Edison: 'Since ChiYo and Fielder are the ones who picked Atlanta, I hope you deal with the tough loss'
After a victory against the Seoul Infernal, Dallas Fuel's Hanbin and Edison sat down for a post-match press conference.
29th Sep 2023 16:55
Image via Toronto Defiant
Edison: 'Since ChiYo and Fielder are the ones who picked Atlanta, I hope you deal with the tough loss'
After a victory against the Seoul Infernal, Dallas Fuel's Hanbin and Edison sat down for a post-match press conference.
29th Sep 2023 16:55
Image via Toronto Defiant
In their opening match of the Overwatch League Season 6 playoffs against regional rival Seoul Infernal, the Dallas Fuel expectedly convinced with a strong showing of mostly their Zarya composition around superstar player Choi "Hanbin" Han-been.
After the match, Hanbin and his teammate Kim "Edison" Tae-hoon sat down for the post-match conference, sharing thoughts on their chances during the playoffs, meeting old teammates with strong words, and the meta.
Coming back
The Dallas Fuel are back in North America for the season playoffs after spending the regular season in the APAC region.
After their Championship in Season 5, the team made an effort to keep its starters and offered the team to relocate to sweeten the deal. Ultimately, only Hanbin, Edison, and Flex DPS Kim "SP9RK1E" Yeong-han stuck around.
Tank player Lee "Fearless" Eui-Seok, and the supports Han "ChiYo" Hyeon-seok and Kwon "Fielder" Joon joined rivalling teams in Houston Outlaws and Atlanta Reign, respectively.
ChiYo and Fielder had enjoyed tremendous success with their new team, winning the regular season and the MidSeason Madness event in the process. However, during the playoffs, the team were upset in the opener by the Hangzhou Spark.
When asked if Edison had anything to say to the teammates who had left them to pursue glory elsewhere, she stated: “Since you guys are the ones who picked Atlanta, I hope you deal with the tough loss.”
Given that the Fuel is playing in the opposing group of the Spark, it is expected that the two teams practised extensively against each other to prepare for the playoffs. Therefore, a power-level comparison should be possible.
"I think the main difference is that Spark and Dallas use different comps. If we were to go head to head with the best comp that we're good at versus the best comp that they're good at I think we're actually the better team,” said Edison during the post-match press conference.
Rock, paper, Boulder
In the opening matches, teams showed an incredible amount of compositional diversity, displaying a wide range of meta archetypes from Rush to Poke to Dive compositions.
"This is probably a rock, paper, scissor meta. We have our distinct colour as a team. A lot of different teams that go against us will try to counter our comp. It almost feels like we are trying to win against everyone with a rock whether they are trying to fight us with paper or scissor," explained Hanbin
"We are just rolling through. It’s working. I don’t think it really matters what they come up with." Given the first-day results and their new-found meta-related strength, a title defence is not out of the question: "Now that we have a Zarya meta, it might enable us to aim for a championship again."
Edison agreed: “When we look at the other comps teams are using, even if Zarya got buffed no one has been really using Zarya. It seems like they gave up on it. We’re probably going to go up against a team that will try to counter Zarya. We’re probably on the same level."
Another lost son of the Championship-winning roster made it to the event in Fearless, and as the Fuel is awaiting the Florida Mayhem in the upper bracket, who are considered one of the favourites in the event, a match between old friends might be in the cards.
If the Texans were to lose against the favourited Mayhem, a derby could await them in the lower bracket finals if the Outlaws can best the Infernal today. At the likely possibility of getting to spare off against his former partner in crime, Hanbin had a wholesome moment to share:
"I’m very excited to face Fearless. I feel like we are going to have a blast. I’m sure it’ll feel great if we win but I at the same time don’t feel I’d be as sad to lose against Fearless. Not that I want to lose, that is not acceptable but I feel it’s just going to be a lot of fun."
About The Author
Sascha Heinisch
Sascha "Yiska" Heinisch is a Senior Esports Journalist at GGRecon. He's been creating content in esports for over 10 years, starting with Warcraft 3.
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