This week in the Overwatch League brings the May Melee, two tournaments. One is with the teams in the North American region and the other is with the teams in Asia. For a little better breakdown on the Asia bracket check out this piece. Along with the tournament, this week features no heroes banned from play, leaving viewers with the first glance at a true pro-meta since the first few weeks this season. With all of that said, here are The Game Haus power rankings heading into the May Melee.
(High is the highest an individual ranked the team, Low is the lowest an individual ranked them, and LW= Last Week’s Power Ranking Position)
1. Shanghai Dragons (High: 1 Low: 2 LW: T1st)
Shanghai sits happily above everyone in these power rankings, but their undisputed power is starting to falter. They were one vote away from tying the Fusion for first overall, but that is just further testament to how well both these teams have been playing. While the Dragons won’t get the bye for the May Melee, they will have the second easiest path forward ranked 2nd, facing the struggling Spitfire. After burning through them, the Dragons will be the team no one wants to face, and could easily find themselves the victors at the end of this weekend.
- Dalton Jewell
2. Philadelphia Fusion (High: 1 Low: 4 LW: T1st)
The Fusion took it to a newly reformed Titans team this week and showed off Philip “ChipSa” Graham for the first time. They move into the tournament as a three seed and look to continue their dominance.
- Rocco Romeo
3. San Francisco Shock (High: 3 Low: 5 LW: 3rd)
The Shock’s most recent performance saw a dominant 3-0 victory against the Atlanta Reign. However, the Reign have struggled with compositions outside Orisa-Sigma and were once again unable to play that. The Shock have secured the top seed in the North American May Melee, but their weak schedule so far means that this will show their ability against more of the top teams.
- Matthew Kennedy
4. New York Excelsior (High: 2 Low: 5 LW: 4th)
They continue to set themselves up well to make a run during any tournament. Yet, they never seem to come out on top. Hopefully the May Melee will change that as they will be facing some stiff competition. The NYXL are a strong team and it is time for them to get some major tournament wins.
- Rob Hanes
5. Paris Eternal (High: 4 Low: 9 LW: 6th)
Most fans are not all that worried about the May Melee. Instead, the Eternal will be looking forward to the end of May when their massive offseason signing, SP9RK1E finally gets to hit the stage. If they perform well, which they should, that will just be a bonus.
- Rob Hanes
6. Atlanta Reign (High: 5 Low: 10 LW: 8th)
Last week’s game against the San Francisco Shock was expected to be a gritty and lengthy brawl, but ended up a decisive 3-0 victory for the Shock. Realistically, the game should have been closer than it was. Atlanta showed signs of life on map 3 with some outstanding picks from Andrej “babybay” Francisty, but his Widowmakers’ shoulders were just too narrow to carry the Reign to a map win. This weekend they will have an uphill battle to climb if they want to come out of the May Melee ahead of the pack. Without the restrictions of Hero Pools, maybe the Atlanta Reign will finally show the potential they were credited with at the start of this season.
- Rhiannon Boyce
7. Guangzhou Charge (High: 5 Low: 12 LW: 9th)
With their win against the Hunters, the Charge secured their first round bye for the May Melee. Even without Charlie “nero” Zwarg, this team is still deadly. There were some heroes that were definitely not within Jeong “Happy” Woo Lee’s wheelhouse, Sombra being the biggest offender, but his performance on Ashe was clutch in many instances. While not the top team in the Asia region May Melee, this is a team that could win it all.
- Dalton Jewell
8. Florida Mayhem (High: 6 Low: 13 LW: T10th)
Now on a five match win streak, the Mayhem head into the May Melee! Tournament as one of the top seeds in North America. Despite this, the team hasn’t been able to convince the wider community of their strength. The mid-season tournament will give Florida the chance to prove that they really have changed their losing ways.
- Sam O’Dwyer
9. Los Angeles Valiant (High: 6 Low: 12 LW: 12th)
With the win this past week the LA Valiant secured a 3-0 record during the May Melee seeding matches. That secured them a top four seed and a bye into the top eight. All eyes will be on a potential semi final versus the SF Shock. A win there would upset the entire bracket.
- Christian Wisniewski
10. Los Angeles Gladiators (High: 5 Low: 12 LW: 7th)
There was a large feeling of disbelief as the Gladiators were defeated by the Uprising last weekend. Credit where credit is due though, the Uprising played well, and they fought hard for that win. That doesn’t excuse the Glads players performances. With how these teams have played this season, it should’ve been an easier match than what played out. Having Glads mainstay Benjamin “BigGoose ” Isohanni out for the first two maps clearly had this team putting their strongest roster out already down a map, and it’ll be interesting to watch as double Flex support compositions become more common. This team should be clear to make it to the quarterfinals, but depending on who they’ll face, (Battle for LA anyone?), it could be a short tourney.
- Dalton Jewell
11. Hangzhou Spark (High: 9 Low: 15 LW: T10th)
Hangzhou finished the week once again with a 1-1 record. With that being said, they were able to take a map off the formidable NYXL. Against the Spitfire, the Spark earns a decisive victory by winning 3-0. With a couple of roster changes that include the acquisition of Minho “Architect” Park from the Shock, the Spark have made a necessary move to bolster their roster. This should give them the edge they were needing to bypass such an on-and-off season for them so far.
- Jordan Garcia
12. Seoul Dynasty (High: 7 Low: 15 LW: 5th)
The Dynasty was Chegdu-ed this week. Though they lost their regular match, during the bracket pick the upper ranked teams avoided wanting to face the bottom ranked team of the Dynasty. Do these teams know something from scrims that the community doesn’t? Hopefully they bounce back in the May Melee Tournament this coming weekend.
- Lauren “daebakowl” Olson
13. Dallas Fuel (High: 9 Low: 16 LW: 13th)
The Fuel are coming off of a brutal loss to the Paris Eternal. Some have described the match as their worst loss this season. Despite being one of the teams with a virtually unchanged roster, synergy remains the Fuel’s biggest weakness. Dallas is off for the first week of the May Melee, giving them a week to regroup and come back stronger than before.
- London Bishop
14. Houston Outlaws (High: 12 Low: 17 LW: 15th)
Houston had an excellent week on two different fronts. First, they took down the revamped Titans with a clean sweep. Then, on Monday, they defeated the Dallas Fuel in the Lone Star Challenge, taking the victory 4-2. It was great to see the team flex in multiple players to suit their vision and style for different maps, and everyone had strong performances. It was a glimpse at what this team has been building towards, and hero pools are out of rotation for the May Melee. There’s a chance that the Outlaws can keep building off of what they’ve accomplished this past week.
- Dalton Jewell
15. London Spitfire (High: 11 Low: 18 LW: 14th)
It was a disappointing week for the Spitfire, as they dropped both matches in clean sweeps. This also places them in an unfortunate position for the May Melee, as they’ll go into the first round facing the blazing Shanghai Dragons. While things look bleak, it’ll be good experience and development for the rookies that clutter this team. With a tournament style match under their belt, they may continue to improve heading through the rest of the season.
- Dalton Jewell
16. Chengdu Hunters (High: 14 Low: 18 LW: 17th)
The Hunters had a good week, taking down Seoul and fighting the Charge hard to force a fifth map in their series. This team showed that they have the pieces to perform well against strong teams. However, they still have issues with individual performances that can turn the tides of a match. One thing is for sure, when the DPS of the Hunters are on top of their game, this team is dangerous. They’ll have a tough go in the May Melee against the NYXL this weekend though.
- Dalton Jewell
17. Toronto Defiant (High: 14 Low: 19 LW: 16th)
Though the Defiant have been on an upward trend, they lost their chance at victory in a rousing map 5 series against the Valiant. Because of their tough schedule during the month of May, their play-ins depend on a match-up against the newly struggling Vancouver Titans. In this epic Battle for Canada, the Defiant are favored to win. Hopefully, they can build momentum to keep their head above water against tougher opponents down the line.
- Mallory McMahon
T18. Washington Justice (High: 16 Low: 20 LW: 19th)
After the two major signings and some releases of front office members, it seems like the Justice are ready to make some wholesale changes in their mindset. This tournament could be a way for them to prove that the changes they are making are enough to start propelling them up the standings. If not then it could make an already long season that much longer for the Justice.
- Robert Hanes
T18. Boston Uprising (High: 18 Low: 20 LW: 20th)
No, the OWL site doesn’t have a typo – the Boston Uprising have managed to beat the Los Angeles Gladiators. The Uprising heard the cries of the OWL fans, and they made sure to make this one an exciting 3-2 match as well. Whether it be the addition of Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist or it just took 11 weeks for the coaching to set in, Boston looked like a whole new team. It certainly helps to have Sang-min “Myunb0ng” Seo carry from the support position, but Boston just may have found themselves out of the 20 spot for a few weeks.
- Bryan “Brock” Rockwood
20. Vancouver Titans (High: 17 Low: 20 LW: 18th)
The young Titans struggled more in week two than their initial week. Maybe the adrenaline was not pumping as much or maybe they still have major kinks to work out? Either way the new-look Titans will need to keep working on their syngery and see if they can surprise everyone by making a mini-run during the May Melee.
- Rob Hanes
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!
Our voters for OWL Power Rankings: Jezi Scott, Ethan Seftor, Mallory, Robert Hanes, Dalton Jewell, Lotte, Sam O’Dwyer, Bryan Rockwood, Brad Killion, Seneca, Mandii, Rhiannon, Laruen “Daebakowl” Olson, Matthew Kennedy, Christian Wisniewski, Jordan Garcia, Rocco Romeo, Tiffany Purcell, Joe Gvora, London Bishop, Sebastian Quintanilla, Ethan Butler,