Overwatch League Stage 2 Week 2 Power Rankings

Daks Rosales
The Critical Index
Published in
7 min readMar 7, 2018

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The Outlaws seem to be the dead rather than the quick, while the NYXL come back to form.

Saebyeolbe played exceptionally this week as the NY Excelsior stood on top with a 2–0. Ark has returned to the lineup as well. (Credits: Overwatch League)

The second week of Stage 2 has caused a turbulence in the top part of the power rankings! The Korean teams are back on top, as the Western teams are looking outclassed once again. There were so many potential changes to the power rankings this week, and when the dust settled, this was the hierarchy in the Overwatch League:

1st — New York Excelsior (+2)

Week 2 Record (2–0), Stage 2 Record (3–1)

Ark is back and he’s cradling the support line with his care! The New York Excelsior dominated the competition, with sweeps against both the Boston Uprising and the Houston Outlaws. There was a consistent dominance from NYXL as they were back to form, but there were also heroics coming in from the team. A certain Saebyeolbe played amazing all week and came through for his team, including a last second touch onto the payload on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Still holding the best record overall, the NYXL stand of top of the leaderboard and the power rankings for this week.

2nd — London Spitfire

Week 2 Record (2–0), Stage 2 Record (3–1)

The London Spitfire are working on and succeeding to be more and more consistent as a top-tier contender. With exceptional play coming in from the team, with the highlights of the roster being Bdosin and Profit, the Spitfire are breaking out of their inconsistency through their core 6 lineup. While they did give some playing time to the rest of their roster against the Mayhem, this core demolished the Philadelphia Fusion. As long as London keeps this form, they will always be at the top tier of the power rankings and always have an opportunity for Stage playoffs.

3rd — Seoul Dynasty (+1)

Week 2 Record (2–0), Stage 2 Record (4–0)

The Korean trio is back on top! The Seoul Dynasty are the only team left with a 4–0 record for Stage 2, and are poised to climb back to the expectation people have for them. A great adaptation to the post-Mercy meta proves that Seoul is the beast we’ve been waiting for. Heroics are abound, this time with Munchkin performing exceptional against the Los Angeles Gladiators on the Tracer. While they can be tied to experimentation, there is still concern that the Dynasty are losing maps to teams that they shouldn’t be losing (1 map to both the Gladiators and Fuel). Also, their “easier” schedule prevents them from leapfrogging their fellow Korean teams to the top, and will be truly tested when the hometown faces off their fellow countrymen.

4th — Houston Outlaws (-3)

Week 2 Record (0–2), Stage 2 Record (2–2)

High noon has come and gone for the Outlaws and they failed to pull the trigger. Losing an extremely close match against the Fusion, the Outlaws were almost completely slaughtered by the Excelsior in a sweep. The DPS players of Jake and Linkzr seemed to struggle in the 2 matches, often caught out and struggling to get the kills that their team needs. It’s apparent that while the Outlaws are both wily with strategy and positioning, there is still a need for raw mechanical skill on the icon of the game- Tracer. While Clockwork is getting the starts on the main stage that he needs to get better, one may hope the improvement come faster or a superstar for the hero come onto the roster.

5th — Philadelphia Fusion

Week 2 Record (1–1), Stage 2 Record (3–1)

The Fusion edged it out against the Outlaws in a match that could have gone either way! Having Shadowburn back onto the lineup as Eqo fell to sickness, a 5 games series with the Outlaws showed the amount of preparation the 2 teams had for each other in a clash for the West. Similar to the Outlaws, they also were destroyed by their Korean opposition of the London Spitfire, being swept by them as well. The debate between Shadowburn (experience) or Eqo (communication) will still rage on. Which one does the Fusion need more for team success? In any case, stronger showings in the coming weeks will make the kings of dive the best challenge against the Korean trio.

6th — Los Angeles Valiant

Week 2 Record (2–0), Stage 2 Record (3–1)

The arrival of new coach MBC seems to have worked well for the Valiant. After an abhorrent match to start the stage off against the Seoul Dynasty, LAV is back into form with victories over the San Francisco Shock and the Dallas Fuel. Mechanically the team is performing well, with SoOn in top form and Kariv flexing onto hitscan with success. However, the team play was still a bit lacking, as there were moments in their matches that they chased kills rather than secured the objective, which LAV needs to work if they want to be in a higher position. Their upcoming match against the Outlaws may be a test to this, as they already have the Tracer matchup at a distinct advantage.

7th — Boston Uprising

Week 2 Record (1–1), Stage 2 Record (1–3)

I miss the old Boston Uprising of Stage 1 yore. The team had the distinct pain of having their first opponent for the week, the New York Excelsior, have their support duo back intact. Taking their beating and being swept by the NYXL, the Uprising finally picked up a win this stage against the Florida Mayhem. They showed improvement this week but its not much to say after the first week of the stage, which an extremely poor show from them. They need better results to still contend for the stage playoffs this time, or else they may see themselves slip further down the ladder and into obscurity.

8th — Dallas Fuel

Week 2 Record (0–2), Stage 2 Record (2–2)

Looks like Dallas Fuel’s strategy of “Protect aKm” has come back to bite them. Losing both of their matches to the Dynasty and the Valiant, their “strategy” (or lack of) was extremely apparent on the second point of Hanamura. In both matches, they kept trying to force the topmost part to secure a spot for aKm to take free shots at the enemy. They did not change this strategy even after being beat back clash after clash. The new additions seemed to be a band-aid over a festering team issue. There needs to be clearer synergy, communication and strategy for the team to reach their potential. Or you know, just blow up the roster.

9th- Los Angeles Gladiators (-1)

Week 2 Record (1–1), Stage 2 Record (2–2)

The LAG are having a mediocre time. Sweeping the Shanghai Dragons, they gave their all in their Nepal map against the Dynasty and looked tired for the rest of the match. The Dynasty beat down on the tank line, especially at Fissure, and the second DPS department could not pick up the slack. While Surefour played well, it was not enough as there needs be a twin-prong attack rather than a single one for the damage. The Gladiators look like they still need more additions to reach even greater feats, but as of now are just an “OK” team.

10th — San Francisco Shock

Week 2 Record (1–1), Stage 2 Record (1–3)

Hey, its March, so let’s do a little countdown to March 18!

Beyond my usual quip on the Shock just waiting for their expensive acquisition, the individual play from the Shock has been on the upswing. However, both of their matches against the Valiant (loss) and the Dragons (win) were clown fiestas in terms of team play, and they still seem like the team is mentally checked out till the rest of their roster fills in. And if they are checked out like that, so why can’t I when I write about them?

11th- Florida Mayhem

Week 2 Record (0–2), Stage 2 Record (0–4)

Why does it look like that Florida’s goal is not to win, but always just show glimmers of potential? They took a map off London but failed to even show up against the Boston Uprising. They take the top tier teams to the edge but still don’t learn enough from these matches to dispatch the lower half of the league and rise through the rankings. In any case, the new acquisitions may be of big help for that aspect as fresh new faces of Zappis, Sayaplayer, and aWesomeGuy might provide the raw talent they need to mold the experience they’ve earned.

12th- Shanghai Dragons

Week 2 Record (0–2), Stage 2 Record (0–4)

So, on the Dragons, a bit of news for them this coming week…

Their controversial coach U4 has stepped down

Top player Diya has to go back home to China for a family emergency and cannot play…

Geguri, Sky, Fearless and Ado have still not left their countries

and oh, they lost their matches to the Fuel and Valiant and seem to have no chance for the playoffs at the end of the season, as well as the Stage 2 playoffs. The team gets demolished by the dive easily, with both Roshan and MG looking lost. With only Undead left to pick up the slack, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Shanghai’s opponents (Seoul and Boston) experiment with their rosters in the coming week against them.

Previous weeks: Week 0, Week 1

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