Entering Week 3 of Stage 2 for the inaugural Overwatch League season, the schedule begins to heat up as teams look to position themselves for a play-off run.
Fuel have easy schedule
If ever there was a week for Dallas Fuel to go 2-0 in a series this would be it, with San Francisco Shock and Florida Mayhem on the horizon. Dallas have continually shown improvement since the addition of aKm to the line-up, who has outperformed even the highest of expectations.
Dallas continue to struggle in finding wins however, with two series losses once again last week. Matches against two of the bottom teams in the league should remedy that, although some concern has emerged from a possible suspension of Taimou despite seeing his playing time reduced since the addition of aKm.
Questions continue to remain for Dallas about which combination of players should be in the line-up, but given how forgiving the schedule is this week, the boys in blue should be able to find some success.
Fusion on the rise
One team generally on the rise but one that could struggle this week is Philadelphia Fusion. Philly have the two top teams in the league slated – Seoul Dynasty and New York Excelsior.
In their most recent match against a Korean powerhouse, London Spitfire, Philly were swept away 4-0. The team have continued to both exceed pre-season and their week-to-week expectations, yet this seems like an impossible week for almost any squad.
One question for Philadelphia is which DPS they yield in the coming week, but given the overall strength of New York and Seoul, it is unlikely to make a lasting impact on the overall match.
Outlaws and Valiant ones to watch
The match of the week is on Thursday when the Houston Outlaws face Los Angeles Valiant.
Houston are coming off a narrow 0-2 week, with losses to the surging Philadelphia Fusion, in overtime, and against New York Excelsior, the latter of which was the best match of the week against arguably the best team in the league.
While Houston have continued to look good, the lack of a series win last week leaves them desperate for a victory entering Week 3.
The Outlaws remain one of the most dangerous teams in the league though, having been one of the few teams to push New York to their limit thus far despite the 0-4 reverse. To find success this week, Houston will need to focus on overall cohesion and peeling for the backline, as that was their fatal flaw against New York where Rawkus in particular was continually taken down by Saebyeolbe’s Tracer.
Meanwhile, for Valiant, consistent 3-1 victories have been the name of the game as they continually fought until the final map before pulling away from their opponents.
One good sign for Valiant is the absence of King’s Row for this match, as that has been the best map for Houston thus far. The key player this stage for Valiant has been SoOn, who has continued to show brilliance on Tracer.
Each team is expected to defeat their other opponent, with Houston having Florida Mayhem while Valiant play their inter-city rivals, Los Angeles Gladiators.
Gladiators have a challenging week
Those same Los Angeles Gladiators appear to have a rough schedule this week, with a match against London Spitfire following their bout with Valiant.
The Gladiators overall have looked an improved outfit with the introduction of Fissure, who has continually dominated on the likes of Winston. Yet overall the Gladiators have still struggled to get away from the bottom end of the standings due to losses to the likes of Dallas Fuel.
The Gladiators appear to be lacking star power, with matches against two of the top five teams looking to be too difficult to overcome this week.
Conclusion
London Spitfire and New York Excelsior were the winners and the runners-up respectively in Stage 1 and so far they and Seoul Dynasty have been the cream of the crop in Stage 2. Week 4 already lines up as the crucial battle between these teams, and the challenge is not to get caught short this week.
