The Florida Mayhem failed to win a single map against the Atlanta Reign during the first series back in the Overwatch League (OWL) after the league moved to online play due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

This was the first time the Mayhem played in an online setting – a vastly different experience as opposed to on stage due to its delay in response time between the player’s actions and the game. 

During this week of the OWL, the heroes, Winston, Lucio, Soldier: 76 and Sombra, who are characters in the game were banned. The teams that had played prior to Florida playing, had begun utilizing the double shield composition, also known as Orisa Sigma and paired up with any two supports and any two DPS. 

Going into this series, the Mayhem were still trying to find their ideal starting roster.

For game one of Busan Control, Florida followed the double tank composition of Sigma and Orisa to start off the first round. They were dominated by Atlanta, and never had control of the point until the final seconds prior to the Reign finishing off the round. Florida lost 100-to-8 percent. 

In the second round, the Mayhem continued to get dominated by the Reign, but Florida managed to control the point in its final seconds and ran through with it until the end, winning the second round to tie game one 1-1. 

In the third and final round, Atlanta’s Tae-Hoom “Edison” Kim took over the game, to help his team dominate it and win game one.

To start game two of Route 66 Escort, the Mayhem were on defense and kept the Reign from getting the first point. But with 38 seconds left, Atlanta was able to capture the first point with 38 seconds left on the clock. After a huge blunder of improper ultimate usage by Florida trying to save Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim who was playing the Tracer, the Mayhem failed to get back on the second point, and allowed Atlanta to capture it. The Reign were ultimately able to push through and finish the map with 38 seconds left on the timebank. 

On the offensive side, like their counterparts, Florida was able to narrowly reach the first point. With key mistakes by Atlanta, the Mayhem were able to finish the map in overtime, forcing the game to a timebank.

To start the timebank, Florida was on offense but failed to reach the first point, having pushed the payload only 67 meters. For the Reign, they had more time compared to Florida. Led by the DPS duo of Andrej “Babybay” Francisty and Edison, Atlanta was able to reach the point, winning game two. 

To start game three of Eichenwalde Hybrid, Nam-jin “Gangnamjim” Gang came in to replace Seong-ju “Byrem” Lee. The Mayhem defended to start the map, but the Reign were too strong, having pushed through the whole map with 1:23 on their timebank. 

On Florida’s offensive push, they took all of the allotted time to capture the payload with a key ultimate denial by Beom-jun “Gargoyle” Lee onto Babybay’s Hanzo. But even with the clutch plays by the Mayhem, they were ultimately unable to reach the third and final point, having only gotten just past the second point – and lost the series 3-0. 

After Sunday’s loss, the Mayhem are currently 2-4 and 17th in the standings after their most recent loss. They’ll look to bounce back next series awaiting their next opponent after it’s appointed by the league – who are still working out the logistics of having to do the league online after finally initiating homestands for the first time this season.