Within the Philadelphia Fusion’s near dark horse victory during the Overwatch League’s second stage playoffs lies a story that anyone can identify with: the classic underdog story. In any great moment of competition, there is usually a handful plays or events that define a match, or in this case, a story.

The Philadelphia Fusion’s aggressive defense on Hollywood Point A during Game 4 in the grand final acts as an incredible preamble to their red-hot style: Their use of a relatively green player like Simon "snillo" Ekstrom in such a high-pressure environment and his success. Jae-hyeok "Carpe" Lee’s almost hubristic Widowmaker angles flanking past the front line on Route 66 in the grand finals. Each of these act as signposts that direct the viewer and lead them on a chaotic roller coaster ride that is the Philadelphia Fusion and their full court press style of Overwatch. In all sense of the idiom, the Fusion dictate the pace of their games and force the enemy to play at their tempo.

And god forbid anyone play off their time, because main tank, and conductor of this ensemble, Joona "Fragi" Laine will not hesitate to take your head clean off.

Riding under the guise of their shortcomings, the Fusion were cloaked not in secrecy, but ill preparation. After the Seoul Dynasty’s poor showing, many analysts and pundits gave the nod to the Los Angeles Gladiators as the last seed into the playoffs, but after their loss to the Boston Uprising, it would be Fusion to secure the last spot in the playoffs. First, they would have to deal with one of the most stacked teams in Overwatch - the London Spitfire.

As a conglomeration between one of the most tenured teams in South Korean Overwatch, KongDoo Panthera, and the first, and last, royal roader in OGN APEX history, GC Busan, London quickly were front-runners in terms of the first season and their subsequent stages. That notion would be proven true as they completed a reverse sweep of the New York Excelsior in the Stage 1 finals. This same team would be the Philadelphia Fusion’s first obstacle.

London had their moments, but the Philadelphia Fusion’s pressure met them head-on. Notably, the Philadelphia Fusion support players Isaac "Boombox" Charles and Alberto "neptuNo" Gonzalez had a large impact on the way that the Fusion played. The back line for the Fusion seemed impervious to the Spitfire’s dive attempts. Normally London’s world-class DPS duo of Ji-hyeok "birdring" Kim and Joon-yeong "Profit" Park would tear the Fusion to shreds, but an uncharacteristic underperformance seemed to loom over them the entire series. Unable to seal the deal after King’s Row, the London Spitfire, the reigning Stage 1 playoff champions, fell at the hands of the Philadelphia Fusion in a stunning upset.

At the climax of the Stage 2 grand final, the Philadelphia Fusion found themselves face to face with the New York Excelsior. With one upset under their belt, the Fusion had a squall fueling their sails. Not only was all of the momentum completely in their favor, but they came as an unexpected challenger.

Both NYXL support player Yeon-joon "ArK" Hong and coach Hyeong-seok "WizardHyeong" Kim explained in different mediums that New York had not prepared at all for the Philadelphia Fusion. Majority of their preparation had been spent on studying the Seoul Dynasty and the London Spitfires. When asked about this during episode 23 of Oversight, WizardHyeong quickly chimes in and touches on their ill preparation for the Fusion.

“Not even Seoul, not even Seoul. Just [purely] London. We were waiting for the revenge and then Philadelphia made that happen! We were super confused like ‘What’s going on?’” and “We didn’t prepare at all for Philadelphia and for like Route 66 and Lijiang Tower, we were pretty much using the strategy we made for London, to counter London’s strategy.” He then goes on to gift the Fusion the moniker of “the Treasure Box team.” Citing that they had no idea where Snillo or Eqo came from and how they, as a team, are interested in seeing how Sado performs after his suspension is lifted.

To set the stage, Route 66 would play as the first theatre of the Philadelphia Fusion’s aggression against the fluid and adaptable New York Excelsior. The Fusion riding the high of defeating the London Spitfire continued to play up to their opponents level. Matching challenges and taking bold and aggressive angles. They were able to break open New York’s turtle-like composition feature Orisa, Junkrat, and Widowmaker with two quick picks from Carpe’s own Widowmaker. Opting for mobility, the Fusion created pressure on the right to create space for Carpe to move on the left allowing him to take a very forward angle past Orisa’s shield. Which allowed for their attack to gain some early momentum and ultimate advantage which helped to snowball into the second point.

Next was Control, which is your most fundamental Overwatch. Its nature is straightforward; capture and control the point. And that is exactly what Philadelphia Fusion did off the backs of Carpe and Josue "Eqo" Corona. Their specific targeting onto NYXL’s flex tank, Tae-hong "MekO" Kim and their punishing playstyle gave the Philadelphia Fusion the keys to the series leading into the half. If they could make it out of the break with any ounce of energy left in the tank, they had a solid chance of taking the Stage 2 playoffs.

Sadly, halftime was where fatigue set in and the Philadelphia Fusion came out sluggish. The half also allowed the NYXL coaching staff to regroup with the team and funnel them key analysis to start to slow down the beast that was the Fusion. There was already one upset that day, NYXL could not afford to let another one slip through the cracks. Volskaya Industries was the map they would return to after their break and it was completely one-sided. The NYXL shut the Philadelphia Fusion out. Their ironclad defense and new game plan looked terrifying. From then on out, NYXL claimed the momentum and would slowly and patiently take series and complete the reverse sweep, 3-2 over the Philadelphia Fusion.

Philadelphia Fusion’s journey started on the backfoot, missing the pre-season, but since then, they’re proven their skill time after time. Their talent scouting has been some of the best we’ve seen in the Overwatch League. Recruiting fringe players and quickly gifting them a platform to let their personality be expressed through games.

The Philadelphia Fusion’s frenzied aggression nearly won them the Stage 2 playoffs. Their heads should be held high as they fight off sardonic memories of what could have been. Their blood red style has been put on notice, their positioning has been well known, and their growth recorded. The Philadelphia Fusion continues their berserker like rush during the Overwatch League’s third stage.

They live and die by the charge, and I highly doubt anyone will underestimate the Fusion, and their style, ever again.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLGs of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment and @tempusrob