BURBANK, Calif. -- In a concoction of traditional sports, esports, general pop culture and whatever genre the Philadelphia Flyers' Gritty falls under, the Philadelphia Fusion opened Overwatch League 2019 with a statement.
The Overwatch League is a weird and frequently wonderful place where all facets of culture collide. On opening day, Philadelphia took center stage with a bang of an entrance and a squeak from Gritty's palms that echoed hamster main tank extraordinaire Wrecking Ball, who also made his Overwatch League debut.
The Fusion faced their 2018 finals opponents, the London Spitfire, in a revenge match to start the season. The Spitfire walked to the stage carrying the Overwatch League trophy they raised above their heads at Barclays Center in July. The Fusion brought grit and Gritty.
And Philadelphia won.
The result was not shocking, but it was certainly unexpected to most at the Blizzard Arena with the exception of the Philadelphia players themselves. Immediately after the match, DPS player Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok said he was sad they hadn't swept the Spitfire 4-0 as he had expected.
"We forgot the composition we wanted to play," fellow DPS player Josh "Eqo" Corona admitted in his team's post-victory media conference, attributing this mistake to a few of his team's in-game hiccups.
Next to him, Isaac "Boombox" Charles cracked a small smile. Even in victory, the Fusion might not always have it all together, but with a year of professional play and a finals appearance under their belts, this roster is just a bit more confident with no small amount of swagger and strong coordination.
Whatever criticism you have for them, they've heard it already and will either refute it or shrug it off before moving on.
Like the tradition of sports teams in their home city and, yes, even the Flyers' mascot, the Fusion have adopted the chip on their shoulder and an us-vs.-the-world mentality. What started with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has trickled into the Overwatch League lexicon, too, and although other teams have merchandise proclaiming it's them "vs. Everybody," no OWL team quite matches the look like the Fusion do.
The Philadelphia Fusion began the inaugural Overwatch League season about as slowly as possible on nearly every front. From several offseason social media gaffes to forfeiting the preseason because of "logistics issues," Philadelphia was a bit of a mess. The Fusion made a statement by unexpectedly beating the Houston Outlaws in their Overwatch League debut but were quickly swept by the London Spitfire in their second match, a harbinger of the up-and-down nature the team has become known for.
As Philadelphia continued to play and grow as a team, it cultivated a small-but-fervent fanbase. The players were skilled but, by their own admission, were too emotional at times. Harnessing that momentum-fueled playstyle, coupled with the team's firepower, led Philly to an unlikely appearance at Barclays Center for the league finals last July.
The Fusion hope they can make better use of those same strengths in 2019.
Emotion isn't always a bad thing, the players said: It just needs to be controlled sometimes and allowed to take over at others. And as support Alberto "neptuNo" González said, momentum can be a bad thing, too. The Fusion could become too arrogant, the way they did at times throughout a lengthy 2018 season where they nearly missed qualifying for the playoffs.
It will be up to the players to rely on their experience together and recognize when they can use their streaky nature as a tool.
"We are a momentum team," flex tank Gael "Poko" Gouzerch said after his team's 3-1 win against London. "We were pretty confident to win today and show what we prepared for. I'm pretty happy about that. I think we're going to keep this momentum for the whole season -- I hope so."
Paris Eternal support Harrison "Kruise" Pond discusses his team's 3-1 victory against the London Spitfire and why Paris can thrive in the current Overwatch meta.
Yet what was most impressive about Philadelphia was how the Fusion kept their heads even after making mistakes, grinding their way to victory for a 2-0 opening weekend. This attitude was crucial in their Map 5 win over the Atlanta Reign, and the, well, gritty mentality is a staple of Philadelphia's success in the inaugural season as well. Their victory Sunday marked their 12th total tiebreaker map win, the most of any team in the Overwatch League.
Over a third of Philadelphia's matches have gone to map five, and they're a league-best 12-5 in those scenarios.
After the initial 3-1 win over London, Poko tweeted a simple, "They thought they knew us." It echoed Philadelphia's season 2 hype video: "You think you know us? You don't."
The slogan had already spread in weird and wonderful ways in Burbank to the outnumbered Philadelphia faithful, who carried two large Philadelphia Fusion flags and a sign with the character Sans from Undertale. At Blizzard Arena, traditional sports meets video games meets pop culture, or simply becomes it. On Sunday, Philadelphia fans were sometimes outnumbered by the fresh fervor for the Atlanta Reign and their popular DPS player Daniel "dafran" Francesca. After the Fusion ground out their victory on Ilios in a series that went all five maps, Philadelphia fans were hyperventilating but happy.
With the new franchises taking center stage in the Overwatch League, the opening weekend quietly belonged to Philadelphia.