Results from the Super Week relegation
Super Week is finally over and after 4 days of competition we have our 6 teams moving on to Apex Season 3. The format this time round was different than normal due to the need to promote 6 teams rather than the usual 4. This gave us a more lengthy series than you would normally expect. 2 groups of 4 teams would battle it out with the top 2 teams in each group advancing after a double elimination tournament. The bottom 2 teams from each group would merge into a single group and again play a double elimination tournament to select another 2 teams with the 2 losing teams heading down/back to the Challengers series.
Format
All games were played in a best of 5 maps on the current live patch (with the Lucio changes). The map types being:
- 1st Set: Control map.
- 2nd Set: Assault/Escort map.
- 3rd Set: Assault map.
- 4th Set: Escort map.
- 5th Set: Assault/Escort map
The loser of each set chooses the next map while the winner decides which side (attack or defend first)
APEX Season 3 Super Week Qualifiers
- X6-Gaming
- CONBOX Spirit
- Mighty AOD
- MVP Space
- Flash Lux
- Rhinos Gaming Wings
APEX Season 2 Returning Teams
- Afreeca Freecs Blue
- BK Stars
- Lunatic-Hai
- Luxury Watch Blue
- Meta Athena
- RunAway
- Kongdoo Panthera
- Kongdoo Uncia
Invited Teams
- Rogue (confirmed)
- EnVyUs (confirmed)
Demoted Teams
- AF Red
- MVP Infinity
AF Red and MVP were both in Apex Season 2 and must be disappointed to be relegated to challengers while all 4 challengers teams have been promoted. The relegation round gave us some really close and enjoyable matches but it also gave us some shut outs, some lack lustre game play and a few teams noticeably under performing. It was a bit of a mind shock watching these games right after being spoiled by an epic finals series, but still, some of these teams were playing very rough while others looked too laid back and very nearly paid the price. In their defence, only 2 teams would go to challengers in this elongated Super Week, basically being triple elimination. So while it was an opportunity to test a few things, season 3 begins at the end of the month and doesn’t leave a lot of time for working things out.
The new percentage based tie breaker had its first showing in Apex during Super Week, much to some fans disappointment. The new system is a divisive talking point in the community at the moment and there is no easy fix to this problem. However, while the tie breaker can be a bit of a jolt, it does have the potential to give way to some interesting strategies and team compositions in the future and it does heavily penalise the team that is behind. Going forward to season 3 it will be interesting to see how teams handle the new tie breaker system.
There is also an emerging issue with the selection of the foreign teams and possibly some poor time management on OGN with teams getting invites very late and consequently having to turn them down. At the moment the OGN Apex series is seen as the top league that everyone wants in on as far as Overwatch is concerned so it is great that OGN has reached out to include foreign teams in a domestic Korean competition. But I wonder if OGN should be looking to expand the Overwatch challengers league to the EU and US to act as a more balanced feeder to the Apex series. Fans and players are scratching their heads at the inclusion (and exclusion) of some of the teams for season 3 but as it is an invite process, it is all up to whatever OGN feels like doing.
Going forward into season 3 there will be a lot of discussion as teams train and adjust to the new patch. For me I feel the biggest change going forward is the Lucio changes and how that will effect the current dive meta. Also will Orisa start to make her way into team make ups? Can EnVyUs regain their title? Will we ever get used to the new casters? (MonteCristo and Doa will be missed) Will the few teams with glaringly large weaknesses have enough time to work on them? And who else is pumped at the chance of Rouge facing off against Lunatic-Hai again? Keep a look out for the answers and more as we gear up for Apex Season 3.
Match Results Day 1
- Mighty AOD 3 — Flash Lux 1
- X6-Gaming 3 — Afreeca Freecs Red 1
- Conbox Spirit 3 — MVP Space 0
- Rhinos Gaming Wings 3 — MVP Infinity 0
Match Results Day 2
Winners Bracket
- X6-Gaming 3 — Mighty AOD 2 (X6-Gaming promoted)
- Conbox Spirit 3 — Rhino Gaming Wings 1 (Conbox Spirit promoted)
Losers Bracket
- Flash Lux 3 — Afreeca Freecs Red 2
- MVP Space 3 — MVP Infinity 0
Match Results Day 3
- Mighty AOD 3 — Flash Lux 0 (Mighty AOD promoted)
- MVP Space 3 — Rhino Gaming Wings 2 (MVP Space promoted)
- Flash Lux 3 — MVP Infinity 1
- AF Red 3 — RG Wings 2
Match Results Day 4
- (Winners bracket) Flash Lux 3 — AF Red 2 (Flash Lux promoted)
- (Losers bracket) RG Wings 3 — MVP Infinity 0
- RG Wings 3 — AF Red 2 (RG Wings promoted)
akadjblaze 