The NYXL and Seoul Dynasty are back in action this week in the Overwatch League! After both teams relocated to South Korea amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, they’ll join the rotation of Chinese teams in match play. In fact, the Dynasty versus Dragons is circled as the must-watch match of the week due to the incredible performances both teams have been producing. For the first time in a few weeks, teams have jostled all throughout the Power Rankings, with over 10 teams moving positions. With all that said, the hero pools this week exclude Echo, Tracer, Orisa and Moira. Here’s how The Game Haus crew ranked the Overwatch League teams heading into Week 12.
(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. Philadelphia Fusion (High: 1 Low: 3 LW: 1st)
2. Seoul Dynasty (High: 1 Low: 3 LW: 2nd)
3. Shanghai Dragons (High: 1 Low: 8 LW: 6th)
A perfect week was in store for the Dragons as they take down the Hunters and Spark. As a team that is lauded for being one of the best, they continue to outwork and outperform the teams around them. While the current team pool has been limited to the four teams in China, this week sees Seoul and New York join the fray. With Seoul being a top-two team with the Dragons not far behind in the rankings, this match will be a powerhouse showcase.
- Dalton Jewell
4. San Francisco Shock (High: 4 Low: 6 LW: 3rd)
It was a tense affair against the bright burn of the Fuel, but the Shock were able to secure the W. While the depth of talent on the team has always been lauded as a strength, it is curious to see the constant week-to-week changes the Shock do use. They’ve regained their position toward the top of the rankings after dropping to both LA teams in Week 8, and they should have an easy time against the Valiant this week.
- Dalton Jewell
5. New York Excelsior (High: 2 Low: 9 LW: 5th)
6. Atlanta Reign (High: 4 Low: 7 LW: 4th)
Atlanta continue to take care of business against the weaker teams in the Atlantic Conference, this week dispatching Washington in three maps. With a rematch against the Fusion looming, the Reign have another chance to prove themselves and pick up their first win against Philadelphia as a franchise.
- Bradley Long
7. Los Angeles Gladiators (High: 4 Low: 9 LW: 8th)
The Gladiators are on a break this week. While their play can be improved upon in a few key areas, the players have been able to step things up across all six seats. We’re very eager to see how they perform outside their division, with the only team they’ve faced thus far is Seoul.
- Joe Gvora
8. Paris Eternal (High: 4 Low: 13 LW: 7th)
It was a bit of a shock for the Eternal to drop their match against the Mayhem, however the Mayhem played well and exploited every weakness Paris showed. Missing Reinhardt due to hero pools certainly didn’t help, and losing Jung “Xzi” Ki-hyo for the foreseeable future weakened what was an incredibly resilient DPS lineup. This is no slight to Nicolas “NiCOgdh” Moret, who has performed admirably. Unfortunately for the Eternal, admirable performances won’t get it done.
- Dalton Jewell
9. Guangzhou Charge (High: 6 Low: 11 LW: 11th)
The Charge are keeping up their 1:1 win ratio week by week, further cementing their middle-of-the-pack status. They fell prey to the Hunters, then came back in a close match against the Spark. Week 12 will be their toughest challenge of the season thus far. Their first opponent is the Dragons, who have won both matches against the Charge this season with clean sweeps. Then the Charge will take on the ever-upward New York Excelsior, who have so far only suffered one loss this season. If the Charge manage to take a win this week, they’ll put themselves in the discussion for moving up in the rankings.
- Tiffany “Alpha Sheek” Purcell
10. Hangzhou Spark (High: 9 Low: 13 LW: 10th)
Hangzhou took an inevitable step-back in the league with their first winless weekend this season. Only winning a single map in both games versus Shanghai and Guangzhou, the Spark were not up to snuff after some tough Hero Bans plagued the roster for their matchups in Week 11. The team will have some stiff competition going up against the Dynasty this week and with a poor performance in their last 2 bouts, the team will have to step it up if they want to prove themselves as top-tier talent. If they can come together and beat Seoul, it will be a big boost for the streaky squad and may give them some points in future power rankings.
- Jordan Garcia
11. Vancouver Titans (High: 6 Low: 15 LW: 9th)
12. Chengdu Hunters (High: 10 Low: 16 LW: 13th)
Chengdu continued their consistency of being inconsistent with a 1-1 week. They were able to take down the Charge 3-0, and then promptly swept 3-0 by the Dragons. This team will continue to go back and forth as the Chinese teams get more and more practice against each other, although this week will offer fresh blood in their match with the NYXL. It’s time for Chengdu to start figuring things out on a long-term basis, and this week would be the perfect opportunity to prove it.
- Dalton Jewell
13. Los Angeles Valiant (High: 10 Low: 18 LW: 12th)
The LA Valiant are a better team than their record says. Since returning to play in week eight, all but one of their matches was against the Gladiators, Dynasty, or Shock. They have an extremely talented DPS pool and Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey’s performance on off tank has been one of the better ones this season. What could help the Valiant immensely is NA cross play. The Fuel recently played a match against the Washington Justice and both teams are not in the same conference. If the Valiant can get in on some of that action, you will be able to see them perform better.
- Christian Wisniewski
14. Dallas Fuel (High: 10 Low: 17 LW: 15th)
Though they were unable to secure the win streak this past week, the Dallas Fuel have grown exponentially from Week 1. As one of the teams who has had an abnormally long period of inactivity, they’ve proven themselves to be something of a dark horse these past few weeks. Let’s see if they can keep it up.
- London Bishop
15. London Spitfire (High: 8 Low: 18 LW: 14th)
16. Florida Mayhem (High: 13 Low: 17 LW: 17th)
After their decisive victory over the Eternal last week, Florida have become quite the tough team to try and rank. The team has a tremendously high skill ceiling, but seems to struggle in adapting to each and every new hero pool. Despite this, Florida performed well last week, and should do well again this week given the expected prominence of Widowmaker in team compositions.
- Sam O’Dwyer
17. Houston Outlaws (High: 13 Low: 19 LW: 16th)
18. Toronto Defiant (High: 15 Low: 19 LW: 18th)
Weirdly this is the perfect place for Toronto. In their last three games, they have wins against Boston and Washington and a loss to Houston. Without a game this weekend, Toronto will look forward to trying to improve their stock against whoever they face next. If they play even a close series against whoever that may be then it might be enough to move them up in the standings.
- Robert Hanes
19. Washington Justice (High: 18 Low: 19 LW: 19th)
With one map win in their last four series the Justice have gone from a middle of the pack team during the offseason to the bottom of the barrel. They have moments but struggle to put it all together. Until this team can find consistency and start by just getting a few maps here and there, they will be mired at the bottom.
- Robert Hanes
20. Boston Uprising (High: 20 Low: 20 LW: 20th)
If it is any consolation, the Uprising showed signs of life in the first map of their series against Toronto. Sure they went on to lose 3-1, but it looks like the team is gaining some confidence back. They still are quite a ways from contending with even the middling teams, but there is a little bit of hope for fans for a close-ish match against Florida.
- Bryan “Brock” Rockwood
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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