Tuesday's matches went by quickly in South Korea as OGN Overwatch APEX Season 3 featured games from teams that advanced through the promotion tournament. MVP Space surprised Flash Lux with a quick sweep, while BK Stars looks to improve their gameplay by taking on newcomers Rhinos Gaming Wings, before setting their eyes on the rest of the group stages.
Map 1: Lijiang Tower (Control Map) Victory Condition: Take the control point and hold onto it until the counter ticks to 100 percent. A best-of-three control point map.
Map 2: King's Row (Assault/Escort) Victory Condition: Take Point A, then push the payload to the end of the map. The team that makes the most progress wins.
Map 3: Hanamura (Assault) Victory Condition: Take Point A, then capture Point B.
The Flash Lux and MVP Space matchup was a question mark as MVP Space came from the challenger league, and Flash Lux had history in APEX. MVP Space surprised many as they destroyed the Flash Lux lineup on the first two maps of Lijiang Tower and King's Row. Kim "Yaki" Jun-gi's Pharah gave everyone a run for their money. On Lijiang Tower, they pulled off an easy win because Flash Lux didn't have anything to counter his Pharah until King's Row, where they used a Genji focused composition to topple the MVP defense.
Flash Lux could have put up a better fight for the series but because they were so uncoordinated with their ultimates, they made it really easy for MVP Space to win teamfights, even without ultimates! Unable to find any sort of footing in the series, FL lost 3-0 for their first match in APEX as MVP Space closed out the series with a convincing win on the third map, Hanamura.
Map 1: Oasis (Control Map) Victory Condition: Take the control point and hold onto it until the counter ticks to 100 percent. A best-of-three control point map.
Map 2: Eichenwald (Assault/Escort) Victory Condition: Take Point A, then push the payload to the end of the map. The team that makes the most progress wins.
Map 3: Volskaya Industries (Assault) Victory Condition: Take Point A, then capture Point B.
Map 4: Watchpoint: Gibraltar (Escort) Victory Condition: Push the payload through Points A and B, and finish the map on Point C. The team that makes the most progress wins.
BK Stars showed their strengths again by putting their star player Chae "Bunny" Joon Hyuk on Tracer. Bunny's Tracer is a homestay for any fan familiar with the BK Stars lineup, and he carried this set for his team against Rhinos Gaming Wings. Winning on Oasis and Eichenwald wasn't difficult for BK Stars but RHW's Lee "Envy" Kang-Jae prolonged the set to a game four by hacking their plans for a 3-0 sweep on Volskaya.
Envy played Sombra for a crushing victory on the map by staying alive and constantly charging up his EMP for repeated AoE hackings on every offense that BK Stars made in their attempts to take the second point. While BK Stars did end up finishing the map, Envy reducing them to an overtime capture gave his team a huge advantage with over four minutes left in the timebank. Unfortunately for RGW, their flight would be cut short with BK's stunning lead on Volskaya Industries for a 1-3 loss. BK Stars had a great win today but similar concerns still show whether or not they'll be able to take on the stronger opponents in their group. They already lost to Meta Athena this season and will have to also compete with Team EnVyus, so unless they can prove their flexibility this time around, they may leave third place in the group, and not advance.