How Spitfire Used Mei to Win Five Fights in a Row on Horizon Lunar Colony

Day 2 of the Overwatch League Preseason featured an epic five-map slugfest between the LA Gladiators and the London Spitfire.
The Gladiators drew first blood with a hot Junkertown performance. So, going into Map 2, Horizon Lunar Colony, the London Spitfire cool them down with a frosty pocket pick - Mei. Point A goes the way of LA, but the Mei pick ends up being the key for London to shut them down on Point B...FIVE PUSHES IN A ROW. PUSH 1 BigGoose drops the beat and Hydration jumps on Hagopeun, forcing a defensive Trance https://henchmen-studio.com/online-gambling-entertainment/.
Meanwhile, LA’s still grouped near the top choke - a perfect spot for a Mei Blizzard! So, while the LA divers are busy, Rascal FLANKS them, drops his ult, and prevents the rest of LA from following-up. With BigGoose chasing Hagopeun, London don’t have to worry about a Lucio booping their team away from the fight. Rascal even blocks the escape with an Ice Wall, so all LA can do is watch as Rascal makes popsicles out of all of them. PUSH 2 LA make a switch - Lucio for Ana.
The goal: combo NanoBoost with Tac Visor or Dragonblade. It’s a risky pick into 3 London divers because Ana can’t peel as well as Lucio. Gladiators, again, push the topside, but Rascal Walls them off as they try to move in. There’s not much LA can do until it melts, so they’re stuck waiting while London set up a flank. Once the wall melts, LA push in...just as London’s flankers hit their backline. The chaos leaves LA scattered. Trying to salvage the fight, Hydration draws his Dragonblade, but Rascal stops him with a PERFECTLY-TIMED ice wall right before he can jump the London squishies. LIKE, SERIOUSLY. REWIND THAT. LOOK HOW PERFECT THAT TIMING WAS. Forced to reposition without his dash, Hydration gets cleaned up by Fissure, and London mops up the rest of the LA team. Spitfire also traded two LA ults for just one of theirs - holding onto their Blizzard for the next push. PUSH 3 Another LA swap. This time - Genji for Hog. Again, a topside push.
On approach, Rascal drops an Ice Wall that splits the Gladiators, resulting in Bischu’s ult and early death - a crucial kill that will cost LA later in the fight. Rascal tries to follow-up with a Blizzard, but the Gladiators back up just in time. Afterwards, LA kill Hagopeun and Birdring back-to-back for the 5v4. With the advantage, they engage with the NanoVisor, but get jumped by Fury and Fissure. Fissure gets nailed by a sleep dart, but not before he can drop his bubble. This bought NUS enough space to fly in to double-res his teammates, immediately swinging the advantage back to London. The bubble also forced Surefour to reposition with his TacVisor, giving Fury a window to shove him away before he can finish the monkey. This scatter spells disaster for the Gladiators, and they’re, again, cleaned up by London. If Rascal hadn’t killed Bischu at the top of the fight, Bischu would’ve been able to zone London’s divers with his Defense Matrix and Boosters, or even use his ult to counter-engage. But, due to the early pick and the Gladiators’ call to run a comp without a Mercy, the fight’s over as soon as Spitfire double res’d and scattered the Gladiators. PUSH FOUR This fight actually starts off a bit scary for London. Rascal’s holding the top cut when he gets sniped by a Sleep Dart AND a Roadhog hook.
But even with the CC-chain, Rascal still survives with CryoFreeze. As the Gladiators move in, Birdring goes for yet another flank. Once Rascal wakes up, he throws up an Ice Wall to split the LA team in two, and gets away. LA are stuck. Without their backline, the frontline can’t fully commit. And without the frontline, Birdring has a much clearer shot at the squishy backline. Birdring opens fire as the Ice Wall collapses, and the following teamfight is a chaotic one. Birdring gets stopped by Hydration, but Fury finds the kill on LA’s only DPS - Surefour. The fight probably would’ve ended right there, but LA spot Hagopeun overextending, so they jump back in to pinch him and draw his ult. Following London’s Trance, LA engage with their own plus a Whole Hog. But...remember Mei? Still alive! With the LA players in the lower choke, it’s another perfect spot for Rascal to drop his Blizzard and shut the fight down. He gets nailed by a sleep dart, but it doesn’t matter. As he lays there snoozing, he gets to watch his teammates smash the frozen Gladiators to pieces for the fourth teamfight in a row.
Now time’s running low and the Gladiators’ ult economy’s in bad shape. Especially since Bischu just randomly chucked his ult at the end. With the round almost over, they make some last-second changes for their FINAL PUSH. With a Reaper and Lucio now in the mix, Gladiators hit the point HARD. After dodging Fury’s Self-Destruct up top, LA jump straight on-point for the fight and manage to kill four London players. In response, NUS Valks and resurrects both Hagopeun and Fissure, but Hagopeun dies as soon as he comes back up, with NUS dying shortly after. Fissure survives with his Primal Rage, and hops AWAY from the point knowing LA can’t chase him. THIS... is KEY. At this point, London only have three players alive, but they stall PERFECTLY to buy just enough time for the respawns. Still Primal, Fissure circles around and jumps back onto the point, with Fury and Birdring darting in-and-out of the fight just to keep the point contested. This stall buys Rascal JUST ENOUGH TIME to run out and throw out his Blizzard before Cryo-Freezing on point. Hydration kills Rascal as he unfreezes, but it’s too late. Even though the Gladiators dropped the beat right before the Blizzard, it wasn’t enough. BigGoose and Hydration are frozen and killed, swinging the advantage back to London.
Thanks to the Blizzard, Hagopeun, now back from spawn, was able to finish earning HIS ult. He Trances straight into the fight to keep his team alive, and Birdring finds the kill on Shaz - LA’s only-remaining support. WIth both LA supports down and London spawning just meters away, the Gladiators get shut down for the fifth time in a row and fail to capture all of Point B. Make no mistake - these defensive holds were the result of excellent teamwork by all players on the London Spitfire.
But, it still begs the question - Was Rascal’s Mei THE factor that ultimately earned London the map win? Just MEI-BE.