Dallas Fuel aiming for another trip to Hawaii for June Joust

by Jessica Scharnagle

The Dallas Fuel weren’t a popular pick for the winner of the May Melee, but against all odds, the team dominated the bracket and came out the victor. Now, they’re looking to do the same for the June Joust.

At the conclusion of the May Melee qualifiers and West Region knockouts, the team went to Hawaii to compete against the top East Region teams. The team had a blast traveling and competing, and although it was a business trip for them, they still managed to squeeze in some swimming and fun.

The start of this Overwatch League season was rough for the Fuel, who lost star hitscan Ki-hyo “Xzi” Jung who left the team to recover from some medical issues. Without a hitscan, the team had to come up with some comps that were going to work against their opponents.

“We lacked a hitscan player,” Jaeyoon “Aid” Go told Nerd Street Gamers. “Back then the meta was Rein, D.va, McCree and Mei, so it was trending towards a comp that required a hitscan DPS, so that’s the comp that a lot of other teams were also practicing, so we took time to try and find the perfect comp for our team.”

The players and coaches on the Fuel knew that they were going to have to adjust their strategy for enemy teams running the meta, so they took a lot of time to anti-strat and focus on how their comp would have to change to accommodate opposing teams’ hitscan strategies.

Going forward, the Fuel will hopefully have some help with the addition of Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim. There has been no indication that Pine has made it to the practice facility yet, but staff are hopeful that he will make it in time to compete soon.

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One roadblock to the Fuel this tournament is the San Francisco Shock. During May Melee knockouts, the Fuel bested the Shock 3-0, but in the first weekend of the June Joust, the Shock answered back, scoring a 3-1 victory over the Fuel.

Momentum is a big part of the players’ mindset for the Fuel, and they rode that momentum train throughout the May Melee.

“In tournaments, momentum is especially important. Even if a team starts at a lower tier, once that momentum starts rolling it’s impossible to stop that,” Aid said.

This tournament also presents a new challenge for all teams with the addition of hero bans. For the June Joust, Tracer, Sombra, Reinhardt and Zenyatta have been removed from the pool of heroes. Tracer and Sombra are two of the heroes the Fuel enjoy playing and had a lot of success with, so it isn’t surprising that the Fuel are having a harder time in the May Melee.

“I feel like it might be a little more difficult than May Melee,” Aid said prior to the start of the June Joust. “We are still in the process of finding a new comp that other teams might not be able to pull off. We’re always studying and trying to come up with that in scrims.”

Regardless of how they prepare for matches, how well they do in scrims, or how well they read the enemy team in the heat of the moment, one thing is clear: the Fuel really like one another.

“The players, they really like having fun with each other, we’re really close. I’m not sure what it is, but something exists that brings them together. They just attract each other. You may be able to see different cliques or groups within other teams, but if one person does something on our team, everyone rushes over and does it together. I think that’s what’s really unique about us.”

The Dallas Fuel seem to be having a lot of fun celebrating each other's birthdays lately. Photo credit: Dallas Fuel

The power of friendship will only get the Fuel so far. Although their first week resulted in a loss to the Shock, it is clear that the players and coaches on the Fuel have a tight relationship, and therefore have a better chance of keeping each other motivated to win.

Things will only improve for the Fuel once Pine is integrated with the team. With a true hitscan in their midst, it is safe to say that the Fuel will still be a team to be feared. Now that they are the team to beat, teams are likely to be studying them more intensely, so the Fuel will have a tougher road ahead.

The Fuel are 2-1 in June Joust qualifiers and have a game coming up Saturday against Vancouver. If they win, they’ll likely compete in the West Region knockouts on Sunday for another chance to go to Hawaii next weekend.

Lead image credit: Overwatch League

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