ENDGAME: The Chokers

No matter what roster they’ve run, they’ve managed a way to dominate the regular season, only to fall short offline. They capitulated against Masterminds in season one. They were one Graviton Surge-Self Destruct combo off making the final in season two. In season three, they finally made it, only to be swiftly delivered defeat by the Drop Bears.

They’ve only been getting closer to victory with every passing season, and season one 2019 might be the time they taste it. Bringing back Dale “Signed” Tang for this season and swapping Jordy “Jordation” Frish into flex support has proved to be a stroke of excellence, as Order have cemented themselves as a top-two team, only one map off taking first place heading into IEM Sydney.

#ORDEROW are gearing up for one of their biggest competitions yet when they compete at @IEM Sydney this weekend in the Overwatch Contenders Finals! #ORDERUP?? pic.twitter.com/I8aHtJOWZK

— ORDER (@ORDER_army) April 29, 2019

Even with all the setbacks in the past, they are feeling better than ever heading into this season’s finals.

“Our mentality is pretty good,” said main support Max “Unter” Unterwurzacher. “We’re happy with the level of our play and I think that if everything goes well we’ve got a solid shot at taking the whole tournament.”

Their methodical aggressive play has seen them stand out this season, with Signed tearing up the rest of the region on his signature Zarya. Order are known for their GOATS, and they will be making IEM Sydney their grazing field.

“Obviously the patch is good for a team like Blank who fancy themselves as DPS forces, but I’m still expecting GOATS (or some variant) to reign supreme for the most part,” Unter said.

Flex support Jordation agreed, saying that “any team just hard forcing DPS at IEM Sydney are going to lose.”

It took Order some time to get going after replacing Nathaniel “Merit” Hawkins in week two, but they’ve rebounded well, taking down Blank and the Mavericks on their way to LAN. They also don’t think much about the firepower of Blank, their semi-final opponent, and are sticking to their own guns.

“Daemin is a solid player and makes Blank a scarier team than they were in the regular season, but I also think LAN experience is a bit of a meme and choking on stage is less a function of experience and more a product of your personality,” said Unter.

“I don’t think the addition of Daemin late in the season is going to change anything,” Jordation added.

“We destroyed Blank in the GOATS mirror and won against their DPS comps, and even if they’ve improved, so have we.”
– Jordation

Signed hasn’t been the only addition for Order in season one 2019 though. They’ve also brought on coach Nicholas “Project” O’Brian, who led Athletico to a surprising LAN berth last season.

“Project has been very active and helpful in providing additional feedback for both the individuals and the team as a whole,” said Jordation. “It was hard role swapping to flex support but Project alongside rqt have been great in helping me improve on the role.

“[Project’s got a] solid understanding of the game, puts in the work, and is great at dealing with people. It’s a pleasure to have him around giving the fellas a bit more oomph in the support staff department,” Unter said.

As for what they are hoping to get out of LAN, there’s two objectives for the Order squad.

One? “We will be keeping Daemin’s LAN winrate at a solid 0% since 2018,” Unter stated.

Two? “Winning of course,” added Jordation.

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Order will be looking to do a whole load of winning come May 4 at IEM Sydney. Only two games lay between them and a spot at the Pacific Showdown in Shanghai. You can catch their semi-final against Blank from 6pm AEST on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch channel.

You can follow Jordation, Unter, and Order on Twitter.