Preview: UCLA Overwatch A opens the season vs. CSULA
- Vincent Tay
- Sep 27, 2017
- 2 min read
Returning from a rather quiet Collegiate Starleague (CSL) Summer Season, UCLA’s Overwatch A team is looking to make a revitalized comeback against California State University, Los Angeles. UCLA’s Overwatch A team struggled against powerhouses such as University of California, Irvine (UCI) and San Jose State University (SJSU) in the CSL Summer Season and put on mediocre performances. Notable weaknesses in the team were lack of coordination and flexibility in the team’s playstyle. Undoubtedly, the team has been practicing hard to overcome their weaknesses and aims to re-establish the dominant form that the Bruins once held when the team first formed in 2016.
The starting team for the Bruins this game will be:
Harsha “Harsha” B.
Sehee “Kabosui” J.
Bradley “raxa” J.
Noah “AnotherDax” M.
Brian “Pip” S.
William “Tsang” T.
Known for his insane mechanical skills on heroes like Widowmaker and McCree, raxa was the man the team turned to when the team needed a power play to shift the game in their favor. The Bruins centered their team compositions and plays around him during the CSL Summer Season and it remains to be seen if the Bruins will continue to adopt that strategy or experiment with different playstyles in this upcoming season. It is also important to note the meta changes to the game since the CSL Summer Season. While ‘dive’ compositions are still very popular and effective, heroes such as Doomfist, Junkrat and Roadhog are making their way into the meta. raxa’s pocket picks, Widowmaker and McCree are also getting slight buffs. It is exciting to see how both teams will utilize and adapt to these changes these changes. Having said that, since this is the first game of the fall quarter, it remains to be seen what sort of playstyle the Bruins will exhibit.
CSULA’s roster for this game is submitted as:
Pierce “SevenSeven” W.
Justin “McYoshi” I.
Xavier “Itzxson” G.
Kent “Linboy” L.
William “Forestfury” F.
Aaron “lilevils” C.
Dean “Argonianmaid” W.
Javier “JayyBeezy” G.
While not much is known about the playstyle of CSULA’s Overwatch team, it would be a mistake to underestimate them. CSULA is known to have a very established esports association and are fairly experienced in playing in a competitive setting. The key to victory thus, lies in each team’s ability to execute strategies that play to their strengths. Coordination becomes of paramount importance, especially when the current meta still heavily revolves around ‘dive’ compositions. Besides mechanical skill, excellent communication and coordination is required to achieve such a feat. On the flipside, the same can be said for dodging dives. Quickly identifying the member that is being dived on and keeping that member alive takes an equal if not more amount of coordination.
This game between UCLA’s Overwatch A team and CSULA will be one to watch as it’ll be a preview of what the teams’ identities will be, at least for the upcoming season.
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