PLAYER POWER RANKINGS: The Parisian Powerhouse
Who takes the crown two weeks after the Summer Showdown?
Tank:
BenBest
Continuing on the right foot from their upset win in the Summer Showdown, Paris demonstrated the perfect team-play that we should come to expect from this team. This meta has really fallen into the Paris Eternal’s hands but that shouldn’t take away from the control shown in every play, this comes with the exception of a couple rough moments on Havana against the Vancouver Titans where fights turned scrappy, usually resulting in a lost fight for Paris since being in control of the fight all the way through is typically where they shine. You have to put this down to the level of communication this team has, which we can only assume is shot-called by BenBest. Particularly what shows from this player is the space created in any situation, take Lijiang Tower: Control Center vs Toronto Defiant for example: a infamously tight map with a hard point to retake due to each entrance being a narrow choke point. BenBest made sure that each flank was out of the equation just by the threat of his positioning, ultimately Beast wasn’t able to match the control of BenBest and the Parisian team took the round.
DPS:
SP9RK1E
Another member of the Paris Eternal takes the DPS power ranking top spot, just a clear demonstration of the power and star players this team holds. We may not have seen as many pop-off moments from the Korean, but the flexibility brought to the table has been a defining factor in Paris’ rise up the ranks. This week not only did we see the famous SP9RK1E Genji but also a dominant Doomfist display and even a high-level performance on the Junkrat, this was a specialty pick for Lijiang Tower: Control Center to counter the Doomfist brought out by Toronto Defiant on Gardens and although Toronto matched the Junkrat pick, Agilities was undoubtedly outplayed by SP9RK1E. The flexibility of SP9RK1E is especially scary for other teams since it just proves how complete of a team the Paris Eternal are. Of course I can’t tell the future but as long as SP9RK1E keeps this performance up, Paris are looking intimidatingly meta-proof.
Honorable Mention:
Danteh
Despite an underwhelming performance from the Houston Outlaws this week Danteh was the shining hope for this team and really there isn’t much Danteh could’ve done better. Before a lackluster final map, the great Sombra gameplay proved to throw a spanner in the works for the Dallas Fuel — consistent EMP farming and exceptional hack targets is what puts the target on Danteh’s back as one of the best Sombra players in the league. The fact that Danteh isn’t just an EMP bot is what puts him in that bracket with the likes of the Dallas Fuel rookie and also great Sombra player, Doha, who we found to be perhaps lacking slightly compared to Danteh in this week’s game (a standout moment of course being Danteh’s perfect timing to hack Doha out of his EMP). Of course the top-step of Texas wasn’t to be theirs after Dallas pulled their first ever reverse sweep on their fellow Texan team, but it as long as this level of play continues from the Outlaws (a team who fell flat in the earlier matches of the year) a match between these two will always come down to the wire.
Support:
Rain
Support has been the toughest one to choose this week and for me, ultimately it’s not the sudden pop-offs that earn the top support spot. You can look to each team this week and find a great support player highlight, but the consistency combined with the flexibility from Rain of the Los Angeles Valiant is what propelled him to be my top support this week. After a one-sided game (not in their favour) with the Atlanta Reign, which KSF put down to unlucky scrims and losing out in preparation to the “roulette” of compositions shown this week, the Valiant went back to the drawing board and came back with what they do best. Albeit their match was against a struggling Boston Uprising, we have to accept the level of teamwork and consequential domination displayed by the LA team. It should also be noted that Rain showed a multitude of stand-out plays even against the Reign thanks to well placed Amplification Matrices and just generally putting in the damage along with the healing in his role as Baptiste.
NEXT WEEK:
We can only expect Paris to continue striving in this meta but the question remains, will they bring back Xzi? In my opinion SoOn is doing a great job as it is and bringing in Xzi would be unnecessary considering the results being produced currently. As long as Danteh continues in the same fashion, Outlaws are in a good spot to bring home a 3–0 against the underwhelming Washington Justice squad. The Outlaws should be able to take control of each match due to the slow pace Washington brought to their game with Toronto, but perhaps they’ll take charge this time — although unlikely, we’ve seen what Ttuba can do when the team gets behind him. For the LA Valiant we’ll have to watch if they stick to what worked this weekend or do they reinvest into their original plan, bear in mind their strongest showing was only against Boston this week, not quite testing the team’s true power perhaps.
Written by,
Cameron Jones — overwatched.site
