The Summer Showdown shook up the league a lot. Upsets occurred in both tournaments, players took massive steps forward, and some old faces returned to prominence. Naturally, that means lots of stonk changes. Welcome to the OWL Stonk Market.
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
They may not have won, but they came so close. The Fusion proved once again that no matter what they are good, but seemingly never the best, and every meta. In a meta that was based around Genji play, EQO came out of the bullpen and was arguably the best Genji during the Showdown. He was not as flashy as Sp9rk1e, but he managed to consistently get value and played very smart. It is brutally painful that the Fusion have fallen short so many times in finals, but don’t let that muddle what they are, the most meta proof team in the league.
Image Courtesy of San Francisco Shock
Once again, another chink in the armor of the 2019 champions has reared its head. Earlier in the season they didn’t look like typical Shock, but soon after righted the ship to look like the Shock of old. Come Summer Showdown though, the departures of Sinatraa and Architect reared their head. The Shock tried to force the Tracer Ashe comps and it almost worked, but in the end Genji proved to be the better hero. Even when a flex god like Rascal picked up the hero, he couldn’t match his opposition well enough. This team likely only gets weaker from here. They can no longer stack armor on Striker and they have no clear Genji player. The Shock need to turn around quick or they may fall farther.
Image Courtesy of @GZCharge on Twitter
No Nero and Neptuno, no problem. The Charge upset the “best team in the world” in the APAC Summer Showdown Grand Finals. This team has never gotten the respect they deserved from people, myself included. The Charge’s roster always looked like a bunch of good/great players, but it was hard to say how high that could be. They shut everyone up in the Summer Showdown. Eileen unleashed an amazing string of performances on Genji, Cr0ng set himself up to be in consideration for the best off tank in the league, and Chara finally got the respect he deserved from the Chinese fans. This team is at worst a top six team in the world, and maybe in the best by the end of the season.
Courtesy of the Shanghai Dragon Twitter @Shanghaidragons
The Dragons are a team that gets too much credit. Yes, I just wrote that. They are likely the most talented team in APAC in terms of every position, but look at the competition. Over half of the teams in the region have a negative map differential. That doesn’t include the NYXL whose 11-5 record, excluding two tournament wins, is buoyed by their early season stint in NA facing the Uprising and Justice multiple times.
The Dragons Finals appearances also deserve a relook. They put themselves in the position to get 4-0’d both times and only managed to beat the Dynasty because of how streaky Profit and company are. The Dragons are probably the best team in Asia, but not the best team in the league. No team with that title should lose to bad teams like randomly do or end up in positions like they do in finals.
Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for The Overwatch League
The Eternal won the NA Summer Showdown. They also won off the back of being dominant on control and one tricking Genji everywhere else. Sp9rk1e carried the team to the finals, but Xzi stepped up to end the Fusion’s run when they shut down Sp9rk1e. The Eternal are not the best team in NA, they are the third best team right now. Sure they won the Summer Showdown, but much like the Mayhem in the May Melee, that was just a two week stretch.
The Eternal need to prove they can consistently perform across different metas. They can no longer rely on Sp9rk1e carrying on Genji with the Brig nerfs, which begs the question of what Sp9rk1e plays. Genji should still be viable, but not as good. This team needs to do more to be considered better than the likes of Fusion and Shock, but they aren’t far behind.
Image Courtesy of The Overwatch League
The Reign continue to be arguably the most disappointing team in OWL this season. A roster this talented should not have the issues they have. Think about this; the Reign have lost every match where they haven’t swept their opposition. A swift gust of wind could be the Reign right now. This team is not bad, though. The coaching staff made Edison a viable flex DPS, but the coordination is lacking on this team. They need to improve a lot if they want a chance to win at the end of the season.
Via Toronto Defiant Flickr
Long have they awaited, Genji validated, Agilities activated. The Defiant surprised the entirety of OWL with their semifinal run during the Summer Showdown. As long as Genji is meta, this roster has the chance to be very relevant. Agilities is one of the most talented genji players and they have average to good players at every position to pair with that. Stonks up somewhat, not sure how much though.
2019-09-05 – Overwatch League 2019 Season / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
This is the most average team in OWL by the numbers. The Glads have a .500 record with a zero map differential. This team is better than that. Much like the Reign and Dynasty, this roster has many talented players. Space, Birdring, Biggoose, Shaz, OGE and Kevster are all very talented but can’t seem to put it all together. With this talent and the coaching staff they have, this team should be miles better. They are a bottom three NA team right now.
Image Courtesy of Houston Outlaws
There is life in Houston. The Outlaws season turned around as soon as they put Hydration at main tank. His playstyle fits this team so much better and he also has a better Reinhardt than Muma. Hydration and Meko is a nice tank duo, Jecse is a very good main support, Rawkus & Rapel are a good flex support duo and that isn’t even talking about DPS. The return to a Tracer/Genji meta allowed this team to unleash Danteh on his best heroes while also bringing back Linkzr to a starting role. If this team can get a good schedule, they can be a fringe playoff team.
What do you think? Tell Christian on Twitter at @TheWiz_SPM.
Featured image courtesy of Overwatch League.
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