Written by: Bryce Jackson

Notable Matches

Battle of Los Angeles: Gladiators vs Valiant

In the first matchup of these two teams that call Los Angeles home, the Valiant took a wild 5 set 3-2 win over the Gladiators. The intensity was apparent and the gameplay was frantic from the start. With city pride on the line and the fan advantage in the audience, both teams put in what could be called the 2nd best match of OWL this season, if not the first.

Boston Uprising vs London Spitfire

The Koreans can bleed.

In the first of two upsets of the day, the Boston Uprising gave the London Spitfire their first loss of the season, winning 3-2. DPS players DreamKasper and Striker for the Uprising went to work early and often, consistently harassing the Spitfire support players and causing chaos for his opposition. The Spitfire were arguable the weakest of the All-Korean Rosters and my pick to be the first of them to fall (although barely). 

Philadelphia Fusion vs New York Excelsior

In the second match of the day, OWL fans got their 2nd upset of the day with the Philadelphia Fusion defeating the previously undefeated NYXL behind a herculean team effort. DPS duo ShadowBurN and Carpe did work on the NYXL truly fulfilling the role of pests and keeping the NYXL stars in check. The emotions were visible when the Fusion won the final round at Lijang Tower as team shot caller fragi led the way in the team celebration.

Dallas Fuel vs San Francisco Shock

Dallas Fuel finally showed the league what their capable of and secured their first win of the season with a 3-0 win over the San Francisco Shock. Seagull finally started and played the whole game and carried the team on his back. 

Seoul Dynasty vs New York Excelsior

The battle between arguably the two best teams in the league saw the NYXL defeat the Seoul Dynasty and giving them their first loss of the season. NYXL played angry after losing the night before and were determined to bring someone else down with them. Saebyeolbe and Libero are one of the best of the DPS duos in OWL and they brought out all the tricks to make sure that Seoul would not end Stage 1 undefeated. 

League News

Overwatch League needed to issue their second disciplinary action in as many weeks. London Spitfire DPS player Profit was brought in as a substitute for the first time this season. During the break to allow subs and setting up for the 2nd match, Profit flipped the bird to the camera set up on every station. When he did this, the Casters were announcing the substitution so the action was caught live on Twitch. The explanation the Spitfire and Profit was that he was on comms with the coaches backstage and he was referring to them and it was just a moment of poor timing. Nevertheless, the Spitfire and Profit issued an apology and Profit was fined $1000. 

The Overwatch League transfer window is scheduled to open at the end of stage 1 and teams are already starting to line up what additions they need to do to improve. Dallas Fuel is in negotiations to add DPS player aKm to the fold and the coach of the Florida Mayhem has expressed that he intends to add personnel. The transfer window will be open for a few weeks so there will be more news and I will update as necessary.

This was probably the best week of OWL in terms of competitive games. All 3 All-Korean teams took a loss this week, it seemed like every match needed to go to a 5th game, and only 3 or 4 matches for the week went the meme-able 4-and-0verwatch. The teams are beginning to look more cohesive. Even the Shanghai Dragons who are considered the worst team in the league played pretty well this week, almost beating the Philadelphia Fusion and were able to win a map vs the Dynasty.

Best Performances

Seagull (Flex, Dallas Fuel)

Envy (Flex, Los Angeles Valiant)

DreamKasper (DPS, Boston Uprising)

Effect (DPS, Dallas Fuel)

Rawkus (Support, Houston Outlaws)

Unkoe (Los Angeles Valiant)

fragi (Tank, Philadelphia Fusion)

Meko (Tank, New York Excelsior)