Week two of the Overwatch League (OWL) is in the books. Before the league properly started, during preseason, and since then there have been numerous rankings of the OWL teams. Now all those can be put aside. With the end of week two each team has now played four matches against four different opponents in the league. This means for the first time we have some real rankings to go off of.
At the Bottom: Shanghai and Dallas
Shanghai– The only Chinese team had a less then stellar performance during the preseason, however everyone, myself included was willing to give them a pass. After all, we had all heard about the difficulties the team was having with Visas. Now, four games into the league the problems facing the Dragons aren’t so excusable. Nothing seems to be be working for the team that suffered two 4-0 losses this week. Shanghai is struggling, no two ways about it.
Dallas– We all picked the boys in blue as one of the powerhouse western teams. Unfortunately, the Fuel have had a hard time living up to their potential. Their two wins in the preseason seem distant memory now. What exactly is holding Dallas back is unclear, but they have been placed against two of the undefeated teams in the league. As the season goes on and they play a wider range of teams the Fuel will likely rise above their current placement. They may not rise as high as originally predicted though.
One Win Each: Florida and Boston
Florida– The fight for the bottom was won by the Mayhem on Friday. They manage to keep themselves from being the first to loose to the Dragons but little else. The Mayhem come from a well established esports organization, Misfits Gaming, but at the same time have only six players on their roster. This has left them without subs and made it easier for other teams to learn the way they play and ways around them. They’ve had some tough match ups so far, but also some easy ones. My take: They should be happy they’re not at the bottom at the end of this week.
Boston– The Uprising were placed low in a number of rankings by a number of very smart people. That said, there were still many analysts who had high hopes for the Kraft Groups newest team. Bostons play has been noticeably disciplined this week and some of their losses have been closer than the number say. With one of the toughest schedules so far Boston will need a few more matches to see where they really belong.
The Middle of the Pack: Philadelphia, Valiant, Gladiators, San Francisco and Houston
Philadelphia– The Fusion missed the preseason but they’ve been making up for lost time. The newest team from the city of brotherly love was in top form this week. Their match against the Outlaws is of special mention as they dominated the field. If they continue in this way they’ve only going to improve their position on the table.
Houston– I gotta say, I’m a little disappointed in OpTic’s performance. The green wall has talent above and beyond a 2-2 record. Furthermore, they seemed to lag behind some of the other 2-2 ranked teams when faced off against each other. That said, their win against Dallas showed a great deal of skill and They put up a good fight against NYXL.
San Francisco– The Shock stepped up to play extra matches in the preseason and used the time to make their player Babybay a household name. Since then they’ve claimed victories against the Dragons and Boston but fell to the Valiant and the Fusion. What does this mean? It means the Shock might be sitting right where they belong.
Gladiators– Shields Up! The Gladiators pulled off an impressive reverse sweep against the Fusion this week. I’m not ready to put them at the top of the league until I see some more matches, but they tie the Fusion be the best team with a 2-2 record.
Valiant– Much like with the Outlaws I expected a bit more from the Immortals. To be fair though, their losses only come from undefeated teams. It’s going to take some more matches before they settle into a proper place in the table. Their week three match against the Gladiators will be telling for both teams.
Crowded at the Top: NYXL, Seoul, and London
Seoul– It surprises absolutely no one that the Korean team in the league is currently undefeated. It’s a well earned record though. The Dynasty have consistently made good decisions beyond just the individual level and this position in the table is a result of that. They are a top tier team but as is the case with all of the top three, they haven’t had to play the other undefeated teams. Next week Seoul and New York will go at it. It’ll be a game to watch.
London– Cloud9 are a top tier team, that’s a fact. They also secured two top tier Overwatch rosters for their team. With these two rosters the story has shifted from “How will these two rosters do together?” to “How will they deploy these rosters this time?” They have probably made the most successful transition to the OWL of any roster.
NYXL– This team includes some of the players from the APEX Tournament series in Korea. Even so they were often ranked low before the preseason. So far though, the New York team has performed above and beyond that of most of the league. The team has quietly been racking up solid wins against strong opponents. In fact, Boston is the only team they faced without two wins.
What do you think? Is it too early to start looking at the standings? Only three weeks remain for stage one of the Inaugural season. Plenty of time for the Dynasty to fall and the Dragons to climb. Keep it here for more updates and analysis.
