RESULTS: Philadelphia Fusion Defeat London Spitfire, Claim Spot in Stage 2 Championship

The Philadelphia Fusion entered today's playoff match with a Stage 2 record of 7-3 and in 3rd place in the Overwatch League, while the London Spitfire came into the playoff matchup with a record of 8-2 and in 2nd place in the league. With a chance to battle the New York Excelsior in the Stage 2 Championship match for the lion's share of the $125,000 prize pool and the title of Stage 2 Champions, both Philadelphia and London were looking to walk away from this semi-final match the victor. Here is a short breakdown of how the match went. 

Watchpoint: Gibraltar was the first map of the match, and it saw the London Spitfire playing some excellent Overwatch, as the Stage 1 Champions were looking to begin their title defense strongly. Putting together an impressive defensive strategy to begin the map, London was able to collect a full hold against Philadelphia to deny the Fusion any points in their attack round. This opened the door for the Spitfire to secure the map victory with a quick offensive push to deliver the payload to the first checkpoint. This resulted in the 1-0 win on Watchpoint: Gibraltar and a1-0 match lead for London. Jun-Ho "Fury" Kim (17 eliminations, 4,831 damage blocked and zero deaths as D.Va) and Seung-Tae  "Bdosin" Choi (12 eliminations, 5,865 healing done, 4,489 damage done and two deaths as Zenyatta) led the way for the London Spitfire on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. 

Nepal was the following map. The Philadelphia Fusion were able to come out strong on the first point to collect a 99% to 0% lead. London was able to fight back and flip the point in their favor to cut the lead to 99% to 31%. However, a perfectly timed Dragonblade from Josue "Eqo" Corona led to a five kill streak for the Genji player, which allowed Philadelphia to take back the point and secure the 1-0 lead. Continuing their impressive play, the Fusion were able to come out of the back and forth struggle on the second point the winner. This allowed them to take the 2-0 map victory and tie the match at 1-1 going into halftime, which was a huge win for Philadelphia considering thier well documented struggles on Nepal in the past. Philadelphia had Jae-Hyeok "Carpe" Lee (24 eliminations, a kill streak of 10 and two deaths as Tracer) and Alberto "Neptuno" González Molinillo (17 eliminations, 5,788 healing done, 4,312 damage done and three deaths as Lúcio) to thank for the win.

 Hanamura was the third map of the match, and it began with the Fusion breaking through London's defense to capture Point A to take a 1-0 lead. A well placed right click from Isaac "Boombox" Charles' Zenyatta eliminating a Dragonblade wielding Jun-Young "Profit" Park led the way for the capture. Philadelphia was able to then come out out of a extremely tough battle on Point B to secure the objective and collect their second point in their attack round. Riding the momentum of their strong attack round, the Fusion were able to prevent London from capturing a single point, resulting in them handing the Spitfire their very first loss on Hanamura in the Overwatch League and giving themselves the 2-1 match lead. Gael "Poko" Gouzerch (20 eliminations, seven final blows and three deaths as D.Va) and Eqo (21 eliminations, four Dragonblade kills and four deaths as Genji) were the driving forces of the Fusion's victory.

King's Row was the fourth map of the match, and it had the London Spitfire with their backs against the wall. Some excellent shooting from Carpe as Hanzo and Widowmaker opened up the way for Philadelphia to deliver the payload to the end of the map and take a 3-0 lead. However, London was able to rebound in their attack round and execute their own completion of King's Row to tie the map at 3-3. In the beginning of the time bank round, the Spitfire were able to prevent the Fusion from collecting a single tick on the control meter with a triple kill from a perfectly placed Rip Tire from Ji-Hyeok "birdring" Kim. London was able to then push through Philadelphia's defense and capture enough of the payload to secure the 4-3 win on King's Row and tie the match at 2-2. Solid Reinhardt play from Jae-Hui "Gesture" Hong was a major contributing factor for the Spitfire's win, as he finished with 23 eliminations, 31,131 damage blocked and seven deaths.

Route 66 was the final map of the match and decided which team would have the chance to compete for the Stage 2 Championship. Subbing in for Eqo, Simon "Snillo" Ekström led the way for Philadelphia to deliver the payload to the end of the map and take the 3-0 lead, as he finished with 24 eliminations, 14 final blows and one death as Tracer in their attack round. Excellent shooting from Carpe as Widowmaker kept the Spitfire at bay for a majority of their attack round, but two straight overtime wins gave the Spitfire a chance to tie the match at the end of the map. However, Philadelphia would not be denied, as they prevented London from completing the map and took the 3-2 map win. This gave the Fusion the 3-2 match victory. A monster performance from Poko (34 eliminations, 12,668 damage blocked and four deaths as D.Va) helped propel the Fusion to the match clinching victory.

Carpe was named the player of the match for his impressive Tracer play, as he finished with 51 eliminations, 25 final blows and eight deaths. 

With the win, the Philadelphia Fusion will now face the New York Excelsior in the Stage 2 Championship match, where the grand prize of $100,000 and the title of Stage 2 Champions will be at stake. The loss eliminated the London Spitfire from the Stage 2 playoffs and denied them a chance to compete for a second straight Overwatch League Stage championship.

Interested in more Overwatch League coverage? Check out our recap of the Los Angeles Gladiators and Boston Uprising match that sent the Philadelphia Fusion into the playoffs. To see where your favorite team currently stands, check out the official standings.

(cover photo courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)