Overwatch Season Wrap Up Report

The season has come to an end for UCLA’s Overwatch A team. Upon reflection, it was clear the team’s development and performance throughout the season was limited by lack of team coordination.

The Bruins had a mediocre run this season, scoring 4 wins and 3 losses in Tespa’s Collegiate Series’ West Group Stages. Although the team’s play was not spectacular, it is important to consider that most players competing in the series were new.

At the beginning of Fall quarter, the Bruins reorganized Overwatch A team to play around veteran players, like Harsha “harsha” B. and Brad “raxa” J. New additions, like Noah “AnotherDax” M. and Brian “Pip” S, were meant to compliment veteran players’ skills as well as add their own value to the team.

With these new members, UCLA’s Overwatch Team A played against University of California, San Diego’s Defenders of Geisel (UCSD-DG) and University of British Columbia (UBC) in the first two games of the series. Despite losing those games, the team persevered, learnt from their mistakes and won against DigiPen Institute of Technology (DP), Boise State University (BSU) and Cogswell Polytechnical College (CPC). Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the Bruins were unable to win the group stages and were eliminated. However, these losses have made it easier for the Bruins to identify their strengths and address their weaknesses.

Overall Overwatch A team’s seasonal performance has allowed players to reflect on their team play.

For instance, Raxa said the team’s best attribute was its positive attitude. “Our greatest strength is probably everybody’s ability and willingness to listen and accept changes. Nobody has a negative attitude. Although the overall skill level of the team has declined, the team environment has improved.”

However, Raxa also said each team member needs to work on their individual mechanical skill and team-oriented gameplay. Although most recent results were ‘unsatisfactory’, these reflections make the future look bright for the Bruins.

“The current meta is not the best for us as it negates my (raxa’s) picks. We also do not have a strong Junkrat player. However, we are positive that the meta will shift to (our) picks having greater impact and Junkrat having lesser impact.” Although meta changes are uncertain, the team is optimistic that it will shift to favor raxa’s favorite heroes – Widowmaker and McCree.

Fans should look forward to the next competitive season of Overwatch because UCLA’s Overwatch A Team will come back stronger! Go Bruins!

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