Stage 3 of the Overwatch League 2019 season begins in just over two hours. With the season only being 28 games long, several teams are already finding themselves in a position where they need to win – fast. Considering strength of schedule, newly available players and several other factors, there are several teams looking to outperform their Stage 2 shortcomings. Here are the three most likely to bounce back in a big way in Stage 3.
The Charge are coming off of a tough Stage 2 where they had to play the Shock twice as well as the Gladiators and the Spark. Outside of those four tough matchups, they managed to go 2-1 in their remaining games against teams at or below their skill level. They should bounce back strong in Stage 3.
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In Stage 3, the Charge go up against four teams who currently have a 7-7 record and three teams with losing records. Combined, their Stage 3 opponents have gone 39-59 thus far. This, along with a couple of very important 18th birthdays for Won-jae “Rise” Lee and Charlie “nero” Zwarg could indicate a turning of the tides in the Charge’s favor.
Image Courtesy of @outlaws
It’s hard to get any worse than 0-7, so the Outlaws should look to improve from that marker in Stage 3. Outside of matches against New York and the Shock, several of the Outlaws matches this stage are very winnable. The Outlaws get the Mayhem, Eternal and Justice this stage, all of which have struggled to find their footing in the first two stages.
Another thing the Outlaws have in their favor this Stage is the map pool. The Outlaws have been historically strong on several maps in the rotation this stage. Over the past two years, the Outlaws boast a 90% map win rate on Watchpoint: Gibraltar on 11 times played and an 85.7% map win rate on Eichenwalde on seven times played, according to Winston’s Lab. With a little RNG on their side, the Outlaws have a chance for some favorable map draws heading into Stage 3. Not to mention, several of these maps also have some excellent high ground, setting us up for a potential Return of the Jakerat.
The Dragons have one of the strangest Stage 3 schedules that the OWL has ever seen. In seven games, they play both the Valiant and the Charge twice, one of which in back-to-back games. Outside of that, the Dragons face a tough Gladiators team, the Fusion and the Reign. If they play consistently at their level, the Dragons may be looking at a five, six, or even seven-win stage.
This is a stage where Shanghai can set themselves up nicely for the season playoffs and should be expected to be a high seeded team in the Stage 3 Playoffs. If they want to secure their spot in the top six before the season’s end, the Dragons need to end Stage 3 with at least 11-12 total wins.
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