📝 Virtus.pro edge out Twisted: EMEA OWCS Stage 3, Week 4 Summary

A fairly quiet week in Overwatch Champions Series EMEA saw the teams that were expected to win winning, and the teams that were supposed to lose losing, often in fairly dominant fashion. Thankfully, one matchup at the top of the leaderboard saved us from another week of 3-0verwatch, and delivered one of the best games of the stage.

Game of the week: Twisted Minds 2 - 3 Virtus.pro

This clash between the two teams vying to dislodge Al Qadsiah from their position atop the Overwatch Champions Series EMEA leaderboard did not disappoint.

Map 1 on Lijiang Tower set the tone: despite Twisted Minds taking it 2-0, Virtus.pro had plenty of opportunities to win fights, and if a couple of ultimate exchanges had gone their way, this map could’ve ended very differently. A roster submission error forced Kim “Jaewoo” Jae-woo in instead of Kevin “kevster” Persson, and given how well the Swede played through the rest of the series, Jaewoo’s lukewarm performance could’ve been the difference between winning and losing.

Eichenwalde saw Virtus.pro close out the win - Twisted Minds didn’t seem to have an answer for Kwan “FiXa” Yeong-hun’s Brigitte and Jonas “Eisgnom” Stratemeyer’s Hazard. A desperate Mauga swap from Alhumaidi “KSAA” Alruwaili isn’t able to turn the tide, and Virtus.pro captures the final point with time in the bank. The Mauga persists into Twisted Minds’ attack, but still isn’t successful, and they aren’t able to make it to the third point.

An Ibrahem “Quartz” Alali Sojourn masterclass on Junkertown makes the difference for Twisted Minds, and they take the series lead once again, but Virtus.pro once again kept it close by converting a 100-metre lead on Esparanca. It wasn’t easy in the end, with KSAA’s emergency Roadhog swap eventually coming good, but a kevster clutch at the eleventh hour keeps his team’s hopes alive.

The two teams waited until the very end of the series to give viewers one of the craziest maps of the stage. Virtus.pro once again leans on Eisgnom’s Wrecking Ball to take the lead, exploiting Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway’s questionable Juno pick, and finds themselves 2-0 up with a significant ultimate advantage. However, a misinput EMP from kevster and a lost ult fight afterwards gives Twisted Minds a chance to come back. Virtus.pro swap onto Symmetra and Zarya, moving away from the strategy that had given them the lead, and proceed to lose the following two points handily, levelling the score. The final point ultimately goes the way of Virtus.pro thanks to Eisgnom’s Graviton Surge advantage, and they are able to prevent the reverse sweep on Suravasa and win the map.

This match had ups and downs for both teams, and rescued EMEA from what would’ve been a very pedestrian week of Overwatch.

Player of the week: Eisgnom

Eisgnom was handed what seemed like an impossible task: master Wrecking Ball in just two weeks and use it to take down Twisted Minds. He rose to the challenge, turning Virtus.Pro from a team that shied away from the space hamster into one that suddenly looked like an elite Tracer/Ball dive squad.

The two maps that he played Wrecking Ball on were certainly close, but there were extended periods of dominance that suggested that the Wrecking Ball composition had real potential for Virtus.pro. On both Suravasa and Esparanca, Twisted Minds looked completely lost at times, forcing FunnyAstro onto the Brig in desperation.

But Eisgnom's impact extended far beyond the Wrecking Ball. The Hazard looked very strong on Eichenwalde, and his Zarya looked good at times, able to clutch out the win on Suravasa with a huge Graviton Surge. Virtus.pro look like they are at their best with Eisgnom in, and the addition of the Ball composition will bolster their confidence going into the final couple of gameweeks.

Meta Summary

Hitscan is very much back in vogue with Virtus.pro bringing Niclas "sHockWave" Jensen back into the starting DPS lineup. Gen.G moving Jamie “Backbone” O’Neill onto Reaper and Daniel “xzodyal” Castro back to Sojourn, to both teams' success this week.

Symmetra remains prominent in EMEA, but is by no means essential as the patch continues to allow teams to lean into their respective strengths. With Loïc “KroxZ” Ricci of Goud Guys ANM finding moments on the Roadhog, and KSAA also utilising it on Esperanca against Virtus.pro. Eisgnom made the Wrecking Ball relevant in EMEA again, while also showing his ability on Zarya. While multiple teams always found success on the Bastion on the smaller maps, including Quartz on Twisted Minds.

All in all, while we still see the staples of EMEA in ground-based Symnmetra compositions, hero diversity is very high. Week 5 will provide an opportunity to see some of these different approaches clash, with Team Peps and Team Vision's match looking to be a high stakes example.

Match Recaps

Gen.G 3 - 0 Goud Guys ANM

A very convincing win for Gen.G, with standout performances from Alexander “Tred” Madgwick-Smith and xzodyal. They were consistently getting the better of their mirrors, and Gen.G as a whole looked a lot more organised than their opposition, successfully leveraging Backbone's Reaper against The French Hog. An impressive 100-metre comeback to full cap Esperanca will give them a much-needed confidence boost.

Al Qadsiah 3 - 0 Team Peps

Team Peps actually came out of the gates swinging, with a Florian “Dip” Lefèvre clinic allowing them to clinch the first round of Lijiang Tower. However, Al Qadsiah busted out the now-familiar Zarya, Symmetra, and Bastion comp, which Peps did not have an answer to. Al Qadsiah swept the rest of the match, and soon Peps’ victory in round 1 seemed like a distant memory.

Team Vision 3 - 0 Quick Esports

The talent in Team Vision’s roster shone through in this match - Park “Viol2t” Min-ki out-damaging the whole enemy team, Choi “ChoiSehWan” Seh-wan causing havoc in the backline, and Tama holding the frontline down with five deaths the entire series. Vision takes this one without much resistance.

Twisted Minds 3 - 0 Goud Guys ANM

Twisted Minds were another team that managed to overcome Kroxz’s big mouth and Roadhog pick. They were able to get the series over the line, despite the Goud Guys making it close on both Esparanca and Suravasa. Thankfully for Twisted Minds, Quartz put on a show on hitscan, lighting up the kill feed on many occasions and being the difference between winning and losing in this series.