REUNITED were one of the favourites for the tournament after their stellar second place finish in the Atlantic Showdown. FaZe came back from 1-0 down for a crazy revenge story, as 2easy overcame his old team and knocked them out of the Overwatch Open in last place.

FaZe’s honeymoon period had ended well before the Overwatch Open. Despite some star players and the potential for upsets at a top level, the tank-heavy meta was not to their liking and Group A was a nightmare for them. They were in with their nemesis REUNITED, their counter NiP, and the team that ended up beating them in the first round Dignitas. Of all potential matchups the game against REUNITED promised to be the most interesting though due to 2easy’s history with the team. After being kicked months before 2easy had a chip on his shoulder and wanted to prove himself, but FaZe were underdogs.

Eichenwalde

Neither of these teams enjoyed or found success in the tank meta, so the matchup became a battle of the classics. Incredibly classic, in fact, as both teams opted to duel in the skies with PharMercy combos outside the walls. After the first failed flank though REUNITED swapped off to Ana with a dive composition. uNFixed took a Nanoboost and piled into the defenders despite the best efforts of ShaDowBurn. The Resurrect was denied to complete the capture of the first point and a Graviton then a Dragon Blade allowed REUNITED to push the payload to the gate.

FaZe waited until the gate had closed to initiate, leaving them no room to back out, and they wiped the entire team. It allowed the defense to push up to those ever-so-tiny chokepoint corridors, the staple of defending on Eichenwalde. With 30 seconds left vallutaja triple-blinked in and got two kills with a Pulse Bomb. kyb got a Nano-Blossom to find three on the respawn and his team were within touching distance of the final line. A massacre millimetres from the throne saw over twelve players die but the enormous spawn advantage from FaZe held strong and routed the attackers.

FaZe had seemed the weaker team in the fights and now had to basically complete the map to win - a hard ask on Eichenwalde. ShaDowBurn swept in over the bridge and spat out damage on Pharah, complemented by 2easy’s Tracer for a slow capture of the first point. REUNITED tried to recontest multiple times and looked threatening but again ShaDowBurn turned the fight in his team’s favour, this time on Genji.

SDB and 2easy were doing work on their dps roles and the triple dps composition with zombs on McCree ended up slowing grinding down REUNITED. Even though FaZe didn’t have the explosive capbilities to wipe their opponents or force large teamfights, their plan to pick off individuals and inch the cart forward got them to the gate with 3 minutes left.

By staggering spawns in the halls they got to within 1.74 metres of winning, still with 2 minutes left in their bank. 2easy in particular was having a monster of a game towards the end but a single lost fight as kyb delayed let REUNITED push back up to the chokepoint entrances.

Once they had locked out the entrances it was over for FaZe. They had almost tasted the victory and one tiny extra push would have given them the win. The mental strain for FaZe, now on their last tournament life, had to be dealt with. They chose to go to Control map Ilios, a favoured gamemode for the side.

Ilios

Both teams chose a Zenyatta for their Control composition, mirroring each other with a Tracer and Genji as well: kyb and vallutaja against ShaDowBurn and 2easy. The difference in the first fight was the positioning as FaZe flooded onto the point behind FCTFCTN. They took the capture and were able to hold onto it by making the fight long and messy, getting them up to 75%. uNFixed was incredible on Zarya but the backbone of their team couldn’t stay together; they had a short time in control of the point but inevitably fell 0-1 on Lighthouse.

Ruins’ open layout and clearly demarcated sides let REUNITED find their structure again for a moment. vallutaja went wild flanking between the ancient columns, dealing death and giving his team a lot of space. They got to 93% before FaZe were able to get onto the point but looked terribly messy again on the attack. The focus fire was not there between any of their team and they just couldn’t shift FaZe who all had each other’s backs.

No changes for any of the compositions on Well and all of the momentum continued in FaZe’s favour. They took the first fight, the point, and the ultimate advantage for the rest of the round. REUNITED’s individual talent couldn’t compete on a like-for-like basis; perhaps a less diving composition would have helped them recover their teamwork and come back into the game, but they continued to batter their heads against the wall. FaZe proved they were clearly superior on Control with a 3-0 win on Ilios.

Temple of Anubis

Of all the maps to have decide your fate in a $300,000 tournament - Temple of Anubis. 2easy was one map away from getting sweet closure on his removal from REUNITED months before, but the map would be a wildcard.

The two teams began with the exact same lineups as on Ilios, a decision that may have seemed foolish from REUNITED before they made naysayers eat their words with a lightning fast cap of the first point. They flew into last and uNFixed and kyb picked up two apiece. REUNITED easily killed the rest of the team but fell to spawners having used all of their ultimates. They pushed in dry to force out two ultimates but still faced a disadvantage and kept failing attempts.

After spending 7 minutes trying, REUNITED eventually got equal ultimatesand pushed in. vallutaja got two with a sweet Deadeye and kyb whipped out his Dragon Blade to pick apart the stragglers. They completed the map with 1:25 left in their bank.

kyb and uNFixed swapped for the defense to Roadhog and Reaper respectively. They repelled the first two attacks but then FaZe adapted to a triple dps setup, zombs on Reaper. They caught out the Winston and Hog to grab the first point but gave REUNITED a big ultimate advantage for last. The use of Mei from uNFixed was sublime on last and they kept hold of their ultimates as much as possible to drag FaZe out. An incredibly drawn out fight with ShaDowBurn, FCTFCTN, and 2easy dealing damage the whole time eventually twisted the point towards FaZe. They capped out the map with 2:18 still in their bank and had a lead in the match for the first time.

The tension between the teams was visible in the air. FaZe held at market with Forsak3n hidden behind the corner, dropping back to point to draw out the initiation and give them time to pick apart the attackers. ShaDowBurn held the second attempt with his Dragon Blade. Forsak3n met back up with FCTFCTN and his team to collapse on the point for their final defense and shut out REUNITED completely. All they had to do was cap the first point to win and knock REUNITED out of the tournament.

There were no changes for FaZe. They knew their plan and stuck to it. SDB hit some excellent shruikens to open things up but kyb caught two with hooks to ruin their first push. Still 1:40 remaining. He came back in for a flank and built his Blade, unleashing it but instantly getting caught by Morte on Ana. Still 50 seconds left. zombs switched to McCree and hit off his Deadeye, picking out vallutaja as kyb also fell. They swarmed onto the point and there was only vallutaja left alive. They had been collapsed on and eliminated.

The second best team at Atlantic Showdown were out in last place. They had been eliminated by their old friend new team and their dreams had been crushed.

For FaZe, their path to the playoffs was perfect - they had overcome their nemeses and avoided the NiP thorn in their side. They went on to face Dignitas in the Group A decider match.