Reinforce Couldn’t Carry Team Pacific to a Second Overwatch League Talent Takedown Win
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentJohnathon ‘Reinforce’ Larsson was a dominant force in the Talent Takedown rematch, but this time it wasn’t enough to carry his team to victory.
Two teams of Overwatch League commentators, analysts, and hosts clashed for the first time at the All-Stars weekend on August 25-26. One represented the Atlantic Division, the other the Pacific Division.
Reinforce competed for the Pacific Division, and as a former professional player – and current player for the Swedish Overwatch World Cup team – played a major role in their 2-0 victory.
In the week following the official clash at All-Stars, the Overwatch League talent organized a rematch, playing online with each player streaming their perspective. Unfortunately, the second time around, Reinforce wasn’t able to carry the Pacific Division to a series victory.
Though a main tank as a professional player, Reinforce played a DPS role for both iterations of the Talent Takedown, a position from which he could have more impact as the most skilled player in the match.
The series started well for Team Pacific, with a herculean effort from Reinforce helping to clinch a narrow win on Hollywood. By the end of the game he had amassed a monstrous 58 eliminations and 71% kill participation, including a devastating Bastion ultimate to wipe out the Atlantic team.
Unfortunately, the subsequent two maps were less successful for Team Pacific. The Atlantic team struck back with a King’s Row victory, in spite of a massive play by Soe, and stole the series with a win on Ilios.
With the series count tied up at 1-1 the stage is set for a tie-breaker match. Though a third showdown hasn’t been confirmed, with how popular the Talent Takedown has been – and how long there is before the Overwatch League returns – another match to determine an ultimate winner seems likely at some point.