Week 2 of the OWL was just as exciting as the first; some teams cemented their standings, while other teams flipped the script. Let’s take a closer look at how each team performed during Week 2.
Atlantic Division: Weekly Record (Season Record)
New York Excelsior: 2-0 (4-0)
New York continued to dominate their opponents throughout the week, but the big story for the Excels is their flex player Do-Hyeon “Pine” Kim. Pine continued to shine in his limited role on control point maps and was promoted to the starting lineup in New York’s second match of the week against the L.A. Gladiators. New York’s excellent subbing ability between Pine and Saebyeolbe, in addition to the tremendous skill of the entire team, shows why they deserve to be 4-0 at the end of Week 2.
London Spitfire: 2-0 (4-0)
London Spitfire continued to fight hard and earn some wins. After rolling over the Dallas Fuel, the London Spitfire turned their attention to the L.A. Valiant. Then after going up 2-0, the Spitfire gave up the next two games on Oasis and Eichenwalde. London rallied and took the tiebreaker on Lijiang two rounds in a row.
Houston Outlaws: 2-0 (2-2)
Coming off two losses in Week 1, the Houston Outlaws were fortunate to face the Shanghai Dragons, arguably the weakest team in the league, at the beginning of the week. After a 4-0 victory there, the Outlaws turned their attention to their Texas rivals, the Dallas Fuel. After losing to the Fuel during the preseason, the Outlaws had an uphill fight in the battle for Texas. Since they were the second Texas team announced for the OWL, the Outlaws haven’t had the same huge fan base as the Fuel. Perhaps this match might have swayed some fans, especially after a remarkable first point defense on Junkertown made Dallas look like a team of amateurs.
Philadelphia Fusion: 1-1 (2-2)
The Fusion continue to be an exciting team to watch. With players like Neptuno (arguably the scariest Mercy in the league) and ShaDowBurn (a terrific Genji player), there is always an opportunity for a crazy highlight. After a close victory against the San Francisco Shock to start the week, the Fusion came out strong against the L.A. gladiators. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, it wouldn’t last, as the Gladiators remained resilient and came back for the win on the last three maps of the match. During the match we got to see that even pros are capable of blunders, as Carpe walked of a cliff on Junkertown early into Game 1 on Junkertown.
Boston Uprising: 0-2 (1-3)
The Boston Uprising began to show how their inexperience may affect their season, as they lost eight straight rounds to Seoul Dynasty and the Los Angeles Gladiators. While the Uprising look good and appear comfortable with the strategies they’ve practiced, they don’t look diverse in their playstyle. Consequently, opponents have an advantage preparing against Boston’s limited scope of diversity. Seoul’s use of Mae on Junkertown couldn’t be countered by Boston’s predictable Bastion/Sniper combo. All is not lost for the Boston Uprising. The reason they lost is also the reason they can come back even stronger. Their youth means they are coachable and have the opportunity to grow as a team.
Florida Mayhem: 1-1 (1-3)
Florida’s week went as expected. They faced the best team in the league, Seoul Dynasty, and they lost. They faced the weakest team in the league, the Shanghai Dragons, and they won. Right now they sit towards the bottom of the standings, but this week wasn’t the best indicator of their skill. We’ll take a closer look at them after Week 3.
Pacific Division: Weekly Record (Season Record)
Seoul Dynasty: 2-0 (4-0)
They’re the best team around and they know it. The players for the Dynasty are confident and want to be the best around, almost to their detriment. They all want to make big plays, and sometimes that leads to bad decisions. Dynasty’s tank, Miro, dived as Winston into the entirety of the Boston Uprising, only to see his demise. Despite the mistake, the Seoul Dynasty continued to assert their dominance as they took home two more wins.
Los Angeles Valiant: 0-2 (2-2)
The Valiant had two very tough matchups this week and ultimately fell to the London Spitfire and the New York Excels. After a strong Week 1 performance, this result is disappointing. They’ll be looking to bounce back in Week 3 with favorable matchups against the Florida Mayhem and L.A. Gladiators.
San Francisco Shock: 1-1 (2-2)
The Shock continue to be the definition of average. Going 1-1 again this week, the Shock look like they still have a few kinks they need to work out if they want to excel. Their match with the Fusion was exciting to watch, but they still couldn’t get the win. Going forward they’ll look to improve all around. We’ll take a closer look at them next week.
Los Angeles Gladiators: 1-1 (2-2)
After Week 1 it was near impossible to figure out exactly how good the Gladiators might be. Their games against Seoul and Shanghai didn’t help much, either. So their match against the Fusion was the first real clue to how good they might be. I like what I see from the Gladiators; they seem to play well and care about their team chemistry. That positive attitude can only help their efforts going forward and will certainly lead to a few victories going forward. When they come out on stage to play every week, they look like they want to have fun. If nothing else, they’re certain to become fan favorites over the course of the season.
Dallas Fuel: 0-2 (0-4)
Their record is perhaps the biggest shock of the season thus far, and considering we’ve already seen two players getting fined this inaugural season (hint: one of them is a Dallas Fuel player), that is saying something. Fan favorites from the moment they were announced as a team, the Fuel have struggled to give their fans a victory. Perhaps they were too cocky, perhaps they were overhyped. Whatever the problem is, they need to figure it out and fast. Losing to the Houston Outlaws 4-0 this week was a big blow, and they just did not look good in that match. They’ll look to find their first win in Week 3 against the San Francisco Shock.
Shanghai Dragons: 0-2 (0-4)
They aren’t playing well, and until that changes, they’ll stay in last place, ’nuff said.
You can check out the Overwatch League Wednesday through Saturday every week on twitch.tv/OverwatchLeague, or you can watch the VOD’s on the Overwatch League website.
Did you watch Week 2 of the OWL? What plays and players stood out to you? Let us know your predictions for the rest of the season in the comments below, and be sure to stick around GameSkinny for all your Overwatch League recaps!
