London Spitfire Claim First Set in Grand Finals Series

The Grand Finals of the Inaugural Season of the Overwatch League have kicked off with a bang, as the London Spitfire show a dominating performance to defeat the Philadelphia Fusion 3-1. With so much riding on the line for these teams, the action was quick and intense as the two teams looked for any kind of advantage over their opponents. Here’s a brief breakdown of the games from the first series.

The first map, Dorado, showed that moth teams have come to this series with the intention to win. The Fusion managed to push the payload to the end of the course, though they only reached the end in overtime after facing stiff opposition from the London squad. When it came time for London to make their attack, they too fought their way towards the final checkpoint in overtime, though they were unable to overcome the defense from Philadelphia in the end, handing the Fusion their first map victory.

The second map, Oasis, was the opportunity that London needed to claim revenge and even out the score. Though the Fusion were able to put up a strong fight, they could not compete with London on this map, handing the first round to the Spitfire. The second round was quick to follow suit, as London held onto the point despite a very strong and protracted attack from the Fusion. In the end however, the Spitfire held the point to claim the second round and claim map victory to tie up the series.

The third map, Eichenwalde, saw the Fusion make their attack first. It seemed that Philadelphia had a good plan of action for this map, but their attack was stalled midway to the second checkpoint as the Spitfire turned up the heat. Despite the best efforts of the Fusion, they could not advance much further, setting a relatively easy goal for London to reach on their attack. The attack from the London Spitfire went well despite a tough start, as the Fusion found themselves unable to hold their ground. With time to spare, London were able to push the payload to the required distance and claim the map victory, setting up match point for this series.

The fourth map, Volskaya, saw the Fusion struggle to gain ground on their initial attack. After a couple of attempts, Philadelphia were able to eventually secure the first checkpoint and begin their attack on the second. London seemed to falter initially in their second point defense, before rallying and holding the Fusion before they could fully capture the point. The attack from London came very close to failing completely on the first point, with the timer ticking into overtime before Philadelphia was finally forced off the point. Keeping their momentum going, the Spitfire nearly secured the second point after an intense assault, however the Fusion were able to hold them off at the last second to keep the match going. Once the teams had fallen back and regrouped, London launched their second assault on the point and claimed victory for the map and series.

With their victory here today, the London Spitfire are one step closer to being crowned the Inaugural Season Champions of the Overwatch League. The two teams will clash again tomorrow, with the Philadelphia Fusion needing to win the remaining two series if they hope to claim victory. For more on when those games will kick off, check out the official schedule page, here.

(header image via Barclays Center Twitter)