May Melee recap and Pine is BACK! - Plat Chat Ep. 86

Plat Chat is presented by T-Mobile. NOW America’s LARGEST and FASTEST 5G network. Check them out at: www.t-mobile.com
Esports podcast specializing in feeding and Overwatch.
Featuring the Overwatch League's Matt "Mr.X" Morello, Joshua "Sideshow" Wilkinson, Jonathan "Reinforce" Larsson, and Connor "Avast" Prince.
📝 Follow us on Twitter!
PlatChat: / platchatpodcast
Reinforce - / reinforce
Sideshow - / sideshowgaming
Avast - / avast_o
Mr. X - / mattmrx
🎧 Listen to our Show!
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3HaN3rD...
Google Podcasts: www.google.com/podcasts?feed=...
#OWL2021 #Overwatch #Overwatch2
- - - - - - -
0:00 - Intro
8:22 - May Melee 2021 Tournament Recap
12:40 - Florida fall short
22:50 - Chengdu make an early exit
42:31 - Shanghai place 2nd
1:05:20 - Dallas finally defeats the Fuel!!
1:22:28 - Dallas signs Pine
1:36:58 - Paris sign dridro
1:42:42 - OWL MVP Odds?
1:50:28 - tobi and HOTBA signed for the rest of the season
2:04:20 - Post-May Melee Global Power Rankings
2:28:57 - Bren's Player of the Week

[@justdave1842]

"The four of us, Cr0ng and Eileen wouldn't drop maps to the vaiant" is such a legendary quote

[@willjoy1997]

Time?

[@aglassofchocolatemilk5553]

@@willjoy1997 right there

[@justdave1842]

@@willjoy1997 2:23:45 for the lil bit of context

[@soth9]

With checkmate on the bench right?

[@grimreaper3437]

Matt lowkey underrated.

[@trashcandy.]

Sideshow vs. the IBM Power Rankings will be an underrated storyline throughout the year.

[@thefootballpunnedit]

This is the best balance the game has ever had in my opinion. The high skill heroes, Tracer, Echo, Anna, even Monkey (for game IQ) are all getting lots of playtime, niche picks like Sym and Legs are getting the appearances here and there, and the variety and high skill ceiling of the heroes played has made this season much more fun to watch. The beauty of Overwatch is the diversity of cast, abilities, interactions... it's a game built on epic diversity of styles and roles and when we see the higher skill ceiling heroes being played and rotated we get the best of what the game was designed for.

[@dassvidania1969]

Excatly. Best meta that ever was in history of OW. Because you see a lot of things.

[@olindblo]

That's why next stage hero pools feel like such a bonk to the head...

[@darthmunck]

I'm gonna disagree, but only because of one unique feature Stage 3 2019 had. And that was the phasing out process of Goats, where teams still played it in enclosed areas of the map, but ran other comps (mostly 3dps poke) in more open areas. I think that's where you really saw each team show its identity by exactly how, or even whether, they switched from 3dps to goats, exactly which variants of poke and goats they ran, and how they ran it. That was the only season where we actually saw teams having to change compositions during a match, and make an interesting tactical choice about when to do so. And for that reason alone, I still rate it higher than any other meta. That said, I have enjoyed the mixture of rush, dive and poke we've seen in this meta so far.

[@AlittleTooClose]

Sideshow: I poisoned my gf with wine. Me: Then you called 911 via *T MOBILE!* No? Not an add? Oh...

[@symbolitical4158]

No it's a subtraction

[@tyc9909]

actually, it's multiplication

[@hyperjela]

It’s a division actually

[@theempowerer5718]

@@hyperjela wym it’s actually the square root

[@hyperjela]

@@theempowerer5718 nah I changed my mind, it’s y=mx+b

[@koxahh9]

I'm really happy with Avast's presence - please invite him as often as possible, especially on important episodes like tournament summaries

[@Oh-lk2qd]

Avast alt account

[@tenumakla]

@@Oh-lk2qd I'm really happy with Avast's presence - please invite him as often as possible, especially on important episodes like tournament summaries

[@gordanblansky7137]

@@Oh-lk2qd I’m really happy with Avast’s presence - please invite him as often as possible, especially on important episodes like tournament summaries

[@Oh-lk2qd]

The Avast bots are taking over :O On a serious note, yeah, Avast is good for Plat Chat

[@savvyburritos]

avast is so fucking funny and a great presence, hope we get more of him😤😤

[@BuildingHP]

Reinforce with the leg out, Wideshow with the tight Jersey, these men are trying to SEDUCE people lol

[@jdv637]

Damn y’all ever realize plat chat became your favorite podcast ?

[@ruralizer]

nah, until JRE exists

[@westvirginia1206]

Nah, I’d prefer impaulsive

[@jonc3519]

Sideshow is a very entertaining person. Sometimes insightful too

[@thebabycow]

I mean yeah it's the only podcast I watch

[@psypsy751]

Like Josh said, it'll be a monumental task and achievement if Pine is good. I really want him to be good cause he's such an entertaining player to watch, but at the same time, I like Doha and Sporkie playing, essentially, double flex DPS and owning, and I don't want that to be just a stage 1 thing.

[@N-cubed]

I know this comment was from a week ago but I watch just about ever single stream Pine does and he has massively improved. Just the other day he was playing 150ping on the US servers with Jecse and he was still going ham with the head clicks. When it’s Pine time, it’s Pine time. But when it’s not... sometimes he seems a little meh. He’s currently top 100 even through his meh games, although having a couple off-matches is to be expected I guess. Edit: I remembered incorrectly, he only goes ham in the first and last of the 4 games in that stream on Temple of Anubis. Nevertheless I’m sure Jecse wasn’t disappointed lol.

[@GarageSeller]

Imagine if you went to the end of season 1 and said thats the 4 championship contenders would be dallas, shanghai, florida, and another full chinese team run by RUI.

[@dzeus2191]

Oh how the turns have tabled

[@nritsch]

*A Chinese team who was known as meme for years because of their inability to play main tanks other than a mechanized hamster

[@CrazeeAdam]

And Houston and Shock also made it. London and NYXL are trash lol. No one would believe you

[@fulnaz3164]

I doubted Rush's take on Sparkle's tracer, and now Im home with this massive L stuck in my throat Pls send help Pepehands

[@danielfrost6327]

And yet ppl still doubt Rush’s choice of picking up pine...

[@hammerth1421]

@@danielfrost6327 If Rush says Pine impressed in tryouts, he must be at least decent. The same way that people trust Crusty to figure something out for the Shock, I trust Rush to figure out how to use Pine effectively.

[@danielfrost6327]

@@hammerth1421 Exactly.

[@WaylanderLloyd]

I could be wrong but i remember reading Pine in the second half of season 1 hated being dubbed the 'Big Boss' and the pressure, and ended up with a lot of mental issues that curbed his play and playtime severely even going so far as to go back to Korea mid season. If he's gone away for 3 years, built up his confidence and mental this could be a solid pick up.

[@tazby]

Of course this comes out as a Dev Update drops

[@stevenm732]

Lip did tear apart their back line for a hot minute there.

[@wiggxns]

i wish Pine has an Ans storyline (minus the retirement). the dude just came into the league and just FUCKED, then dipped. unbelievable

[@burningchicken2369]

But technically he did have an Ans storyline before Ans did.

[@al0ntai]

@@burningchicken2369 I mean...not really tbh. ANS went out with a bang compared to Pine

[@NaruBrilu]

Tbf tho ans got lucky he joined shock tho. Would he have been as successful on any other team? Idk, he is really good dont get me wrong but it also helps that you joined the best team at the time

[@wiggxns]

@@NaruBrilu even then, he was still just outright dominating and, even though the shock didnt need it, he carried them through entire maps sometimes.

[@burningchicken2369]

@@al0ntai I was talking about what wiggxns said was the Ans storyline. Pine ended up doing all of the things that were said in the original comment.

[@william3273]

I kinda feel like fuel should only bring in Pine for maps where they absolutely need a hitscan, like on Anubis. Otherwise they should just be running Doha and Sp9rkle the way they've done.

[@FeeeeeF]

The odds shock win this year is low. Hoping to see a incredibly close playoffs this year

[@goalhornfanatic9449]

Hope they get booted out in Round 1. Personally, they're a team you love to hate. Wanna see somebody knock them out to see a new winner.

[@symbolitical4158]

@@goalhornfanatic9449 "we will 3-1 outlaws, give them a map because I'm nice" - Nero

[@jamiefrankland8623]

Doubting the shock? See u when they come back strong and win the league

[@zom5959]

TRIGGER HAPPY TV OMFG I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIND/REMEMBER THAT SHOW FOR YEARS THANK YOU

[@tk0208]

why is erster and diem could be starters on almost other teams it’s shocking that they’re rotting on the bench of shanghai

[@hisokamorow1816]

The Lip tracer sealed their fate

[@nbain]

depth

[@hisokamorow1816]

@Sebastian Ramirez erster can be explained. Fleta is arguably the best flex dps in the league and Erster hasn’t been good for over a year.

[@myklfan9738]

Erster couldn't even start over saucy lol

[@catmoonkenobi]

I'm a Houston doubter right now. I know it was a 3-0 loss to the Fuel who ended up winning. I know the Shock also lost in a similar fashion. I love the Outlaws, but something about them has me worried. Gladiators were my May expect under performers (you'll have to take my word) and I crushed that. Houston is my June disappointers. I don't expect Gladiators to go to Hawaii but they'll fight for it - and I expect Shock to make it.

[@kryptikk79]

I miss Bren

[@loomisam9913]

That moment when Sideshow is wearing Beth's jersey xD

[@mikegriffiths1546]

Fearless unbeaten in May melee. Champ

[@ScorchHellfire]

I agree with Sideshow about Dallas without a hitscan player. I honestly believe that it made them better in a weird way by freeing them up to play styles that worked better for them in general and enabled them to have their newfound success far more than relying on McCree would have. I'll be curious to see if they start falling off when they start trying to work Pine in. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up like Chengdu last season when they started taking Ameng out to play the meta more and then went back to him after it didn't work.

[@ScorchHellfire]

31:24 Which is literally the way this game was designed to be played. That was the entire point of being able to swap heroes at any time. OW is finally balanced enough for it to work that way at the highest levels. It's great to see, but long overdue. I just hope that throwing in future balance patches and hero bans doesn't ruin it.

[@dinkuspaul1732]

So happy to see my two favorite teams make it to the final 4 and play each other (even if they placed 3rd and 4th). Checkmate is the new Hooreg confirmed

[@Valid_OW]

Great episode. I loved the passion during the Power Rankings section.

[@FRC_CR]

PINE DOUBTERS PogO . You guys are gonna eat your words, mark my words!

[@hisokamorow1816]

I’m not sure how someone can eat or mark words. But I’ll do my best 😄

[@kingchunk77]

I have to constantly adjust my volume!! Every time Avast is arguing a point, or talking about his past Predictions I have to turn it down. Once he’s finished I have to turn it back up to hear anyone else

[@M4ttNet]

I feel people are too harsh on Pine. It feels like Pine was benched because the meta favored flexibility and then GOATS just killed his chances. Considering his minimal playtime I think he was a great player.

[@sidhantm4761]

I can see where you are coming from But he was inconsistent even in his minimal playtime

[@M4ttNet]

@@sidhantm4761 I don't disagree, but my point is that is to be expected with minimal play time... minimal data points and less live game time to mesh with the team. So I don't think it's a very conclusive aspect, at least IMHO.

[@shadowballuser]

Thats not what a honeymoon phase is in sports. That means that a team had won the championship the year before and is now slacking coming into the new season because they are "resting on their laurels"

[@NickIsBlasted]

The Bolognese and Ice Cream metaphor was top tier

[@DaveGrima]

I know the last time we saw Pine wasn't great, but I think that he was carrying as best as he could, and unfortunately that was what NYXL needed to win matches. Also McCree, Ashe, and Widow weren't in their current balance states, I'm hoping we can really see him pop off.

[@Frostyco]

they didnt bench pine for libero hitscan because of "consistency issues" they benched him because he was dealing with mental health problems and spent some time back in korea to recover........

[@MrTenInHell]

Fate has won 1 stage finals and made it to 3 stage finals on 3 different teams either he is the luckiest tank in the OWL or he brings something to the table. How many other Tanks have done that? Edit: I just realized that Custa is a finals winner and not even a bench warmer he actually played so that puts him as one of the successful main supports in the league.

[@FezPlays]

Can we talk about how at 1:02:15 Fielder goes Mercy to Rez Jecse so he gets back faster and builds rally?!?!

[@Jackerco]

thats like really common..

[@joshdick9758]

Wow

[@fluxdesiqn97]

No we can’t actually

[@luxraydarkrai]

1:05:20 "Dallas, they have finally defeated the fuel"

[@gengar7145]

Congrats to Reinforce and Steph!

[@Ender13123]

Man, it's a good feeling to see Dallas at the top of the power rankings. Know it's just the May Tournament but still

[@gemmintuk509]

Fusion Vs Dallas would have been a great game... do you recall the Fusion Vs Paris matches from last year... those games were fire!

[@NickIsBlasted]

Avast with the wig on gonna make me act up

[@ScorchHellfire]

I'm American and I've never heard of this +/- system. I've always heard it expressed as ratios.

[@rowanfink6687]

Pine's Ashe aggro diving with Fearless is going to carry stage 2. Primal bobbles into headshots

[@echotheresa]

Didn't Pine get benched for health reasons? Anxiety, right? I'm really confused they're not bringing this up at all.

[@sammi-qg9nj]

they know pine is far too strong that he easily defeated anxiety but honestly probably to just not be insensitive.

[@justintun1990]

He got benched cause of GOATs pretty sure

[@deranged7636]

@@justintun1990 it was both

[@sangan7641]

both the reason for being benched and bad mental health was the same, GOATS

[@sangan7641]

i'd kill myself if i had to practice brig 14+ hours a day

[@MrVlodato]

a lot of those clips were current, as you were saying how old of a clip it was he was hook shooting a echo. also i think a lot of his sitting also had to do with a stage anxiety thing which some may think is nothing but it could have been serious enough that he couldnt play on stage.

[@pigonionsalad]

they got the pine news in time nice

[@CrazeeAdam]

My tier breaks from your guys list is almost the exact same. Dallas/SHD/Fusion/Mayhem/Outlaws are the top tier teams right now, Shock/Hunters/Justice below them in the "good" tier. And everyone below that well, good luck winning against the other teams above you

[@btcoufctony3894]

I love how America made their own betting system cause their baffled by ratios 😂

[@Unequaledking]

How do I bet on overwatch games?

[@btcoufctony3894]

@@Unequaledking I don't think you can it was just a concept that reinforce made at 1:42:42

[@aguywholikespurple4000]

1:24:41 Echo killed pine so that was recent gameplay, he still looks pretty decent tbh

[@simpwood4973]

I really wanted Dallas to sign Nenne. Btw I think it‘s really offensive that Libero is not in the league

[@destroyermaker]

What happened to Libero

[@Crimson67able]

@@destroyermaker Apparently he got rich off crypto, from what I've heard on twitter

[@simpwood4973]

@@Crimson67able lol

[@purplwombat8663]

Those opinions on nyxl hurt my fucking brain. We didn’t play valiant, we played spark and we didn’t only win one map. We rolled them on 3 of the maps and won 3-1.

[@corytadlock8704]

Avast "I will fight people in the streets. Shirt off!"

[@ninjudd808]

Kurt you should put the teams records next to there names during the power rankings! 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@Padarik]

As a justice fan since 2019 season, it’s so nice for us to be power ranked in the top 8. I know expectations this year are far higher than previous years, but literally not being bottom 3 is wonderful :) ALSO with these power rankings, the narrative that one region is better or worse looks to be non existent. The spread looks to be pretty even in both regions

[@Padarik]

Also I wanna add that people keep saying Justice beat a weaker Dallas (which is true) but it’s worth noting that Dallas had played the week before and it was Justices first match. Dallas had a week to look back on mistakes from week one and improve and Justice had rookies, first match nerves, etc. I think they deserve more credit and I know I might be biased

[@torment3055]

would people say that pine's situation is like ans, for example when he joined owl people thought he would only play widow on certain maps for shock.

[@jamiefrankland8623]

Except shock have crusty

[@nritsch]

@@jamiefrankland8623 In fairness, Rush looked better than Crusty this stage.

[@Enkeh]

My thoughts on pine are pretty simple: the guy has good aim so he has potential to be good; his season 1 play looks as messy as the rest of season 1 play, but I think he could really pop off if Dallas coaching is as good as it seems

[@oak3785]

lol SBB and Libero played over Pine because he literally wasn't in the country...how is that inconsistent? Platchat confusing season 1 stage 2 with the entirety of season 2

[@FDE4L]

Dallas winning Has to be one of the best things for the overall league just because the Fanbase is so big it’s like when a New York team wins in any other sport

[@MrShenanigans9]

1:36:00 I totally agree with this point. they got forced to adapt and they did it well. They had less options so they had to make it work- and that works! because the team committed to the idea that they dont have a hitscan and that railroaded them to success. im concerned about this pine pick up because it gives them a distraction, and i dont want that for them.

[@tersiashyuuga14]

Here's to hoping this comment gets seen! After watching Custa review the final and fielders quick champ swaps on gibraltar, is there a way IBM Watson can figure out who gets the most value on heroes played for short times? In sense, seeing who gets the most value out of the short hero swaps in overtime situations, even as far as who is the most clutch with those last moments? Does leejaegon ever actually get value out of that last min lucio switch? who's the deadliest last min doomfist/tracer/widow? Oh, and can it figure out who's got the most payload time? who's the one that gets left behind every single time?

[@arthurdunn4594]

Dridro replaces Mr "took a whole round to build ultimate" Neptuno

[@danielfrost6327]

Big boss pine is back LESSGO

[@agentminerchuan007]

Yeah I too thought that doha would be mvp for the last match

[@ScorchHellfire]

1:12:15 And that's one of the fundamental flaws of Overwatch's design. You are incentivized to counter-pick because of the ability to swap heroes at any time, but you are also punished for swapping if you have a lot of Ultimate charge built up, which is why, in my opinion, they should make it so a portion of your current Ult charge gets carried over when you swap heroes. Not sure how much that portion should be, but something significantly more than none.

[@9tailjeza]

imo there should be a price for trying to counterpick and losing ult charge is fair imo

[@austinfigueroa4851]

02:24:30 if you’re looking for the standard Seoul slander

[@chrisjensen8960]

Is it reasonable to compare Pine's position in the game such as EQO's Echo impact with the Shock when he popped off.

[@hy3na739]

gooo seoul!!!

[@oak3785]

Why is everyone forgetting GOATS happened and Pine literally never played a single game in season 2, which is when he retired. Libero played hitscan because Pine stopped playing due to mental health and left to korea. Why is everyone forgetting this and saying he was fading from the starting line up when he literally either wasn't in the country to play, or literally in GOATS meta and didn't play much like many other hitscan specialist? Are we gonna have the same conversation about Striker then in season 2? guess not

[@JakeBlitch]

Seoul always doing some Seoul Searching

[@brazzb761]

People need to remember that pine also stepped back from pro play during s1 for mental health

[@ilovewater2.026]

I love pine and I really hope he does good. I don't think anyone can say they hope that big boss pine doesn't come back.

[@squeegie]

I feel like only reason Pine wasn't used as much as SBB is because Tracer was so impactful during season 2 (Houston doesn't have a tracer player meme, started here). SBB's Widow is not as good as Pine, but Tracer was just game breaking because all other heroes got nerfed at the time. Then Season 3 started where armor got buffed and Tracer was no longer meta pick and Pine was already semi retired.

[@blaynegreiner9365]

I think that shows the difference between professional players and people who are just good in ranked. I have heard people make the argument that GM players can't be that far behind OWL players. I don't know why they can't fathom there being a huge gap between them.

[@demonedante1148]

Do they really think Yaki is like sparkle that he will let Lip do what he wants

[@WilleH1]

Johnny sounding extra Swedish :)

[@Toadsomniac]

Ngl I like all of these videos so kirt can get that little bit more money.

[@CrazeeAdam]

Let me say this, if Xzi was with Dallas against Shock or Houston in the playoffs...I don't even know if they would've got past either of those teams. Because Houston was hoping they'd play Shock actually, not Dallas. So they didn't have to prepare for some wild shit =/

[@michaelmartins4456]

I still think Blizzard needs to add a graffiti on Junkertown for Pine’s stage 1 final performance

[@Reydioactive]

i can trust fearless

[@FDE4L]

I’m pretty sure reinforce just thinking negative not positive for the betting.

[@wyattjackson6269]

is that truktruk in the background?

[@matthewbarron2888]

yeah kurt produces the pod

[@colhosking3686]

I supose my argument might be proven with maybe ( going out on a limb here) might have same teams in next tournament bar 1 or 2 max new teams cus they avoided pay to win teams

[@elisedwardsson]

Imagine looking at these Power Rankings in 2019. Dallas Fuel at 1, Shock aren’t even in top 5, NYXL are in the bottom half and Titans are the forth worst team.

[@9tailjeza]

lol, imagine telling someone in 2018. bottom 3 teams are london, nyxl and la valiant. top 3 teams are dallas fuel, florida mayhem and shanghai dragons

[@edwin3dgbtf]

I have less faith in Florida than Chengdu. Chengdu has a very moldeable and versatile roster, while Florida has had pretty much the same core, Slime hasn’t really been an upgrade neither has OGE, just sidegrades, and they’ve yet to really win something major. Last year they even flopped after May Melee, I think they peak too early again this season and look strong but stay 5/6th place

[@Ototox]

Joshua “Aggravated Nipples” Wilkinson

[@daxdleader719]

I'm happy for Pine, but if Pine gets to play, it makes me feel really bad for Shockwave.

[@scabby.knees99]

1:49:27

[@johnnymccauley5923]

I can't get over Sideshows swearing! It's such a contrast to hearing him during league games! He's definitely been banned in game chat a few times! lol

[@TheNerd]

Good bye!

[@taylorwallace7251]

Egghead over here playing pimple popper in the middle of the show. 1:32:23

[@ciragis7827]

Vancouver got pity maps

[@XBeamChannel]

2:30:57 LMAO

[@thatoneguy3411]

all the blue team at the bottom other than one

[@dassvidania1969]

Its easy. Pine will come as specialist, not as a startup dps.

[@judeau5320]

Think a lot of the issues Pine had during Season 1 can be remedied by Rush's coaching, especially considering how mediocre NYXL's coaching has been in the past for him.

[@asuramaru8180]

So Bren isn’t on anymore right? Or is he just on a hiatus for now?

[@Mrdeadneck]

I feel like doha has been more impactful than sparkle

[@ELCAPITRUCH0]

I think carpe has been as good as he is since season 1, so i dont by the argument from josh that pine has to have gotten way better to be able to compete. I think just to be back to as good as he was in his clips and maybe a bit more consistent. Am i wrong?

[@jadenrules100]

Not to sound like a dick but basically everyone that’s still good in the league since S1 has improved and that includes carpe. Carpe is carpe and looks phenomenal most of the time but it’s even noticeable for this season. I think carpe already looks better than he was last season

[@ungraa2149]

Defo wrong. Carpe has shown huge improvement. Carpe's style stands out and makes him carpe. But if a 2018 player was time travelled to 2021, they'd get dumpstered

[@ignorantslaves89]

You can not compare season 1 owl to this season 4 people are so much better and it's not even close .

[@4inchesfofury]

lol 20 minutes in josh is like...its like they are picking based on the situation and the map instead of picking for the meta....Overwatch developers are like...yeah that was the whole point!

[@joshuazhong2520]

G O T H S N A C C

[@MythicMoss]

I trust rush. He made sparkle one of the best tracers in the league so I think Pine to Dallas will work out

[@sauron3095]

I get what you’re saying. But I don’t think sparkle is one of the best tracers. I think the team just plays around him and has great synergy. His actual tracer is probably mid to high mid tier

[@gamekeeper687]

I wouldn’t quite go that far with sparkle, he just played like fleta, combining with fearless perfectly and keeping the other tracers in check which isn’t something to scoff at though.

[@jovanylopez6413]

Sp9rkle's tracer isnt one of the best, its good & very serviceable to the point where you trust to be able to hold his own and not get rolled but rush has improved his players abilities so sparkles tracer CAN become one of the best if he continues to play the role

[@bluepearl_22]

Sparkle's Tracer definitely ain't bad but his pulse bombs have been more miss than hit (that's a fact).

[@bartjobsis6094]

Sparkle has mid-tier tracking and high-tier positioning and synergy