Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment NYXL celebrate after knocking off Seoul Dynasty.
After last week’s Six Stack, where we discussed the recent fines Overwatch League handed down, it was nice to actually get back to the action.
That action was some of the best Overwatch League has seen to date, and it including some unexpected results. The biggest performers of the week were Boston Uprising, who defeated both London Spitfire and Dallas Fuel to even out their record. Boston took advantage of London’s weakness on control point maps, winning on Ilios and sweeping the tiebreaker.
If you want to see Overwatch played at it’s highest level, watc
The most unexpected result of all, however, was not in any outright result last week. But Shanghai Dragons, despite their early struggles, were in fact able to take a map from Seoul Dynasty in a 3-1 loss. Shanghai has struggled early, but could be looking to add new talent in the recently opened transfer window.
Here are the full standings after three weeks:
Seoul Dynasty 5-1
New York Excelsior 5-1
London Spitfire 5-1
Houston Outlaws 4-2
Los Angeles Valiant 4-2
Philadelphia Fusion 4-2
Boston Uprising 3-3
Los Angeles Gladiators 2-4
San Francisco Shock 2-4
Florida Mayhem 1-5
Dallas Fuel 1-5
Shanghai Dragons 0-6
There are no more undefeated teams in Overwatch League, but there’s no newcomers in our Power Rankings. Here’s our Six Stack for Week 4:
6: Los Angeles Valiant
Last Week: 4
Valiant pulled a reverse sweep to overcome their local rivals, and then handled business against Florida Mayhem. I really wanted to put Boston here, but it’s not because of a lack of faith in Valiant. This team is going to contend, especially when the Mercy changes shift the healing priorities across the league.
5: Philadelphia Fusion
Last Week: 6
Fusion scored a massive victory over NYXL to start the week, then almost had the esports equivalent of a letdown game against Shanghai Dragons. The latter result is a slight concern, because Fusion have hardly diverted from their dive composition early in the season. Teams that can counter the dive will have success over Philly, but right now it’s got them climbing the standings.
4: Houston Outlaws
Last Week: 5
Since their 0-2 start, Houston have won 16 straight maps to right their record. Where most teams have been frustrated with the Mercy metagame, Bani and Houston have been thriving. Bani died just 12 times on eight maps, using his ultimate 22 times and resurrecting 34 teammates. Houston gets a shot at Seoul Dynasty this week, a team that barely defeated them 2-1 in the preseason.
3: London Spitfire
Last Week: 3
The first team of top three to lose their first match of the season, London has seen notable struggles with ultimate management. An important aspect of the game is the coordination of team abilities, and London has been lacking in that aspect for the early goings. There is a clear abundance of talent on the roster, but it is not clear if they have found the right combinations of players. London face Seoul to start the week, a huge match for the teams and their chances of reaching the Stage One playoffs.
2: Seoul Dynasty
Last Week: 1
The most likely team to finish Stage One unbeaten, Seoul are still having problems finding a dominant Tracer. Both Munchkin and Bunny were added to Dynasty to help boost their DPS corps, but both have been disappointing against other top Tracers early in the season. Still, Fleta may be the best DPS in the entire league, and Seoul should be one of the final three teams at the end of the stage.
1: New York Excelsior
Last Week: 2
All the hype may go to Pine, but NYXL will go as far as Saebyeolbe will take them. He’s the leader of the team and a dominant Tracer, carving up Seoul Dynasty during their 3-2 win. Saebyeolbe also has a massive hero pool, even going 7-1 as Roadhog during a wild 5-4 defeat on Horizon: Lunar Colony that saw him play five different heroes. NYXL look to continue their success against Shanghai and Dallas this week.