With the ELEAGUE/FACEIT Overwatch Open Grand Finals premiering tonight on TBS at 10 pm EST, the North American champion Team EnVyUs seek to be the winners and claim a cool $100,000. However, there is more to this skilled team than meets the eye, as Team EnVyUs are largely considered one of, if not the best Overwatch eSports team currently on the circuit. Tonight’s roster is made up of team members: Harryhook, Taimou, InternetHulk, Chipshajen, Cocco, and Talespin.
Here’s what you need to know about them:
1. Their First Major Loss Was at the Atlantic Showdown Against Rogue
Team EnVyUs was largely considered unbeatable by many players within the eSports community thanks to their masterful knowledge of team compositions, positioning, and their nearly flawless use of ultimates. Up until the Atlantic Showdown at this year’s Gamescom, many people didn’t think it was possible for this group to lose any high-level matches.
This, of course, surprised everyone when they lost 3-2 against Team Rogue in a nailbiter of a Grand Finals. Not only did this showcase that yes, they can in fact lose, but was rather embarrassing as Team Rogue were greatly considered the underdogs int his match up. Both teams ran the standard team compositions of 2 Support, 2 Tank, and 2 Offense, but Rogue just outplayed EnVyUs in many of the big team fights. Now with the Overwatch Open Grand Finals, Team EnVyUs looks to show everyone that they are still the best team in the circuit, even after this huge loss.
2. Team EnVyUs Has Been Accused of Cheating by Members of the Community
Being on the top doesn’t come without controversy as many players have questioned the actual skill of EnVyUs, with team captain InternetHulk coming under the most fire. In a video produced by Overwatchly he showcases some questionable moments that could be seen as cheating thanks to an aim assist mod installed in the game. This allows him to snap to targets quickly, even if they are not in his current crosshairs which gives a player using this mod a massive advantage. Now Blizzard has remarked on this topic stating that the lag between tournaments and viewers, along with the conversion of frame rates could account for our perception of glitches or bugs.
@hastr0 I invite Blizzard to investigate our Overwatch team so the other pros can go on trying to get better themselves.
This also hasn’t deterred many fans from speaking up against these allegations, claiming that they are born from jealousy or just problems with the game itself. However, this isn’t the first time that a professional Overwatch team has come under fire for cheating accusations as Cloud9 has been on the end of many investigations. There has been no definitive proof that EnVyUs has cheated and the managing director Mike Rufail has even encouraged Blizzard to investigate his team if necessary.
3. They Have Been Running the Triple Tank Method in Competitive
This newest team composition has been dominating the latter half of the Overwatch eSports competitive scene and for good reason. Dubbed the “Triple Tank Composition” this sees players ditch the standard layout of 2 Supports, 2 Tanks, and 2 Offense for higher survivability. Currently they run 3 Tanks, 2 Support, and one class that is swapped between Offense and Defense classes. This allows them to stay on either the payload or point longer, using high DPS tanks to kill other characters.
Some of the most familiar picks includes Mercy, Zenyatta, Lucio, Roadhog, Zayra, Winston, and Ana. However, they have been known to switch it up to the classic layout if the enemy team is doing a good job at countering them. This shows just how flexible Team EnVyUs can be and what makes them so deadly in team fights.
4. They Have 8 Different Games and Teams on Their Official Roster
Team EnVyUs are not just an Overwatch focused group as they have 8 different games that they play, each with their own roster of players. Now this is rather common for most big eSports teams like Fnatic or Luminosity Gaming as it allows them to gain more notoriety among players and fans. The other seven games they play are Call of Duty, Starcraft, Smite, Gears of War, Halo, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Halo.
Team EnVyUs has won a plethora of CS:GO tournaments including the 2016 Gfinity CS:GO Invitational, the 2016 Global eSports Cup – Season 1, and the 2015 Dreamhack Open in London. They’ve also claimed the 2016 Call of Duty World League Championship title against Splyce in a 3-1 match.
5. Their Overwatch Team Was Disbanded at One Point
Back in April of this year, Team EnVyUs was off to an incredibly rocky start after some major losses to various teams in the Overwatch pro circuit. After losing to Cloud9 one of their members, Michael “Ras” Penna decided to step down from the group citing that “he couldn’t bring himself to play the game outside of scrims and practice other heroes…” EnVyUs member Tailspin explained that the team doesn’t blame Ras for this choice and things were looking grim for this group.
Yet, a few months later and a new roster emerged that proved to be a dominant force within the Overwatch eSports scene. In a rematch against Cloud9 during the Alienware Monthly Melee, EnVyUs utterly decimated C9, ending the match 3-0. Now with their current roster stronger than ever, they have only Team Misfits standing in their way from total Overwatch dominance.
