The new-look Dallas Fuel will see how they stack up to top competition this weekend.
Picking up support player, and shot-caller, Nolan “Paintbrush” Edwards and damage player Stefan “Onigod” Fiskerstrand allowed the Fuel to become a more consistent machine.
It took a few weeks and a bad loss to get there, but the Fuel are playing as a unit.
Dallas hasn’t defeated a top team all season. This weekend they’ll get two tries.
Here’s a preview, prediction and player to watch in the Fuel’s matches against the Philadelphia Fusion and Atlanta Reign.
Streaming schedule
Friday:
2 p.m. CT -- Dallas Fuel @ Philadelphia Fusion
Sunday:
2 p.m. CT -- Dallas Fuel @ Atlanta Reign
Notable: The Fuel are already 2-0 in their chase for a top seed in the upcoming Countdown Cup, which starts Aug. 7 for the North America bracket. If the Fuel could pick up one more win this weekend, it would all but guarantee them an enviable spot.
Dallas hasn’t had the luxury of choosing its opponent yet in one of the midseason tournaments. That’s something Fuel head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins wanted to see change.
What’s at stake?
The Fuel don’t want to settle with every team making the 2020 postseason. They still want a good seed -- a top-five seed is most desired -- but that’s going to require a hefty win streak with some bonus wins from tournaments added on.
Dallas didn’t get the results needed from the May Melee or Summer Showdown. Instead the Fuel lost to the eventual champions in both scenarios.
So a strong Countdown Cup is important to Aero and the Fuel. To reach a quality position to start the Countdown Cup, the Fuel could really use a win -- or two -- this weekend against top teams.
Three keys
Clutch time:
The Fuel’s previous encounters with upper-echelon Overwatch League squads ended in close defeat. Most recently Dallas fell to the Paris Eternal 3-1 in the Summer Showdown on July 3.
Aero and the Fuel could’ve won the final two maps if they had avoided one minor mistake in each.
That’s not just against Paris, either. All three of the Fuel’s losses to the San Francisco Shock this season included similar downfalls.
That’s something the Fuel have put their backs into, tank player Lucas “NotE” Meissner told The Dallas Morning News in a phone interview Wednesday.
“One of the large things we really had to work through was making the correct decisions under pressure,” NotE said. “In those super close matches against the good teams where we can’t be making small mistakes, we need to focus on keeping calm and making the right play at the right time.”
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Be the initiator:
A theme Aero has mentioned in the past after some of these losses to talented teams was that the Fuel played passively. They allowed their opponents to play their own style, control the map and dictate the fights.
Dallas found success against opponents when it was the aggressor and played on its own terms. The Fuel have the talent to do such, even against a squad like the Fusion. Don’t let Fusion damage superstar Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok do whatever he wants.
The Fuel has the DPS line to compete, and they should feel confident in doing such.
“I think having a talent like Onigod that’s able to slide in for whatever you need, and honestly his Ashe play has been phenomenal,” NotE said, “is a game changer for us.”
Mental reset:
The juiciest opportunity for Fuel this weekend is on Sunday. Of course defeating Philadelphia would be a monumental achievement for a Dallas team searching for a consistent ceiling, but defeating Atlanta is a more fair goal.
The Fuel could very well lose to the Fusion on Friday, and nobody would blame them for it. Philadelphia is a lock as a top-two team in North America in any given meta, so if Dallas falls to it, the Fuel need to be able to mentally recover.
Atlanta, while strong at moments, has shown vulnerability. Dallas’ lineup stacks up well, and considering the Reign’s damage star Andrej “babybay” Francisty retired on July 17, the Fuel may actually have the advantage at DPS.
Player to Watch
Onigod: NotE was confident that the meta would swap back to double-shield with Orisa and Sigma without hero pools for the next two weeks. That could mean a lot of Ashe again, too. That’s where Onigod has impressed the most.
Dallas may still need its own superstar in Jang “Decay” Gui-un for a duel with Carpe, but Onigod is almost certainly going to see playing time over the weekend. His success on Ashe could be a game-changer for the Fuel in winning close maps.
Final prediction
Fusion over Fuel, 3-1. Fuel over Reign, 3-2.
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July 31, 2020 at 02:04AM
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Preview, prediction and player to watch: Dallas Fuel require clutch play to capture wins against - The Dallas Morning News
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