Justice was served last week as the Overwatch League made its first stop in Washington. With seven teams playing, some saw their stocks rise (looking at you Philly), while others plummeted. The homestand was not kind to the hosts, as the Justice have the largest fall in the power rankings this week. Also this week, one of the most anticipated teams will make their debut in the Atlanta Reign, so their matches against mid-tier teams like Paris and Toronto will be a fantastic litmus test. With that said, here’s how the TGH team ranked the teams heading into Week 4.
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(MPD= Map Differential, 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)
The Philadelphia Fusion had another successful weekend at the Washington Justice homestand. Although they beat both the Florida Mayhem and Washington Justice with relative ease the week prior, the true test came in their match against the NYXL. Both teams fought tooth and nail, but Kim “SADO” Su-min led the team to a solid 3-1 victory after a clutch Earthshatter on Eichenwald. However, the Fusion got cocky in their match against the Toronto Defiant. In their first classic Map 5 of the season, the Defiant managed to push back against the Fusion after halftime. Lane “Surefour” Roberts wreaked havoc on McCree, but luckily the Fusion managed to clutch out a win in the end. Despite their stumble against the Defiant, the Fusion are looking to be the best team in the Atlantic division. With only one game this weekend against the Boston Uprising, they should continue on their upward trajectory.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
The NYXL are looking sloppier than folks are used to seeing, even against teams they should be decisively beating. Whether this is growing pains adjusting to their new coaching staff or the new format remains to be seen, but they will have to start fighting cleaner if they’re going to stay near the top of these rankings.
Toronto has shown this week that you cannot sleep on the underdogs. Despite a rough start on Oasis, the team rallied back on Anubis and took it to the Fusion, almost making the map end in a draw. Surefour, in particular, has shown that he should remain one of the main starting six for the team as he put up stellar displays on the McCree, Reaper and Sombra. However, their weaknesses can clearly be seen in Brady “Agilities” Girardi’s below average Mei ults and Adam “Beast” Denton’s slow start in general. But with some more practice and game time, this Toronto squad looks to be a play-off caliber team and should be one for everyone to keep an eye on.
Photo Courtesy of Stewart Volland for Blizzard Entertainment.
The Paris Eternal continued their tour de force as they took down the hometown Washington Justice. Recently celebrating his 18th birthday, Korean off-tank Choi “Hanbin” Han-Bin made his grand debut and proved he was well worth the wait. Fans couldn’t take their eyes off of him while he was effortlessly diving the enemy team and peeling for his backline. Any communication issues seem to have rapidly melted away, leaving the Eternal looking stronger than ever. With a full week of prep time and only one match this week, they should continue their ascension through the rankings.
While the first two maps made London’s match against the Justice look like a foregone conclusion, their comeback on Dorado with one of the most merciless holds in Overwatch League history set the stage for a thrilling reverse sweep. London are still underdogs, but they’ve proved that Gil-seong “Glister” Lim can live up to the hype and that rookies like Kyu-min “SanGuiNar” Lim can keep up with OWL talent. If London can follow through on these flashes of brilliance, they could be 2020’s unlikeliest playoff contender.
Photo credit to ROBERT PAUL For Activision Blizzard.
While they played through sickness on day 2 of their homestand. it was certainly hard to watch them play against the London Spitfire.They still have time to right the ship, but it feels like they have more weaknesses to address than previously thought.
Boston fans have missed this feeling so very much. A win against the struggling Houston Outlaws was exactly what the doctor ordered, even if it did take seven games to secure the victory. Both Tae-Hee “Jerry” Min and Walid “Mouffin” Bassal got their first career OWL starts and they certainly did not waste the opportunity. Boston still has plenty of improving to do before they can think about sneaking into the playoffs.
Second verse, same as the first. The Outlaws managed to pick up their first two map wins in a marathon match for the ages against Boston, but are still 0-4 on the board. There have been improvements in coordination, but there were still missed opportunities everywhere — and João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles and Jiri “Linkzr” Masalin were so ill they didn’t even travel to Washington. Hopefully another week of work, plus the lack of travel and home crowd, will help them turn it around at their homestand this weekend.
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Our voters for OWL Power Rankings: Brad Long, Kate Sheppard, Jezi Scott, Ethan Seftor, Mallory, Robert Hanes, Connor Knudsen, Dalton Jewell, Lotte, Sam O’Dwyer, Bryan Rockwood, Brad Killion, Seneca, Jess, Thoth, Gabby, Mandii, Rhiannon, Daebakowl, Matthew Kennedy, Christian Wisniewski, Jordan Garcia, Rocco Romeo, Tiffany Purcell, Joe Gvora, London Bishop, Sebastian Quintanilla, Ethan Butler
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