New York Excelsior Win Overwatch League Stage 3 Championship

The Stage 3 Championship match saw the New Excelsior and undefeated Boston Uprising face off to decide who would claim the right to call themsleves Stage 3 Champions and take home the $100,000 grand prize. The Boston Uprising claimed its spot in the championship match with a dominant 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Gladiators. The New York Excelsior secured the second spot in the championship game with their own impressive 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Valiant. New York was looking to become the first back to back Overwatch League Stage Champion, while Boston had the goal of securing their first Stage Championship and becoming the first team in Overwatch League history to go undefeated through the regular season and playoffs of a stage. 

Stage 3's Championship match began on Route 66 where it was a back and forth struggle between the Excelsior and the Uprising. However, New York was able to make the necessary plays on the last push of the map to secure the 3-2 win. Nepal was the following map of the match, and it saw the New York Excelsior continue the strong play that they have shown throughout Stage 3, as New York was able to secure the 2-0 victory and take a 2-0 match lead going into halftime.

Congratulations to the @NYXL for the Stage 3 victory, and for being our first ever back-to-back Stage Champions! #OWL2018https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/OyxO9GTZCS

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 7, 2018

Volskaya Industries was the third map of the championship, and the Boston Uprising were at risk of suffering their first loss of the stage and becoming the victim of the third sweep of the playoffs. The New York Excelsior was able to capture both control points in its attack round to take a 2-0 lead, but the Boston Uprising was able to respond with their own two captures to tie Volskaya Industries at 2-2. Each team captured one point in their second attack rounds to force a 3-3 tie and a fourth map. Numbani was the following map, and New York was able to secure a 3-0 lead in their attack round. This would be all that the Excelsior would need, as the Stage 2 Champions held the Boston Uprising to only 2 points in their defensive round to secure the 3-2 win and the 3-0 match victory. 

Jong-Ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park was name the player of the match for his impressive Tracer play throughout the championship. He finished with 147 eliminations, 71 final blows, 18 pulse bomb kills and 24 deaths. 

With the victory, the New York Excelsior became the Stage 3 Champions and have cemented their spot as the very best team the Overwatch League has to offer. The Boston Uprising were handed their first loss of Stage 3 and went home with the $25,000 second place prize, but the talented team has proved that they are truly a team to be feared by the rest of the league heading into Stage 4. 

(cover photo courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)