Overwatch League commentator Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles was finally vindicated as New York Excelsior’s Hong ‘ArK’ Yeon-joon admitted that his team sandbagged some games in Season One.
New York Excelsior were the dominant force of the Season One regular season. Over the first three stages they lost only three regular season series, and won the Stage playoffs in both Stage 2 and Stage 3.
They were so dominant, in fact, that they had locked in their spot in the end of season playoffs before the fourth stage even started, and guaranteed the first seed after just two matches of Stage 4.
Towards the end of the fourth stage, however, New York started to show some signs of mortality. They lost three more series in that stage – as many as the rest of the season combined previously – and weren’t able to win the Stage Playoffs.
While some speculated the downfall of the Excelsior, others – most notably MonteCristo – suggested that the team had taken their foot off the accelerator having secured their place. Letting players rest after a long and arduous season, as well as not giving other teams a look at their strongest strategies ahead of the $1.5 million playoffs, were more valuable than winning a few largely meaningless matches.
Fans who insisted that NYXL simply weren’t as dominant any longer, however, claimed vindication when the team fell in the semi-finals of playoffs to Philadelphia Fusion, falling short of the ultimate trophy.
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Heading into Season Two of the league, MonteCristo spoke to NYXL Support player ArK on an episode of OverSight, the Overwatch League talk-show MonteCristo hosts with Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields. To MonteCristo’s evident delight, ArK admitted that the team had in fact “sandbagged” some of their games in the final stage of Season One.
MonteCristo was sure to share the revelation on Twitter in typical fashion, reminding followers “I have more information than you do, idiots.”
Listen to me next time I tell you something.
I have more information than you do, idiots.https://t.co/FqKFvkIHsc
— MonteCristo (@MonteCristo) February 11, 2019
Season Two of the Overwatch League will finally kick off on February 14. New York Excelsior will take part in the second match of the new season, facing off against Boston Uprising after Philadelphia Fusion and London Spitfire clash in a rematch of the Season One grand final.