2019 Paris Eternal season

Eternal's first Overwatch League match was against the 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals champions London Spitfire on 16 February. The Eternal took the first map, Ilios, in convincing fashion, but the Spitfire took map two to tie up the match 1–1 going into halftime. Strong performances by the Eternal's Terence "SoOn" Tarlier and Harrison "Kruise" Pond led Paris to victories in the final two maps, as Paris won the match 3–1.

Paris had only one match in week two in the Los Angeles Gladiators on 23 February. The Eternal lost the first map, Nepal but struck back with a win on the next map, Numbani. Coming out of halftime, two team tied on Temple of Anubis to enter the final map, Dorado with the series tied 1–1. Standout performances by off-tank Finnbjörn "Finnsi" Jónasson and support Harrison "Kruise" Pond pushed Paris to a victory on Dorado to claim a 2–1 win over the Gladaitors.[5][6] In their only match of week three, Paris faced the Atlanta Reign on 2 March. While the match was expected to be close, Paris was swept 0–4, highlighted by an over-the-roof Gravitation Surge by Atlanta's DPS Daniel "Dafran" Francesca on Zarya that caught five of the Eternal's players and wiped the team on the second map, Hollywood.[7]

Paris' next match was against the undefeated Vancouver Titans on 8 March. The match saw the debut of Georgii "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha, but the substitution did little to slow down the Titans, as Paris was swept 0–4 for the second match in a row.[8] Two days later, the team took on the San Francisco Shock. The Eternal dropped the first three maps to fall 0–3 going into the last map, Dorado, where they were able to full-hold the Shock to take the map. The 1–3 loss put the Eternal at major risk of not qualifying for the Stage 1 Playoffs.[8]

The Eternal's first match of the final week of Stage 1 was against the Washington Justice on 16 March. Paris began the match strong by taking Busan but was only able to tie on King's Row to enter halftime tied 1–1. Washington struck back after halftime, winning Volskaya Industries, but the Eternal managed to complete Dorado, while preventing the Justice from doing the same, to win the match 2–1.[9] Eliminated from Stage 1 playoff contention due to their poor map differential, Paris looked to play spoiler to the Philadelphia Fusion a day later. The Eternal split the first two maps, Busan and King's Row, to enter halftime tied. However, Philadelphia dominated in the final two maps, not allowing Paris to claim a single point in either, as the Eternal lost the match 1–3 to end Stage 1 with a 3–4 record.[10]

Two days before Stage 2, head coach Julien "daemoN" Ducros stepped down from his position. He was replaced the next day, as the Eternal promoted player development coach Félix "Féfé" Münch to head coach.[11]

Paris began Stage 2 with a match against the Guangzhou Charge on 4 April. Paris came out strong, full-holding the Charge on the first two maps. After halftime, the Charge were able to find some success on both Eichenwalde and Junkertown, but a dominant performance by main tank Roni "LhCloudy" Tiihonen was able to hold Guangzhou from taking either, as Paris claimed their first 4–0 sweep of the season.[12] Two days later, the team faced the Chengdu Hunters. While the Eternal were able to keep each map close, the off-meta play from Chengdu proved to be too much for them to handle, as Paris was swept 0–4 in the match.[13]

In their first match of week two, the Eternal took on the Florida Mayhem. Paris took control of the match first half, going 2–0 into halftime. While Florida was able to put up a stronger showing in the second half, the teams split the final two maps, as the Eternal won 3–1.[14] Three days later, on 14 April, Paris faced the Dallas Fuel. After a convincing loss on Busan, Paris was only able to tie on map two, Paris, to enter halftime down 0–1. On Blizzard World, both teams were able to complete the map, but Paris was full-held on overtime rounds, while Dallas took a point on their attack. Having already lost the match, a win on Rialto only helped the team's map differential, as Paris lost the series 1–2.[15]

After a week off, Paris traveled to the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas for the Dallas Fuel Homestand Weekend in week four. The team first took on the London Spitfire in a rematch of their season opener on 20 April. The match was delayed by an hour-long power outage. Despite throwing out a variety of team compositions, Paris was unable to get anything going in the match, as they were swept by the Spitfire 0–4.[16] The next day, the Eternal faced the Hangzhou Spark. The team put up a much stronger performance than their previous match, as the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map. Unfortunately, the team was unable to close out the match, losing 2–3.[17]

The Eternal's final match of Stage 2 was against the Toronto Defiant on 5 May. Paris was able to take the first point of map one, Lijiang Tower, but, subsequently, dropped the second and third to fall behind in the match 0–1. On Temple of Anubis, the second map, Paris was unable to stop the Defiant on their attack; on the Eternal's own attack, the team capped the first point with over five minutes remaining but could not find ground on the second, as the team fell 0–2 going into halftime. King's Row did not go the way of Paris, as the team dropped map three to solidify the loss; a close loss on map four, Watchpoint: Gibraltar, gave Paris a 0–4 loss and a disappointing 2–5 Stage 2 record.[18]

For their first match of Stage 3, Paris faced the Toronto Defiant on 7 June. After falling on Ilios, Paris full-held Toronto on map two, Paris, to enter halftime tied 1–1. Solid holds on Hollywood and Havana pushed the Eternal to a 3–1 victory.[19] Two days later, the team took on the Boston Uprising. Paris stumbled out of the gates, dropping Ilios. On the map Paris, the map went to three rounds, with the Eternal eventually taking the win to tie up the series. The team would secure victories on the final two maps to win the match 3–1.[20]

The team's first match of week two was against the New York Excelsior on 14 June. Paris started off string at the very beginning of the first map, Nepal, but New York quickly turned it round, taking that and the next two maps to put Paris down 0–3. While the Eternal took the final map, Dorado, they lost the match 3–1.[21] Paris faced the Florida Mayhem two days later. After going up 2–0 heading into halftime, the Eternal dropped the third map, Numbani, but recovered on the forth map, Havana, to win the match 3–1.[22]

For their first match of week three, Paris took on the Houston Outlaws. After going down 0–2 in the first half of the match, Paris ran over Houston in map three. However, the team could not carry that momentum into map four, as they lost the match by a 1–3 scoreline.[23] Three days later, the Eternal faced the Boston Uprising. Paris took the first two maps of the match, but Boston found their stride after halftime, taking the next two to push the match to a fifth tiebreaker map. Unable to prevent a reverse sweep, Paris ultimately fell 2–3 in the match.[24]

Looking to end Stage 3 on a high note, the Eternal faced the Seoul Dynasty on 27 June. After a close loss on Nepal, both Paris and Seoul completed Horizon Lunar Colony to push the map to overtime rounds, but only the Dynasty were able to complete it a second time, putting the Eternal down 0–2 heading into halftime. On Eichenwalde, both team also completed the map to push the map into overtime rounds, but Paris was full-held in their second attack, while Seoul managed a tick. The final map, Watchpoint: Gibraltar, also went to overtime rounds; this time, Paris would take the map win, but the team lost the match 1–3.[25]

The Eternal's first match of Stage 4, along with the first match with an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, was against the Houston Outlaws on 25 July. Although Houston took the first map Busan convincingly, Paris turned it around in the following three, winning the match 3–1.[26] Their next match was two days later against the Los Angeles Valiant. Despite dropping the first two maps, the Eternal took maps three and four to push the match to a fifth tiebreaker map on Busan. The two-hour match concluded with a Paris loss on Busan to lose the series 2–3.[27]

The following week, Paris first took on the New York Excelsior on 2 August. The Eternal fell in the first three maps to guarantee a loss but were able to win map four lose the series 1–3. The next day, Paris faced the Atlanta Reign. Throughout the match, Atlanta DPS Jun "Erster" Jeong put on a strong performance; with no answer from Paris, the Eternal were swept 0–4.[28]

Needing wins to keep their slim chances at qualifying for the Play-In Tournament, the Eternal faced the Philadelphia Fusion on 8 August. Paris quickly dropped the first two maps to go down 0–2 heading into halftime, but the team was able to strike right back, taking the following two maps to tie the series 2–2 and force the match to a fifth tiebreaker map. The Eternal were able to take the fifth map to win the series 2–3 and keep their playoff hopes alive.[29]

The Eternal's final two matches were in week four. First, the team took on the Stage 3 Champions Shanghai Dragons on 17 August. The team was able to secure a 3–1 victory over the Dragons, but a win by the Los Angeles Valiant later that day officially eliminated the Eternal from qualifying for the Play-In Tournament.[30] The team closed out their season with a match against the Washington Justice a day later. In a match that had no playoff implications for either team, Paris lost 1–3 to end their season with a disappointing 11–17 record.[31]