Written by: Bryce Jackson

You Know Why You’re Here. Let's Get To It.

Stage Playoffs Sunday

#2 London Spitfire vs #3 Philadelphia Fusion

In the Semifinal Matchup,  a surging Philadelphia Fusion team took on Stage 1 Champion London Spitfire. In a back and forth affair, both teams traded intense fights and maps with the Fusion taking Nepal where they have been awful on all stage and lost to the Spitfire earlier in the month and full held London on Hanamura. After losing Hanamura, the Spitfire took King’s Row where the Fusion had been dominant up to that point In the end, it took a DPS pest named Snillo on Route 66 going an insane 24-1 on and attack and 39-6 overall to beat the London Spitfire 3-2 and send the Fusion to the Stage Finals.

#3 Philadelphia Fusion vs #1 New York Excelsior

THE MAIN EVENT!

The Fusion earned their spot to take on the best team in Overwatch League and early on the Fusion were threatening to be called the best team in the league. After already warming up Snillo on Route 66 vs the Spitfire, the Fusion shook the table and dominated the NYXL here. Snillo remained the pest Tracer that he established himself as versus the Spitfire and the Fusion  rolled through Route 66 again. The Fusion would actually end the half up 2-0. The NYXL left the stage dumbfounded at the onslaught they just faced and on the verge of losing another Stage Final after dominating throughout.

Then they went to Volskya Industries.

After a full hold on Defense, The NYXL dismantled the Fusion literally in seconds to take the map. Using that momentum, they went into Hollywood with renewed vigor and confidence. Here the NYXL stars shone bright. Behind the usual suspects of Saybyeolbe , Libero, and, Jjonak, the  NYXL stifled the Fusion attack, only allowing the first point 3/4ths of the Streets Phase. The NYXL followed up on their attack dominating the Fusion defenses and set up the 5th map finale on Watchpoint Gibraltar. After the Fusion cruised through Point A, the NYXL were able to force Overtime in the hanger. With the time burnt out, the Fusion were only able to get the payload to the last turn of Point C, leaving the door open for NYXL. The NYXL’s offense was relentless. SBB and Crew totally steamrolled through Gibraltar and complete the 3-2 reverse sweep to win the Stage 2 Championship and the $100,000 bonus.

Stage Notes

After complaints of the lack of diversity due to the Mercy Meta, We saw most teams have more playtime with previously neglected heroes like Ana and Lucio. Though Mercy did not go away entirely, some teams (Florida Mayhem, Los Angeles Gladiators) are thriving with the larger selection of support heroes while others seem to have needed the meta to cover for some weaknesses (Los Angeles Valiant, Houston Outlaws, Boston Uprising)

At the same time, the Dive Meta (Tracer, Genji, D.Va, Winston) took center stage. Majority of teams ran the Dive at some point with the standings reflecting who did well with it, and who struggled. With a patch coming to Sombra, who saw some play time in Stage 2, Mei and Reaper , we will have to see if that will have any impact on the Overwatch League Meta or if fans will see the Dive dominate in back to back stages.

Parts of Stage 2 were special moments for some teams with the debuts of team members either from Free Agency, Trade, or finally turning 18 and being Overwatch League eligible. aKm and EQO showed their stuff early in the stage and while aKm tapered off after a while, EQO was able to supplant ShadowBurn as the Fusion’s starting Genji. We saw the Shanghai Dragons debut 2 of their 4 new signing in Fearless and Ado. With Geguri now here and practicing with the team and Sky and new coach Xingrui "RUI" Wong finally obtaining visas, things will begin to look up for the Dragons. Zappis made his Overwatch League debut for the Florida Mayhem late in the stage and they are still awaiting the arrival of Sayaplayer and aWesonmeGuy. Mr. 150K Sinatraa made his debut for the San Francisco Shock in week 5 after turning 18 the week before. It took a while for Rascal to gain consistent time for the Dallas Fuel but saw some success in Week 5 after another new signing OGE was suspended for account sharing and Rascal was needed to replace him. Last but certainly not least, Fissure’s trade from the London Spitfire to the Los Angeles Gladiators gave new life to the team and almost carried them to the Stage playoffs.

Best Stage 2 Performers

CWoosh (Flex, Florida Mayhem)

Bischu (Flex, Los Angeles Gladiators)

Saybyeolbe (DPS, New York Excelsior)

Hydration (DPS, Los Angeles Gladiators)

Fissure (Tank, Los Angeles Gladiators)

Fragi (Tank, Philadelphia Fusion)

Jjonak (Support, New York Excelsior)

BigGoose (Support, Los Angeles Gladiators)

Top Plays of Stage 2