Two of the strongest Overwatch teams in South Korea will face off on Friday in Seoul in the first semifinals match in OGN Overwatch APEX Season 2. RunAway will be tested against LW Blue in a best-of-five series to advance into the finals and a chance at the championship.
RunAway climbed a rocky road to get back into APEX having almost fallen out of the league this past season, but with its winning streak since getting out of groups, the team has become a very intimidating opponent, especially for LW Blue.
"To look at external factors first, RunAway's team atmosphere right now is fantastic," Afreeca Freecs head coach Kim "TaiRong" Tae Yeong said. "They almost never get into disagreements, and whenever they do, it gets resolved in a healthy manner very quickly. There are no emotional rifts between the players, and this positive environment naturally leads to great team synergy."
Any spectators who have watched RunAway compete in APEX are likely to have seen the victory celebrations that Yoon "Runner" Dae Hoon has enacted in the booth, either cheering loudly or getting up after winning on a single map to hug his teammates. The Lucio main and core of his team, Runner has charged himself with keeping the team energy high. LW Blue's consistency issues could easily lead to RunAway stealing a set and creating a gap that not even LW Blue's Hwang "Fl0w3R" Yeon Oh could close.
"Genji in professional play is at least 70 percent a team effort," TaiRong said. While Fl0w3R is an absolutely fantastic DPS player, so is RunAway's Kim "Haksal" Hyo Jong, who made RunAway famous in Season 1 in the first place. Genji plays from the spectator's point of view can easily look like a one-man job, but neither one of them can put the team on his back entirely.
Because there is such an emphasis on how well a team can support and enable its main DPS players, it makes sense that the team with the most well-rounded performance should come out on top, but good vibes and a positive attitude aren't enough. Disrupting the enemy team's use of the meta is important, too.
"RunAway should be good," TaiRong said, "if they focus on overpowering LW Blue's tanks."
Certainly, Kim "Mek0" Tae-hong's Zarya and D.Va are frightening, especially paired up with Song "janus" Jun-hwa's Reinhardt and Winston. With Mek0 playing utility tanks and janus playing the main backbone, LW's support and DPS have a formidable foundation to win games.
RunAway can't overtake the rest of LW Blue without first eliminating Mek0 and janus. So, will Runner and the rest of RunAway advance to the finals, or will it be LW Blue that finally stop them in their tracks?