Overwatch League 2020 Week 26: Philadelphia Fusion's Top Plays, Prize Money

The Philadelphia Fusion have long been on the precipice of Overwatch League greatness but relegated to silver and bronze medals. But with two quick sweeps in Week 26, they appear to be building momentum ahead of the Countdown Cup.  

Thus far, Philadelphia's finishes have earned it $260,000 from tournaments across three seasons of OWL play. Most recently, the team's revamped 2020 roster netted $35,000 for a second-place finish during the Summer Showdown. That followed a bronze finish during the May Melee.

Now, the Fusion's 3-0 sweeps over the Dallas Fuel and Los Angeles Valiant cement a third seed for the $275,000 Countdown Cup and a chance to establish a rhythm ahead of the eventual $4 million 2020 Playoffs.

Friday, July 31

Dallas Fuel 0 - 3 Philadelphia Fusion

Los Angeles Valiant 3 - 2 Houston Outlaws

Saturday, August 1

Seoul Dynasty 1 - 3 Guangzhou Charge

London Spitfire 0 - 3 Hangzhou Spark

New York Excelsior 1 - 3 Shanghai Dragons

Paris Eternal 3 - 1 Washington Justice

Toronto Defiant 3 - 2 Vancouver Titans

Houston Outlaws 0 - 3 San Francisco Shock

Sunday, August 2

Dallas Fuel 1 - 3 Atlanta Reign

Los Angeles Gladiators 1 - 3 Florida Mayhem

Philadelphia Fusion 3 - 0 Los Angeles Valiant

Boston Uprising 0 - 3 Vancouver Titans

Full schedule and standings available here.

The Fusion's reputation was built on Carpe's shoulders as the superstar DPS has consistently ranked among the league's deadliest players. But they brought in reinforcements for 2020, acquiring 2018 Champion Fury at flex-tank and highly touted rookie Alarm at flex-support. 

In order to help lighten the load placed upon Carpe's hero pool, they also enlisted the talents of Ivy and Heesu at DPS. Those additions are proving their worth this season as Philadelphia was able to comfortably drub the Fuel and Valiant. Even with Carpe getting to take a break on the bench for the latter, the Fusion managed to set a top-five record for attack speed on Gibraltar.

As impressive as Fury's positioning and mechanical skills are on a typically immobile character like Zarya, it was the rookie flex-support, Alarm, who got to showcase some nutty tracking against the Valiant. With Ivy and Heesu playing close-range DPS, Alarm demonstrated how easily Moira's Coalescence can turn into a Kamehameha.

With bronze at the May Melee and silver at the Summer Showdown, the Fusion might be able to keep this pattern trending in the right direction on Saturday, Aug. 8 during the Countdown Cup quarterfinals.