The Atlanta Reign, once considered the favorites and the best team of the 2023 regular season, faced a shocking early elimination from the Overwatch League playoffs. Despite their dominant performance throughout the year, the Reign struggled to adapt to the new meta and suffered two consecutive losses, ending their season on a disappointing note.
One of the main factors contributing to Atlanta’s downfall was the sudden shift in the meta, which gave teams limited time to adjust. The players seemed uncomfortable with the changes and failed to perform at their usual level. The Reign stuck to their strategies involving Sombra play from Lip and the Doomfist and Winston from D0NGHAK. While this approach initially showed promise, the Hangzhou Spark made crucial adjustments and managed to reverse-sweep the Reign.
Entering their second match against the London Spitfire, the Reign started off poorly, reminiscent of their previous series against the Spark. Despite attempting to counter Hadi’s Reinhardt with Doomfist, Atlanta struggled to coordinate their movements against London’s Symmetra. The decision to bring in Hawk as a replacement for D0NGHAK, primarily focusing on Doomfist with minimal Orisa play, did little to change the outcome. Ultimately, the Reign lost the final map and were eliminated from the tournament, defying predictions and breaking brackets.
Although the Reign displayed some weaknesses during the Summer Stage, they were undeniably the strongest team of 2023. Their overall record, including the Midseason Madness tournament, was an impressive 17-3, losing only 16 maps throughout the season. However, in the OWL 2023 playoffs, they went 0-2 and suffered six consecutive map losses.
It was a dramatic downfall for the Atlanta Reign, the team that had dominated the regular season and was expected to go far in the playoffs. Their unexpected early exit from the tournament will be remembered as a surprising turn of events in Toronto.
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Source: DOTESPORTS
