Birthday boy Yuki stuns hopeful Avant to keep Dark Sided undefeated

While Oasis: City Centre was relatively close between the two LAN hopefuls, Yuki turned the tides on his Tracer. He nailed Addy’s Widowmaker and Numu’s Mercy with the same Pulse Bomb in a 3v6 to avenge his team mates and secure the point for Dark Sided. Oasis: Gardens was a lot more one sided for Dark Sided, almost capping the point 100 to 0 after winning most of the fights. Dark Sided ended up closing up the map 100 to 42, with Avant’s hopeful stagger only delaying the inevitable.

Heading down the streets of London in King’s Row, Avant made use of their map pick, grabbing a quick capture on their first attack and winning the snowball fight to push the cart most of the way through Phase 2. They were stalled out by Dark Sided at the end of Phase 2, but still pushed through to make it most of the way through Phase 3.

Watch as Yuki and Dark Sided turn a fight 3v6

Avant’s defense also started out well. Addy caught out Yuki a couple of times with his Roadhog hooks, wasting precious time. However, one swap to a 3-3 comp was all Dark Sided needed. They rushed down Avant on the point, then chased them all the way down back to Phase 3 while Molotov sat on the cart. The free push gained by Dark Sided playing in Avant’s spawn was enough to reach Avant’s distance with ease.

Speaking to Nicholas “Project” O’Brien, the Dark Sided coach, these deep dives are all about pushing themselves. “It’s all about assassinating the key targets while keeping ourselves safe. The distance is just a factor of how far you can push the limit. With the full 6 roster back after last week, the team wanted to make it known how far they can push it.”

However, after half time, it was lights out for Avant. Yuki was here to play. On Temple of Anubis, Yuki on Junkrat charged his first Riptire in 19 seconds to completely stall Avant’s push. He charged 2 ultimates before anyone else in the game charged 1, and his riptires were on point, constantly finding the right targets. Avant were only able to cap out 63.6% of the first point, and it only took one dive from Dark Sided to grant them the match victory.

Project spoke highly about Yuki. “Yuki has been a phenomenal player. He’s not a mechanical god compared to USMC, but like Termo he is a really committed player that strives to improve on a daily basis.”

Finally on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Avant didn’t even push through Phase 1. A 3 kill Dragon Strike from Yuki on Hanzo was eerily reminiscent to his performances in previous weeks, while Termo was constantly outdueling Addy in the crucial Widowmaker battles. Avant put up a lacklustre defense, allowing Dark Sided a free push to their 69.86m goal while only trading 1 kill to Dark Sided’s 3.

In the other Group B matches on Tuesday, last season’s Grand Finalists Masterminds GC were taken to 5 maps by SereNity, while Kanga Esports secured their spot in playoffs after a 3-1 victory over PIXL Esports.

Masterminds got off to a sluggish start against SereNity, dropping Oasis and Kings Row. However, a win in overtime on Volskaya and a successful defence on Route 66 forced SereNity into yet another Ilios tiebreaker. The curse of SereNity is yet to be broken though, getting wiped on Lighthouse and Well to fall once again at the final hurdle.

Project told us that Masterminds are certainly a team to keep an eye out for though. “Masterminds have some terrific players amongst them, but as a whole unit you’d struggle to find someone that puts them on the same level [as Dark Sided]. But MGC are a strong group of players so if they can wrangle their faults in line and commit to self improvement with the guidance of their great coaches they could become a serious threat going into playoffs.”

PIXL Esports got out of the blocks quickly on Oasis, taking the map against everyone’s predictions. Dewboy’s Pharah has looked great throughout the season, with PIXL squeezing as much value out of it as they can. However, Kanga bounced back, full holding PIXL on Temple of Anubis and Rialto on their way to victory.

Monday’s Group A matches saw Sydney Drop Bears take on Tainted Minds, Dignity finally assemble a full strength roster against Bin Chickens, and Kiki play for Legacy in their match against Blank Blue.

Sydney Drop Bears made light work of Tainted Minds, who picked up a map against Blank Blue last week. The series was so dominant, Sydney Drop Bears only dropped 1 point through the 4 maps played on Kings Row, and even then they forced Tainted Minds into overtime.

Dignity showed us their potential with a full roster, sweeping Bin Chickens 4-0 in their series. The series wasn’t without its hiccups, with Bin Chickens almost taking Oasis after Beta’s Pharah dominated a stubborn Dignity on University. The rest of the series was relatively decisive though, with a full hold on King’s Row and Rialto highlighting the struggles Bin Chickens have had on payload maps this season.

Blank Blue have shaken off their early season woes, beating Legacy Esports 3-1 in the final match. The team who excelled in dive meta have struggled to find their footing in this mixed meta, although when they’ve reverted back to dive they’ve looked unstoppable. This was evident on their Temple of Anubis attack, where Gob’s Winston shook up the defense of Legacy on the first point.

You can catch Week 4 of Overwatch Contenders Australia this Monday and Tuesday, starting from 12pm AEST on Twitch.