Two Western teams, EnVyUs and Misfits, made their reappearances in Seoul, South Korea, to continue the group stage games of OGN's Overwatch APEX Season 2 league. EnVyUs's Timo "Taimou" Kettunen got a flying headshot with Widowmaker, and Misfits showed what it can do with a some prep time.
Reigning champions EnVyUs faced off against South Korean team BK Stars for the first game. On Nepal, EnVyUs revealed its players have been expanding their hero pools to create more flexibility in team compositions. The fluid lineups allowed EnVyUs to cruise through the game and on to King's Row.
Lee "Carpe" Jae Hyeok was the star for BK Stars on this map and a thorn in EnVyUs's side with Genji. However, the rest of Carpe's squad couldn't hold off EnVyUs, and every time he went down, EnVyUs made big payload pushes. Stellar individual play was outdone by stellar teamwork as EnVyUs took Game 2.
Carpe made a splash as Sombra in Game 3 on Volskaya Industries, and this time, his team responded. The Sombra pick let BK Stars set up camp next to a hacked large health pack, and the sustain helped systematically take out the EnVyUs defenses.
But BK Stars couldn't retain control on Dorado. Taimou's Widowmaker, which he had been playing on and off this entire series, cleaned up the mess, including an incredible mid-air headshot on Chae "Bunny" Joon Hyuk's Tracer. BK Stars busted through EnVyUs on Volkskaya, but the final win for EnVyUs on Dorado was even faster was the final win on Dorado and finished the series 3-1.
In the other Western team game, a recently rebuilt, fully Swedish lineup of Misfits went up against South Korean team Afreeca Freecs Red. Misfits had a disappointing first showing against LW Blue earlier in the group stage as a new roster that had very little time to scrim or build team synergy after arriving in Korea. However, it was time for the squad to produce.
On the first map of Nepal, Misfits dominated the control points and showed patience. At one point, Afreeca used four ultimates to take control of a point, and Misfits held off on deploying its ults in "defense." Once the team respawned, it immediately took back the point with a six-ultimate flurry and held it for the rest of the timer.
Nepal summed up the entire set as Afreeca never once looked organized. Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström brought a deep hero pool that acted like a swiss army knife for Misfits, and Tim "Mannetens" Byhlund had skillful Roadhog hooks that helped brush away any offensive attempt by Afreeca. The South Korean squad was held to just one point King's Row, and Misfits bulldozed them for the win. Afreeca also struggled to capture both points on Temple of Anubis and went to overtime, whereas Misfits had a leftover six minutes to take just the first point again. The sweep showed Misfits is starting to gel, and it kept the team alive in the group stage.