This past week has been an exciting and busy one for UK Overwatch. We saw the final of July’s monthly Ballistix cup – and we saw the pre-Insomnia58 qualifier tournament. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the different matches.
Ballistix Cup
First up, the ESL UK Ballistix cup finished last Wednesday (July 27th), with sticks of Ballistix RAM being awarded to the winning team.
In my previous article, I explained that Reason Gaming had the highest points throughout the previous weeks, with Choke lingering behind. However, Reason Gaming (previously CU@LAN) didn’t turn up to the final week, but Choke returned and were the highest seeded team available.
In terms of the bracket, unsurprisingly Choke worked their way up to the final without much interference. On the other side of the bracket, new names were rising up and the team that entered the finals was Velox.
Final – game one
Velox is a new team coming into the UK scene, who immediately made the final even more interesting.
The first map was on King’s Row and both teams had a strong stand-off on points. There was a back and forth contest between the teams on both sides, with constant team fights exchanging momentum or holding the momentum.
Unfortunately for Velox, they were unable to take the third stage of Kings Row, due to some amazing team fighting. On the other side, Velox were unable to do the same, they held out for a while but Choke picked up speed getting onto the third stage – and took the game with five minutes to spare.
You can check out some of the action on the UKOverwatch Twitch channel.
Final – game two
The second game was on Numbani. This map was pretty hype, due to the nature of it being a difficult one to take. On the first attack, Velox were unable to throw Choke off the first point. On the other hand, Choke pushed through the first objective within a few minutes to end the series there.
Ultimately Choke took this month’s prize pool, so GG to them.
Pre-Insomnia58
The next big UK event was the pre-Insomnia tournament. On the line were six tickets to i58 for its first ever £5,000 prize pool for Overwatch.
Once again, Choke dominated their way to the finals, where they awaited their opponent. On the other side of the bracket, Team Endpoint (previously Sterling) made its way to the finals.
Final – game one
The first map of the series was Eldorado. Both teams took a while to progress through the map but Choke had enough time to take their attacking side.
However, Team Endpoint were halted at the church for a few minutes, which made it a hard task for securing the point with a nice time frame. That struggle played a large part in Team Endpoint’s attacking half running out of time as they approached the final uphill climb to the final point of the map.
(Check out our recent video interview with Endpoint’s CEO Adam Jessop below:)
Final – game two
On the second map, Choke made quick work of the first two stages. Choke hastily pushed the first two points on route 66, only to slow down on the third stage. Although Team Endpoint held back Choke for a while on the final stage, they still lost the defence with 1:02 to spare. Likewise, on Endpoint’s attack, they were in a similar position to close the game.
However, Choke held out in Overtime with only one meter left for the payload – and Choke took the series 2-0 after a well-battledmatch.
With Choke one again victorious, they have earned their players a free BYOC ticket from the pre-Insomnia 58 tournament. Now that their tickets are secured for i58, they are currently the hottest team confirmed attending the i58 Overwatch tournament.
With Insomnia getting closer, which teams – locally or European – will be able to stop the domination of Choke’s roster?
These results are building to an exciting atmosphere for i58, with upsets and statements ready to be made at anytime.
Check back for more UK Overwatch coverage, with cups continuing on Wednesday and G4OW taking place every Sunday, to support our local talent and organisations.
