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The Dallas Fuel weren’t looking to be exposed in their third trip to Hawaii. The top team in North America were nothing short of dominant throughout the first three quarters of the Overwatch League season.
It wasn’t a matter of if the holes in the Fuel’s hardened armor would be exposed, but when. The Chengdu Hunters eliminated the Fuel from the Summer Showdown in a 3-0 win early Saturday morning, handing Dallas its worst loss of the season.
Dallas was a shell of it’s best self, missing an OWL tournament championship match for the first time all year. The Fuel were forced to play an uncomfortable and unfamiliar kind of Overwatch against the Hunters twice over the weekend.
“What I like to say is that the meta between the West and APAC are very different,” said Fuel assistant coach Go “Aid” Joon. “That’s probably why we didn’t have enough prep time against their composition.”
#ggs The East was stronger
— OW_Rush (Hee-Won Yun) (@rush_coach) July 17, 2021
I'll see you next time.
The Fuel’s fast-paced, aggressive style not functioning the same wasn’t necessarily the dagger, but rather the room for error they were working around. With six players in the consistent rotation, two flex-DPS players and a limited hero pool available, the Fuel were walking on eggshells all season.
As OWL caster Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson pointed out, it’s impressive the Fuel made it this far before they were figured out. Wrecking Ball, Brigitte and Zenyatta were a brutal composition for the Fuel to play into.
Lee “Fearless” Eui-seok had to be perfect on Winston. Kim “Sp9rk1e” Yeong-han needed to consistently be a thorn in Chengdu’s side. It’s not that those things weren’t impossible, just improbable.
“We have shown a much better performance overall despite our disadvantages and limitations,” Go said. “Although we got found out today, I feel like this tournament in particular we had the most challenging bracket. At the same time, the meta wasn’t something that complimented our style.
“We did go 4-0 during the regular split, but through that I feel it just gave teams room to analyze us.”
GG's. The boys gave it everything today, proud of them. Chengdu played their game very well. Time to rest and focus next. #BurnBlue
— Mat Taylor (@TazMo) July 17, 2021
The sky isn’t falling for the Fuel (14 OWL points). They still hold the top seed in the West by a wide gap. No. 2 San Francisco Shock’s (nine OWL points) lead over the No. 10 Florida Mayhem (five OWL points) is flimsier.
But the Fuel’s goal was never to be the best team in the Overwatch League. It’s to win a world championship. Dallas exceeded initial expectations by being so dominant through the early season winning the May Melee. Their synergy and rush style was so good that it didn’t matter that their hero pool was limited.
Now the Fuel have to adapt in a way that’s more complicated than adjusting from one match to another. They have to find a new staple, a fresh take on the game that East teams like Chengdu and Shanghai can’t take advantage of.
That’s the biggest takeaway from the Fuel’s recent losses in Hawaii, not imminent doom. Dallas needs hitscan player Kim “Pine” Do-hyeon to arrive, but he’s still working on his visa from South Korea.
The added element of a McCree and Widowmaker star could be enough to give Dallas new life. But the Fuel can’t count on that being enough.
“In the next patch there will be some heroes that get buffed or nerfed depending on the updates they do. Nobody really knows what the meta will be,” Go said. “Depending on what changes are made, we can definitely go in the direction of making and inventing new metas, comps or style. Or we might even strengthen what we have done so far.”
Dallas is still a title contender, but the Fuel’s path to Overwatch glory isn’t as clear as it once was.
Find more esports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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Dallas Fuel topped by Chengdu in Summer Showdown, look to reinvent meta in pursuit of world title - The Dallas Morning News
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