Atlanta Reign and Dallas Fuel secure flawless June Joust victories

The Overwatch League June Joust tournament weekend has begun in Hawaii and we have two clean sweeps on Day 1. Atlanta Reign and Dallas Fuel won their opening duels against New York Excelsior and Shanghai Dragons respectively.

The Weekend tournament brought the two best teams from each region. It features a double-elimination format with the winner receiving $100,000. 

Lijiang Tower was the first map of the series and Atlanta Reign was prepared for this map. A competitive first point saw Se-hyun "Pelican" Oh’s Echo emerge as the dominant force in teamfights. The player was able to position himself well, allowing his teammates to tank the incoming damage. He would then Duplicate D’va and cause so much chaos in teamfights.

Atlanta ran over NYXL on the first point of Anubis. The team had more than 5 minutes remaining to take the second point, which they ultimately managed to do with 2.26 remaining. Things were already looking dire for NYXL as there was no coherent strategy to the team’s playstyle. But NYXL had a similar start to the first point and managed an even better time-bank compared to Atlanta. Temple of Anubis was already shaping up to be a very competitive series.

However, the second round on NYXL couldn’t secure even the first point. They tried different characters including Young-woo "Flora" Lim’s Hanzo, but it was all in vain. Ultimately, Atlanta won the series with a 4-2 score, securing a 2-0 lead in the series.

Pelican’s Reaper was unstoppable on Numbani. Constantly sneaking around the map getting flanks and important kills that allowed his team to get a foothold on the attack, Pelican was instrumental in Atlanta Reign’s performance on the third map. On the defense he chose Echo as his character of choice as Flora’s Reaper simply did not have the same impact. Atalanta finished Numbani with a 3-2 score pushing NYXL to the lower bracket. 

Dallas Fuel might not have Do-hyeon "Pine" Kim just yet on their roster, but the May Melee winners were nothing short of impressive in the match against Shanghai Dragons. One of the MVPs of this series was Eui-Seok "Fearless" Lee, who created the space for his teammates on Busan. Fearless played Winston on Busan, always diving on to the enemy supports and zoning them out. As Shanghai Dragons tried to protect their support or take the point, Fearless had already caused enough chaos for the Fuel to prosper. 

Shanghai Dragons had a valiant effort defending the first point on Volskaya Industries. The dual hitscan DPS lineup allowed Shanghai to deal massive amounts of damage from range. However, once they got the first point, the team snowballed into the second one as well. Dallas Fuel won Volskaya Industries 2-0 as Shanghai could not complete the map. 

Dallas Fuel burst out on to the first point on Numbani and that was it for the Dragons’ defense. A combination of Doomfirst, Winston, Moira and Lucio allowed Dallas Fuel to be extremely mobile. The team was able to take advantage of high-grounds and also quickly cover maximum ground converging on the enemy supports.

Jae-gon "LeeJaeGon" Lee and Min-chul "IZaYaKI" Kim were under constant pressure from the Dallas lineup in the chaotic teamfights. Jae-won "LIP" Lee’s Reaper took advantage of the high ground and his personal mobility to set up some amazing Death Blossoms. Despite having nearly three minutes for the final point, it proved too much for the Shanghai Dragons. The proximity of the defendant’s spawns and Shanghai Dragon’s inability to quickly wipe them out allowed Dallas Fuel to claim a 3-0 win. 

New York Excelsior and Shanghai Dragons will face each other in the lower bracket elimination match. Meanwhile, Atlanta Reign and Dallas Fuel will compete for a slot in the grand finals. The June Joust tournament is currently live on LAN at the Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City Academic Exchange Center. 

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