As the stage moves forward, the NYXL have a rematch to look forward to along with another matchup that seems to be in their favor. New York’s week will be spent facing off yet again against the Philadelphia Fusion, who they won against in a 4-0 sweep on Thursday of Week 1, and then going up against the Atlanta Reign, who are currently seated 16th in the overall standings. The NYXL can certainly expect another few wins to come their way as they move into week three, continuing their undefeated streak.
New York was able to swiftly earn two victories over both the Washington Justice and the Florida Mayhem last week. In their match against the Justice, the NYXL took this opportunity to debut one of their most highly anticipated pickups, Yeono “Fl0w3r” Hwang, who made a splash in his first game on the Overwatch League stage, helping the Excelsior earn a clean 4-0 victory.
The Excelsior then took the stage against the Mayhem, who they also swept 4-0. In a dominant display of their mastery of the 3-3 GOATs composition, the NYXL had little problems with overtaking the Florida Mayhem. However, the Justice forced New York to think outside of the box and pull away from their go-to. Their matchup against the Justice showed that New York has what it takes to adapt on the fly, which is something that has definitely been their downfall in the past.
Courtesy of Ben Pursell for Blizzard Entertainment.
After having already beaten the Fusion, New York will probably be pretty confident entering this matchup. However, if the Fusion come back with enough of a fire, they might be able to turn the series around in their favor. The Fusion came pretty close to taking at least one map, losing only 3-2 on Eichenwalde. Jaehyeok “carpe” Lee’s switch over to Doomfist on the Fusion’s attack run was enough to throw the NYXL off their rhythm.
New York’s one weakness has been its ability to instantly adapt to changes in the moment. At the very least, Philadelphia will be able to put up a good fight against New York.
Prediction: New York wins 3-1.
Courtesy of Atlanta Reign
The Atlanta Regin have been having a rough second stage. After making the playoffs last stage, their performance in Stage 2 has been dodgy. The team is going into week three with only one win and three losses. Atlanta’s adaptability and synergy as a team have been their downfall time and time again, and for them to go up against a team like New York that is so good at exploiting clear weaknesses like these spells out disaster for the Reign.
Additionally, New York has played and won against teams that have given Atlanta more than a bit of a hard time in the past like the Boston Uprising. The Excelsior can definitely expect another clean victory from this matchup.
Prediction: New York wins 4-0
Player to Watch:
Yeono “Fl0w3r” Hwang made his debut on the Overwatch League stage last week, and hopefully fans can look forward to seeing more of him in the upcoming matches. His debut performance was strong and gave New York a much more diverse hero pool to show off than they’ve had thus far in Season 2, breaking out Baptiste, Genji and Pharah in his debut match. Fl0w3r, if nothing else, is wildly entertaining to watch.
Connect with Miranda on Twitter and Instagram @inlustris__ to talk Overwatch!
Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage.
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
