As Overwatch League enters the mid-week of Stage 2, we will be witness to several storylines take form. The third week of Stage 2 has some interesting match-ups which will determine a team’s standings towards the Stage playoffs.
Stage 2 already has seen teams vastly different in their strengths and weaknesses. Seoul Dynasty has reclaimed their position at the top of the table, while Shanghai Dragons still remain without a win. The middle of the table, however, remains extremely fluid with a single map potentially altering the rankings. We take a look at certain teams and how they will impact the Team rankings in Week 3.
The Standings – As they are
The standings for Week 2 are already significantly different from Week 1. The Title stage matches only take into account the performance of teams during the current stage. All the teams started with a clean slate for Stage 2. We have Seoul Dynasty on top of the leaderboards with a 4-0 score. Seoul Dynasty is already looking much stronger than their performance in Stage 1. The change in the meta has played a huge role in their strong performances.
The remaining two slots at the top are still occupied by the Korean teams in London Spitfire and New York Excelsior. There is no doubt that the Korean teams are some of the strongest rosters in the first season. But the difference between the Korean teams and the Western teams is diminishing with time. Stage 1 saw some teams were unable to secure a place in the Title match playoffs due to a slightly lower map difference. The final days of Stage 1 were extremely close with several teams being in contention for a playoff berth.
Unfortunately for them, Florida Mayhem and Shanghai Dragons still remain at the bottom of the table. Shanghai has been unable to win a single match since the start of the League. Florida Mayhem are close with a single match victory over Shanghai Dragons. The two teams look extremely uncomfortable in their current roster. With additions announced to both the teams, we should expect a much better showing in Stage 3.
Seoul Dynasty – A chance to extend the lead
This is the chance for Seoul Dynasty to reclaim their position as the best team in the League. They had a disappointing performance in Stage 1. Their support performance was very poor despite having some biggest support player names on the team. The Seoul Dynasty roster has shown us exceptional synergy and team chemistry which has been the highlight of their playstyle. But the mercy meta was very punishing for them as a team. Their support ultimate usage was sub-par which often led to lopsided team fights. The new meta definitely favours them as they have been able to show a very strong performance in Stage 2. Still undefeated, they look every bit the dominating team that we saw in the early days of Stage 1.
Seoul Dynasty is matched against Shanghai Dragons and Philadelphia Fusion in the upcoming week. Their match against Shanghai remains a formality. Shanghai does not look anywhere near Seoul
Dynasty in terms of being able to compete. The new additions to Shanghai will take quite some time to join the team and we don’t expect a significant improvement till then. The match against Philadelphia Fusion, however, will be interesting. Philadelphia is a team perfectly capable of being the best in Overwatch League. With Shadowburn, Carpe and now Eqo on the roster, the DPS lineup is scary. However, the team has had problems with their consistency in performance. They can play spoilsport to Stage 2 rankings with their matches this week.
Securing the top spot at the end of the stage guarantees a spot in the Title Match finals. It is one less match to play for the team as they can then receive adequate rest and time. With the Stage 2 nearing its completion, every map matters. Seoul Dynasty will be looking forward to obtaining an 8-0 win in the third week of Stage 2.
Philadelphia Fusion – Can they spoil the Korean party?
The Philadelphia Fusion is a very unpredictable team. While their peak performance is capable of defeating the best teams in the league, they often have big dips in their form.
Philadelphia Fusion results in Stage 1:
- Win 3-2 vs Houston Outlaws
- Lose 0-4 vs London Spitfire
- Win 2-1 vs San Francisco Shock
- Lose 2-3 vs Los Angeles Gladiators
- Win 3-2 vs New York Excelsior
- Win 3-2 vs Shanghai Dragons
- Lose 0-4 vs Los Angeles Valiant
- Win 4-0 vs Dallas Fuel
- Lose 0-4 to Boston Uprising
- Win 3-2 vs Florida Mayhem
They are able to defeat some of the best teams in the League such as Houston Outlaws and New York Excelsior. But they also lose 0-4 on certain days to much weaker teams. Notably, their performance against the weakest teams in the league should be a scary thought for their fans. They barely won 3-2 against both Florida Mayhem as well as Shanghai Dragons. A team with Philadelphia Fusion’s roster should not be having such close matches against weaker teams and then be able to defeat the strongest teams on other days.
This week, Philadelphia Fusion will be against two strong teams in the League. They have a match against Seoul Dynasty and NYXL. It’s really difficult to predict how these matches will go. Philadelphia Fusion did win against NYXL in Stage 1 and had a very strong performance. But with their unpredictability being the only predictable thing about the team, Philadelphia has a lot of work to do.
The current points place several teams very close to the Stage Leaders, Seoul Dynasty. This week could see Philadelphia Fusion heavily impact the standings in the top of the table. A match loss for either Seoul Dynasty or NYXL would be devastating in the long run. Since every map matters, every team will be looking to secure a big advantage. Philadelphia still has a chance at securing a playoff berth as well as ruining other teams’ chances this week.
When will the Bostons Uprise?
Boston Uprising surprised everyone in Stage 1 with dominating performances and surprising results. They were the only team not to play Shanghai Dragons in Stage 1. With that being an almost guaranteed win, Boston still remained in contention for the Stage playoffs till the last day. Boston Uprising had a slow start to Stage 1, and they seem to have replicated a similar pattern in Stage 2. They have not been able to put up strong performances in Stage 2 so far, which is really surprising considering how well they were playing a few weeks ago. However, in their last match against Florida Mayhem, we saw a glimpse of the old dominant Uprising.
Boston is currently sitting near the bottom of the scoreboard barely above Shanghai and Florida. The
team has shown us glimpses of their synergy and they do have a good potential in Stage 2. Boston is able to back out at the right moment and waste the enemy support ultimate usage. This strategy of giving a bit of ground for stronger delayed team fight has proved to be beneficial for them in the past. However, without any credible results in Stage 2, they look a very weak team right now. Their Coach, Huks mentioned how the team has been unable to quickly adapt to the change in the meta.
Boston plays against Shanghai Dragons and London Spitfire in week 3. They should be able to easily win their match against Shanghai Dragons. Their performance against London Spitfire will be the true test for the team. Boston Uprising was one of the few teams that managed to defeat London in Stage 1. It is going to be difficult for Dreamkazper and Striker to repeat a similar performance.
Final thoughts
The upcoming week will set the stage for the final push. Most of the teams will be looking to rack up wins in week 3. If there is anything we learnt from the last few days of Stage 1 is that ‘Every Map matters’. Even in losses, teams would sometimes be happy with a 2-3 loss rather than a 1-3 loss. It would mean the difference between qualifying for stage matches or not.
Which teams do you think will have the strongest performance in Week 3? Will Seoul Dynasty manage to remain undefeated in Stage 2? Let us know in comments below.
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