What an exciting time to be a fantasy OWL player as hero pools finally makes its way into the Overwatch League. The league will no longer be stale with one meta taking over each and every game, and teams will have to think outside the box to come out on top. For fantasy, this means starting the right player is crucial to success, especially since several teams have DPS players fighting to get stage time.
Standard Leagues
The hero bans will certainly change how fantasy lineups are built this weekend. For supports and tanks, don’t overthink it and start the studs that have brought success. The DPS however, may be a little tougher to gauge.
Start ’em
Damien “HyP” Souville, Paris Eternal
The positional battle appears to have settled on the Paris Eternal, and HyP has emerged victorious. The hero bans have left HyP’s hero pool relatively unscathed, as the majority of his playtime has been on Ana. Paris have shown to be a fantasy goldmine early this season, to the absolute shock of everyone. As the team continues to perform above expectations, each player on Paris will have sustained fantasy value. HyP has the added bonus of playing one of the most fantasy-relevant positions in the league, and looks to continue his trend of stellar fantasy outings.
Elliot “ELLIVOTE” Vaneryd, Washington Justice
ELLIVOTE has consistently been a top 5 off-tank, and really should be a must-start going forward. The prominence of D.Va in the first four weeks made ELLIVOTE one of the best values coming out of the draft. With D.Va avoiding the hero bans, ELLIVOTE is in line for another strong fantasy performance. The Justice get to face Boston this weekend, a team who has gone to 7 maps against the only non-top 5 team they have faced. More maps are better for fantasy, and that match-up should bring plenty of fantasy points.
Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse, Boston Uprising
Thanks to the McCree and Widow ban, Colourhex now has the opportunity to bring out one of his best characters in Pharah. His skill on Pharah was on full display last year once Boston realized they couldn’t quite compete in the GOATs mirror match. Paired with notorious mercy-main Gabriel “Swimmer” Levy, Boston’s air-attack could prove to be a force. The Uprising face Atlanta and Washington this weekend, with both match-ups having the chance to go to 5 maps. If Colourhex gets the chance to play Pharah for 5 maps, he’s guaranteed to be a fantasy stud.
Sit ’em
Gabriel “Swimmer” Levy, Boston Uprising
Even though Colourhex may score well in a Pharah-Mercy setup, the same can’t be said about the support. Swimmer may be a talented Mercy player, but healing alone won’t be enough for Mercy to pump out solid fantasy points. There is the worry about the recent signing of new main-support Kobe “Halo” Hamand battling for the position, but it would be quite the shock to see a new signing play so soon.
Xander “Hawk” Domecq, Atlanta Reign
The rookie off-tank didn’t have quite the impact fans wanted to see. He struggled against the surprisingly-strong Paris Eternal, and didn’t have the entirety of the weekend to find his groove. Atlanta often defaulted to their Double-Shield composition, leaving Hawk sidelined. The Reign have one match against the weaker Boston Uprising, but the doubt surrounding Hawk’s play time is enough to keep him out of fantasy lineups.
Ethan “Stratus” Yankel, Washington Justice
Although Mei wasn’t banned this time around, the league may see a sharp decrease in her play time. Stratus isn’t a Mei one-trick, but he has shown to be Washington’s best Mei player by far. With the potential for Dive compositions to make a comeback, the Justice may look towards Ho-Sung “TTuba” Lee for better results. The Justice have been struggling to close out games, and a shakeup at the DPS line may spark something for this team.
Unlimited Leagues
Suggested Picks
Support: Minseok “AimGod” Kwon, Kyungbo “Alarm” Kim, HyP
DPS: Ki-hyo “XZI” Jung, jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee, Joon “Erster” Jeong
Tank: Han-been “Hanbin” Choi, Jun-ho “Fury” Kim, ELLIVOTE
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