Overwatch League 2020 Week 3: Jerry's Top Plays, Prize Money
February 24, 2020
Two weekends ago, we asked the Boston Uprising's head coach, Mineral, where Jerry was.
This weekend, we (and a raucous Washington home crowd) got our answer.
The Philadelphia Fusion's Carpe is still the best DPS in Overwatch, the Paris Eternal's Xzi is filthy and the Washington Justice's very own Corey is a monster. But Jerry, the Uprising's fan-favorite rookie and hitscan specialist, stole the show despite playing just one match this weekend—on the road no less.
The legend of Jerry Overwatch has grown at an exponential pace, and I hold no qualms over my history as the foremost purveyor of Jerry "stonks." A former off-tank turned hitscan specialist for X6-Gaming and Meta Athena, Jerry is named after his favorite childhood cartoon and, fittingly, his play is an homage to the devious mouse.
When asked of Jerry's whereabouts in Week 1, Mineral let us know that, given the hitscan's mechanical talent, he "wouldn't rule it out that [Jerry] makes his stage debut very soon."
On Saturday, in the Overwatch League's greatest "Toilet Bowl" slobber-knocker between the bottom-feeding Houston Outlaws and Uprising—Jerry made his presence known as he started all seven maps of the tightly contested first-to-three series.
The retooled Outlaws were stricken by the flu, the Uprising are still adjusting to a budget roster and, with each team desperate to avoid a last-place ranking, the seemingly endless battle went seven maps, the first double-draw series in Overwatch League history.
Most importantly, fans got to see Jerry for the first time, and he made it very easy for Washington to relentlessly cheer his name while waiting for their home team to take the stage.
Saturday, February 22
New York Excelsior 1-3 Philadelphia Fusion
Boston Uprising 3-2 Houston Outlaws
Paris Eternal 3-1 Washington Justice
Sunday, February 23
New York Excelsior 3-0 Houston Outlaws
Toronto Defiant 2-3 Philadelphia Fusion
London Spitfire 3-2 Washington Justice
From sniping domes on Widow to crafting ingenious snowshoes from paper towels and tinfoil, Jerry was an easy bet to become a fan favorite for a relatively stingy team that seems undeserving of much fanfare.
He's young, unpolished and needed to scrape by a win with his team against a miserable opponent, but this moment in the sun should be rewarded. Even if the Uprising don't seem likely to touch the Overwatch League's $5 million prize pool for 2020, they at the very least should be the front-runner for most wholesome. As proved by the team's fistbumps and Jerry's postgame waving proficiency.
Like Boston and Houston's matchup, the rest of the league seems to be embracing chaos. The New York Excelsior went into this weekend with high expectations before dropping 3-1 to the upsurging Fusion. The Justice, meanwhile, made their hometown debut with an embarrassing 3-1 loss of their own to the impressive, retooled Eternal and a puzzling 3-2 reverse sweep defeat to the all-rookie London Spitfire.
Scary teams right now all have one thing in common: a carry McCree. But that's not enough. While the Justice's Corey has nasty aim, his team was outdueled on its home stage by two teams that better synergized around their carries—Paris' Xzi and London's Glister.
The Fusion's aggressive engagements, reactive disengagements and teamwide peel have become the gold (or, more appropriately, grandmaster) standard for how to enable your McCree—as Carpe's highlight plays demonstrate how deadly a DPS with comfortable space can be.
If this weekend's legendary debut was any indication, the Uprising may have found their carry in Jerry. But, unfortunately, they're skipping a few grades up to the ultimate test next weekend: Carpe's Fusion.