra, Baptiste and Sley’s signature Illari. TOPDRAGON is on Echo following the Venture ban, and this pays dividends straight away, as he finds Lenny on the flank. Sugarfree then makes the move over to Tracer, while the rest of SSG are playing D.Va, Freja, Ana and Lucio.
It’s a slow start for SSG, but eventually Kronik finds the kill onto TOPDRAGON and blows VARREL’s defence wide open, and KSG falls as well. Sley comes back in with the Captive Sun and gets two detonations - SSG kite out to play for the re-engage, and the beat push from Lep gets it done, pushing SSG to the first checkpoint. A nano onto Hawk keeps the momentum going forward for the attackers, but Cjay falls to KSG’s Self-Destruct, and another clutch captive sun finds Kronik and Lep. VARREL stabilise for now, but Lep and SSG are coming back with a huge ultimate advantage thanks to the Sound Barrier.
However, in one of the best plays of the tournament so far, TOPDRAGON copies Lep’s Lucio and is able to farm a late Sound Barrier timing to clutch out the round for his team. SSG are held just short of the second checkpoint.
Unfortunately, VARREL struggle on their attack, with Hawk finding a pre-fight pick onto KSG, and dominating the space Nico wants to occupy. Eventually, KSG makes the swap onto Zarya, but at a huge cost to their ultimate economy. A clutch bubble onto Sley keeps him alive as he pushes into the SSG position, and VARREL are able to take some payload control as a result.
Their success is short-lived, though. Hawk engages onto TOPDRAGON and forces a sub-optimal copy, and the Japanese lose complete control of the tempo from there - they throw everything they have into this final fight, but superior discipline and macro play, as well as some great individual plays, see SSG close out the 2-0.
VARREL couldn’t replicate the success that they found against Team Falcons, and Spacestation Gaming looked the strongest they have at the World Finals so far. Hawk’s D.Va looked especially strong, and given her popularity at this event so far, things are looking good for SSG’s lower bracket run going forward. Next up is a very winnable match against Weibo Gaming, so this may not be the last we see from the fan-favourite American squad.
VARREL’s journey ends here, but they looked like a real threat against some serious competition. No doubt they will be back at the next LAN, and if they keep improving, they could have a real shot at going further.