It’s official, the Overwatch League is back. Its return brings forth a variety of new players, teams, dramatic entrances and truly meme-worthy compositions. With one day of matches in the books, there are certainly some lessons to be learned as we shake off the dust and head into Season 2 of the OWL.
GOATS is Still the Meta, but not the ONLY Meta
Everyone’s favorite 3-tank, 3-support composition, while not gone, has clearly taken a hit in terms of total dominance. On certain maps like Horizon Lunar Colony and Route 66, teams took advantage of unorthodox positioning and compositions, which viewers welcomed with open arms. Heck, we even got to see Ashe and Bob make their OWL debuts.
GOATS isn’t going anywhere, for now, but it is certainly not everywhere. That much, we can all agree on, is a breath of fresh air. Keep an eye on the percentages in which certain teams play GOATS over others as we move forward through the first few weeks of the season and teams orient themselves.
Boston: Better Than Expected
The Uprising are on the heels of one of the more chaotic offseasons of any team. In fact, just three days ago this team announced the departure of Season 1 main tank Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh, and the calling up of Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth to take his place. Fusions, on three days of practice with this team (in theory), was able to lead them in a formidable run against league powerhouse, NYXL.
This is remarkable when considering most of the community’s projection of Boston for this season and the sheer lack of time this team has had together. While they eventually fell to NYXL 3-1, this team showed flashes of brilliance with only minor misuses of ultimates and mispositioning. With one game under their belts, the Uprising should feel good heading into their next match.
Gritty is Marketable
Everyone’s favorite NHL mascot has officially made his holy pilgrimage to the Blizzard arena, and holy was his entrance. Gritty, the official mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers, led the Philadelphia Fusion out on stage prior to their matchup with the London Spitfire. Before any players, it was Gritty that took the stage at the Blizzard arena.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEfFllfRhi8]
“You think you know us?” After that one? It’s hard to say anyone knows what the Philadelphia Fusion will do next. Whatever they do, it looks like they have plans to keep Gritty around as he has settled in quite cozily to the Fusion player house.
Route 66 First Point is the True Wild West
This map has begun to gain a reputation for unpredictable compositions, especially in its first point. We saw two different teams employ Bastion strategies early on defense, flashes of quad DPS and so many more exciting compositions on both offense and defense. While teams occasionally switch to GOATS later in the map, this first point provides a great sandbox for teams to sample different oddities.
When in doubt meme it out (I’m looking at you YOUNGJIN)
The Shanghai Dragons, plagued with an inability to put forth a starting main tank due to Gamsu having just joined the team, squared off against the Hangzhou Spark, in the final match of the day. In a meme-worthy matchup for the ages, these teams went back and forth on some of the strangest compositions ever played in the OWL. Put in such a tough position week 1, Shanghai proved something very profound: when in doubt, meme it out.
A BIG PLAY from YoungJin keeps @ShanghaiDragons hopes alive! #OWL2019
Don’t miss this series!
Watch here: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/KfTjp5VruB
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 15, 2019
One player that exemplified this Mamba mentality was Shanghai flex DPS, Yong-Jin “YOUNGJIN” Jin. On Horizon Lunar Colony, Shanghai struggled to piece together a coherent attack on both rounds pushing Point A. In each round, YOUNGJIN went Reaper and almost singlehandedly won Shanghai Point A. Just one map later, on Rialto, he played Reaper, Genji and Reinhardt in a span of fewer than two minutes.
It’s unclear how much of YOUNGJIN we will see once Gamsu integrates into the lineup, but if Shanghai ever needs a player to come in and meme them to victory through sheer flex, there’s no one better than Youngjin.
Also, let’s not forget that this happened today…
Closing Remarks
It’s clear that one day won’t be indicative of trends that will span through the entire year. But, on the flip side, this was the first real glance into the OWL for the season, so ignoring it entirely and writing it off as an anomaly seems equally unproductive. Whatever stock is put into these games at the end of the day, there’s one thing that can’t be disputed: the Overwatch League is officially back and this is going to be one hell of a season.
Stay Connected
Follow me on Twitter: @GoopyKnoopy I would love to dialogue with you about anything I’ve written!
You can also shoot me a line on Discord! (GoopyKnoopy#2205)
Featured Image Courtesy of NHL.com
Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage.
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus
“From Our Haus to Yours”