With Week 3 of Stage 4 wrapping up for the Overwatch League, we head into the Atlanta Homestand! The Los Angeles Valiant have turned their season around, clinching a spot in the Stage 3 playoffs, and the Spark are vying to be a top three team. This week’s matches are focused on the home team Reign, as they’ll look to avoid going winless this stage. Check out how The Game Haus crew ranked the teams heading into Week 5 of Stage 3.
(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)
1. Vancouver Titans – Record: 20-1 MPD: +54 (High: 1. Low: 2. LW: 1st)
The Vancouver Titans got back to their winning ways this week with a 4-0 shellacking of the Los Angeles Gladiators that saw Chung-hee “Stitch” Lee get his first extended playing time of the season. The Titans are hoping he might be the solution to their Sombra issues, and the early returns are promising. The win secured Vancouver their second Pacific Division crown of the season and got them back on track heading into the most wide-open stage playoffs yet.
– Bradley Long
2. New York Excelsior – Record 17-2 MPD: +39 (High: 1. Low: 4. LW: 3rd)
With a surprising map five win against the Dallas Fuel, thee NYXL have all but booked their ticket to the stage playoffs. It was concerning to see them struggle with the Fuel, a team that has sunk in the rankings over the course of Stage 3, but NYXL regrouped at the half and stormed back. Participating in the Atlanta Homestand, NYXL should make easy work of both the Mayhem and Defiant.
– Dalton Jewell
3. Hangzhou Spark – Record: 14-7 MPD: +9 (High: 2. Low: 4. LW: 4th)
At this point, the question surrounding the Spark is less about whether they should be considered among the best teams in the league and more about just how highly they should be considered. Finishing out the stage with a 6-1 record puts them on par with the Vancouver Titans, right down to the map differential. Their improvements as a GOATS team won’t matter much next stage, and the introduction of role lock might cause them to falter for Stage 4. For now, however, they can focus in on getting ready for playoffs – their performance there will be the true test of how far they’ve come since the beginning of the season.
-Darby Joyce
4. San Francisco Shock – Record: 16-5 MPD: +48 (High: 3. Low: 7. LW: 2nd)
The Shock struggled early last week with a tough and unexpected loss to the Hunters but bounced back strong against the Spitfire. The Shock looked lost at times in the past few weeks but have constantly managed to bounce back strong. Look for them to stay strong going in the close of Stage 3 with a meta shift looming in Stage 4.
– Connor “GoopyKnoopy” Knudsen
5. Shanghai Dragons – Record: 11-8 MPD: +1 (High: 3. Low: 8. LW: 7th)
A stellar standing in Week 4 allowed Shanghai to show that they can maintain control, despite the hype. After what at first seemed like an awkward Week 3 brought what the Dragons need in order to excel in the upcoming Stage playoffs: focus. With a tight Stage 4 playoff race between the Gladiators and Fusion, an 0-2 (or even 1-1) Week 5 might feature Shanghai spectating rather than playing. Fighting with nothing to lose is dangerous, and the Dragons will need to remember that when they face Guangzhou and Philadelphia this week.
– Jacob Renie
6. Los Angeles Valiant – Record 8-13 MPD: -4 (High: 4. Low: 8. LW: 8th)
The LA Valiant kept up their strong look in Week 4, falling only to the Hangzhou Spark in a close 3-2 series. They completely swept the London Spitfire 4-0, and have clinched a spot in the Stage 3 Playoffs. This stage saw the Valiant completely flip their position, moving from the bottom five on many people’s power rankings, all the way up to the top six.
– Aaron Gerr
7. Seoul Dynasty – Record: 12-9 MPD: +17 (High: 5. Low: 10. LW: 6th)
The Seoul Dynasty have clinched their way to another Stage playoff berth. Luckily, Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek’s departure has done nothing to the Dynasty’s synergies, as their constant roster rotations has every member ready to step in. In particular, Min-seo “Marve1” Hwang seems better suited with how the meta is transitioning, and with an all but confirmed role-lock coming for Stage 4, the Dynasty will have a ready pool of players to pick from.
– Dalton Jewell
8. Los Angeles Gladiators – Record: 13-8 MPD: +17 (High: 5. Low: 9. LW: 5th)
The Los Angeles Gladiators went 1-1 in Week 4, beating the Toronto Defiant, but falling to the Vancouver Titans. This puts their record to 4-3 in Stage 3. If the Gladiators want a spot in the stage playoffs, they will need to rely on other teams to lose this weekend in Atlanta.
– Zach Stenzel
9. Houston Outlaws – Record: 8-13 MPD: -14 (High: 6. Low: 14. LW: 10th)
The Outlaws made quick work of the Justice and Defiant this week. Where last year’s Outlaws might have crumbled after tough map losses in both games, their new mental resilience saw them to a stunning 5-2 Stage 3 record after a winless Stage 2. They’re playoff bound now, and woe be to the lawmen who underestimate them.
– Rainee Scott
10. London Spitfire – Record 12-9 MPD: +6 (High: 5. Low: 12. LW: 9th)
The current Sombra centric meta has not been kind to the Spitfire. They sit comfortably in the middle pack of the Overwatch League, looking to flex their players on other heroes. It’s a dangerous spot for a consistently inconsistent team, one that almost lost to Washington and were swept by the surging Valiant. Barring a major melt-down in Stage 4, the Spitfire should be in the play-in playoff spot, but the other teams currently occupying those spots have looked much better as of late.
– Robert Hanes
11. Philadelphia Fusion – Record: 11-8 MPD: -1 (High: 7. Low: 15. LW: 11th)
Another nail-biter of a series, the Fusion pulled out a classic Map 5 victory over the Boston Uprising last weekend. Philly only has two games left to go against the Shanghai Dragons and Washington Justice. The Fusion are hoping to make it into Stage 3 playoffs, but it will be a tight race to get there. So long as the Fusion continue to let Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee and Josh “Eqo” Corona play DPS heroes, the Fusion should come out of these matches victorious.
– Kate Shepard
12. Chengdu Hunters – Record: 9-12 MPD: -11 (High: 10. Low: 14. LW: 13th)
Chengdu rode the high of toppling one of the top three teams in the league with their upset against the Shock, and didn’t seem fully prepared against the Dynasty. With a change in the meta, Chengdu have begun to climb back to the mid-tier, being able to comfortably flex their large DPS hero pool. They’ll miss the stage playoffs, but are setting up nicely to contest for a play-in playoff spot for the end of the season.
– Robert Hanes
13. Guangzhou Charge – Record: 7-12 MPD: -17 (High: 12. Low: 17. LW: 14th)
The Charge once again have back to back weeks of playing one of the top 5 teams of the league, and while they technically still have the ability to make stage playoffs, it would need to be at the cost of two 4-0s for them and several other upsets this coming Atlanta Homestand Weekend. However, Guangzhou have certainly been looking better. They’ve decisively moved out of what many would consider the bottom 5 by their past two showings, playing Shanghai fairly closely for at least half the series. They’ll need hard work and several miracles still to make overall season playoffs but the capability is certainly there. With another Shanghai match and then a match against the Justice, a 1-1 week with a positive map differential would be about the best the Charge should hope for, but miracle upsets have been happening a lot lately, and at least some members are getting riled up for taking this rematch.
The main problem we have is we respect players and teams too much. You won't see that next match 🙃
— nero (@ow_nero) July 1, 2019
– Ethan Seftor
14. Paris Eternal – Record: 8-13 MPD: -17 (High: 12. Low: 17. LW: 12th)
Unfortunately for the Paris Eternal, it’s the end of the road. Their last game of the stage resulted in a major loss to the Seoul Dynasty. In what is becoming true Paris fashion, the Eternal had another great first half of the stage before things started to go downhill. With DPS looking to be at the forefront of Stage 4 compositions, fans are hopeful that the next stage will turn out better results. Paris has four very skilled DPS players sitting on their roster. Terence “SoOn” Tarlier is an incredible hitscan player. His Widowmaker skills made waves last season while SoOn played for the LA Valient. George “ShaDowBurn” Guscha is also one of the best Western projectile players in the league and he will be sure to frag out on Genji and Pharah. Fans are hopeful to see them both on the starting roster next stage but Karol “Danye” Szcześniak did incredibly well during Stage 3. His Mei is one of the nuttiest in the league. Danye has the widest hero pool out of the Eternal’s DPS players, so it will be interesting to see who Paris will choose for their starting six next stage.
– Kate Shepard
15. Dallas Fuel – Record: 10-11 MPD: -10 (High: 13. Low: 18. LW: 17th)
It was another tough week for Dallas, but better than expected. Timo “Taimou” Kettunen made a grand return on Sombra and Widowmaker to take two maps off of New York. However, he was subbed out in the latter half of the series and Dallas fell. This shows promise for the Fuel, they could go the route of Reinhardt, Zarya, Sombra, Ana, Lucio, Brigitte as other teams have. They are one step closer to finding their footing in the last stage of OWL Season 2.
– Ethan Cowan-Kazmi
16. Atlanta Reign- Record: 7-12 MPD: -6 (High: 11. Low: 19. LW: 15th)
The Atlanta Reign had an off-week to fully prepare for their duties as the host team during this week’s Atlanta Homestand. It’s a tall task to host, and looking at what the Fuel did and their record, the Reign will be hoping for the same. They’re currently one of three teams looking to avoid going winless this stage, but Atlanta have the best chance to finally grab a win, maybe even two. It’s a fight against the bottom, with the Defiant and Mayhem on deck. Look for the Reign to give their hometown fans something to cheer for this weekend. Not only that, but they’ll need these wins to keep their hope of season playoffs alive.
– Daron Scott
17. Boston Uprising – Record: 8-13 MPD: -18 (High: 14. Low: 18. LW: 16th)
The Boston Uprising ended their Stage 3 run in a loss against the Philadelphia Fusion. Though things did go all the way to a map 5 (with these two teams, it couldn’t have ended any other way), the boys in blue still landed at a 1-6 record, their lowest yet. With an extra week off due to the Atlanta Homestead, Boston can look to center themselves for Stage 4. Hopefully, they’ll continue to trend upward, and make a late run for overall season playoffs.
– Mallory McMahon
18. Toronto Defiant – Record: 7-12 MPD: -16 (High: 16. Low: 20. LW: 19th)
The Toronto Defiant have continued their journey to the West with the additions of Andreas “Logix” Berghmans and Liam “Mangachu” Campbell. Despite losing both games last week, they are looking much better as a squad. That said, they still play like individuals and need to improve their teamwork. This is a squad to look out for as a potential dark horse once they put it all together.
– Brad Killion
19. Florida Mayhem – Record: 2-17 MPD: -39 (High: 15. Low: 20. LW: 18th)
The Florida Mayhem had just one game last week, and they were quite easily dealt with by the Hangzhou Spark. Despite this, their impressive win over the Houston Outlaws still holds some weight in the power rankings, as the teams below them seem to be struggling just a bit more. Florida also decided to integrate all four of their new players last week, and the team was understandably uncoordinated. They have a game against Atlanta next week that may be close, if they can build some synergy in the short amount of time between now and then.
– Sam O’Dwyer
20. Washington Justice – Record: 2-17 MPD: -38 (High: 18. Low: 20. LW: 20th)
The Justice were able to take a map off of the resurgent Houston Outlaws, which has seen them rise to 19th in the League due to a one map differential between them and the Mayhem. The Mayhem however, are integrating their new players, and there will be growing pains. At this point, the Justice should focus on playing for next season, and the organization will have to take a hard look at this roster and its style. There are times where it all seems to be coming together, only to crumble apart. Expect nothing different unless a new main tank comes on board for Stage 4.
– Dalton Jewell
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Our voters for OWL Power Rankings: Stage 3 Week 4- Bradley Long, Kate Shepard, Darby Joyce, Robert Hanes, Ethan Cowan-Kazmi, Mallory McMahon, Dalton Jewell, Zach Stenzel, Ethan Seftor, Miranda Rodriguez, Dave Grove, Sam Putney, Aaron Gerr, Sam O’Dwyer, Connor Knudsen, Jake Renie, Rainee Scott, Daron Scott, Brad Killion