Last week was a successful debut for the Chinese teams, and provided non-stop Overwatch over the weekend. It was a pleasure to see so many players making their debut as well as the returning ones. With all homestands cancelled and all matches online, there’s much more Overwatch to come. This week will once again have 10 matches on-deck, and marks the return of the Dallas Fuel since their debut in Week 1. The hero-pools for this week have Wrecking Ball, Brigitte, Mei and McCree (again). This week offers a lot of great matchups, so here’s how the TGH team ranked everyone heading into Week 9.
(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. Seoul Dynasty (High: 6 Low: 13 LW: 9th)
Seoul after having an explosive first official week of matches have seen their rank skyrocket. This is in part because of the poor performance of the Shock, who previously had the top spot. With two weeks off the Dynasty will be keeping that undefeated title a little longer, but how will other teams adapt to Seoul’s new power ranking? For now, the Tiger Nation is basking in the higher ranking.
- Lauren Olson
2. Vancouver Titans (High: 1 Low: 6 LW: 2nd)
3. Philadelphia Fusion (High: 1 Low: 5 LW: 3rd)
4. New York Excelsior (High: 2 Low: 6 LW: 4th)
T5. San Francisco Shock (High: 1 Low: 2 LW: 1st)
The Shock were decimated by two 3-1 defeats against both their California rivals. All around, their performances were lackluster and they didn’t have the cohesion fans have come to expect from this roster. Whether this was just due to last week’s hero pool, or that it signals greater issues within the team, only time will tell. For now, Shock stocks have fallen, predicting a mass exodus from their championship bandwagon if this keeps up.
- Matthew “Setanta” Kennedy
T5. Atlanta Reign (High: 3 Low: 10 LW: 5th)
Atlanta did exactly what they were supposed to this week, beat up on a weaker opponent. They continue to shuffle their DPS players, but so far it seems to be working. The Reign are off this weekend, but have a big date with the Fusion in Week 10. Then we’ll know more about where they really stand.
- Bradley Long
7. Los Angeles Gladiators (High: 5 Low: 10 LW: 8th)
Los Angeles’ Purple Team has had a roller-coaster week, first dethroning the World Champion Shock, but then getting a championship beatdown by the star-studded Seoul Dynasty. The Gladiators have been proven to hang with the league’s elite teams, and now they can see where they must improve from here. The current nagging issue is their reckless playstyle, notably Gia Huy “MirroR” Trinh’s aggressive attack and Min-seok “OGE” Son’s blown ults. With more performances like they had against San Fran, they should be in the clear.
- Joe Gvora
8. Shanghai Dragons (High: 5 Low: 8 LW: 7th)
Shanghai finally started their path in the Overwatch League and they left with a 1-1 record. They looked fantastic against Guangzhou and then attempted to field in a different starting lineup against Chengdu that immediately put them behind. It looks like their DPS are still a great strength, but at the moment the positions belong to Byung-Sun “Fleta” Kim and Jae Won “LIP” Lee.
- Dalton Jewell
9. Paris Eternal (High: 4 Low: 10 LW: 6th)
10. Hangzhou Spark (High: 9 Low: 16 LW: 11th)
The Spark looked strong against the anti-meta Hunters, as they pulled off the reverse sweep. Against the Charge, Hangzhou weren’t able to finish on map 5 but played consistently when they were on their game. Xu “guxue” Quilin looked strong for the most part without his signature Winston. Kyeong-bo “GodsB” Kim played up to par but at times it seemed he was just short of matching the enemy hitscan when it came to clutch moments. The chosen healing pair looked as strong as they have ever been. Just like last year, it seems like the team is still very streaky. As the team gets more games under its belt, we’ll see if they can bring it around and win games definitively.
- Jordan Garcia
11. Los Angeles Valiant (High: 9 Low: 17 LW: 12th)
Who saw this coming? The Valiant are 2-2 with wins over the Shock and Fuel. Sure they lost to the Titans and Dynasty, but those were expected. This team is full of young underrated talent and they show that week in and week out. This team has the potential to beat any team if they all play to their ceiling. Watch out.
- Christian Wisniewski
12. Guangzhou Charge (High: 9 Low: 14 LW: 10th)
The Guangzhou Charge went 1-1 in their 2020 Overwatch League debut. The Shanghai Dragons shut them out with a 3-0 run in their first match. The Guangzhou boys bounced back in their second game against the Hangzhou Spark, albeit in a very close Map 5 series. Each of the Chinese teams went 1-1 in their first week of play, so it’s a bit difficult to place them. The Charge, however, had the least convincing performance and ended up with the worst map differential of all the Chinese teams. Overall, the Guangzhou squad seemed a bit shaky. The team certainly had some promising moments and the individual talent is there, they just have some kinks to work out moving forward.
- Tiffany Purcell
13. Chengdu Hunters (High: 11 Low: 19 LW: 15th)
The Chengdu Hunters finally got to hunt, and they had some tough prey. Still, they were able to grab a trophy against the Dragons and went the maximum five maps, three points on map five, against the Spark. The awesome energy and hero choices that this team became known for last season are still in play. With Yi “JinMu” Hu and Huang “leave” Xin proving to be dynamite, this team can continue to climb with more showings.
- Dalton Jewell
14. London Spitfire (High: 9 Low: 16 LW: 13th)
15. Florida Mayhem (High: 12 Low: 19 LW: 16th)
The Florida Mayhem are sitting at two wins and four losses now after their loss against Atlanta last week. Florida seem unable to adapt each week to the ever-changing hero pools, often running the same composition on every map each week. However, the team does face the unimpressive Boston Uprising and Toronto Defiant over the next two weeks of play, so hopefully, the Mayhem can bounce back with a couple of wins and find some confidence.
- Samuel O’Dwyer
16. Washington Justice (High: 8 Low: 18 LW: 14th)
17. Houston Outlaws (High: 14 Low: 20 LW: 18th)
T18. Toronto Defiant (High: 11 Low: 19 LW: 17th)
Toronto finds themselves having only one game this week up against the equally 2-4 Washington Justice. With Winston, Sombra and Lucio returning to the hero pools for this week, expect to see the Defiant players on their comfort picks yet again. Though they have struggled to take home more wins, this week offers a great opportunity to gain momentum off of their win against the Boston Uprising. The key to taking down the Justice will be to shutdown DPS superstar Corey “Corey” Nigra. With Mei and Brigette out of the picture, the Defiant’s signature “Hackfist” combination is sure to be a formidable challenge.
- Brad Killion
T18. Dallas Fuel (High: 16 Low: 19 LW: 19th)
20. Boston Uprising (High: 20 Low: 20 LW: 20th)
For Boston fans, the return to the Overwatch League has been horrendous. Just mere days before Boston’s game this past weekend the team was once again mired in controversy. The rest of the lineup did what they could to look competitive but it just couldn’t get the job done. Another week off always means a new chance for Boston to get it together – but for the moment, Boston looks secure in the 20 spot.
- Bryan 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