Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 3 Day 2 Recap

Welcome to the Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 3 Day 2 Recap! The third week of the Overwatch League is in full swing, and the second day did not disappoint. From a clean sweep to a close game between rivals, here is what happened during the most recent Overwatch League matches.

Los Angeles Gladiators versus London Spitfire

Fans of both of these teams were excited for this matchup as the London Spitfire faced off against the Los Angeles Gladiators for the first match of the night. Supporters of the Spitfire were hoping that their team would take the win, as the London Spitfire had never been able to win against the Los Angeles Gladiators in the regular season. London beat the Gladiators in the playoffs of last season, but never during their stage matches. This curse was broken though, as the Spitfire toppled the Gladiators with a final match score of 2-1 in favour of London.

The Gladiators lost, but they still had a strong showing throughout the match. It was also the debut match of their new DPS player, Gui-un “Decay” Jang, who was playing for the first time since he turned eighteen. Decay proved himself to the fans of the Gladiators, as he was playing Zarya in place of his DPS counterpart, Lane “Surefour” Roberts. Decay was also once again playing alongside his tank teammate rOar, both of whom were on KongDoo Panthera together before joining the Gladiators.

The Gladiators managed to take Volskaya Industries from the Spitfire with good teamwork and effective communication, but eventually lost out of the match win on Dorado. Alongside this win, Roar had a pixel perfect six-man Reinhardt Earthshatter on Numbani to stop the Spitfire’s payload push in its tracks. It’s still early days for the Gladiators, but with almost all of their players now eligible to play, aside from Riku “Ripa” Toivanen due to his suspension, there is some hope for the team in purple and white.

London Bounces Back

London are here to stay it seems. The team are back on form and back to their winning ways, leaving no slack behind as they gave it their all in this game against the Gladiators. One player worth of recognition on the side of the Spitfire is flex tank Jun-ho “Fury” Kim, who had a stellar performance as D.va throughout the whole match. During their game on Numbani, the Gladiators engaged the Spitfire in a team-fight as London pushed the payload through towards the second point. As both teams dropped Graviton Surges and D.va Self-Destructs, it was Fury who found the kills with his Self-Destruct, taking out two members of the Gladiators. Fury then took out another two members and helped his team clear their opponents off of the payload, allowing them to take the second point and keep pushing forward.

Toronto Defiant versus New York Excelsior

New York is still undefeated so far in the second season of the Overwatch League, and this wasn’t going to change with their match against the Toronto Defiant. Predictions put the Excelsior in favour of winning the match, and they didn’t disappoint their fans. The Defiant put up a valiant effort to win, but they were defeated in the end by New York, with the final match score being 3-1 in favour of the Excelsior.

The Excelsior are currently in first place overall in the League and have been for a couple of weeks now. Holding a now 5-0 record with a +10-map differential, they are one of the only two teams who are undefeated so far, the other being the Vancouver Titans, whose record is 4-0 with a +9-map differential. DPS player for the Excelsior, Hae-song “Libero” Kim, showed off his impeccable reaction times whilst playing as Brigitte on King’s Row. As flex player for the Defiant, Kang-jae “envy” Lee, was about to let go of his EMP as Sombra, Libero reacted quickly and used his Shield Bash to stun Envy out of the EMP, nullifying it and ultimately giving New York the advantage in the team fight. The Excelsior then went on to win that map and ultimately, win the series.

Defiant Impresses in the Loss

New York may have beaten the Defiant, but that doesn’t mean that Toronto played poorly. Toronto managed to full hold the Excelsior on Dorado after they pushed the payload all the way through the map, but that isn’t the only thing that was impressive during that game. The Defiant used their good coordination and teamwork to their advantage to land a triple kill with Envy’s Self-Destruct. As the payload was nearing the second checkpoint, DPS player Seung-hyun “Ivy” Lee used his Graviton Surge as Zarya to hold NYXL in place. Envy then launched his Self-Destruct into the air whilst main tank Gyeong-mu “Yakpung” Jo used his Earthshatter as Reinhardt to knock the players of New York down to stop them escaping. Unable to run, three members of the Excelsior fell to the blast, and a fourth fell to the Earthshatter itself.

Vancouver Titans versus Los Angeles Valiant

Vancouver Titans vs Los Angeles Valiant

The third match of the night saw the undefeated Vancouver Titans go against the somewhat struggling Los Angeles Valiant. The Valiant have yet to win a series in the second season, whereas the Titans are yet to lose one. Unfortunately for fans of the Valiant, they were unable to break the Titans’ winning streak, and Vancouver took the win with a final score of 3-1.

A recurring theme with the Vancouver Titans seems to be the fantastic synergy that the have between themselves, especially between flex tank Hyeon-woo “JJANU” Choi and main tank Sang-beom “Bumper” Park. As the Titans were about the capture the first point of Kings Row, the Valiant fought back and used a Graviton Surge to try and keep the Titans at bay. However, Bumper and JJANU were ready for this. After they survived the surge, Bumper used his Earthshatter as Reinhardt to knock down the Valiant, and JJANU sent his D.va bomb into the mix of knocked down players at just the right time. The blast killed four members of the Valiant, with the rest of the Titans cleaning up the remaining member left standing. With the entire point clear, Vancouver captured the remaining percentage quickly, and began sailing through the streets of Kings Row.

Valiant shows signs of life

Though the Valiant lost, they were able to pick up a map off of the Titans at the end of the match on Rialto. The Valiant have had a very rough schedule so far, and they’re currently sitting at the bottom of the league table. However, there were signs of life during Rialto, as they won crucial team fights that helped them to win the game. It also helped the Valiant that both Bumper and Rapel of the Titans decided to learn how to swim multiple times during the game, giving them advantages in the fights when it came down to them. It seems as though the Valiant are still trying to find their feet, but they need to find them quickly if they want to make the turnaround.

Shanghai Dragons versus Chengdu Hunters

Shanghai Dragons vs Hunters

The Shanghai Dragons and the Chengdu Hunters battled it out to close out the final match of the night, and the Dragons shocked the viewers. Chengdu have looked relatively strong so far in their matches, but the Dragons managed to take them down. The final score ending at 4-0 to the Dragons.

Shanghai are now on their first ever winstreak in the Overwatch League, as well as having achieved their very first clean sweep over a team. Part of this was thanks to their flex player Jin-Hyeok “DDing” Yang, who had a very strong performance as Sombra. The Chengdu Hunters currently have Ameng playing Wrecking Ball exclusively. The Dragons understood that if they wanted to win, they would need to shut down Ameng as the hamster hero as much as possible. The easiest way to do this is with Sombra, and the Dragons have a reliable Sombra with DDing. DDing's hacks and ultimates allowed Shanghai to take the win.

Chengdu Performs Admirably

Chengdu may have gotten swept by the Dragons, but some of the games were closer than others. Especially on Volskaya Industries, where the Hunters managed to capture four points during the game. Chegdu impressed when Luo “Elsa” Wenjie and Yi “JinMu” Hu managed to almost ace the Dragons. As Chengdu pushed on the second point, Elsa and JinMu had their ultimates, with Elsa on Sombra and JinMu on Pharah. Elsa used his EMP to disable the Dragons, and then JinMu got close enough to use his Rocket Barrage on them, taking out five members with it quickly. The Hunters overcame the remaining Brig and took the point.