Now that the second week of Summer Showdown is over, there is time to account for what happened across the league. More specifically, it is time to look at the perceptions of players, teams and how the league has changed through the 2020 OWL Season. After all that has happened this year, stonks are very fluid. Welcome to the OWL Stonk Market.
Stonks Up: LA Valiant
Remember when people were talking about the LA Valiant as the worst team in OWL? The LA Valiant entered the season with a few questions surrounding the team. The two biggest ones were how would their supports perform and what would the main tank scenario look like. They have outperformed all expectations so far. KSP, Shax, and KSF this season are a top-five, maybe top three, DPS trio this season, especially in the current meta. Dreamer rose from the unknown that is Australian Contenders to become an extremely serviceable main tank. Lastro and Rain are both extremely underrated at their support roles and make sure everyone stays alive. This team made a statement by beating the Florida Mayhem, a team some people considered the second-best team in NA. The LA Valiant are here and ready to click heads
Stonks Down: LA Gladiators
This team should be better and there is no disputing that. This is a roster that brought in OGE, Birdring, Space, Mirror, Kevster, and Jaru. All of these players are mechanically gifted or are highly regarded across the league. Put these players together with a coaching staff containing Curryshot, Dpei, Faustus and face and they should be top eight in the league. Instead, this team is sub .500 with more questions than answers. Aside from the stretch where Mirror wrecked shop on Doomfist, this team has not been impressive. Curryshot used to talk a lot, but he has gone very quiet recently. It seems he learned that if his team can not back up his smack talk then he shouldn’t do it so aggressively.
Stonks Up: Guangzhou Charge
Sideshow was….right? Before the season Sideshow pinned the Guangzhou Charge as a top-five team. Many media members and analysts thought he was crazy, but he’s the one laughing now. They have been nothing but stellar and sit at 11-6 on the season. Shu, Nero and Rio took another step this season and look like top players in their roles. Cr0ng, who replaced Hotba, is making people who doubted him look stupid with his great off tank play. This is a young, talented roster that will only get better. This team does not feel like it has the ceiling of Shanghai, but it definitely has an extremely high floor.
Stonks (Slightly) Down: Florida Mayhem
Losing to the LA Valiant is not something to be ashamed of. This past week’s knockdown, drag-out brawl was one of the craziest matches so far this season. The whole roster performed extremely well in the match even though they didn’t win. Yaki and Gangnamjin are both two of the top rookie of the year candidates while BQB is in the conversation to be the most improved player. That isn’t even taking into account how Kuki may be the Coach of the Year. This loss doesn’t hurt the Mayhem much, it just puts them firmly in a tier behind the Fusion & Shock
Stonks Up: Hangzhou Spark
Sparchitech…sorry Architect is now in the house for the Hangzhou Spark. While the team may have gone 1-1 this past week, they looked a lot better. Their improvement can be attributed to the massive roster improvements the team made last week. Architect filled a much-needed upgrade over Adora at flex DPS, QoQ provided much more consistent off tank play compared to Ria and Sasin, while the addition of M1ka provided another strong option at main support. The Spark sit at ninth in the overall standings currently and look poised to make a late-season run. Hopefully, they make that run, because the more top tier teams the better.
Stonks (Slightly) Down: Paris Eternal
What is the right spot to rank you, that is the question. Sp9rk1e finally is of age and Xzi has returned from his health absence, but major rust was showing during the match versus the Shock. Sp9rk1e’s Mei did look a little better though, but still not as good as his Genji and Doomfist. FDGod, Fielder, and Hanbin are all still performing well and look like franchise pieces. One area the Eternal will likely need to improve is the main tank position. Benbest and Nosmite both have their moments, but this team could use a more consistent force at the position. If the team can coax Mag to join OWL early, this team likely jumps into the top four.
Stonks Down: Dallas Fuel
If you are the first team to lose to Vancouver, your stonks go down. That is nothing against the Titans. They played out of their mind and have looked much better over the past few weeks. That being said Dallas looked outmatched. Onigod was a bright spot during the matchup, but the rest of the team was rather lackluster. The support line is fine, but nothing special. The DPS duo of Onigod and Decay looks potentially good, the only issue is that Doha is very specialized and AKM just does not play. Then the conversation shifts to the tanks. Gamsu is old faithful. He is consistent and can play every main tank to an above-average level. How much longer does Aero have as head coach? Nobody knows, but it isn’t long
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What do you think? Tell Christian on Twitter at @TheWiz_SPM.
Featured image courtesy of Overwatch League.
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