After winning the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, the London Spitfire have set themselves up to lead the pack in season 2. However, their inconsistent performances throughout the season prove that they’ll need to do more than rest on the laurels of a championship win if they want to stay at the top of the rankings.
(Photo Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)
London started off season 1 strong, going 7-3 and earning the third seed in the stage 1 playoffs behind the Houston Outlaws and New York Excelsior. After defeating the Outlaws 3-1, London prepared to face NYXL, who they had narrowly lost to 2-3 earlier that day. While they stumbled out of the gate, giving an early 0-2 lead to New York, the Spitfire managed to pull off a reverse sweep and win 3-2 to become the first winners of a stage playoff.
Stage 2 brought the first wave of roster shake-ups to the Spitfire lineup: Fissure was transferred to the Los Angeles Gladiators, Rascal was transferred to the Dallas Fuel, coach Bishop left the team, and former Runaway player TiZi joined. Despite the turnover, stage 2 also yielded great results from London, who went 8-2 and were seeded second in the playoffs behind NYXL. Unfortunately, the Spitfire couldn’t attempt another playoff victory; they lost in the semifinals to the Philadelphia Fusion.
The Spitfire began to slip in the rankings during stage 3, no doubt in part due to the fact that star DPS player birdring was out due to injury. In a stage dominated by strong Widowmaker plays, lacking the star sniper player put a significant dent into London’s playmaking potential. Despite this, the team still went 5-5 and ended the stage in sixth place.
London’s performance in stage 4 was hardly recognizable from their season debut. Even after placing HaGoPeun, TiZi, WooHyaL, and Hooreg on their inactive roster in an attempt to solidify a starting lineup, the Spitfire continued to struggle with putting up consistent results. The team went 4-6 in stage 4, ending ninth in the final stage rankings.
Despite a rough latter half of the season, the Spitfire managed to secure a fifth seed spot in the season playoffs with their 24-16 record. Their first opponents, the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators, made quick work of London in their first match with a 3-0 shutout. On day two, however, London returned the favor with back to back 3-0 wins over the Gladiators to move onto the semifinals.
Courtesy of the London Spitfire
The Spitfire kept their momentum rolling throughout the semifinals, easily taking out the Los Angeles Valiant with a 3-1 victory on day one, and a 3-0 victory on day two. By the time the grand final matches rolled around, London appeared invincible. They opened the first championship match with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Fusion, and finished day two with a 3-0 victory to capture history as the first champions of the Overwatch League.
Although London had some significant roster changes throughout season 1, the core of the team coming into season 2 has remained the same.
Courtesy of the London Spitfire
The Spitfire return to season 2 with a new head coach in Coach815, former head coach of Korean Contenders team MVP Space. While working with MVP Space, Coach815 helped the team make top 8 in Contenders season 2.
In addition to Coach815, season 1 Spitfire coaches Agape and Jfeel return to lead the players’ training. While bringing on a new head coach may be daunting, having returning coaches onboard who have already built up synergy with the players will hopefully ease the transition.
London’s returning lineup is filled with players widely considered to be among the best in their role. Particular standouts include Profit, who was crowned the MVP of the grand finals, and the signature tank duo of Gesture and Fury. With such accomplished players, London’s returning roster is one all teams would be wise to respect.
Courtesy of the London Spitfire
Guard, London’s newest DPS player, comes from Korean Contenders team Element Mystic. His most recent performance on Element Mystic helped the team secure a top four finish in season 2 of Contenders. As a flex DPS player, Guard brings an exceptional Sombra to his team, which helps fill a hero gap in the existing roster. Expect Guard to bring in a skillset that allows London to try new compositions and strategies.
While he wasn’t a well recognized name in Overwatch until being signed by the Spitfire, Krillin was nonetheless an impressive flex support during his time on Korean Open Division team CRusher. As the youngest player on the Spitfire, Krillin may prove to be an investment in the future of the team more than a day one powerhouse. Though his hero pool overlap with Bdosin is striking, it stands to reason that in the era of triple support compositions, Krillin may make the starting lineup. Regardless of starting potential, acquiring a third support will give London a contingency plan in case of injury, and allows for specialization among the support line.
London Spitfire’s Season 2 Schedule
London’s season opens with a recreation of last season’s grand finals: a grudge match against the Philadelphia Fusion. If there’s any Spitfire match to watch this stage, it’s the season opener. For those who can’t catch this game live, the Spitfire and Fusion face off again in stage 2 in what’s sure to be a thrilling finale to the Philadelphia-London narrative.
Image courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Another two critical games for any London fan to watch will be their matches against the Houston Outlaws in stages 2 and 4. During season 1, Houston gained a reputation for not losing to London in any of their four regular season matches. Season 2 will force London to prove if they’ve finally cracked the Houston code, or if the Outlaws will continue to be their Achilles heel.
London’s toughest stage on paper will be stage 3, where they will play against the NYXL twice, in addition to the Los Angeles Valiant and a revamped San Francisco Shock. The Spitfire struggled with keeping their momentum during later stages last season, so it is imperative that they stay consistent into the season’s second half.
As the reigning champions, the Spitfire have demonstrated that they have what it takes to be the best in the league. That being said, last season also showed that they have room for improvement if they want to guarantee another championship win.
The biggest issue London faced last season was consistency. The Spitfire constantly switched up their active lineup in between maps, at some points subbing out more than half of their players. While having such a flexible substitution roster allowed for London to change their style of play mid-match, it ultimately meant that each player got less experience playing as a unit. With the roster being pared down to eight players this season, there will hopefully be more focus dedicated to each player and their role within the team.
London also needs to have better contingency plans in the event a player gets injured, sick, or is otherwise unable to play. Birdring’s injury last season led to a slump in performance which didn’t swing back until he returned. If the performance of the team solely depends on one player, adapting in their absence without a significant drop in performance is vital. While picking up Krillin and Guard helps alleviate potential damages from losing a DPS or support player, London will likely be unprepared if Fury or Gesture have to sit out for any reason.
The London Spitfire are a high caliber team, and have the experience and skill necessary to likely do well in this league regardless of what they change this season. But in order for them to perform stronger than last season, they need to focus on improving what made them perform poorly during stages 3 and 4. Their slimmer roster is a step in the right direction, bringing more versatility with fewer players. If this tight-knit team can develop more synergy by having fewer swaps, it just might be the key for them to start producing more reliably strong results.
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