Overwatch League Stage 2 Week 2
Wirtten by: Bryce Jackson
Notable Matches
Seoul Dynasty vs Dallas Fuel
Rematch of APEX Rivals saw the Seoul continue their superiority over Dallas, winning 3-1. The Fuel have been riding a hot streak since the end of Stage 1 but ran into the Fleta and Co. buzzsaw. Seoul have started Stage 2 just like they did Stage 1. Will less fanfare around them, They have taken the Stage lead in the standings and have won the most maps so far.
Houston Outlaws vs Philadelphia Fusion
Two super hot teams clashed in a rematch of what many call the two best “Western” teams in Overwatch League. The Houston Outlaws took the early advantage but just like their Stage 1 matchup, the Fusion found a gear that the Outlaws were unable to match coming from behind again and winning 3-2. The familiar DPS Duo of Carpe and ShadowBurN were reunited after the Fusion coaches experimented with EQO last week and didn’t miss a beat after overcoming the initial Outlaws attack.
Boston Uprising vs Florida Mayhem
In a matchup where both teams were in a position to take advantage of each other’s weak stretch, the Uprising gained the upper hand winning their first maps of Stage 2 on the road to a 4-0 victory over the Mayhem. The Uprising needed to find some sort of synergy after starting the stage 0-12 on map points and used the undermanned Mayhem side to fixes their issues. The Mayhem continued their struggles, failing to capitalize on a Boston team looking the complete opposite of how they ended Stage 1. The loss is especially discouraging if you compare their performance here against their performance versus the Spitfire earlier in the week. Though losing 3-1, that match was much closer. It’s almost become a habit of theirs to play one or two levels below their competition.
League Notes
It’s time to accept a hard truth: Jake is suffering in the post-Junkrat nerf meta. Though one may be able to argue that the map pool may not be conducive to running the Rat, his other heroes have not nearly been as effective. He was embarrassed by Saebyolbe and the NYXL Supports when he played Tracer and is mostly just serviceable rather than dominant on Soldier 76 or Roadhog. Outlaws have experimented using Clockwork instead in some maps to varying results.
The Philadelphia Fusion has to be the hottest tier 2 team in the league. Good enough to manhandle anyone 4th or lower but can’t seem to hang at all versus the “Korean” squads. After Taking the Outlaws to task earlier in the week, when facing the London Spitfire, they were dismantled in record time. (There was a whole 30 minute break between them and the next match). While not necessarily suffering from using ShadowBurn this week rather than EQO, the abscene of a more aggressive Genji was noticeable. It will be interesting if they will continue to swap those two out or choose one for the remainder of the stage.
Two weeks into the stage and no sign of Florida Mayhem’s nor Shanghai Dragon’s new signings. Though I will accept the fact that work visas will take some time, both teams are desperately in need of their services sitting at 1-13 and 0-14 respectively. As a Mayhem fan, we need a bonafide tank in our lineup. CWoosh and Manneten are Flexes that have served as stopgaps and neither of them play true anchor tanks where some of their issues lie. The Dragons have there own Tank issues. Roshan has been straight up awful in majority of their matches, usually the one dying first and leaving their supports vulnerable. With almost half the season almost complete, time is running out for these teams to show some semblance of being competitive.