Ground Zero has a chance to become the first Contenders team in the new format to go undefeated across all four weeks of action, netting yet another win against the Sydney Drop Bears in Contenders Australia 2020 Season 1 Week 3.

The win was one of their most dominant, yet again only losing one map in their run. After sweeping ScrimBux, they had a slight hiccup on Oasis against Mindfreak, before turning up the heat against the Drop Bears in the final.

However, the team wasn’t as confident as they were in previous weeks. According to Felix “ckm” Murray, the break had thrown the team off slightly, and scrims were looking closer than ever before.

“This [win] is especially sweet,” the veteran DPS told Snowball Esports. “We weren’t feeling as ahead this week in scrims as we had in other weeks, so to pull up on match day like we did is a good feeling.”

It’s been a triumphant return for arguably Australia’s most storied flex DPS. After announcing his retirement in mid-2019, he’s come back with vengeance after the World Cup with Ground Zero, and has found the perfect balance between competitive Overwatch and his studies.

“I started planting seeds with Signed and Unter at BlizzCon about this season to slot back into Contenders,” he said. “So far I’ve been able to manage my time well enough, really just means sometimes I have to sacrifice some social activities when things get busy.”

The four weeks off gave Ground Zero time to refine their strategies ?— no matter how far ahead of the rest of the region they seem. On top of that, it gave them a chance to refine their communication, after a mad scramble before the start of the season saw many teams alter their rosters drastically.

“Communication has been a struggle for a while,” he admitted. “It’s really only been coming together recently and we have tons of work to do on that front still.

Regardless of how their communication might be behind the scenes, it’s almost impossible to see a flaw in their play. Their flexibility has allowed them to navigate whatever hero pool is thrown at them, and they have the ability to play counters better than their opponents can play their comfort.

This will become ever crucial with the release of Echo. Overwatch’s latest DPS is now unbanned, and while the Week 4 hero pool hasn’t been confirmed yet, if she is available to play, Ground Zero are ready to pick her up with open arms.

“I think the thing that makes Echo interesting is that she’s a strong dive and poke character, meaning she’ll be able to slot in as a key hero in numerous comps,” he said. “If she’s meta I assume everyone will be jumping on the chance to play her, since she’s fun as hell.”

Contenders Australia Week 3 – Top 5 ???

HD: https://t.co/g2dfJvHa9h
Full VOD: https://t.co/y1xeMe3LAx#overwatch #esports #contenders #australia pic.twitter.com/KcKQEn542R

— Blizzard Esports ANZ (@BlizzEsportsANZ) April 29, 2020

With only one week separating them from a perfect run in the new format, ckm stated Ground Zero aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves. There’s still a job to do, and if anyone can do it, it’s ckm and their veteran roster.

“Obviously we’re not getting too ahead of ourselves,” he said. “Things can change quickly with the fast changing metas. Provided we stay on top of our practice we should be good.”

In other results, Warriors broke into the top four for the first time this season, and locked their place in playoffs, after NoWeaver failed to submit a roster in Week 3. The French organization parted ways with their old roster during the mid-season break, but still currently hold the slot.

Kraken Esports Club also made their mark, jumping straight from Open Division into the top eight after taking down PowerAnchors in the round of 12.

Paradigm Shift, ScrimBux, and Athletico currently hold the final three playoffs spots, but with some teams hot on their heels, next week is going to prove ever crucial.

Contenders Australia 2020 Season 1 will return for Week 4 on May 11.

You can follow ckm and Ground Zero on Twitter.

Produced by Josh Swift

Ground Zero have locked their place into the Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 1 2020 playoffs after claiming their second victory in a row, although they faced new opposition in Sydney Drop Bears in this week’s final.

Ground Zero’s firm grip on the rest of the Contenders field was tightened in Week 2, after the Perth-based org secured their second weekly win and another 100 points. However, instead of getting a rematch with NoWeaver, they faced down the old dynasty of the Sydney Drop Bears to run it back.

The three-time champions of Contenders Australia look vastly different from when they were winning titles back in 2018, although the same fighting spirit lives on. After a 3-4th place finish in Week 1, the Drop Bears clawed their way back into the final of Week 2 after taking down NoWeaver 3-0.

It was redemption for Winter “Winter” Thomas and his squad, who had to recuperate after a tough loss to the French organization.

• Read more: Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

“The first week’s loss was tough on the boys,” he told Snowball Esports. “We knew we were better but just played awfully on the day.

“That week we also had me on hitscan and thk on projectile which we thought was good, but in the end it wasn’t, so over the past two weeks we put me back on projectile and thk back on hitscan and really grinded it out. In the end, it paid off.”

Working in the Thai DPS has been easier than expected for Winter. Having worked alongside Korean and Pacific talent like Dreamer and Nyang last season, bringing in thk helped them fill out some depth in their squad, even if there’s a little language barrier.

“Incorporating thk has been really easy for us as he’s really given his all to learn English through lessons and convos with us all. He’s also really friendly and fits into our environment really well as he’s not afraid to have some banter.”

Doing what’s best for the team, instead of trying to flex his mechanical muscle, has also been the path Winter’s taken throughout his career. He doesn’t see himself as the player to pop off anymore, instead making sure that his teammates can get the spotlight, and ultimately do what gets the team the win.

“After gaining experience throughout my whole career, I’ve turned into more of a stepping stone for my teammates to carry,” he said. “I like doing the stuff that doesn’t get appreciated, and doesn’t get the big reactions from the casters and the fans, but rather what leads to those moments.

“I have spent the last three seasons being the IGL for my teams and I feel like that has given me further knowledge on how I analyse what’s going on in front of me. I can’t 1v6, I’m not as gifted as players such as ckm, Signed, and Jordation.

“I’ve developed into a more ‘What can I do for the team, not what the team can do for me’ player. I don’t get those big pop-off moments that go in montages and highlight reels, but it brings the team wins, and wins are what matters.”

After locking down the 50 points for making it to the grand final, they were hopeful to try and double it. However, they couldn’t contain the beast that is Ground Zero, with Winter noting that the now two-time Contenders bracket winners look unstoppable.

“GZG have been ahead of the pack these past two weeks,” he said, “however I think the bans have favoured them. They’ve had Adam on his signature D.Va pick, although beating them just comes down to who plays better on the day.”

Among the carnage though, the Drop Bears did find a weak spot in Ground Zero’s armour on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. A strong defense snowballed into a good offense, with SDB stealing away their perfect week in the second-last map.

ggs @GroundZeroOCE 3-1 loss, almost got to map 5. Was a really fun game and we have definitely improved since last week. Here is me getting a shatter so fat I fucking choked up. pic.twitter.com/GIH2yZczts

— Minny (@Minny_OW) March 16, 2020

They caught Ground Zero by surprise with Hanzo, Baptiste, and Sigma, three heroes that might not have seen play if it weren’t for the hero bans. With Winston out of the picture for Week 2, along with Lucio, dive comps have been a bit stunted, and bunker made a short brief rise.

Sydney Drop Bears’ flexibility allowed them to work around these bans, and played around Ground Zero’s Torbjorn strategy perfectly.

“Hero bans are decent for us as we have six really flexible players on our line-up,” said Winter. “It’s more about finding what works best for everyone and then seeing how that matches up against other teams.”

When the rematch eventually comes ?— which Winter is sure will happen ?— Sydney Drop Bears won’t be caught off-guard again. They’ve only got Ground Zero in their sights, and they’ll fight to try and reclaim their spot at the top.

“GZG are our only threat and we are not worried about anyone else.”

In the week’s other action, Mindfreak cemented their second straight 3-4th result with a loss to GZG in the semi, while NoWeaver only managed to rack up 35 points after making the grand final in Week 1.

Athletico were knocked out early in the bracket by Paradigm Shift, while Warriors fell short of their first top four berth once again. ScrimBux and X69GAMING rounded out the rest of the top eight, securing 20 points.

Overwatch Contenders Australia will return in May. Open Division will take place in the coming weeks, with eight spots in Trials up for grabs.

You can follow Winter and Drop Bears on Twitter

Produced by Josh Swift

Ground Zero have taken home the accolades in the first week of Contenders Australia 2020 after beating NoWeaver in the grand final 3-1, and according to Dale “Signed” Tang, the team is ready for whatever the future throws at them ?— hero pools and all.

The revitalized Ground Zero roster build on the success of the Order squad in 2019, with Signed and Adam “Adam” Soong heading up a roster brimming with talent. However, the off-season wasn’t all smooth sailing.

After Sam “Quatz” Dennis departed for Warriors, and Max “Unter” Unterwurzacher was shipped off to Europe with British Hurricane, London Spitfire’s academy team, Ground Zero were forced to rebuild days out from the start of the season.

However, with three-time champion main support Lachlan “Bertlog” Main coming out of retirement, and Riley “cuFFa” Brown making his Contenders debut, Signed says Ground Zero have future-proofed their team for 2020.

“cuFFa and Bertlog are great additions to the team,” he said after his team’s win on Monday. “Both have insane mechanics in their respective roles, and it’s coming together well. I think we have the most meta proof roster in the entire region now.”

They showed that off throughout their Week 1 run in Contenders Australia 2020. While they showed off some comfort picks, like Giorgio “Terry” Lahdo’s Ana (previously Tongue) and Adam’s D.Va, the team is getting ready to flex their muscles in future weeks with hero pools.

Ckm and Signed have a huge hero pool between themselves, and with the constantly adapting roster, teams will need to be well equipped with whatever is thrown at them.

“I feel like we have a completely meta-proof lineup,” said Signed. “Ckm can play all the traditional flex DPS heroes and a lot of hitscan, while I can cover almost all hitscan heroes while being able to play some flex too.

“Adam can play every off-tank to an insane level, and so can cuFFa relative to his role in main tank. Terry and Bertlog cover every single support in the game also.

“It’s all up to whether coaches can teach their players on time and create an environment in which the players can understand their role in the new meta and their limits also.”

Their finals opponents in NoWeaver were a surprise to most though. The up-and-coming roster took down Sydney Drop Bears 3-0 in the semifinal to book a spot against Ground Zero at the end of Week 1.

While they feature a bunch of talent who has previously been on the cusp of the top echelons of Australian Overwatch, like DPS Kurt “Naahmie” Pedersen and off-tank Thy “Mini” Le, together they’ve shown that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

“I thought NoWeaver was a very ‘scrimbucks’ team, but their performance in officials have shown otherwise,” said Signed. “Despite them having rather volatile results, overall their track record has shown them to be worthy of contending for the top two spot.

“NoWeaver might be our biggest rival currently because they have very legit and consistent players I feel,” he added. “They are running a full local roster which eliminates their ability to have communication issues unlike other teams.

“They have players with insane potential, and with proper coaching they will definitely be a threat.”

We’ve topped charts as we claim Paris ? against @NoweaverE in overtime!
Finishing off the first week of @owpathtopro with a grand final win, earning us 100pt towards the playoffs. GGWP!

[ #GZPZ || #WESTISBEST ] pic.twitter.com/9YBBPuxcHp

— Ground Zero (@GroundZeroOCE) March 2, 2020

Regardless of who their rivals are though, Ground Zero are only aiming for one thing ?— getting more wins, and making them as flawless as possible.

“Honestly if we just play our own game, we should be looking at another three consecutive dubs next week,” he said. “I trust that our trusty Italian coach Joynt can hook us up with the goods.”

NoWeaver took home 50 points after Week 1, while Mindfreak and Sydney Drop Bears secured their spot in Week 2 and 35 points after coming in 3-4th.

Warriors and Athletico were knocked back down to Trials after a disappointing showing saw the two returning orgs fail to edge into the top four safe zone.

Overwatch Contenders Australia will return for Week 2 on March 8 for Trials, while Contenders will restart on March 15.

You can follow Signed and Ground Zero Gaming on Twitter

Dragons are out, Drop Bears are the new “LANimal” in town.

The Drop Bears made Overwatch history by winning all three Contenders seasons in 2018. Only one other team in the world has done it – Fusion University in North America won all three titles without dropping a series across the year, but lost 26 maps. The Drop Bears? Just nine.

Across all of 2018 the Drop Bears have been the most dominant team in Australia, picking up the best players season-after-season to form one continued line of super teams. First it was a mix of proven and upcoming talent, then it was the Australian World Cup team.

WE MADE IT! GG, @ORDER_army

2019 #OverwatchContenders Season 3 Champions ?

Can’t thank our fans enough for the overwhelming support ?#Undefeated #FearTheBear pic.twitter.com/ztklEQ5uBA

— Sydney Drop Bears (@Dropbearsgg) January 20, 2019

Opinion heading into the LAN was divided, with many expecting a Drop Bears win but hoping for an Order upset. Order came into LAN with momentum and confidence after their solid run through the latter half of the season, not dropping a map after losing to Heist early on.

The Drop Bears were the ones to claim first blood at LAN however, defeating a late-coming Heist 3-0. With both teams working out the LAN nerves during Ilios, the Drop Bears got fired up after a close call on Lighthouse, and overwhelmed Heist through the rest of the series.

The Drop Bears weren’t afraid to change up the tried and tested meta of Season 3 – GOATS – either. Running Ckm on Doomfist and Mei for part of the series and swapping Shoyo onto Brigitte, Heist were never able to show their prowess in the GOATS vs GOATS matchup, as they crumbled under the pressure of their first LAN as a team.

Order showed veterans Athletico in their semi-final straight after. While Athletico came out swinging on Lijiang Tower, taking Night Market away from Order to get the team chirping, they were swiftly silenced at the hands of Jordation’s Zarya, which starred throughout the series.

While his Graviton Surge’s were hit-and-miss, his ability to charge them quickly, as well as maintaining high energy, meant he was constantly shredding the remnants of Athletico.

By the time Hanamura rolled around, Athletico had all but rolled over to accept defeat, only getting one kill onto Quatz on the entire map and stumbling out of their first Contenders playoffs appearance 3-0.

With the stage set for a grand final of biblical proportions, viewers were treated to the best Australia has to offer. While Order looked set to take out Ilios, the Drop Bears brought it back from the brink not once, but twice on Ruins and Well, with Ckm’s Doomfist keeping Merit and Unter occupied and leaving the Order frontline vulnerable.

Order struck back and handed the Drop Bears their first map loss of the season on Hollywood, with Jordation getting insanely quick Graviton Surges –  20 to 30 per cent faster than Hus – to give Order much needed momentum. While Shoyo did his best to deny the advantage, matrixing three Gravitons on Hollywood defense alone, the lack of D.Va in their attack meant Order were given free reign and took the map after a convincing full hold.

That was the only map the Drop Bears would drop though – Hanamura started out well for the boys in black, but a solid second point defense from Drop Bears took the wind out of Order’s sails, and they never fully recovered their momentum.

The Drop Bears innovation didn’t stop with Doomfist and Mei however. Throughout the day, they played Sombra/Pharah comps, Wrecking Ball Dive with Widow and Tracer and Quad DPS with Ashe and Wrecking Ball on different maps. While some comps were answered, most strats went uncontested as the Drop Bears flexed their prowess.

By the time Busan came around, it was all Drop Bears and they were vocal about it. The chatter from Order had quietened down to just a whisper as the Drop Bears got louder and louder in the studio the closer they came to another title.

As they took the final fight on Downtown on Busan, elation washed over the Drop Bears – some players even clinging to their tables in relief – as they had completed a feat only one other team had ever done in competitive Overwatch history – a championship three-peat.

Clip: Watch as the Drop Bears slowly whittle down Order on their way to their third Contenders title in as many seasons on Busan Downtown.

Their 4-1 victory over Order bookends a year of domination where the Drop Bears had a 91 per cent win rate in domestic competition and multiple Australian World Cup selections. Returning in Season 1 2019, we will have to wait and see if such a remarkable run can happen once again.

Season 1 2019 of Overwatch Contenders Australia will start in February after Open Division and Contenders Trials. Dates and information will be released in the coming weeks.

Follow the Sydney Drop Bears on Twitter.

The second-versus-third-seed matches usually provide fireworks in playoffs, and the match between Athletico and Melbourne Mavericks was no exception.

The wily but experienced Athletico squad leapfrogged their Group A counterparts Blank Esports in the final week of regular season with a 2-1 victory to qualify second in their group. Off the back of super sub Micro, they were able to fill the void left by Termo successfully in the second half of the season thanks in part to the players combined experience at the top level.

However, for Eevee, the team’s main support, LAN wasn’t always on the cards. “When we first formed the team, I didn’t expect to make it far at all because of how casually we practiced.”

On the other hand, the grind to LAN has been bitterly long for the Mavericks, who have fallen at the last hurdle once before in Season 2 against Sydney Drop Bears. Plummeting to third in Group B after a 4-0 pummeling by the hands of ORDER, the young squad which had stuck together through thick and thin were looking to finally make it to LAN after a year trying.

The series started off favourably for them too, with Mavericks taking the first point of Nepal – Shrine – 100-99. It was a scrappy back and forth battle right from the start, but the Mavericks took out the first fight and all the momentum, forcing Athletico onto the back foot.

Swapping Minny onto Winston for Sanctum, the Mavericks were able to get the early lead and were looking down the barrel of securing a 2-0. However, the lack of forward pressure and presence meant that once Athletico took control, it could never be regained, as they took the round 100-69.

Onto the final point of Village, it was Athletico with the early momentum as Forbles was caught out by Gob’s Reinhardt, however a quick flip at 29% stemmed the bleeding for the Mavericks.

It was short lived as Athletico flipped back at 21% after turning the fight around. While control of the point did change a couple more times, Gob cleaved his way to a 5k at the end of the round off the back of a crucial Signed Graviton Surge, giving Athletico the map.

Mavericks looked to set things straight on Numbani, after Nox’s Zarya stalled out the first fight on Athletico’s push while Fluro’s Lucio beat on the second managed to buy time before the inevitable capture with two minutes to go.

They did not let up the pressure though. Fighting early and often was the key to the Mavericks’ defense on Numbani, as they kept contesting the cart and keeping Athletico on their toes. A decisive shatter from Gob managed to break the deadlock, but not without whittling down the timebank of Athletico to just over two minutes for the third phase.

Clip: Oily took to the skies before dropping a bomb onto Athletico, wiping out the squad and securing a successful defense for the Mavericks on Numbani.

Just as momentum looked in their favour though, a swift knockout at the hands of a Korean gaming superstar put the brakes on immediately. Thanks to a perfectly timed Minny Shatter, Oily’s Self Destruct cleared out five, and with less than 15 seconds on the clock, Athletico weren’t able to recontest as they fell just under 5 meters short of completion.

This strength from the Mavericks is something not seen in previous seasons, and for Athletico was a concern heading into the match.

“The Mavericks have been amazing all season, only getting stronger each week, and because of this we were all extremely nervous going into the match.”

Nox’s Zarya again came up huge on Numbani First, this time on Mavericks’ attack, as he was able to charge up an early Graviton Surge after picking off Signed early and free hitting the rest of Athletico. While they didn’t win the first fight, they won the second fight off the back of it, and set up the rest of the round with the momentum.

While they were relatively uncontested on the second phase, they were challenged on the third phase as Athletico put in a last ditch defense. However, the extra timebank of four and a half minutes was too much for Athletico to contest, as the Mavericks eventually overwhelmed the squad and took out Numbani to tie things up.

After half time though, Athletico looked like a revitalised squad. Their first defense on Hanamura was solid, but the Mavericks were still able to cap out early in their attack. However, where the squad really shined was on Hanamura Second.

A mindset refresh was all they needed, said Eevee. “Even though we dropped a map,we were able to stay positive and maintain a healthy mindset throughout the match, which contributed heavily to our success.”

Signed’s Zarya had been charging for the entire series, and hit the metaphorical “100 Energy” level of carrying going into the second point. After stalling out the Mavericks for 90 seconds on their snowball fight, he was able to keep his team safe with crucial bubbles and Gravitons as the Mavericks were unable to get a tick on the board in their six minute assault.

While it took Athletico a bit longer to get out of the blocks with their own attack, with only 4:45 in the timebank after the first point, they certainly came into the second point all guns blazing. Signed put on his smurfing hat, as he managed to tear apart the Mavericks defense just as it looked gloomy for Athletico, getting a 4k and the cap almost solo as Athletico took the map.

After an intense four-map set, @AthleticoES close it out on Route 66! GGs! They’ll be facing off against @ORDER_army on the 19th for a shot at the finals. pic.twitter.com/lojxk7i81s

— Path to Pro Community (@Contenders_OW) January 8, 2019

Subbing in for Micro just for the quarter final, the region’s best Zarya certainly lived up to his name on Hanamura, and Eevee had nothing but praise for the ANZ veteran.

“We’re lucky that Signed had played with a few of our players before, so this allowed him to easily slide into the team without ruining any cohesion. Coupled with his skill on Zarya, I think he single handedly carried some fights, especially on Hanamura,” she said.

From there, only one map remained in the way of LAN for Athletico, and with the diesel engine finally fired up, nothing was going to stop them. Route 66 was the do-or-die map, and the scene was set.

Gob charged up a fast Earth Shatter on the Athletico, as well as blocking Minny’s counter Shatter, as Athletico rolled through the first point with ease. They kept the momentum going, but a prolonged fight on the second phase ended up favouring the Mavericks even after Nox’s Graviton got eaten by xZoL.

However, it was Signed’s Gravitons that were stealing the show, with clutch ultimate after clutch ultimate keeping the cart going for the Athletico squad, capping out the map with 47 seconds on the clock.

Athletico brought the same aggressive defense that worked out for the Mavericks on Numbani to Route 66, and it paid dividends. Stalling the Mavericks out for a minute at the spawn gates, they then recontested under the arch with their ultimate advantage to take more time out of the clock.

While it looked like Mavericks were going to be full held, a few misplays from Athletico – including Signed throwing away a crucial Graviton Surge into nothingness – meant that the Mavericks were able to keep the dream alive.

In overtime in the second phase, Minny came up with a huge Earth Shatter to send Athletico back to the spawn room and give the Mavericks one last chance with only 1:30 on the clock to push through the second phase. Gob shattered away any hope for the squad though, as the Mavericks failed to reset on the third phase, giving game-set-and-match to Athletico.

For Eevee, it’s a monumental moment for her. Qualifying for LAN means she’s the first female to make the semi finals of Contenders around the world, and the first female player to play on LAN during the tournament.

“It feels amazing exceeding everybody’s expectations and being the first female to qualify for a Contenders LAN,” she said.

While they have a tough matchup against ORDER ahead of them, she’s still holding out hope for a good performance.

“I’m doubtful we’ll win against them, but I’m hoping we’ll take at least one map. Overall, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to even go to LAN, and I’m hoping to inspire other girls to try and make it pro too.”

The dream doesn’t stop there though. “After this recent LAN achievement, I’m hoping to practice and improve more while moving into the next Contenders season with my team.”

In the other playoffs matches, ORDER and the Drop Bears cruised through against Mindfreak and Breakaway respectively, while Blank came up blank against HEIST as the new squad swept away the storied org to qualify for their first LAN.

ORDER died only 16 times during their brutal thrashing of a weakened Mindfreak, who were missing D.Va player Christoph for the crucial series. While sub plihS performed well, the skill cap between ORDER and Mindfreak was noticable as ORDER cleanly locked up their second LAN appearance.

The Drop Bears chance of making the perfect season a reality got one game closer against Breakaway too, maintaining their perfect 23-0 map record heading into LAN. With Babyporo back in for the Breakaway squad, the reigning champions made light work of Breakaway to qualify for their third consecutive LAN.

HEIST, however, were making sure everyone took notice of them before LAN, with a dominant 3-0 over Blank. A squad of misfits at the start of the season has morphed into a very real threat for LAN under Choco, as they look to turn heads against the Drop Bears and hopefully make the final in their first time at LAN.

Overwatch Contenders Australia Playoffs wrap up on January 20, with the LAN Semi Finals and Grand Final. Games start at 11am AEDT, with Sydney Drop Bears taking on HEIST first. You can catch the action live on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch.

You can follow Athletico and Eevee on Twitter.

In this week’s Overwatch Contenders Australia match of the week, the top of the table clash between Melbourne Mavericks and ORDER was set up to be one of the most intense games of Overwatch this season.

After losing to HEIST earlier into the season, ORDER has kicked into the next gear, looking to top the Sydney Drop Bears as the dominant force heading into LAN. Since that fateful game in Week 2, they have not dropped a map and looked determined to prove their place at the helm.

In fact, the loss might have been a blessing in disguise according to ORDER veteran Unter. “Losing to HEIST was literally the best thing that could have ever happened to this team. It removed all complacency and really kicked the whole team into overdrive in terms of motivation to grind for improvement.”

The Mavericks themselves are no pushovers however. With their second playoffs appearance secured, a win against ORDER would have almost written them in for their first LAN. Having been undefeated before the game, the first cracks in the armour showed after dropping a map to the fast finishing Breakaway in Week 4.

ORDER were looking to take full advantage of this and reward their hard work since Week 2 to claim first place in the group, and came out fighting right away on Ilios. While Mavericks took the first fight on Ruins, ORDER swapped it over at 88% and never let the lead go, taking the first round 100-88.

Mavericks clawed one back on Well – a notoriously bad map for ORDER, Unter told Snowball – after a Fluro double boop on Lucio gave the cross-town rivals the momentum. The Mavericks simply positioned themselves better around the point, levelling the map with a score of 100-52.

It was looking like the Mavericks were going to take the map on Lighthouse after a back and forth game fell in their favour at 99-80, but ORDER were able to touch the point in time, allowing Quatz and Yuki to combine for a massive shatter to destroy the dreams of Mavericks taking an early lead in the series.

Clip: Quatz took a 5v6 and turned it into a 5v0 with a well timed Earth Shatter to turn the point in ORDER’s favour as they took out Ilios.

After that though, any hope of Mavericks getting back in the game were snuffed out by ORDER, who looked possessed throughout the rest of the series. Choosing to attack on Hollywood, ORDER took a prolonged fight on the first point which set them up for the rest of the map. Using that ultimate advantage, the cart almost never stopped as they took a 2:45 timebank.

On defense, Jordation charged his Graviton Surge early and used it to devastating effect, locking up the entirety of the Mavericks just as things were swinging their way. They couldn’t reset and were behind the 8-ball the rest of the round – not helped by Adam denying Nox’s own Graviton Surges twice – as they were full held and down 0-2 at the break.

“I think this series showed what can happen when things go wrong for another team,” said Unter. “I suspect the Mavs were overconfident leading into the game, and as a result their performance really started to drop off, probably due to tilt.

“I’m sure the Mavs can bounce back and be a lot more menacing than they appeared in our match – they are still an extremely strong team as shown from the start of the series.”
Unter, Support for ORDER

Hanamura wasn’t any better for the table-toppers, who were one game away from letting their first place slip. They were caught out on their disjointed defense and punished by the meticulous ORDER, who were able to snowball onto the second point and finish the map with 5:03 in the bank.

Bringing the double main tank setup to their attack didn’t seem to get it going for them either, with Oily’s Winston not giving the same power as a D.Va would, giving Jordation free reign on the Zarya to shred the tanky lineup. Able to get a tick at least, the Mavericks were still unable to cap out first as ORDER claimed the series and top spot with one map remaining.

“This series showed what our team can look like when everything is going right and we are more or less playing at our peak,” Unter said. “I feel like that was one of the best series I’ve ever played from a leadership standpoint – from ult tracking to fight planning – and everything seemed to play that way.”

This coordination continued on Route 66, and while viewers missed half of the map due to a technical issue, Unter assured us that ORDER handily “thrashed them.” Merit was on fire with his aim, something Unter says has been a real benefit for the team in Season 3.

“Merit has insane mechanics that I simply couldn’t compete with [when I was flex support,] so he pops off in that role far more than I ever could have.” The captain for ORDER was previously their flex support in Season 1 and 2, before making the transition to main support in Season 3.

“There were some growing pains at the start as I was (and probably still am) a completely inept Lucio player,” he joked, “but from a communication standpoint I’ve always been quite strong and that is very well suited to the new role.”

Nox brought out his signature Widowmaker to try and chase down the 1:38 timebank set by ORDER, but was shut down by Jordation who looked on fire the entire day. The Mavericks were at a loss, and barely made it to Big Earl’s as ORDER collected the clean sweep.

The result meant that Mavericks fell down to third seed for playoffs, facing off against Athletico from Group A in the Quarters, while ORDER are up against the rookies Mindfreak in their first playoffs.

“We are hoping that our Mindfreak series is a dominant victory, but considering our loss to HEIST early on in the season we are no longer in the business of underestimating any of our opponents,” he said.

ORDER isn’t looking to stop there though. “We want to show up at LAN and prove that the Sydney Drop Bears aren’t the unstoppable force that Elfish and Sandman keep prattling on about.

“You want to see an unstoppable force? Look no further than ORDER Overwatch come LAN.”

In the other Group B matches, Kanga Esports got their first win on the board for the season over Freshman Class, while HEIST were able to get over Breakaway 3-0 to secure second seed in the group off map wins.

With Virginya back in the lineup for Exirst for Freshman Class, it was up to AGO to play Zarya for the bottom placed team. While he put up a good effort – especially on Horizon Lunar Colony – it wasn’t enough to get the series win as they fell 1-3. Both teams will be playing in relegations in two weeks time.

HEIST have seemingly Bradbury’d their way to second seed off the back off this week’s results, with the cards falling just right for the new team on the block. After a very dominant Ilios, Breakaway were able to claw the draw on Numbani to give the series some life. After the break though, it was HEIST all the way as they claimed the 3-0 and a date with Blank for playoffs.

Group A saw the scramble for fourth seed come to an exhilarating end. While Kraken were knocked out of contention after Sydney Drop Bears swept them in the first game of the week, the fight was on in the match between Legacy Esports and Mindfreak. Athletico and Blank rounded out the week’s game in a fight for second place and a spot in Season 1 2019.

With Zetzal in for Kraken, it made next to no difference as they were overwhelmed by the Drop Bears. He did have his moments, most notably his Widowmaker during their Route 66 Quad DPS setup, but they were unable to take a map as the Drop Bears secured their second consecutive perfect season.

While Legacy were improving week on week, they were stopped in their tracks by the rookies Mindfreak, who claimed their first series victory and enough maps to qualify for playoffs in fourth in their 3-1 win. Fractured set the tempo with a triple boop on Lighthouse, and while Legacy took Hollywood to tie things up heading into halftime, Mindfreak ran away with the series after the break.

Athletico also showed that the natural talent on their roster is outstanding, edging the win over Blank Esports 2-1. While Roro’s Pharah made plenty of highlight reel plays, it wasn’t enough to win the series as the wheels fell off the Blank bus on their Route 66 defense, allowing Athletico to take the win and second seed in Group A.

Overwatch Contenders Australia returns in two weeks time with playoffs starting on January 7. You can catch all the action on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch.

You can follow Unter and ORDER here.

With the perfect 20-0 season in their sights, Legacy Esports made sure the super team Sydney Drop Bears didn’t get complacent in this week’s match of the week.

Sydney Drop Bears were without starting off-tank Punk, bringing back old off-tank Shoyo for the matchup against Legacy. The now-assistant coach of the team previously subbed in for main tank Trill before ChroNoDotA’s signing in Week 1.

“I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy coaching when I first started,” said Shoyo, “but after a few days of spectating scrims it became easier to ‘see’ the game. It then became much more rewarding to give feedback and see the team adapt to you.

“When I was a player I focused more on my own individual mistakes and often failed to see the big picture, I’ve learnt that around 50% of fights are won or lost before they even begin just because one team or the other failed to identify what they should be doing before they even initiate the fight.”

While not the most difficult game for the two-time champions, Legacy have proven themselves to be no pushovers this season, with the team developing into playoffs contenders in the latter half of the season.

The methodical Drop Bears, however, are a completely different team than any other they’ve faced this season. They made their presence known right off the bat on Sanctuary after Hus charged his deadeye within the first fight and using it to wipe Legacy off the map in the second as they cleaned up 100-53.

“Noxious has had a huge role in the development of the team, especially transitioning into the Zenyatta GOATS meta where the Mavericks (then SereNity) were the first Australian team to play it.”
Shoyo, Assistant Coach and Sub for Sydney Drop Bears

Swapping over to Widowmaker for Downtown, Hus then rained hell onto Legacy, who were struggling to get a foothold on the game. While they were able to capture a few ticks on the point, they were unable to keep it as they fell 2-0 on Busan.

The Drop Bears were quick to swap onto counter GOATS compositions to shut down Legacy, but Shoyo stated that “[while] we believe counter GOATS is superior on some points, GOATS is the comp we are most comfortable with.”

Moving onto Hollywood, Legacy brought the fight only a David could in the tightly contested map. Quickly taking out the first point of the map, they pushed through the streets phase off the back of a perfectly placed Mini Self Destruct cleaning up Drop Bears.

Slightly stalled out in the third phase, they still finished with a time bank of 1:02 – becoming the only team to complete a map against the Drop Bears this season.

“It was a surprise to have such a close Hollywood,” Shoyo said. “Legacy really tested us throughout the series and which has since led to us changing some of our set comps.”

The momentum didn’t stop there. Legacy held the Drop Bears for three minutes at the first point, thanks to SleepEasy’s Riptires and Addy’s Tactical Visors. The more traditional high ground defense of old held strong against GOATS, but as soon as they swapped onto GOATS v GOATS, the Drop Bears started turning the tides.

While they had a nearly perfect push on streets and third phase, with the cart barely stopping, the Drop Bears found themselves down on time bank for the first time this season too.

However, it wasn’t enough for Legacy. Drop Bears were able to get a tick on their one minute attack and destroyed Legacy on defense, who looked in shambles after getting staggered hard, as they fell once again.

On the tree’s strongest map, Horizon Lunar Colony, many fans would have been hopeful for a win after such a close Hollywood. The Drop Bears snuffed out any hope of that though.

Clip: Hus certainly had his eye in on Busan, cleaning up Legacy with a dirty Deadeye after charging it within the first fight.

In their first official game on the map this season, ChroNoDotA charged a blisteringly fast Primal Rage to lead Drop Bears to a comfortable 5:06 time bank. Legacy pulled out the Nanoblade special for their attack, but the stalwart defense of the titans of Australia held strong as they were shut out.

With the series locked in for the Drop Bears heading onto Route 66, Legacy had nothing to lose and took the fight to Drop Bears like they did on Hollywood. Managing to get three fights on the first phase – one at the train, one at Big Earl’s and one just out the front of the gates – they stalled Drop Bears into overtime and almost forced a full hold.

Ckm’s Pharah was able to get the cart moving though with a clutch 4k Barrage, and once it was in motion it did not stop. Legacy were able to get it through the first phase in regular time, but a stall just past the gates halted the attack.

Addy’s Zarya cleared the cart, and while Legacy were able to push into the third phase, they weren’t able to complete the map as the Drop Bears secured their fourth 4-0 for the season.

They don’t plan on stopping there either. “It should be another 4-0 against Kraken,” said Shoyo,” but we will take it as seriously as any of our other matches. We are aiming to win Contenders and we fell like we have what it takes.”

Looking forward to playoffs and finals, Ashe will be enabled as the games will be played on Patch 1.30.

“We have spent a small amount of time playing her in scrims and we can’t say with any certainty if she will be played against GOATS, though she is very strong and in any other meta would definitely see play.

“We were practicing a bit on the Japan server, since they don’t have OPR and the live patch was 1.30, but since the live client has updated it’s been a bit harder to practice on the playoffs patch as we have to route to Korea with higher ping,” Shoyo said.

In the other Group A games for the week, it was a case of 4-0 Overwatch as Athletico made light work of Kraken while Blank were taken to a close Horizon Lunar Colony against Mindfreak but preveiled victorious.

The Kraken lineup has gone through a few changes as of late, with Chogall and SoHo being the newest additions to the starting roster. While they both put in decent performances – the latter pulling out a clutch Self Destruct on Route 66 to stall out Athletico – they were overrun by the experience Athletico.

Mindfreak have been close to firing this season but never hit their peak as they were dominated by Blank for most of their match. While Horizon Lunar Colony came down to double overtime, a bit of over-aggression from Lazki’s Reinhardt left the Mindfreak backline vulnerable to the deadly Roro/Tails duo, with Blank stabilising for the win.

Group B saw HEIST drop a map to Kanga, but avoid the five-map game in their series, while Breakaway stole a map from title hopefuls Mavericks and ORDER swiftly decimated the shaky Freshman Class.

The synergy in the HEIST household is something to behold, with every piece working in perfect unison to set up some great plays. Numbani was a perfect example of this – with JungleJazz’s clutch beats helping keep the team up and pounce back against Kanga in ferocious fashion in their 3-1 victory.

Breakaway are showing their late resurgence in the competition with their new lineup, and while BabyPoro was back in for Ackyyy this week, the team looked no weaker against the Mavericks as they took Busan in an upset. While they weren’t able to secure another map to force a win or tie-breaker, it’s only looking up for the roster which has struggled to find success in Contenders.

Freshman Class, on the other hand, is on a slow demise to the bottom of the table. After a hopeful first match against HEIST, they have been plagued by roster changes and poor performances, and ORDER capitalised on the weakened squad in a pummeling at the end of the week.

The final week of Contenders Australia kicks off with Sydney Drop Bears taking on Kraken Esports Club at 12pm AEDT Monday, with crucial matches later in the day to determine the final playoffs positions. You can watch the games live on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch.

You can follow Shoyo and the Drop Bears on Twitter.

In this week’s Contenders match of the week, HEIST took another team in Melbourne Mavericks to five games in a back-and-forth thriller all the way down to Nepal.

Taking the crown of the five-map kings from the Mavericks themselves this season, the result was slightly different from weeks previous, as they fell to their first loss in Contenders Season 3.

Things started off blisteringly fast for HEIST though, taking two swift 100-0’s on Lijiang Tower to secure the first map right out of the blocks. HEIST took early control on Gardens and the Mavericks were never able to reclaim it as they looked shaky with their ultimate usage.

Moving onto Control Centre, HEIST continued their great play around the choke points, constantly pressuring the Mavericks before they could even touch the point – and when they did, Bus usually had a shatter to answer. Just as fast as the match started, we were moving on to map two.

“We knew that HEIST’s control was one of their strongest [map types],” said Mavericks DPS Winter.

“They are an extremely tough team that definitely showed how much they have improved this series.”
Winter, DPS for Melbourne Mavericks

The Mavericks picked Hollywood for their hybrid map, and it paid off massively. They were able to roll through HEIST thanks to great target focus around Forbles’ Discords on Zen and Nox using his Graviton Surge to stop a late HEIST contest, securing a 2:55 timebank.

Then on the attack, HEIST were barely able to pass through the arch to reach the point, constantly stopped by Winter’s Shield Bashes, Graviton Surges or Minny’s Earth Shatters.

“As much as I want to say I played amazingly, it was the team as a whole that showed up. Without them, Brig would be nothing,” said Winter.

HEIST eventually captured the point and started going through the second phase of Hollywood, but after being stalled at the gates of the third point, they were unable to keep the momentum going as overtime ticked down and the series was levelled.

Mavericks continued their hot form after the break on Hanamura, where they burst out on Moira GOATS into HEIST’s Doomfist-Sombra defence, capping out the first point in just over a minute. The snowball onto the second point didn’t happen right away, but after a couple of dry pushes to gather up ult charge they managed to cap the point with 3:39 to spare.

In similar fashion, HEIST walked right onto the first point after securing a pick on an overextended Nox and shepherding the rest of Mavericks back to spawn to have a handy timebank to capture the second point.

However, even with the ultimate advantage, HEIST struggled to capture the point in regular time, only catching a break when they picked off Minny, allowing a Guzto Self Destruct to clean up the back line and cap the point out with just under a minute to spare.

Clip: Guzto’s massive Self Destruct on Nepal: Shrine wasn’t enough for the team to eke out their third victory this season, but it almost made for a great comeback after levelling the series.

It was the same story on their second attempt on Hanamura, where they were able to capture the first point with ease but were unable to grab a strangehold of the snowball. Although HEIST almost had a three-minute timebank disadvantage, they took the fight right to Mavericks when it was their time to defend again.

Great diligence from HEIST meant they were always ahead of the curve on ultimate charge, and with Bus landing some crucial shatters they whittled down Mavericks timebank to a measly few seconds heading into the second point.

It wasn’t enough to stop the Mavericks from surging in on the back of some great Baby D.Va play from Oily and a clutch shatter from Minny to secure the one tick they needed to take HEIST to match point on Route 66.

HEIST proved to be more than ready for the task at hand though, stalling out the Mavericks in their spawn for more than two minutes on Route 66. This meant that the Mavericks were always on the backfoot for the rest of the attack and were eventually overwhelmed underneath Big Earl’s only 66.18m into their push.

Their attack on Route 66 was even more impressive, and after a slight stall out made it to Big Earl’s with ease. This meant for three weeks in a row, fans were treated to a five-map delight as the ever-tighter Group B battles it out for playoffs spots.

“We were hoping for a 3-1 victory, but we had confidence in our ability to close the series out on Nepal,” said Winter.

“Nepal is one of our stronger scrim maps and due to HEIST having played Nepal twice, we were more prepared going into the final map.”
Winter, DPS for Melbourne Mavericks

Starting off on Village, the Mavericks wrestled control of the point off HEIST and never let go after turning around a crucial fight halfway through the map to cap the point out 100-66.

Heading over to Shrine, HEIST were able to claw their way back to one-a-piece after a 95-99 overtime ticked back in HEIST’s favour off the back of another massive Guzto Self Destruct.

Going once again to three points, Sanctum was a relatively one-sided affair for the Mavericks, who looked rock solid after capturing the point. While Guzto kept chucking in Self Destructs, netting kills here and there, HEIST was never able to grab a foothold as the Mavericks closed out the series.

“It was a major relief,” said Winter. “Bouncing back from a harsh Route 66 and going into HEIST’s favourite game mode was certainly worrying, but we knew what we had to do to beat them.

“JeL has stepped up tremendously and really put in the hours to make sure we are at our best [after Noxious’ departure],” added Winter.

The longtime coach of the Mavericks was picked up by Sydney Drop Bears last week to replace Face, now a part of NRG Esports in North America, putting the pressure on up-and-coming coach JeL. Winter is confident though in their ability, noting they are “in safe hands” under his guidance, and that anything now is possible.

“First place is now the goal – the only thing stopping us is, of course, ORDER. They are arguably the strongest team in Group B. We are confident going into the game though and are putting in a lot of hours to make sure we get this first place.”

In the other Group B matches, the Mavericks’ rivals at the top, ORDER, swept Kanga 4-0 in a series that was a bit closer than expected. Losing Gardens on Lijiang Tower right off the bat wasn’t good for the favourites, but they worked their way back in and eventually dominated Kanga, who now find themselves winless after three games.

Breakaway and Freshman Class also treated us to another five-map series as Breakaway took the honours for two weeks running. The contest was constantly back and forth, but Breakaway’s control maps looked leaps and bounds ahead of Freshman Class who fell to their second Nepal defeat this season.

Group A saw veterans Athletico fall to Sydney Drop Bears in a relatively convincing 4-0. While Hanamura was closer than the Drop Bears would have liked – not even capping the first point on their attack – they were able to stabilise and clean up Athletico, who were using their sub Micro this week in Termo’s absence.

Blank managed to climb over the top of Legacy 3-1, but that wasn’t without Legacy showing their skill on Horizon Lunar Colony – a map they are asserting dominance on against even the best teams in the group. Roro’s Pharah was deadly against Legacy, who at points looked hapless against it, with the New Zealander becoming a shining standout for the storied org.

Mindfreak weren’t able to find their first victory of the season against Kraken, losing 3-1 in a close battle. Mindfreak were able to find a victory to start off the game on Lijiang Tower, but AGO on D.Va put the rest of Kraken on his back as he led them to victory with brilliant Self Destructs throughout the series.

Overwatch Contenders Australia returns Monday at 12pm AEDT on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch, with top dogs Sydney Drop Bears facing off against the rising Legacy Esports

You can follow the Mavericks and Winter on Twitter.

A match almost 12 months in the making. Australia’s Pacific dynasty, Blank Esports, versus Australia’s local dynasty, Sydney Drop Bears. The fireworks were lit, with Australian Overwatch fans treated to a display of brilliance from both sides in our Match of the Week.

Blank’s roster was gutted by the off-season changes, with Kura and Tongue the only returning members from the squad of six that made the Contenders Pacific grand final in Season 1.

Up against ex-teammates Hus and Ckm on Sydney Drop Bears, it was sure to be a great match featuring some of Australia’s best players. Ckm, however, didn’t feel the pressure.

“As much as a savage rivalry was an interesting narrative, we didn’t feel any extra pressure on the match. It was kind of weird playing against Tongue and Kura but apart from that we just treated the match like any other.”

Any other match for Sydney Drop Bears in the last two seasons has been coloured with mechanical prowess and overall dominance. With ChroNoDotA – Kanga Esports’ main tank from Season 2 – debuting for the Drop Bears this week, they drew first blood on Ilios.

“Chrono’s been really great to work with,” said Ckm. “Obviously our synergy with him isn’t going to be the same as it was with Trill at an early stage like this, things are developing really well.

“It’s been Chrono’s job to call resources and rotations while on Rein GOATS, but it changes,” Ckm said when asked about the team’s shotcalling. “As for dive, teamplay calls will generally come from whoever possesses the win condition.”

He seemed to slot right in, executing perfect Winston dives to allow Hus’ Widowmaker to reign on Well, as well as punishing Knellery’s signature aggression on Lighthouse to take a swift 2-0.

Blank started their fightback on Numbani however. Starting off on attack, it took a while to get the cart moving, but once they did it almost never stopped as it tore through the streets phase.

With Roro (Genji) and Tails (Sombra) using their ults every other fight, Blank never seemed at a disadvantage until the final bend into the point, where the Drop Bears were able to stall out Blank at 65.41m.

“Numbani was a bit sketchy,” Ckm admitted. “Blank played really well on the map and deserve a lot of credit.”

While Sydney Drop Bears got out to a fast start on Numbani, they were stalled out near the end of the streets phase thanks to a perfectly placed Nozz Self Destruct netting 3 kills and a demech.

This, however, was not enough to stop the “Sydney Snowball”, with the Drop Bears able to catch up to Blank’s 65-and-a-bit meters with four seconds to spare. While it wasn’t smooth sailing off the back of a few mistimed shatter combos, it was enough to eke out a 2-0 advantage heading into half time.

Nozz throws a perfect Self Destruct to pick up three, and he makes sure the viewers knew about it.

Things were looking good for Blank after the half too, with Kura landing a great sleep onto ChroNoDotA’s Winston right off the back on their first point defence on Hanamura.

However, it wasn’t to lead to a team fight win, as the rest of the Drop Bears rolled over Blank and straight onto the second point with 4:34 to spare on the clock.

A crucial Defense Matrix on Roro’s Blizzard by Punk at the end of their attack set the momentum firmly in their favour for their defence, as they managed to full hold Blank off the back of great individual efforts by Ckm’s Hanzo and the rest of the team.

One of Ckm’s signature picks of seasons gone by, the Hanzo has fallen by the wayside in recent months with the meta change, but that alongside his Pharah might be seeing a bit more of an appearance as teams find new strategies to beat GOATs. However “[we] will have to wait and see” if this becomes a regular strategy for the Drop Bears.

With the victory now secured for the undisputed current Kings of Australian Overwatch, they set out on another starting attack on Route 66. Ckm’s Pharah was uncontested in the skies against Blank’s GOATS comp, using pinpoint precision to land direct rockets, whittling down the tanky lineup in the open air sections of the map.

When the map became closed off inside the third phase, it was time for Knellery’s Rein to shine. He managed to land several crucial shatters and generally outplay ChroNoDotA as Blank managed to stall out Sydney Drop Bears before the end of the map.

Anything Blank could do, though, the Drop Bears could do better. With Akraken right up against the doors of Blank’s spawn stalling out on Zenyatta and ChroNoDotA knowing the exact limits of Winston to stall the cart, Blank wasn’t even able to clear Big Earl’s on their attack, as they fell without a win.

With the season now looking set for the Drop Bears after two quick 4-0’s, Ckm is looking forward to the rest of the team arriving in Sydney for practice…and maybe getting some distance from Hus.

“Hus is a pain to live with! He’s messy and always so distracting! I’m counting the days for the other fellas to arrive so I don’t have to spend any more alone time with this troglodyte.”

In the other Group A matchups this week, Mindfreak were able to find their first map win of Contenders against Athletico on Ilios, but were unable to convert it into a series win, falling 3-1.

Goobs, CoolWhhip and Christoph have been playing extremely well for the roster, and with still time left to develop, it’ll be interesting to see how they shape up coming near the end of the season.

Legacy also defied most people’s predictions on Overtime this week, taking out Kraken 3-1 in a closely fought affair. Mini again proved that she is one of the best D.Va players in Australia, with many crucial Defense Matrix’s and Self Destruct’s to secure objectives for Legacy as they claimed their first victory of the season.

In Group B however, we saw one of the biggest upsets in Australian Overwatch history, with HEIST stealing the win 3-2 against ORDER. Taking the first two maps, HEIST led heading into halftime before ORDER struck back on Hanamura and Route 66.

On Nepal, it came down to the final map of Shrine, where JungleJazz came up big with massive Sound Barriers to negate most of ORDER’s engage as HEIST took a monumental victory set to shake up the rest of the group.

The Melbourne Mavericks continued their solid form, trouncing Freshman Class 4-0 in a sub-45 minute victory. Freshman Class were unable to replicate their form from last week, with Nox’s Widow on Ilios Ruins a standout performance for the team looking to finally make their mark on LAN in Season 3.

Breakaway also got a win against Kanga with a refreshed roster including F0R and Ackyyy. While it looked like the series was going Kanga’s way after a quick 2-0 on Ilios, the new look Breakaway brought it back on Numbani.

With a solid snowball second attack and a sturdy defence on Horizon Lunar Colony, Breakaway were able to finish off last season’s LAN finalists 3-1 on Dorado with an unconventional Winston-Orisa defence as they look to make playoffs two seasons in a row.

Contenders Australia continues at 11am AEDT on Monday with Sydney Drop Bears taking on veterans Athletico first-off on Twitch.

You can follow Ckm and Sydney Drop Bears on Twitter.

In a Group B opener for the ages, the underclassmen of Freshman Class almost upset heavy favourites HEIST in a tight 5-map series which fell out of their grasp at the last second.

Opening up on Busan, Overwatch’s newest map set in Korea, HEIST looked on fire off the back of Locus’ McCree and Zarya. The ex-Kanga DPS stood up in his first match for the newest kids on the block with stellar tracking and accuracy over all heroes he played as HEIST kicked off the series with a swift 2-0 on Downtown and Sanctuary.

“I think I played decently, but nowhere near what I’m capable of as well,” said Locus.

“I spent a majority of the off-season focusing on mechanics and more team-oriented elements like communication.”
Locus, DPS for HEIST

However, on their map pick of Numbani, Freshman Class shook up all the predictions. After struggling to capture the first point due to an unusually aggressive defence from HEIST, they quickly rolled through the rest of the map on their first attack, snowballing for a decent time bank.

“We were having heaps of success with aggressive holds on all maps during scrims but we were also doing a much better job of cutting losses and disengaging,” Locus said.

HEIST proceeded to post a blistering time out of the blocks of Numbani, but were stalled slightly thanks to a stoic Freshman Class defence in the third stage. With the game heading into the second round, Freshman Class caught onto HEIST’s antics and punished them.

A HEIST misplay on the second part of Freshman’s overtime push – which saw Bus go down with 99% charged on Primal Rage and HEIST lose a fight with a two-ultimate advantage – allowed Freshman Class more than enough room to put up a solid 5-point 68.59m attack on Numbani.

HEIST were not able to find the same form on their second attack, and while they captured the payload with 30 seconds, they collapsed just after heading into the third stage of their second attack.

With Dalsu caught out with 10% left to charge on Transcendence and Locus missing the Zarya bubble, Freshman dove onto HEIST’s squishy support, forcing HEIST out of position and ultimately securing the victory after a long stall.

“They are a lot better as a team than people give them credit for,” Locus admitted. “They played for each other really well and did a good job adapting to what we were throwing at them.”

Adapt they did. With HEIST rolling over Freshman Class’ Sombra-Doomfist defence on the first point of Hanamura on the back of Locus’ four Zarya kills, they swapped to a more conventional GOATS comp to stall out HEIST for a couple of minutes.

With the entire match on the line, Guzto clutched out a massive Self Destruct for HEIST to secure the map against Freshman Class and force a tie-breaker thanks to Bus in the number 1 play of our Top 5.

With crucial plays like Kaimore cancelling out JungleJazz’s Sound Barrier, they stalled out HEIST to a respectable 3:59 before setting their own fast time of 5:37 thanks to a good dive on the first point from Badd and Virginya and a quick snowball onto the second.

On the second round of attacks, HEIST found themselves behind the ultimate 8-ball after capping out the first point, never finding the momentum to get a tick onto the second.

With the timebank advantage, Freshman Class were able to take their time, stack their ultimates and overrun HEIST with 2:11 left on the clock to take match point heading into the final map.

Needing to clutch out Route 66 to force out Nepal, HEIST were under the pump. However, according to Locus, team morale never dropped. “As soon as the map started, we were hyped,” he said.

With the main tanks swapping from the Winston to Reinhardt for the most crucial map of the series, it came down to a battle of the shatters. HEIST won the first fight on the cart to get the momentum rolling, and it didn’t stop.

“When Brigitte (DewBoy) bashed in front of their Reinhardt (Virginya) and we got the pick, we rolled that first fight and that really set the tone for the map.”

With HEIST making it through to the third point with about two minutes to spare, they were given a lifeline with a missed stagger on Guzto after a perfect shatter from Virginya to almost seal the defense. Off the back off this, HEIST managed to cap the point out in overtime after a slow war of attrition we are used to seeing from GOATS.

On the other hand, Freshman Class were almost stopped at the first hurdle by HEIST, but managed to break the hold off the back of a decent Self Destruct from Badd. Hurtling into the third point with momentum, they were put to an abrupt stop thanks to Guzto’s critical Self Destruct finding four kills and a demech.

From there, Freshman Class’ train had derailed, and we were headed into our first 5-map series of the season. On Ilios, the skill gap on Busan had closed, with HEIST dropping Shrine. However, they managed to bounce back, taking out Village and Sanctum to win the two-hour slugfest 3-2.

“Even though we lost on Shrine, we felt like we were playing better than we had been on Numbani and Hanamura,” said Locus. “Momentum swung back in our favour [after Route 66] and we held onto it for the rest of the series.”

In the other Group B matches of Week 1, ORDER made light work of Breakaway in a swift 4-0 – with a bit of light flexing on Horizon Lunar Colony with an interesting first point defence of Orisa-D.Va-Torbjorn-Widowmaker-Junkrat-Ana.

Kanga Esports versus Melbourne Mavericks also gave the highly competitive Group B another enticing match, with Mavericks eventually topping last season’s LAN attendees 3-0. Davi, on his first Contenders official as a main tank, pulled out a very solid Reinhardt but they were unable to find a map win, salvaging a draw on Horizon Lunar Colony.

Group A saw Sydney Drop Bears wipe out Contenders rookies Mindfreak in the most intense trial by fire one could ask for 4-0. Goobs was a standout for the new kids on the block, but couldn’t match the highly experienced Drop Bears who always seemed one step ahead.

The new guard of Legacy were stopped by the old guard of Athletico 4-0. It wasn’t all bad news for the saplings though, with Mini pulling out some crucial Self Destructs on D.Va. However, individual skill gaps across the board were too big for the revitalised roster, who will be looking to bounce back against Kraken this week.

Speaking of Kraken, they fell down to Blank Esports 3-0 in a highly competitive series most expected to be a washout. Blank at times looked disjointed on their dives, with Knellery being over-aggressive, but Roro and Tails as a DPS duo were rock solid throughout the series, combining on most maps to eke out an advantage of Kraken.

Contenders Australia continues on Monday at 11am AEDT with the first official battle between the region’s two most storied teams: Sydney Drop Bears and Blank Esports. Watch live on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch channel.

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