Poko Reflects on Philadelphia Fusion’s Run to the Overwatch League Finals

Philadelphia Fusion’s Gael ‘Poko’ Gouzerch took to Twitter to reflect on his team’s success after reaching the Overwatch League grand finals.

The Fusion had a variable season with a number of challenges to overcome, but have managed to bring everything together for a fantastic run at the critical moment.

As Poko notes, the Fusion was one of the most disparate teams at the start of the league. Unlike many, the squad wasn’t built around an existing roster, and the Fusion weren’t able to get visas sorted in time to even participate in the pre-season exhibition matches.

As a result, Philadelphia had to develop synergy over the course of the season. Although the roster clearly had a lot of talent, they weren’t always able to bring it to bear, resulting in a rather hot-or-cold team. Meanwhile, main tank Kim ‘SADO’ Su-min received an extensive suspension for boosting prior to the start of the season and wasn’t able to play until Stage 4.

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In Stage 4, Philadelphia Fusion had to fight to even secure a spot in the playoffs, barely holding onto the sixth and final spot to reach the quarter-finals. There they faced the Boston Uprising, who had secured the third seed by virtue of a strong overall season, but had seen a decline in form in Stage 4.

Philadelphia’s real upset, however, came in the semi-finals, where they were able to defeat New York Excelsior. The Excelsior had been the dominant force for almost the entire season and were heavily favored to take the trophy, or at least reach the grand finals. The Fusion came into the match hot, and were able to take them down in two series to take the finals spot for themselves.

Poko took to Twitter to reflect on the result, and thank fans of the team for their support throughout a roller-coaster season.