The Washington Justice come off their bye week with two tough matchups in Week 5. On Saturday they face off against the Shanghai Dragons who are 3-2 in Stage 2 and 6-6 overall. On Sunday they play the Boston Uprising 2-3 so far this stage and 6-6 overall. The Dragons and Uprising may not be in the top tier of teams, but both squads consistently perform well.
Courtesy of Overwatch League
At this point in the season, the Dragons have put last year’s embarrassing 0-40 season firmly in the rear view mirror. With wins over quality opponents such as the Hunters, Uprising and Spitfire, Shanghai has established itself as a fighting force. Yang “DDing” Jin-hyeok proven himself a force to be reckoned with while playing Heroes such as Sombra and Pharah.
Not all hope is lost for the Justice however, the recent addition of Nikola “Sleepy” Andrews should go a long way in helping them stay competitive. His healing and most importantly his Zenyatta play should counter DDing. Be it saving his team with an ultimate to counteract an EMP or harassing Shanghai as a quasi DPS Hero, his success will dictate how the Justice do on Saturday.
Prediction: Dragons win 3-2.
Courtesy of Overwatch League
The Uprising are better than their 2-3 record during Stage 2 would indicate. Two of those loses came at the hands of unbeaten Vancouver and the defending Season 1 champions London Spitfire. After pulling off two reverse sweeps to open up the stage they lost in a map five to the Spark in a match that could have gone either way. While they have been playing a more diverse hero set with the addition of Richard “rCk” Kanerva the GOATs composition is still their bread and butter. This is due in no small part to the play of first year Overwatch League player Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth. Fusions has quickly established himself as one of the most dominant Reinhardt players in the league and was named to the Atlantic all star team.
If the Justice are to compete in this matchup, Song “Janus” Junhwa will be the key. In many ways, Fusions represents exactly what the Justice sorely lack: a true shot caller. A player who will lead their team into battle. Janus needs to try and emulate this style of play or cohesion of the Uprising will be too much for Washington.
Prediction: Uprising win 3-1.
Courtesy of Overwatch League
After a decent showing in his first match two weeks ago, it will be important to see how Sleepy is meshing with his new squad. If Sleepy can form some chemistry with Hong “ArK” Yeonjoon the Justice’s support line could be a force to reckoned with. If the Justice can pull out a win over either of these teams, it will go a long way is establishing Washington as a dark horse during the back half of the season.
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