It is Week 5 for the Overwatch League and the very first matches with hero pools. McCree, Moira, Reinhardt, and Widowmaker will take a seat on the bench this week as projectile heros look to make an impact. The OWL is once again headed to Washington where the team will look for redemption from their poor Week 4 performance. The match to watch this week will definitely be Philly versus Paris. With six matches on tap, here’s how the TGH team ranked the teams heading into Week 5.
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(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 NYXL’s decisive and quick win over the Florida Mayhem was expected, but they aren’t out of the woods yet. When they face the home team in Washington this week, expect them to try some new and perhaps unexpected tactics as the new hero pool format shakes things up.
Via @ATLReign Twitter
The Reign didn’t have the debut they wanted in Week 4. They romped through Toronto, but the loss to Paris should be humbling for an Atlanta squad with championship aspirations. Xander “Hawk” Domecq struggled in his first match, but some of that can be chalked up to rust and jitters. He was the lone Reign rookie to make an appearance this weekend, which begs the question: where are Taehum “Edison” Kim and Hugo “Sharp” Sahlberg?
The Atlanta Reign seemed to falter to the Paris Eternal’s fast, aggressive playstyle, despite all the hype. With most of the team extremely ill, the Eternal still almost swept the series. Paris have made it clear that all bets are off and that they are here to play their game. While some think the loss of Widowmaker and McCree will hinder Jung “Xzi” Ki-Hyo’s star power, his hero pool is also virtually endless. The team should win easily over the struggling Houston Outlaws but will find their toughest challenge yet in the Philadelphia Fusion. If they do manage to conquer the Philly boys expect to see their stonks rise exponentially.
There’s still some reason for caution when it comes to this London squad, but they’re doing a good job of showing what they can accomplish. While they had to go to a fifth map to snag wins against bottom-five opponents in the Mayhem and Outlaws, they did so with resilience. This is a squad that is primed to continue their upward trajectory as the players get more and more experienced, and they can prove it in their Week 6 matchups with the Fusion and Reign.
Photo: Ben Pursell for Blizzard Entertainment
The Defiant charge into the first week of hero pools after facing back to back defeats in Houston. After taking the Fusion to the brink, this Defiant team needs to figure out what they want to be as hero pools start to take form. They face equally troubling opponents in the Washington Justice, who have the raw materials to make things happen but are struggling to secure a win, just like Toronto. The winner of this week’s match will determine which team has the upper-hand.
Florida went 0-2 last week and has since plummeted down many a power ranking list. A loss against a newly reinforced NYXL squad was to be expected, but to then go on to lose against the inexperienced and loose playstyle of the Spitfire is a surefire sign that this new Mayhem squad has not fully clicked together yet. However, the newly announced hero bans could allow for the team to default to comfort picks like Sombra and Pharah, so look for the Mayhem to bounce back this coming week against the Toronto Defiant.
It took longer than they’d have liked, but the Outlaws finally put the pieces of their star-studded roster together last weekend. A solid win against the Defiant and a five-map nail-biter against the rising London Spitfire showcased a synergy and flexibility that Houston has been lacking this year. They play Paris this week — a challenge to be sure — but then have a three-week bye in which to relax, practice, and study upcoming opponents. If their momentum continues, they could return in Week 9 a very different team.
Courtesy of the Boston Uprising
A Loss to the red-hot Fusion shouldn’t be a surprise to many, but with all things considered Boston looked fine. There weren’t many glaring issues with the Uprising this week, and they were simply outplayed by a stronger team. Hero pools may be the change that could boost Boston out of the bottom 5 (or the recent addition of support player Kobe “Halo” Hamand), but a lot of pieces need to come together for that to become reality.
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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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