How the Chengdu Hunters and Florida Mayhem dropped out of the May Melee

The Chengdu Hunters and Florida Mayhem were eliminated from the May Melee, losing two games in the tournament in tough fashion. As both teams were the top seed out of their regions, their losses were all the more disappointing. It was clear that these two teams weren’t as prepared as the Shanghai Dragons and Dallas Fuel.

Chengdu Hunters lose two straight, fall quickly in May Melee

It’s fair to say that the Chengdu Hunters’ lack of playoff experience showed in their time within the May Melee. In their first game against the Dallas Fuel, they consistently ran Wrecking Ball into Sombra. This meant their main tank Qiu “GA9A” Jiaxin wasn’t getting value when rolling around, instead he was hacked and focused. They eventually realized their mistake and started playing more Winston-focused compositions. Not only that, but they subbed in Lei “Jimmy” Yujia as the hitscan for those maps. But, the same Fuel that rolled other hitscan focused-teams in qualifiers beat the Hunters, in a deceptively close 3-1 series. However, if the Hunters started playing Winston compositions earlier, the series may have been closer.

If you're wondering what just happened… so is Yaki.

Ga9a with the steamroller! 🚂💨#LetsGoHunt #OWL2021

🐹 https://t.co/tbTGBrUfiE pic.twitter.com/mu00lJilB0

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 8, 2021

For their second and final match, they faced the Florida Mayhem, who also lost their first tournament game to the Dragons. Now, the Mayhem also showed flaws in their close loss. This series proved to be close on every map. It all started with the duo of Lee “BQB” Sang-bum and Kim “Yaki” Jun-ki clutching when it mattered. They needed a spark for map three, so they brought in substitute main tank Ding “Ameng” Menghan. After a rough start, Ameng back capped the second point and led the Hunters to a map win. But, for the fourth and last map of Havana, GA9A was brought in and Chengdu had the chance to win the map with a good defense. The Mayhem held them, countering their Soldier 76. That was the final decision the Hunters made in the May Melee, eliminated by the Mayhem.

Florida Mayhem fight teams close but run out of steam

The Mayhem’s modified roster from last year has proven to still be one of the best in the league. The team was nigh unstoppable if their coordination was at their best. However, when they were disorganized, they relied on the skills of Yaki, BQB and Kang “Gangnamjin” Nam-jin to carry them to victory. Their first game against the Shanghai Dragons was a disorganized showing from both teams. Both teams had easy opportunities to win early, but made big mistakes, leading to a six-map series. However, the Shanghai team proved to be better in the chaos and won the final map to win the series.

The Dragons are moving on!

The @ShanghaiDragons break their map 6 trend and sweep the @FLMayhem, and will have a rematch with the @DallasFuel in the May Melee finals. #ShanghaiDragons | #OWL2021 pic.twitter.com/Y2E69krCuF

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 8, 2021

That wasn’t the end for the Mayhem, as they beat the Chengdu Hunters in the losers bracket. The Mayhem looked more organized during the Dragons game but knew they were going to face the Shanghai team again. Shanghai had lost to the Fuel, meaning whichever team won this game would face the Dragons. Florida was adamant on their rematch. This time around, the Dragons cleaned up their coordination and swept the Mayhem, 3-0. The entire Dragons team performed better in this game, but the Mayhem also showed fatigue from their previous games. The Florida Mayhem and Chengdu Hunters were then eliminated from the May Melee.

The final two teams, the Shanghai Dragons and Dallas Fuel will play each other to win the May Melee tournament.