Tuesday finally arrived, and one of the most competitive Overwatch tournaments -- OGN APEX Season 2 -- started again in Seoul, South Korea.
Four of 16 teams took to the stage to mark the beginning of the season, including last season's champions, Team EnVyUs, along with European team Misfits and South Korean teams MVP Infinity and LW Blue. This tournament begins with a seven-week long best-of-five group stage in which the top two teams in each group of four advance to the bracket stage. APEX would take absolutely no time to unleash high quality games as MVP Infinity took the reigning champions, EnVyUs, all the way to Map 5.
The first map of the set involved a textbook beatdown, but this time it was the sight of EnVyUs members hitting the floor. Hui-seong "EasyBro" Choi helped MVP Infinity soar to greater heights as a well-timed Nano Boost allowed him to dive into the backline as Genji to dismantle the reigning champions. EnVyUs weren't champions for nothing, however, as they got their revenge on them immediately on King's Row. Not only did they beat MVP Infinity, they specifically exacted revenge on EasyBro. As EasyBro was about to NanoBoost Genji into the backline once again -- EnVyUs was in a situation where if Jonathan "harryhook" Tejedor Rua died, they would have allowed MVP Infinity to finish the payload push -- Timo "Taimou" Kettunen instantly landed a Roadhog hook and wiped him out, saving the game.
The quality of this back-and-forth competition between MVP Infinity and EnVyUs can be condensed in just the first two maps alone but EnVyUs was able to secure a win 3-2 by besting them on both Watchpoint: Gibraltar and Hollywood.
Despite being a hard act to follow up, LW Blue and Misfits did not fail to entertain. LW Blue, with the recent acquisition of Hwang "Fl0w3R" Yeon-oh from their sister team LW Red, is expected to be one of the best teams in South Korea. Misfits' power-packed lineup can't be overlooked, and both teams picked up their own highlight reels, including a resurgence of Widowmaker plays from Tim "Mannetens" Byhlund, where he got two quick and precise headshots onto Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong-ryeol's Tracer. While headshots are the norm for pro players now and then, the speed at which they were made instinctively made this game worth a watch. In the end, LW Blue presented better teamwork and communication on both Volskaya and Watchpoint: Gibraltar; the curtains closed on Misfits' inability to push the payload through the first point. LW Blue took the victory at 3-1.