Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 3 Day 1 Recap

Welcome to our Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 3 Day 1 Recap! The third week of the Overwatch League has kicked off, and with it comes the bounce back from teams who were searching for wins but fell short at the end of last week. With three of the four games ending with a score of 3-1, here is what happened during the most recent Overwatch League matches.

Washington Justice versus Philadelphia Fusion

Philadelphia and Washington were both searching for a win during the first match of the night. After both teams lost their games last week, neither of them wanted to lose a third match in the row. Unfortunately for the Justice, Philadelphia got the better of them and won the game with a final score of 3-1.

Philadelphia are back in business. After going 0-2 last week, they are  looking like they did at the end of last season. With flex support Isaac ‘Boombox’ Charles back in the mix, they are returning to their strongest form. Once again, DPS player for the Fusion, Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee, came out clutch for his team and saved their game for them on Hollywood. As the clock ticked downwards, Philadelphia needed to act fast. Carpe was more than prepared for this moment, though. He launched his Graviton Surge into the Justice and trapped three members inside of it. He and his teammates took them down, and Carpe took down two more members to clear Washington off of the point whilst his team cleared up the straggler. With the clock now in overtime, Philadelphia finally began to gain capture percentage, and they took control of the point.

Washington Takes a Map

Washington couldn’t take the match victory, but they did take a map win from the Fusion. They certainly have looked better than they did during their last few games, and it was also the debut game of their DPS player, Ethan “Stratus” Yankel, who turned 18 and is now eligible to play in the League. Whilst their ultimate usage was rather shaky, main tank Jun-hwa “Janus” Song got some good value out of his and pulled out a clutch Earthshatter as Reinhardt on Point B of Temple of Anubis. As Washington contested the point, Janus unleashed his ultimate and knocked down four members of the Fusion with it. After DPS player Corey “Corey” Nigra used his Graviton Surge to keep two members in place, Washington cleared the point and they began to build capture percentage.

Seoul Dynasty versus Boston Uprising

 Philadelphia and Washington weren’t the only teams who had a rough week last week. After they lost to the Shanghai Dragons during their match last week, the Boston Uprising were seeking a win to bring themselves back up. Having sorted out the contract of their main tank, Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth, they were able to play with their most practiced roster. Unfortunately for the Seoul Dynasty, they couldn’t overcome the Uprising, and Boston managed to take the win with a final score of 3-1.

Seoul may have lost the match, but they still took the map win from the Uprising on Temple of Anubis. Not only this, but they had some great moments throughout the whole series. DPS player Byung-sun “Fleta” Kim took down four members of the Uprising by himself as Pharah on Numbani. As the Dynasty began to push on their attack, Fleta got close enough to AimGod to take him out with a single rocket. He then took down Kellex a second later, and then got a double kill onto Colourhex and Blasé with his rocket barrage.

Additionally, flex tank Min-hyuk “Michelle” Choi combined with main tank Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek to score a quadruple kill with his D.va Self-Destruct on Nepal Shrine. Fissure and Michelle combined with Fleta to achieve this play, as Fleta used his Graviton Surge to trap Boston in place. Fissure then charged through the Zarya ultimate as Reinhardt to stun Boston just as Michelle’s Self-Destruct went off, rewarding them with a clean point and four kills.

Boston Looks Great

Boston Uprising took the win, and they did so rather convincingly. With flex support Min-seok “AimGod” Kwon getting kill after kill as Zenyatta during the match and main tank Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth landing some well-timed Earthshatters as Reinhardt, Boston were able to defeat the Dynasty in the match. The Uprising were also smart in their picks, as they would constantly focus on the Dynasty’s flex support, Je-hong “ryujehong” Ryu, throughout the entirety of the match. Even during fights where both teams threw out almost all of their ultimates, Boston would manage to stay alive somehow during the fight and then win the team-fight to make progress.

Florida Mayhem versus Guangzhou Charge

 This was the only match of the night that went the distance as the Guangzhou Charge took on the Florida Mayhem. Both teams were looking for redemption in this match, but it was the Charge who took the win at the end of the fifth map, ending the series with a final score of 3-2 in favour of Guangzhou.

Guangzhou are back on form, and they took the win convincingly. Having lost last week to the Vancouver Titans, they were searching for victory and they managed to take it. Proving that flashy plays aren’t everything, the Charge simply worked together with good communication and effective teamwork to take the map wins from the Florida Mayhem. They also capitalised on Florida’s mistakes to gain progress, mistakes that would then cost the Mayhem the match victory on Ilios. As well as multi-kills from flex tank Hong-jun “HOTBA” Choi and DPS player Jung-woo “Happy” Lee, the Guangzhou Charge earned their win in this match.

Flordia Gives us a Good Match

Florida lost, but they most certainly didn’t disappoint their fans. The team has been improving steadily since the start of the season, and this match was the debut match of their new flex tank, Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey, who had a great first match with his new team. McGravy showed very little nerves during the game considering it was his first time on the Overwatch League stage, and he managed to land several multi-kills as D.va with his Self-Destruct ultimate.

McGravy wasn’t the only player who had a good match though. DPS player for the Mayhem, Kevyn “TviQ” Lindström, decided to switch things up and play Mei during Rialto, which is a rare sight to see indeed. And even though Florida lost, they still managed to take two map wins from the Charge and forced them to a map five. The only pathway now for the Florida Mayhem is the one that goes up, as this team is showing true potential.

San Francisco Shock versus Hangzhou Spark

 The final match of the night was a battle between the Hangzhou Spark and the San Francisco Shock. Once again, both teams were brawling it out for the win, but only one team emerged victorious. That team ended up being the San Francisco Shock, as they took the match victory with a final score of 3-1 over the Spark.

The Hangzhou Spark seem to have lost their footing. The team started the season with two straight wins over the Shanghai Dragons and the Los Angeles Valiant, but began to falter when they lost to the Houston Outlaws and the London Spitfire the very next week. Making this their third loss in a row, the Spark look lost. They did take the first map off of the series though, as they managed to beat the Shock on Ilios. The Spark worked together to keep San Francisco off of the point on Ilios Ruins, so much so that they managed to take that round 100% to the Shock’s 0%. They did the same thing on Ilios Well too, taking the map win 2-1 thanks to the Spark’s main support, Ho-jin “iDK” Park getting a double kill as Lucio as he pushed two members of the Shock into the well.

San Fransisco's Ultimates were “on point”

San Francisco put on a show for their fans and took the win over the Spark. The Shock capitalised on the Spark’s mistakes, worked together as a team and communicated effectively to take down Hangzhou, and main tank Matthew “super” DeLisi had a great game on Temple of Anubis as Reinhardt. As the Shock approached the second point, Jay “Sinatraa” Won dropped his Graviton Surge for the Shock, trapping three members of the Hangzhou Spark inside.

Super took advantage of this and swung his hammer through them to gain more ultimate percentage, building up his Earthshatter until it was ready and two members of the Spark were dead. Super then dashed around the corner, dropped his Earthshatter and took down two more members of Hangzhou. Helping his team take down the remaining two members, Super and the Shock took the second point with plenty of time to spare.

Coming Up

Here are the upcoming matches in the Overwatch League:

Friday 1st March

7pm EST – Los Angeles Gladiators vs London Spitfire

8:30pm EST – Toronto Defiant vs New York Excelsior

10pm EST – Vancouver Titans vs Los Angeles Valiant

11:30pm – Shanghai Dragons vs Chengdu Hunters

Saturday 2nd March

3pm EST – Paris Eternal vs Atlanta Reign

4:30pm EST – Florida Mayhem vs Houston Outlaws

6pm EST – San Francisco Shock vs Washington Justice

7:30pm EST – Shanghai Dragons vs Dallas Fuel

Sunday 3rd March

3pm EST – Boston Uprising vs Toronto Defiant

4:30pm EST – Hangzhou Spark vs Los Angeles Gladiators

6pm EST – Los Angeles Valiant vs Guangzhou Charge

7:30pm EST – New York Excelsior vs Seoul Dynasty

Images VIA: Overwatch League