We started week two of the Overwatch Contenders with a few questions in mind: can Rogue bounce back? Can 123 continue with their dominance? Even with some blowout matches from Europe, teams kept it close in the North American region for a thrilling start to week two.

RELATED: Overwatch Contenders Week 1 Recap (Day 1) (Day 2)

Europe

 123 (2-0) vs Bazooka Puppiez (0-2) 

Oasis – 123

King’s Row – 123

Hanamura – 123

Watchpoint: Gibraltar – 123

Bazooka Puppiez certainly knew they would have their hands full for week two after 123 came off of a dominating 4-0 victory against Team Singularity last week. Simon “snillo” Ekström, Finnbjörn “Finnsi” Jónasso, and Hafþór “Hafficool” Hákonarson continued their reign of terror as the dynamic trio couldn’t be stopped no matter what they threw at their opponents.

Early momentum for 123 looked like they were about to roll over Bazooka Puppiez, but the McCree selection from Artem “Kensi” Budiak gave them the edge they needed to keep themselves in the game early on. McCree was a crucial pick for both teams throughout this set as it provided a direct response to the Doomfist, a hero that no team could handle throughout week one. This pressure in conjunction with Toni “Ube” Häkli’s Hanzo on King’s Row kept 123 on their toes before falling just shy of grabbing a victory.

Despite early missteps from 123 on King’s Row, they cleaned things up in the latter half of the set, dismantling Bazooka Puppiez on Hanamura with a full-hold. Much of the credit to 123’s success has went to the aforementioned trio, however, Denis “Tonic” Rulyov on the Winston looked fantastic as he was continuously applying pressure into the backline DPS, giving them the extra boost of momentum to win crucial engagements.

Ube managed to keep things alive for Bazooka Puppiez on the fourth map even with knowing they weren’t able to win the series. The Genji player was a one man army in the final minutes of Watchpoint: Gibraltar but snillo turned it around for 123 to help his team remain perfect on the season with an 8-0 overall record.

It’s becoming more and more clear how good 123 is as a collective unit and even when the teamwork isn’t top-notch, they have the individual talent to overcome their faults. There aren’t many teams in Europe that will be able to match up with 123 on paper, so they’ll need to bring something extra through to the table if they want to stand a chance.

 GamersOrigin (2-0) vs Team Singularity (0-2) 

Lijiang Tower – GamersOrigin

Numbani – GamersOrigin

Hanamura – GamersOrigin

Dorado – GamersOrigin

GamersOrigin were the final team to be slotted into Season One and were already sitting at a 1-0 record after last week’s win over Bazooka Puppiez. However, I wasn’t quite sure how they’d match up against Singularity who were coming off of disappointing week one performance.

Lucas “Leaf” Loison’s Doomfist has been one of the best to watch throughout his stay in the Overwatch Contenders and he continued to show his commitment to the hero against Singularity. Right from the get-go it was all about GamersOrigin’s providing an immense amount of pressure with the double DPS of Doomfist from Leaf and McCree/Tracer from Jeremy “Hqrdest” Danton. Leaf’s ability to create space and force opponents out of position is what makes him such a threat to his opponents and Singularity couldn’t find an answer.

Numbani was no different from Lijiang Tower has Hqrdest showed even more flexibility as he relieved pressure from Leaf with a Soldier: 76 and McCree that were no match for the DPS of Singularity. Mikkel “Mande” Hestbek tried to mirror match Leaf’s Doomfist but to no avail, as they were getting pummeled across the board and found themselves with no points throughout the first two games.

At this point I was left wondering what Singularity could even do to find an answer. Mande had some glimpses of hope for his team, but couldn’t sync up with Kragie to make their presence known. They made an attempt to adapt with Phillip “Kragie” Krag moving over the McCree, but Gael “Poko” Gouzerch on the D.va ensured that he was no issue for the Doomfist to find the initial kill to open the fight, making way for an easy cleanup.

GamersOrigin are continuing to prove themselves as the biggest surprise of the Overwatch Contenders after failing to qualify outright from Season Zero, adding three new members to the roster and getting off to a 2-0 record. It’s no surprise DPS players can make or break a team, but this team is truly night and day difference from their performance last season. I’m going out on a limb here to say I believe they’ll qualify for the playoffs if they continue with this type of play centered around Leaf and Hqrdest.

Here’s what GamersOrigin’s Leaf had to say about Doomfist after the games:

“Many teams don’t work well against Doomfist and don’t adapt to it even though they know I will probably play him. When teams prepare counter strategies they underestimate Doomfist’s mobility. And I’ve trained quite a lot on my mobility, so it doesn’t work.”

Current Standings

North America

 Rogue (1-1) vs Renegades (0-2) 

Nepal – Renegades

Numbani – Rogue

Volskaya Industries – Rogue

Watchpoint: Gibraltar – Rogue

It’s safe to say week one left a sour taste in the mouths of both Rogue and Renegades players. A rough set for Rogue left them wondering what happened last week as they were pushed to their limits and dropped what many are saying to be one the biggest upsets in North American Overwatch history. On the other end, Renegades came into the match after having multiple games within their reach before giving them away in the final moments to Kungarna.

For Renegades it was Christopher “J3sus” Pavloff who got off to a hot start to begin their day after his absence from last week. Rogue’s continued struggle was becoming more evident than ever as the star players for this team weren’t finding ways to deal with the imminent threats from Renegades. Rogue did make a few changes though, bringing Raymond “Kolsti” Tea off the bench as the main tank and moving Jean-Louis “KnOxXx” Boyer over to Lúcio.

Rogue started to shape up heading to Numbani, a map they continue to prove is one of their best. It was then that Terrence “SoOn” Tarlier was finally able to come alive on his Tracer and provide some sort of threat, something that was desperately missed on Nepal. He was met with quite a bit of resistance though, as J3sus made his debut an unforgettable one, keeping SoOn in check at every turn. Although both teams kept it close on Numbani, Rogue managed to squeeze out a victory in overtime, keeping themselves in the series.

Volsyaka Industries showed us a change of pace for both teams who brought out the Sombra pick. Renegades found themselves in a bit of a bind with finding a way to mesh well with what Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo was bringing to the table as his original selection of Doomfist wasn’t cutting it. It was starting to feel like the same Renegades we encountered in week one where they brought out a strong early game before failing to follow through.

We did see a few strong engagements from them thanks to ZachaREEE opening the way with the change to Reaper. With that in mind, one would have to remember they’re still facing Rogue, so threats like SoOn and Dylan “aKm” Bignet still exist, not allowing for an easy path to map completion.

Even with this win, this is not the same Rogue we’re used to seeing and it’s clear we won’t be seeing that same team anytime soon. A lot of the competition they’re facing are continuing to adapt and Rogue don’t seem to have the flexibility to be able to do so right now. They’ll need to improve at a rapid pace if they wish to contend with the best and qualify for a playoff spot, especially given they’ll take on FNRGFE and Immortals in week three.

 Kungarna (2-0) vs FNRGFE (0-2) 
 

Oasis – FNRGFE

King’s Row – Kungarna

Volskaya Industries – Kungarna

Watchpoint: Gibraltar –

Kungarna and FNRGFE both headed into week two following formidable performances in their previous matchups. Even with FNRGFE losing to FaZe Clan, they put up quite the battle in one of the closest series of the first week. Kungarna were looking to continue with their dominance after a 4-0 victory over Renegades.

A wild start to the series on Oasis showed how close this series was about to be, as Kungarna’s DPS players Michael “mykL” Padilla and Andrej “babybay” Francisty were running neck and neck with FNRGFE’s Casey “Buds” McIlwaine, who tore it up on the Pharah and Soldier: 76.

Kungarna went away from the traditional dive composition on King’s Row with McCree, Reaper, Zarya, and Reinhardt grabbing some playtime, as babybay put forth his best efforts in dealing with Buds on the Doomfist. The flexibility of Kungarna’s DPS players started to show as babybay and mykL came through when it mattered, finding a way to push through nearly the entire map in overtime.

The final two maps were about as back and forth as you could imagine with both teams keeping you on your toes with never knowing who is going to bounce back in the next fight. Between Clockwork, Buds, babybay, and mykL, each took turns with who was going to carry their team to the next fight victory. Another testament to the closeness of the series comes in the clip below as this could have been our first five map series with a tie, but Kungarna managed to pull through under the Tactical Visor of babybay, keeping them atop the standings.

Both Kungarna and FNRGFE showed tremendous promise throughout this series, each furthering their case for a top four finish at the end of the season. With that in mind, Kungarna’s ability to bounce back after what seemed like certain defeat is what has kept them on top for two weeks straight. EnVyUs, Kungarna’s week three opponent, will be far less forgiving than any team they’ve ever played before, meaning they’ll need to ensure they’re on top at all times or it will be a quick sweep.
 

Current Standings

Tomorrow’s Schedule

- eUnited vs Cloud9

- Misfits vs Team Gigantti

- Team EnVyUs vs FaZe Clan

- EnVision Esports vs Immortals

Tune in for the final games of week two tomorrow at Twitch.tv./OverwatchContenders at 10am PT/1pm ET.