Paris Eternal on Fire to Start OWL Stage 2
By Wyatt Fossett ·
Stage 1 wasn't kind to the Paris Eternal who squandered a ton of aspirations by finishing with a pitiful 3W-4L record, with a negative-8 in their map differential.
It all looked like it was going to play out the same way that Stage 1 in the Overwatch League did. Paris Eternal would take their gigantic heap of potential and play softly with it, losing fights they should have won. But the Eternal team that took the stage at the Blizzard Arena today looked much more capable of finishing what they started.
No one really knew what to expect from the Paris Eternal coming into Stage 2. So much so that we didn't even mention them in our Overwatch League Stage 2 preview. But we bet those sheepish fans are hooting and hollering now.
Thanks to impressive and reliable play from Kruise on support, and Soon on Zarya, the Eternal picked up steam quickly and wiped the Guangzhou Charge (a relatively good team in their own right) with ease.
The Fresh French
The fresh expansion Paris team took to Stage 1 with many new fans and a whole lot of hype. Ultimately, however, they just didn’t play in sync enough and wound up near the bottom of the entire standings through their first 7 Games. Finishing in 16th out of 20 teams must have done something for the Eternal, as they seem to be a different team.
After winning Map 1 without dropping a single point, the Eternal headed home. Their first opportunity to play on the brand new Paris map didn’t disappoint as the team banked in some hard corners and chokes to snuff out the hopes of the Charge.
Both the hybrid Eichenwalde and the escort Junkertown saw the Guangzhou Charge gain some ground, but a very dominant performance from newly acquired main-tank Cloudy, the Paris Eternal squad was able to beat out the Charge on both accounts without the need for a single second of extra time.
Changes for Good
It could very well all boil down to the recent coaching change that the Paris Eternal made, but it’s more likely that everything in conjunction (with roster moves, coaching changes, and a disappointing Stage 1) has culminated into a new-look Paris Eternal. One that currently sits tied for first in the league through Day 1 of Stage 2.
OMEN Player of the Match goes to SOOOOOOOOON! (@SoOn99)#FiatLux #OWL2019 pic.twitter.com/HITHHrcfuJ
— Paris Eternal (@ParisEternal) April 5, 2019
The Overwatch League returns tomorrow (Friday, April 5th) with Day 2 that will see Stage 1 playoff finalists in the San Francisco Shock take on what’s hopefully a reformed LA Valiant.