Last week in the Overwatch League was a considerably one-sided affair, bar one match. The Battle of Texas produced the only close match of the weekend, a five map barn-burner that had the Fuel burning the Outlaws. This week will hopefully bring some closer matches to the fray, especially with another Paris v. Philly showdown set for Sunday. However, that is not the match of the week, as that honor once again goes to the Dragons. They’ll face off against the NYXL on Saturday, a faceoff between two top-five teams. This week’s hero pools also have McCree, Widowmaker, Wrecking Ball, and Mercy out of rotation. With all that wrapped, here’s how The Game Haus ranked the Overwatch League teams heading into Week 13.
(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)
Last week the Dragons and Dynasty match was a must-see event, and the Dragons made it look boring. They handily dismantled the Dynasty and Charge, taking the week 6-0 and looking flawless. Their performance last week was a strong influence in the team bursting into first overall on these rankings, and with a match against the NYXL this weekend, they can further cement it.
The Fusion made a hard-fought statement in their 3-0 win this weekend against a tough Atlanta team. They had an answer for everything Atlanta threw at them. The Fusion continue to prove that they are a top team in the league and show no signs of slowing down. Philly prepare for another top 10 team this weekend in Paris.
The Shock appear to be fully back into form. After those two gut-wrenching losses back-to-back, they have not lost a series. They took out the Valiant 3-0 in a fairly one-sided affair, and are looking to climb the leaderboard for May Tournament seeding.
The NYXL stormed back last weekend with a 6-0 scoreline, handily defeating the Hunters and Charge. While NYXL has been viewed as a top 5 team all season, they won’t get true tests out of the Asian region until they get to face the Dragons or Dynasty, which thankfully comes sooner than later. The Dragons versus NYXL matchup on Saturday may be the best match of the week with top-tier talent going hard at each other.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Seoul has fallen in the power ranking, but an undefeated season like Tiger Nation was hoping was always going to be a hard dream to achieve. With one loss against one of the strongest teams, many people seem to be writing the Dynasty off even though they have won the rest of their matches. Remember even the Dragons have lost a match. They still rank quite high and hopefully will rise again to the fan’s high expectations of being the best in the Asian region.
The Reign were knocked down a peg in confidence with a convincing 3-0 by Philly. The good news is that they lost to a dominant, top two in the league team. The bad news is they couldn’t manage to take a map off of them. As the weeks go on, Atlanta are going to need to shape up in the face of the tougher teams. For now, they have the luxury of beating up on weaker teams. Case in point, this week’s match against the Valiant.
The Spark brought out the Dive comp, but it wasn’t enough against the Dynasty. Seoul looked like an elite squad against the Spark and exposed Hangzhou with their pinpoint coordination. The Pink and Blue were able to break even against the Hunters however bringing their season series 3-0 Spark. The Spark seemed to have found their place in the league which is just outside of the upper echelon of teams. Unless some changes are made, the team may stay stagnant for the foreseeable future.
The Charge suffered a brutal set of losses during Week 12, falling to the Dragons and NYXL. Their win rate took a big hit, and so did their power rankings. In Week 13 they’ll go up against the Dynasty. This is a team that’s difficult to place at this point, making this match a test for both teams. If the Charge can best the Dynasty, they’ll begin to work their way back up in the rankings.
The Mayhem are on a small winning streak after beating the Eternal and Uprising and are now within the upper half of the league standings. Their match last week against Boston was the quickest recorded OWL match in history and makes them seem like quite the threatening team. Unfortunately for Boston, they face the Mayhem again this week in a match that has just one interesting storyline going into it. And that’s whether or not the Mayhem can beat the Uprising any quicker than they did in the last game.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Dallas put on a showstopper against the Houston Outlaws last week in the Battle for Texas. Taking their home state rivals to a fifth map was one of the more exciting matches to tune into this past weekend. Looking to the future, Dallas are still on the rise, and looking at another probable win from the Justice this weekend. Will this be enough to break them into the top 10, however? That remains to be seen.
The Valiant are incredibly difficult to rank. Their record is towards the bottom of the league, but look at who they have played. Over the past few weeks, it has been teams within the top ten of the league. They have not had a single game against weak competition, as many others have. With that said, there is more talent here than their record shows. Hopefully with the implementation of cross-NA play they can show how good they really are. For now though there are still doubts.
The Battle for Texas came down to the wire and in turn that helped the Outlaws not just in the power rankings but with their confidence. This team is full of talent and there is no reason why they shouldn’t be fighting for a solid placing in the tournament at the end of May.
The Hunters currently sit in the bottom five in the league, and their play of late fits that sentiment. Yes, they are up against stiffer competition than teams in the Pacific, but they’ve been steadily falling behind teams within their own division. Now that the Dynasty and NYXL are in, wins are going to become more difficult to grab. With another match against the NYXL this week, it looks to be another loss for the Hunters.
There isn’t much else to say about the Boston Uprising after this past weekend. The Uprising were embarrassed by the Florida Mayhem, getting blown out in every aspect throughout the match. Boston have a lot still left to fix in their rematch this coming week. If they can’t figure out what is going wrong, expect another quick one as Boston battles against Florida for the second week in a row.
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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, Lauren Olson
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