Ok team, the Titans have 2 more stage 1 games and a win here will place the New York Excelsior's first place lead within striking distance. NYXL has completed all 7 of their games and their MD is +16, the Titans have 2 more matches and their MD is +13, if the Titans complete the stage with two more wins they will enter the stage 1 playoffs first in the league. This is a must-win game for the Hunters, if they lose they are eliminated from playoff contention for stage 1.
Game day notes:
- the Toronto Defiant are the third team to clinch a stage 1 playoff spot, their MD is only +5, showing that NYXL and the Titans are truly in a league of their own
- Today's trip to Chengdu is another showdown of expansion teams, the Titans have played almost all of them, Washington and Toronto are the only remaining ones.
- The Chengdu Hunters are a fun team to watch, they aren't good but they actively try to not play the infamous 3/3 style that the Titans are so oppressive with. They've been seen playing 2/2/2 and triple DPS so far this season. They have some notable players including Elsa and Yveltal, they also have JinMu who is like Bumper on DPS. He plays a suicidal style of Genji where he runs into the other team and dies half the time, the other half he kills the entire team.
- While the Hunters are a fun team to watch, they are not very good. They are 16th in the league and have one of the worst MD% in the league sitting at a -8.
Maps!
Control:
- The Titans played very well last week on Ilios with a 2-1 win over the Paris Eternal. They sit with a 100% win rate on Ilios and an 83% win rate on Control maps in total this season.
- Last week the Titans started with Seominsoo on McCree instead of Zarya and we could see the same thing tonight. Interestingly enough, in the team's first showing on Ilios earlier this season they subbed in Stitch for Seominsoo.
- If we start on the Well location, we will likely see Bumper on Orissa, which is fun to see. She's good on a handful of maps, usually ones with big holes in them.
- The Hunters are 50% winrate on Ilios, we've seen them run Pharah before here so it leads to Seominsoo starting on McCree, it'll be interesting regardless.
Hybrid:
- the Titans head back to Hollywood for today's Hybrid map and they have been dominant here. 100% win rate on hybrid maps, enough said.
- The Hunters are not good on Hybrid maps, they're sitting at a 20% conversion rate with their only win coming on Numbani and that's.... that's not where they are playing today.
Assault:
- the Titans had a marathon win on Temple of Anubis earlier this season against Shanghai Dragons. Once again, the Titans have a 100% winrate on these assault maps which heavily favour 3/3.
Escort:
- Route 66 has given the Titans problems all stage, they are 0/2 on R66 with a 20% winrate on escort maps. The Titans could break the slump here if they come in hungry for the 4-0 to take 1st in the league but the Hunters will be hungry to prove themselves against a good team.