An upset in the Lower Bracket Finals gives an up-and-coming team a slot to play in tomorrow's group stages.
The first day of the last Overwatch Monthly Melee (for the foreseeable future, anyways) did not disappoint: a surprising upset in the final game of the night allowed for EnVision Esports to advance to the Group Stages tomorrow, while no one could get in the way of Tempo Storm and their date with tomorrow's Overwatch Monthly Melee matches. Miss anything? We've got you covered in the recaps below.
NRG vs Tempo Storm - Tempo wins, 0-2
The final Monthly Melee for the unforseen future started off with a bang, with NRG and Tempo Storm facing off on Watchpoint: Gibralatar. Tempo came out swinging, battling their way to capture the map with over three minutes left. Despite a very strong push by NRG, it was a key Self-Destruct double kill from Tempo's Dreamkazper on the final ramp towards the goal that allowed Tempo to win the map outright, 3-2.
A single-healer gamble paid off massively for Tempo on defense on Numbani, where NRG was completely blocked from capturing even a tick on the point. They started capturing the point almost immediately on their attack turn, then stalled long enough to both keep the capture progress from decaying and then played well enough to earn the kills they needed to capture the first ticker with 2:06 left on the clock, resulting in the easy win.
Evil Geniuses vs EnVision - EG wins, 2-0
After EnVision beat Renegades 2-1 in the closed qualifier, they immediately jumped into their fight with Evil Geniuses on Volskaya. With special guest Rinavx leading EnVision's charge, EnVision took both points at a lightning pace, leaving 4:33 on the clock once they were done. Fahzix had EMPs at the ready very quickly, allowing EnVision to hold off pushes without much trouble until the very last minute, when Evil Geniuses finally got the upper hand thanks to Peebimitsu's Roadhog targetting Fahzix's Sombra to give Evil Geniuses the push they needed to complete the map with 1:17 on the clock. The pressure was on for EG, but they were able to complete the map in Overtime, forcing EnVision to do the same or risk dropping the first map of the series. Despite over a minute of constant fighting in Overtime, EnVision wasn't up to the task, allowing EG to take Volskaya.
EG had a strong start on Lijang's Control Tower, but it ultimately wasn't enough, thanks to EnVision's Kophee and Tseini coming together to make the big plays that EnVision needed to take the first round. EG was able to answer back in the next round, but some fantastic Pharah play from Tseini allowed EnVision to grab their second point of the map. The re-play of Control Tower once again had EG starting off strong - this time getting 94 charge before EnVision could capture the point even once - but EG didn't make the same mistake twice and quickly cleared EnVision from the point, resulting in their taking the Center and tying up Lijang. Tseini once again proved that his Pharah was top-teir, disrupting Elkiea's Sound Barrier before it could go off, resulting in EnVision getting almost twice as much charge as they should have. Battles went back and forth but without the point being forfeited by EG, resulting in EG grabbing an Overtime and then clearing the point of EnVision, winning the map and the match, 2-0.
Tempo Storm vs Rise Nation - Tempo Storm wins, 2-1
Despite a strong showing by Spirit's Roadhog on defense of King's Row, it was TwoEasy's Pulse Bomb kill on Locke's Ana that allowed Tempo their first point with over four minutes on the clock. Rise Nation was able to answer back relatively quickly, however, and stalled long enough to force Tempo to complete the map in Overtime. When Rise answered in kind, both teams were awarded the standard extra-round minute to try to break the 2-2 score. xRetzi's Tactical Visor broke Tempo's momentum just as they went under the first arch with the payload, but DreamKazper's Helix Rocket counter on TwoEasy and the follow-up kills on Locke and Phaz sealed Rise's fate, giving King's Row to Tempo, 4-3.
Though Tempo was able to complete Eichenwalde in Overtime, forcing Rise to complete the map as well or lose the series. An early team kill on Rise gave Tempothe starting momentum, but Rise was able to hold on and grab the first and second points. TwoEasy led the charge for the first two captures, but when he started to cool off, xRetzi was able to pick up the slack and run with it for his team, allowing Rise to go into the final stretch with confidence. Tempo's presence on Eichenwalde ended as soon as a peaking Cosi was caught by Spirit; with Cosi's Ana down, it was smooth sailing for Rise after that.
Watchpoint: Gibraltar was the least close map of the game, with Tempo almost always in control no matter what situation they were in. Spirit's Dragon Blade triple kill helped to stall Tempo on the first point, but it was TwoEasy leading the charge that allowed Tempo to power through. A quadkill from TwoEasy's Tracer brought Rise to their knees, allowing Tempo to capture the map with eleven seconds left. A surprise Mercy from Rise's Phaz only served to give Tig's Genji more people to feed on; a post-Ressurection quadkill Dragon Blade from Tig kept Rise from pushing the payload to the first point. A desperate Desro tried to jump on the payload, but a boop from JKW's Lucio blocked him and Rise's hopes of coming back into the map, resulting in the team sinking to the Lower Bracket.
Tempo Storm vs Evil Geniuses - Tempo wins, 2-0
Tempo was lightning-quick to capture the first point on Volskaya, having well over six minutes to capture the second. Despite a strong stall to start off, Tempo was able to overcome multiple EMP's and Blizzards to grab a second point. Tig's Dragon Blade was able to stall EG's stall long enough for Tempo to finally complete the map with 1:51 left on the clock. Elkiea's Lucio managed three surprising kills to open the first point for EG, giving them almost exactly the same amount of time Tempo had to capture their second point. It was then, though, that Tempo became a brick wall, blocking EG from any major advancements to shut them down and award the first map to Tempo, 2-1.
Tempo showed their might moving into Eichenwalde, quickly taking the first two points with ease. Though they met some resistance just before the goal, it was a key deflection of Kayuun's Graviton Surge by Tig that allowed for Tempo to literally use EG's energy against them, resulting in Tempo completing the map with 1:15 left on the clock. EG's attack wasn't much against Tempo, with Tig's Dragon Blade promptly shutting them down before they even hit the bridge, allowing Tempo to easily take the second map and advance into tomorrow's games.
Evil Geniuses vs EnVision - EnVision wins, 1-2
Off-stream, EnVision eliminated Gale Force eSports and Renegades to re-match EG in the Lower Bracket Final. EG bounced back from their Tempo loss well, with the team practically running EnVision over with the payload on Gibraltar to complete the map with four minutes saved in the time bank. EG's Corey proved to be a deadly McCree, being able to stall EnVision for over two minutes until Tseini's counter Widowmaker allowed his team to take care of the cowboy. The stall tactics drained the time bank long enough for EnVision to be at a huge disadvantage moving into the final leg, but they were able to complete the map in Overtime. EnVision used that minute to get just beyond carwash but just before the first point and defend the Yellow Box of Victory for almost full time, but EG's offense simply overwhelmed them in the end, resulting in EG taking the first map, 4-3.
Kayuun and Peebimitsu's work on Tracer and Genji respectively allowed EG to grab the first round of Lijang, taking Garden while both teams were at 99 charge. They were looking strong on Control Center, with 85 charge before EnVision even had a capture to their name, but their initial success worked against them in the end; EG became overly agressive and dived too far, allowing EnVision the opening they needed to take the point back and eventually pull the round back into their favor. The two shared the next two rounds, with Lijang to be decided on another round of Control Tower. Once again, however, EG became too aggressive and tried to force EnVision off the point, but EnVision once again stood firm and wiped EG off of Lijang, tying up the series 1-1.
Dorado's first appearance in this Monthly Melee would be the deciding map for this Loser's Bracket Final, starting with EnVision on defense and EG on attack. EG speedran the entire map, not allowing EnVision any sort of opening and completing the map with an almost-unheard-of 3:30 left on the clock. Envision had a speedrun of their own, capturing the first and second point at a faster pace than EG. The third point would be more of a challenge, however, thanks to EG suddenly coming alive on defense, with Kayuun's Whole Hog able to wipe out most of EnVision with only 45 seconds left. Rinavx managed to hold on with less than three HP at one point, grabbing a kill on EG's Goliath to stunt their health and bring Envision their map completion. EnVision hit their first point in extra rounds just as their time ran out, but they were unable to stay on the payload as they neared the second point in Overtime, resulting in the Yellow Box of Victory being just before the standard second cap. Despite the time bank lead, EG just couldn't hold on after Tseini's Graviton Surge wiped both the team and EG's hopes of advancing in the tournament as they fall to EnVision, 1-2 overall.
And with that, Tempo Storm and EnVision qualifies for the Group Stages tomorrow, which starts at 5:00 p.m. EST. They join Team Liquid, Selfless Gaming, Immortals, Counter Logic Gaming, LG Evil and YIKES! (formerly known as Denial Esports) to see who will be one step closer to taking home part of the $10,000 prize pool. You can watch on Curse's Twitch.
