The finals of OGN's APEX finally arrived with South Korea's Afreeca Freecs Blue battling Europe's EnVyUs for pride in Ilsan, South Korea. Ultimately, experience won out with EnVyUs sweeping the final for the $90,000 prize.
Afreeca got better with each set they played in the relatively new competitive scene for South Korea, whereas EnVyUs was a more seasoned team but had primarily been isolated in North American competitions, so their mettle was to be tested in South Korea. Although strong, EnVyUs were expected to lose traction as Ronnie "Talespin" Dupree left the team in the middle of the tournament. Instead, the change made EnVyUs stronger as Jonathan "harryhook" Tejedor Rua moved into the DPS position and they picked up Pongphop "Mickie" Rattanasangohod who's shown nothing but brilliance on D.Va in a new meta that favored the mech-rider.
Afreeca was expected to win the control maps during this best-of-seven final, but EnVyUs made a huge statement when they took Afreeca apart in Nepal. Harryhook utilizing Soldier 76 in the new meta is something that has been largely unopposed since the role swap happened. Flanking all of his opponents with clever timing and proper backup from his team, star players Jung "Recry" Taekhyun and Jeong "ArHaN" Wonhyuk from Afreeca Freecs Blue fell just as easy as those who came before them.
Of course, the credit doesn't go to only harryhook's Soldier 76 and Mickie's D.Va but also to Finals MVP Timo "Taimou" Kettunen. Famous for his precision aim, Taimou obliterated Afreeca on Hollywood with Roadhog by landing several consecutive hooks that left Afreeca without an answer. EnVyUs took the set with a 4-0 victory after dominating Afreeca on each map type: Control, Assault, and Escort.
With the competitive landscape for Overwatch being so new to esports, especially to South Korea, things can only go uphill from here for the hub of esports.