Stage 2 Week 4 of the Overwatch League has come and gone, and the competition for a potential playoffs spot is heating up. During this past week, we saw Seoul go up against New York and London, and we got some of the best high-level Overwatch play we’ve seen so far this season. On the other end of the spectrum, the two Texas teams really struggled this week, and they’ve knocked themselves out of the running for the Stage 2 playoffs.
Groundhog Day
In Stage 1 of the Overwatch League, the Seoul Dynasty went up against the New York Excelsior and delivered a match of spectacular fashion. The match ended in a 3-2 score going in the favor of New York, but Seoul really put up a good fight. In Stage 2, Seoul went up against New York and ended up losing 3-2 once more.
In Stage 1 of the Overwatch League, the Seoul Dynasty went up against the London Spitfire and got trounced in an 0-4 defeat. It seemed that the Lunatic-Hai core was still helpless against London’s GC Busan roster. In Stage 2, Seoul went up against London and ended up losing 0-4 once more.
Up until this point, Seoul had gone undefeated in Stage 2 and it seemed like they were on the rise, but they still failed to close out their matches against the other two juggernauts. More worryingly, they didn’t seem to have any answer to London’s aggression, even with Zunba playing out of his mind as D.Va the entire game. Poor Seoul.
The Gladiators March On
One of the most exciting matches from Week 4 was the battle between the Gladiators and the Mayhem. The Gladiators were inconsistent in Stage 1, but managed to mount an epic comeback after acquiring Fissure. On the other hand, Florida only secured one win in Stage 1, but in the latter half of Stage 2, they got their act together and actually started winning matches in a convincing manner.
Both teams played extremely well, even resulting in a draw on Volskaya, but ultimately it was Los Angeles that walked away with the W. It looks like the Gladiators have managed to fully integrate Fissure into their lineup. They’re working well together, they even schooled Houston on some of their best maps, and this is shaping up to be one scary team to look out for in the final week.
The Valiant are in Free Fall
Things aren’t going so well for the other Los Angeles team in the Overwatch League, however. The Valiant was one of the strongest western teams during Stage 1, but with their lineup changes coming into Stage 2, they’ve been looking extremely shaky.
Florida scored a convincing 3-1 win against the Valiant, and they weren’t even able to complete the maps on Hanamura and Route 66. Later in the week, they suffered another crushing defeat against the Boston Uprising. We’re still not sure whether having Kariv as their secondary DPS player over Agilities and Silkthread is a good choice. And clearly, something needs to change.
Texas Troubles
Speaking of teams that need to change, Dallas Fuel had yet another awful week in the Overwatch League. The team lost 0-4 to the Boston Uprising, and 0-4 to the Philadelphia Fusion. Their main tank role is still in flux, and Taimou’s Winston clearly isn’t working out for them. Not just that, though, Rascal and aKm aren’t looking very comfortable in their DPS roles, and their support players can’t seem to stop getting picked off first. They’ve signed OGE as their new main tank player, so hopefully that puts an end to their tank line drama once and for all. We’ve seen enough of this Greek tragedy, and we just want the Fuel to rise again.
The Houston Outlaws aren’t performing as terribly as Dallas, but they also went without a win in Week 4. They sputtered against the Gladiators and the Shock, and it’s starting to look like their lack of a good Tracer player is really hurting them. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Linkzr deserves a good DPS/Tracer player to complement his play style, and round out the Outlaws team properly.
Play of the Week
👂👂👂Listen in on the @SFShock taking the point! #OWL2018
LIVE: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/H10tMM2twb
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) March 17, 2018
We’ve been really impressed with how well the San Francisco Shock has been playing lately, and this short clip encapsulates everything that’s going right with the team at the moment. They’re communicating well, calling out targets, and hey, special shout out to Sleepy for body blocking the cafe with his Transcendence. The rest of his team was still busy cleaning up the leftovers, and that Transcendence block was vital in sealing off the enemy team to let the Shock lock up the point.
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