Why Philly Loves the Fusion?

“How do you retake a point like that Philadelphia, you don’t play by the rules.” It was in this moment, as Carpe clutched out the map against Boston against all odds that I realized there was something distinctly Philly about the Fusion. They had only been around a few months, yet somehow were representatives of Philadelphia, just like any of the major sports teams who play in the area. They captured the spirit of Philly, even if they are not here. So, what makes the Philadelphia Fusion so, Philly?

Lets start with just the team itself and how they play before we get into the marketing in Philly. Philadelphia is built on a core base of players from South Korea to Finland. It is not an “American” team like the Houston Outlaws, but rather a team of players from across the globe, a team that anyone can get behind. Their team contains both enjoyable personalities and a vast amount of potential to make flashy individual plays.  This team also is not known for their controlled dominate play like NYXL or the Spitfire, but rather thrives off big individual plays and in scrappy fights. They are a team that can pop off against any team in the league, but can also lose to any team in the league if none of their players have a standout game. They also go to game 5 way more than they should for the skill ceiling they have, ensuring that their fans get a show that keeps them on the edge of their seats til the last point. This is a team that does not play perfectly, they play perfectly for their fans.

The fact that the team is so entertaining to watch makes they easy to route for. When clips of Neptune destroying NYXL on Mercy, Carpe hitting insane trickshots, or Poko dropping the best of D.va bombs are coming out of the team, it is easy to love them and get hype about them. They also get to profit off of the underdog paradox however, where they are never favored when it comes to games against the top teams like London or NYXL. This team is a great foundation to begin the franchise because they are fun to route for, meaning that if the Fusion could make the right moves in the first season of the OWL, the fanbase would come.

A great community needs more than a good team though to develop, and that is where Fusion has performed excellently. From the very start of the of OWL, the Fusion were making strides in order to ensure that the city of Philadelphia was with them by hosting watch parties at Wahoo’s bar in University City. These were a fun gathering of Fusion fans with all of the same hype and energy as any normal Philly sporting event. It was a sight to be with so many like minded fans who were just as hype about the OWL. It allowed all of us to have our feelings about the league validated and hype increased. These watch parties were really important in both building up excitement for the team, and allowing the community to meet and begin to know each other.

Then came the Hometown Hero Showcase that they hosted in February where they invited local players to try out for their academy team. The reception of this event was very good from the players and people very much enjoyed the feeling of playing in a competitive environment, even if a majority of the players knew they would never see a competitive team. This giving a taste of what it is like to play on the Fusion was enough to get a lot of players in love with the team, and restricting entrance to just Philadelphia allowed for it to feel like they genuinely cared about Philly and the community it was growing here.

This was followed closely by the Homecoming event at Xfinity live. This event was great as we got to not only see the players in person, but talk to them, play games against them, and overall just get to know them a little better. I personally got to have a 5 minute conversation with Fragi about playing main tank, and what professionals see as the gap between Console and PC play. This overall made me like and respect Fragi a lot more because he was just like any of us, someone who loves the game, and loves to play. We also got to see Poko get demolished in Tekken 7 for a solid 20 minutes which was equally appealing. This was the moment in which the team went from the Fusion to the Philly Fusion. This was the moment in which the fans really gained a connection to the team, and from there, it was off to the races.

We would continue to fall in love with the team, and people like Chef Heidi who are fan favorites. We saw Sideshow stay in the Fusion treehouse for multiple days in an endeavor that captivated followers on Twitter. Then this team did the most Pgilly thing possible. They made a run to the finals after being counted out by most of the casters and analysts. They were supposed to lost to NYXL, they weren’t supposed to play in NY, it was supposed to be the two great Korean teams. Yet here we are, the Fusion entering season 2 after a Grand Finals run in season one.

I could have gone into more about #pdjominate or undefeated in 2017, but in the interest of being current, I want to wrap this up soon. Philly did just what they needed to in Season 1 in order to build their fanbase in the city. The team they built and the media they used all fit perfectly in their attempt to attract an audience they could barely see in person, and they continued to impress going into season 2. We saw their largest watch party yet take place at Xfinity live,, as well as Gritty joining the team for the walkout, the new icon for the city. I am excited to see what else the Fusion have to bring in Season 2, and just remember, #IonthePrize