Week 2 of the Overwatch League’s opening stage provided some shocking match results that left casters and analysts scratching their heads. Almost as shocking as the results themselves were the plays made by players and teams around the league. But of all of the great plays made in Week 2, which were the best of the best?
To help sort this out, The Game Haus will be breaking down the top ten plays from the previous weekend every Monday throughout the season, in addition to highlighting the top plays at the end of each stage. For Week 2, we begin with the #10 play that has the Guangzhou Charge and their fans feeling, well, quite happy.
10: Happy are not Those Whose Heads get Clicked
Jung-woo “Happy” Lee is a player that caster and analyst Robert “hexagrams” Kirkbride has been very keen on since the preseason, and rightfully so. Happy’s Widowmaker has been outstanding when he’s been able to play it, just like this highlight on Busan demonstrates. This play, along with several others from the Charge, led them to a commanding 4-0 win over the Dallas Fuel.
9: CoMa Sends NotE Flying
In what ended up being a historic first match win for the Shanghai Dragons, it was moments like this that helped them get the victory. The Lucio of Son “CoMa” Kyung Woo paired with Brigitte to cancel the Reaper ultimate of Lucas “NotE” Meissner and send Boston’s hopes of winning King’s Row away with him. Outside of some flashy plays from Shanghai’s own Yong-Jin “YOUNGJIN” Jin, the rest of the league has yet to get their footing on how to best utilize Reaper in the OWL.
8: Ameng Gets a Strike on Mayhem Lane
Quickly gaining the reputation as being the league’s best Wrecking Ball, Ding “Ameng” Menghan has been giving team’s fits in each of Chengdu’s first few games. Here, we see Ameng utilize Wrecking Ball’s grapple ability to knock the Mayhem off the high ground, then lay down the mines to finish the play. Plays like this help make sense of why Ameng continues to play a considerably higher amount of Wrecking Ball than the league average.
7: SPREE Reminds the Spark who Owns King’s Row
Off of the back of a great Earthshatter from Austin “Muma” Wilmot comes a devastating D.Va bomb from Alexandre “SPREE” Vanhomwegen. SPREE and the Outlaws have been historically dominant on the streets of King’s Row, this battle notwithstanding. In what was a tightly contested match as a whole, this play was a large factor in the Outlaws sole win over the Spark.
6: NYXL Cement Their Dominance
In a play that encapsulated the entire series, the NYXL combine to catch five of the Outlaws in this ultimate combo. The NYXL tank duo of Dong-gyu “Mano” Kim and Tae-hong “MekO” Kim are simply too much for the Outlaws to handle in terms of the synergy and communication leading to this play. This is also the second consecutive week with a MekO D.Va bomb cracking the top ten.
5: The Best Offense is Sometimes a Good Defense
In a sneaky retreat and reengage play, Seung-pyo “Rio” Oh and the Charge flipped the script on the Fuel on Hollywood. With Dallas pressing, the Charge were on their heels and retreating. This led to Dallas main tank, Min-seok “OGE” Son playing aggressively with his shield down, leaving a window for Rio to strike. Rio is able to capitalize on the aggression and the Charge claim the team fight.
4: Outlaws’ 9000 IQ Rotation Leaves the Spark High and Dry
On their Temple of Anubis attack, we see the Outlaws rotating back and forth seemingly without purpose. However, as soon as the Spark commit rotate around to the initial high ground, the Outlaws strike and separate all of the support players. With few solidified ways to counter the beefy 3-3 composition, the Outlaws found their counter in wartime tactic as old as time – Divide and Conquer.
3: The Hunters Turn Back the Clock with a Devastating Nano-Blade
Keeping in line with their non-traditional compositions, the Chengdu Hunters dial up an ultimate combo that harkens back to early in Season 1 of the Overwatch League. On the Genji, Yi “JinMu” Hu goes straight for the backline of the Mayhem and after Kevyn “TviQ” Lindström who is in the middle of using Rally. Despite the armor output of Rally, TviQ and several other Mayhem players end up falling as a result of this powerful combo.
2: JJANU Calls Game
In an incredibly close match, on the final round of the final map, Hyeon-Woo “JJANU” Choi and the Vancouver Titans put away the win with a stellar D.Va bomb placement. Despite losing their main tank, Sang-beom “Bumper” Park, just seconds before the combo happens, the Titans still managed to push through.
It’s worth noting that JJANU had other massive D.Va bombs against the San Francisco Shock in the Titans’ second game of the week. While these were also very important, the bomb during the Charge game is the only one that makes the top 10 due to its importance in the match.
1: Shanghai Lifts the Curse
While this may not be a single play as the others on the list are, this is a moment that demands recognition on this list. The Shanghai Dragons who, up until this point, had a franchise record of 0-42, finally get their first win over the Boston Uprising. The win itself, the crowd’s emotional reaction, and Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh beating the team that let him go just days before the season all combine to make this a moment that will not quickly be forgotten. The curse is now lifted. Let the fire of the Dragon’s light up the sky.
Miss Week 1? You can catch the top 10 plays from that week here! Be sure to catch all of the Week 3 action through our coverage here at The Game Haus and check back in next Monday to see which plays make the top 10!
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