This is the second installment in a three-part series by The Dallas Morning News. The report card for the Dallas Fuel tanks was published on Wednesday, with the DPS report arriving on Friday.
Dallas' support line was unorthodox. At the start of the season it was William “Crimzo” Hernandez and Jung “Closer” Wonsik in the two slots, but those two had varying playstyles. The Fuel also needed an in-game leader, which led to additional adjustments on the support line.
Similar to the tank line, every position for the Fuel was hindered due to the team’s inconsistent coordination in matches, especially against strong opponents.
While it may be easy for spectators to see a support player eliminated and assume it was their fault, there are a lot of factors that are harder to spot.
The tank report discussed the Fuel’s matchup against the Paris Eternal in the Summer Showdown on July 3. Crimzo was caught out a few paces behind his team, getting eliminated and putting the Fuel in a tough spot during crunch time.
While Crimzo, who was named to OWL’s North America All-Star Team, could have scooted forward a bit to be with the rest of his team, that was actually an example of him not playing in his normal playstyle.
The Fuel brought Hernandez up from Envy Gaming’s Contenders team because of his success as an aggressive support player. Crimzo displayed that skill in OWL by averaging 221.1 eliminations, 6,109 damage and 16,087 healing Moira. His damage per 10 minutes on Ana was good enough for fifth in the Overwatch League among qualifying players.
So why did the Fuel’s support line not click at the start of the season?
Closer was strong with his healing on Lucio. His 7,230 healing per 10 was second in the league, but his eliminations and damage were low in comparison to his peers.
That suggests those two may not have been in sync. Crimzo’s hero picks were obviously more offensive and that should be noted, but Nolan “Paintbrush” Edwards fit the mold better alongside Crimzo.
Dallas signed Edwards on June 7, needed a strong voice on a team that had deteriorating camaraderie. Edwards was immediately slotted as a primary shot-caller next to main tank player Noh “Gamsu” Youngjin.
His stats more mirrored the aggressive playstyle of Hernandez. Paintbrush logged 14.2 eliminations per 10 minutes on Lucio, ranking him ninth in the league among players that had at least 100 minutes on the hero. The problem was Paintbrush was last in healing per 10 minutes among qualifying players.
Getting away from statistics, Paintbrush was tasked with a difficult job joining a team in the middle of the season and being put into a leadership role. He had to develop chemistry with his new teammates all the while performing consistently at a high level.
Paintbrush only appeared in one match with the Los Angeles Gladiators in 2020 during his rookie campaign before venturing to Dallas.
Edwards and Hernandez spent a lot of time with each other, including playful interviews with the Overwatch League desk. Those two could have potential if slotted together over a long period of time, but were unable to propel the Fuel in the two and a half months of synergy they built together.
whats uh.. going on pic.twitter.com/hWDDcaAhqD
— lina (@tthotobot) September 3, 2020
Dallas' aggressive playstyle with support players would have been more effective if the entire Fuel team played as initiators more often, but the team notoriously struggled to be consistent in how it engaged in fights.
Miscommunications would leave Crimzo dead before the fight started, or have Gamsu taking space without the backing of his support line. These reports will look similar to the tank line’s, with emphasis on their roles and how that was executed.
Player grades
William “Crimzo” Hernandez: Performance B-, Overall, B
Explanation: Crimzo made highlight plays consistently for the Fuel. He was also talkative in team communications making him a valuable asset to the Fuel. He had glimpses of being the best support player in the Fuel’s matches, but didn’t consistently outplay his counterpart.
Nolan “Paintbrush” Edwards: Performance C+, Overall B-
Explanation: Like mentioned above, Edwards was asked to be team leader on a hurting squad in the most important time of the year. His play was slow to start, but he became more valuable as his repetition progressed.
Jung “Closer” Wonsik: Performance C-, Overall C
Explanation: Wonsik is a talented player, but he didn’t fit the Fuel’s mold and game planning, leaving him with no play time in the back half of the season.
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