The Chengdu Trifecta: Is This The Best DPS Line In The Overwatch League?

With the Chengdu Hunters' promotion of Li "Apr1ta" Yuanjinghao from their academy, the APAC region has been put on notice; there is a new DPS rotation in town. Fans of Team Chaser, the Hunters’ flag bearers in Overwatch Contenders, have been champing at the bit to see Apr1ta join the likes of 2021 Regular Season MVP winner Huang "leave" Xin and the bombastic flex DPS stylings of Yi "JinMu" Hu since the start of the offseason. Is this an iteration of an old formula or can Apr1ta bring the Hunters the success they so narrowly avoided last season? Are the Hunters the best and most comprehensive DPS lineup in the league?

In Apr1ta, Chengdu Hunters Have One Of Overwatch's Most Outstanding Rookie Players

For those who have avoided indoctrination into the church of Apr1ta, he is one of the top rookie performers within the last few years of Overwatch Contenders China and a name destined for the 2022 Rookie of the Year ballot. He and former Flag Gaming teammate Zhou "Mmonk" Xiang toppled one of, if not the most dominant contenders in the amateur space, the Shanghai Dragons academy team, Team CC. Past that, not only has he led two teams to the Contenders finals, the other being Chengdu’s own academy team, but he has also been the north star of each outing being crowned grand finals MVP, not once, not twice, but three separate times. 

During Flag Gaming's upset of Team CC during 2020’s second season, Apr1ta was easily a standout player on Tracer and a massive catalyst for their success. Running unchecked on Tracer, Apr1ta’s performances against the defending champions in one of the most memorable best-of-seven runs in recent memory. However, past his world-class Tracer, he’s recently showcased his proficiency on Cassidy, Ashe, and even Reaper. This fact should put ease fans' reservations after last season’s carousel of hitscan prospects.

One of the Hunters’ fatal flaws last season was their creative but fairly rigid DPS options. Sure, they had Leave and JinMu to cover their fair share, but oftentimes the Hunters would run into dilemmas where they would need certain heroes that either JinMu could not play or that Leave could play—but he was tasked with another role entirely. First, the task would be placed on the shoulders of the rookie pairing of former Ultra Prime Academy member Lei "Jimmy" Yujia and Liu "Kaneki" Nian formerly of Team Cat and LGD Gaming. This plan would buckle after nearly half the season with Jimmy being demoted to the Chengdu Hunters academy team while Zhong "TAROCOOK1E" Yunlong would be promoted.

Neither three of them truly could compete on the level that Chengdu was capable of and it showed.

Chengdu's Hitscan Carousel Is No More

In a perfect world, the Hunters would just clone Leave and there would be peace on Earth, but Apr1ta is an excellent and reasonable silver medalist. Quite frankly he is the exact answer to their search for a more dedicated hitscan threat last year. And that’s no shade to JinMu who deserves more recognition for his role in Hunters' success. We’ve all seen the highlight plays, be it on Doomfist and Pharah, but if it wasn’t for his particular hero pool, it is a safe assumption that the Hunters’ coaching staff would not have had such a strong style to lean into. Now with Apr1ta, the Hunters can play the field strategy-wise and become much more dynamic.

While this benefits the Hunters immensely, it does beg the question; is this the best DPS lineup in the league heading into 2022? 

While knee jerk reactionaries might decry that they aren't even the best in their region, we ask you to take a second and think about this.

Do Chengdu Hunters Possess The Best DPS Lineup?

Take a team like Hangzhou Spark for instance. We’ve covered why they're so frustrating, but part of that seeps into their DPS lineup like a leaky fridge. We know what Zheng "shy" Yangjie and Minho "Architect" Park are capable of, they are world-class talents and deserve starting time. However, the rookie stylings of Jun "AlphaYi" Kim and Li "Pineapple" Zhuo also demand attention. And with the overlap of hero pools, we wonder if there is a clear pathway or role for each member of a team. On top of that, constantly rotating players based on fractions of difference can’t be conducive to an incredibly synergistic environment. The more you shuffle the pieces the more confusing things must get both in the server and out of it.

The Hunters have an obvious and clear delineation between their DPS talent. It is likely to be Leave and Apr1ta for the majority of the foreseeable metagames with JinMu piloting some off picks when necessary. And while there is a massive spectre that looms over that statement, that shadow being the unknow-ness of Overwatch 2, just based on previous experience this seems to be the most likely outcome. Chengdu do not have to be concerned with who does what, when, and where—they have that streamlined already and that should impact their performance. 

• Read More: Overwatch 2 Beta Is 'Coming Soon'

The Seoul Dynasty are another contender for this hypothetical award of “best DPS lineup” but what is so odd are the details of the proverbial head-to-heads. Leave matches well with someone like Park "Profit" Joon-yeong, two DPS who battle the notion of hyperbole with their flexibility, two wonderkids that can and have done it all at the highest level in Overwatch. Apr1ta easily can go toe-to-toe with Seoul’s hitscan mainstay of Kim "FITS" Dong-eon. Perhaps these two battle here and there for dominance on specific heroes, but across the roster of Overwatch, as it stands now, they seem evenly matched. And yet there is still something missing from the gold and black.

What, oddly enough, detracts us away from Seoul here is JinMu. Now, this is now shame or shade at the Dynasty’s third wheel in Jeong "Stalk3r" Hak-yong, he has been a prospect for years and deserves his time in the sun—but when we’ve seen him succeed it’s been on heroes that we know his counter-parts can cover. JinMu doesn’t have to shoulder that anxiety. We can count on one hand the list of DPS who can do what JinMu does frequently and with the right heroes. He truly is one of a kind and is a massive x-factor in the novelty brought by Overwatch 2. This feels like a slight edge needs to be given to the Hunters.

Not only can they dabble in the creative but they, now with Apr1ta, can play as standard as their peers. It’s a complete and comprehensive DPS lineup that should be able to challenge anyone in the league. The fluidity is going to be key in 2022 for Chengdu, not losing themselves but also knowing when to flow with the river. 

It's A Long Way To The Top

Even reaching towards the top you’ve got the defending Overwatch League champions, the Shanghai Dragons. And if we’re being honest, it’s tough to top the consistency and peaks of players like Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun and Lee "LIP" Jae-won. And while Apr1ta may be able to contest some of those select peaks, your rookie season does bring some question marks to it. While it’s a shot into a large dark space named “Overwatch 2” the issue here is consistency. However, that alone should colour what kind of tools the 2022 Chengdu Hunters have at their disposal. 

The Hunters already had an incredible DPS lineup last year with the ability to will their own metagames that countered some of the best teams in the world. Now they’ve not only upgraded their bottom line but they’ve increased their base flexibility. That alone puts them among the highest marks when it comes to DPS rotations. Once again the Chengdu Hunters are a team

Are the new-look Hunters the best? 

That remains to be seen—but they undoubtedly can compete with the best regardless.

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