Week 4 of the Overwatch Carbon Series was littered with inconsistencies in performance, with several teams continuing to cycle in and out players. Whether it's because a player was absent for miscellaneous reasons or squads trying to fix already existing issues with lineup changes, these teams don't seem like they're any closer to fixing their problems.
The most consistent of these teams despite the shaky week is Luminosity Gaming Evil, the undefeated leader of the OCS. It extended its winning streak from six straight Bo5 sets to eight by taking down both Renegades and its sister team LG Loyal. Against Renegades, LGE's Rasheeq "train" Rahman ran a defensive Sombra on Temple of Anubis to pick off low health targets from the RNG lineup. It won the series 3-2 but there were several mistakes from both teams, including Liam "Mangachu" Campbell's questionable defensive Bastion plays on King's Row, where he was punished immediately on the final push by unwisely switching to turret mode right in front of LGE.
LGE also fought a full set, winning 3-2 against sister team LG Loyal. Both teams had, in plain sight, thrown the game back and forth. There was even a moment where LG Loyal hopped off the second point of Temple of Anubis to chase someone on LGE instead of standing on the point to actually defend it.
Two teams had to play three games this week instead of two because of inclement weather that left some players without internet. Last week's IMT versus Renegades match was postponed to this week, where they were already scheduled to play again. This resulted in two back-to-back matches of IMT vs RNG, which were dramatically different from each other.
In their first clash, IMT lost 0-3 to the Detroit Renegades and these maps were drawn out and incredibly close. RNG won 6-5 on King's Row, fought to a draw on Temple of Anubis, and inched out a victory 3-2 on Oasis, before closing the set with a two-point victory on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, meaning it full held IMT to just one.
The immediate rematch between IMT and RNG was met with disappointment as this match also ended in a 3-0, but this time IMT led the charge in one of the most crushing, one-sided victories in the OCS so far. IMT has been looking to get back on top, but this victory sheds little light, as its matches as a whole expose its inconsistency, despite being the initial favorites going into the competition.
Simply put, this week is a cluster of awful low moment and some brilliant highs, like LGL's Mikael "Hidan" Da Silva being a fantastic Ana support for the team. Despite the lower level of quality of games this week from all teams, everyone can only hope that the next and final week of the group stages will bring better and more focused play from the teams involved as they finalize the seedings going into the playoffs.