The Fire Overwatch team lost to the Savannah College of Art and Design Bees in a 3-0 defeat to open the season.
The team entered their opener hoping to start hot after taking a semester off competition, but that's a tough task when facing one of the strongest teams in the conference. For the majority of the match, SCAD had their way with the Fire, showing off the incredibly aggressive playstyle of their starting tank Terry Anderson (Terry). Backed by an impressive support group, the Fire found it difficult to match the coordinated team play of the stout unit.
Fire team Captain and support main
Michael Parsons (Destro) had some nice callouts during teamfights and DPS player
Cameron Guadiano (GooeySphere) was able to generate some picks in the later games. DPS player
Avery Lanning (ZetaWolf) had the highlight play of the night for the Fire when he managed to sneak around the entire SCAD team and get two full ticks on the point during Game 2. This was the game where the team got off to their best start, managing to win two team fights before giving up the first point.
The 3-0 defeat provided a huge learning opportunity for the Fire as they enter Week 2. The consensus around the team was that this would be a season of growth, and they found a lot of ways they can grow in this trial by fire. Team morale was high even after the defeat, and this early season challenge should help prepare them for the remainder of the season to come. An aggressive tank with a constant flow of healing can be a dangerous thing, and the trio was creating all sorts of havoc that proved to be too much for the Fire, as they were unable to win a map in the best of five contest. The biggest takeaway from the night was the lack of picks the team was able to generate in teamfights. Instead it was the Bees who created early fight eliminations, with the Fire entering skirmishes already down a man due to early picks. The difficult task of winning a fight against the strongest team in the conference was made near impossible when the Fire were often forced to do it in a 4v5 scenario.
The Fire will play their second match in the Sun Conference on Monday, January 29th.
