This article is part of our Overwatch Recap series.
The first day of MLG Las Vegas was filled with exhilarating action, as teams from across North America and Europe competed for a chance to take home a piece of the $100,000 prize pool. Some of the series were close contests until the very end, some were one-sided stomps, but they all delivered on the promise of top level Overwatch.
Group A Match #1: Fnatic vs Rise Nation
The two European squads that faced off in the first game of Group A were as different as any two teams could possibly be. Fnatic, a LAN proven, top 10 team, was heavily favored against Rise Nation, a group of unknown players who have won small online events in the past. Game 1 on King's Row highlighted the differences between the two teams, with Fnatic pushing the cart through the map with an impressive 2:51 left in the time bank, thanks in part to Hafþór "Hafficool" Hákonarsonis' play on D.Va and Matt "coolmatt69" Iorio's sublime Zarya. While Rise Nation managed to finish the map on their attacking round with 2.1 seconds left, the difference in the time bank allowed Fnatic to take an easy Game 1.
Throughout the series, Rise Nation looked like a 6-man hodgepodge of casual players against a professional team. This was fully illustrated in Game 2 on Nepal, as Fnatic took control early on Village. With Casey "buds" McIlwaine landing crucial hooks with Roadhog, Fnatic took the first map 100-17. After taking Shrine 100-0, Fnatic won on Sanctum despite overtime shenanigans from Rise to secure the 2-0 series sweep. Fnatic move on to play the winner of Team EnVyUs and compLexity Gaming tomorrow, while Rise Nation will face the loser of that match in the loser's bracket.
Group B Match #1: Team Liquid vs FaZe Clan
In a battle of middle of the pack teams, FaZe and Liquid first clashed on Hollywood. While FaZe wasted a lot of time on point A with a Torbjorn-based defense, Liquid's teamfighting in the Town phase allowed them to push the cart 63.31 meters, thanks largely to the sublime play from Adam "MESR" De La Torre's Reinhardt. Despite George "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha's early kills on Genji, FaZe was unable to move the cart in the streets phase, due to Liquid's superior teamfighting and tank play, leading to a 1-0 series lead for Liquid.
Things would heat up in Game 2, with both teams trading wins on Ilios. Liquid struck first on Ruins, taking a hotly contested first map by a score of 100-99. Maps 2 and 3 went in Faze's favor, with Eric "TwoEasy" van Hoorn having strong showings on both Roadhog and Tracer in FaZe's respective 100-99 and 100-0 wins. While Liquid would take Map 4 after a massive Graviton Surge + Self-Destruct combo, FaZe played phenomenally on Lighthouse, securing a 100-0 win on Map 5 to take Game 2.
Game 3 was similarly hard fought, with both teams capturing Numbani with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation time. Of note, Liquid utilized a rare dive composition to capture point A, with Andrew "id_" Trulli's Pharah blasting FaZe's defenses apart. Liquid would take a full map capture, but were stopped at just 47.44m in overtime. With ShaDowBurn's Genji slicing through Liquid's defenses, FaZe pushed past Liquid's checkpoint and took the series 2-1.
Group B Match #2: NRG vs Cloud9
In what was billed as a clash of DPS gods, Brandon "Seagull" Larned failed to lead NRG to a win against Lane "Surefour" Roberts and Cloud9. Game 1 was amusing to say the least, with Cloud9 running a new-patch Symmetra and Torbjorn in defense of point A on Hollywood. NRG would hold all of their ultimates to set up for a Graviton Surge + Dragonstrike combo, but never got it to work as Cloud9 would execute a beautiful full hold on point A. Seagull would try to use Torbjorn in NRG's defense, but Cloud9 would steamroll through NRG and take a commanding 1-0 lead.
The series would look a bit closer on Ilios, but Cloud9 ultimately would not be denied a series win. Map 1 started off with Seagull on Pharah, getting environmental kills using Well's titular hazard. Surefour would switch onto Soldier 76 to counter Seagull, and the rest of Cloud9 would clobber NRG in teamfights to take the first map 100-93. NRG would take Map 2, but Surefour would bring his infamous McCree in Map 3 on Ruins, leading to a 100-99 Cloud 9 win in overtime. With NRG looking dejected and scared, Cloud9 closed out the series with a big Map 4 win. Cloud9 moves on to face FaZe Clan, while NRG will take on Team Liquid in Loser's Bracket.
