The New York Excelsior and London Spitfire Battle for First Place

The 8-1 New York Excelsior and 7-2 London Spitfire met on the final day of Stage 1 to see where they would be placed in the playoffs happening later in the day. A win by the Excelsior would keep them in first place, while a win would boost the Spitfire into first place, but at least one map win would gaurantee them third place in the standings and a gauranteed playoff spot. 

Eichenwalde was the first map of the match and saw the New York Excelsior push through the London Spitfire's defense to capture the payload and move it to the second point. London would hold strong to deny New York from finishing the map. This would give New York a 2-0 map lead. Determined to wrap up the win quickly, the London Spitfire executed a strong attack round to deliver the payload all of the way to the end of the map and secure the 3-2 map victory and the 1-0 map lead. 

Not wanting to be down 2-0 in the match going into halftime, New York was able to put together a strong performance on Temple of Anubis and grab a 2-1 map victory and tie the match at 1-1. London did not let New York have the win easily and the Excelsior had to rely on the exceptional performances from Seong-Hyun "Jjonak" Bang, 16 eliminations (9,384 damage done and 7,845 healing done as Zenyatta) and Hae-Seong "Libero" (26 eliminations and 12,912 damage done) to close out the win.

How to Erase a Tracer by @tf2pine#OWL2018 https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/XYe1IWsaM3

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 10, 2018

New York would ride the momentum from their Temple of Anubis win to defeat the Spitfire on Ilios by capturing the first two hills to take the map victory at 2-0 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Jong-Ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park would lead the way for the Excelsior on the map, as his play with Tracer (14 eliminations with a kill streak of 8) disrupted any kind of strategy that the London Spitfire tried against the New York Excelsior. 

Dorado would play host to the fourth map of the match and it was a do or die moment for the London Spitfire. With their backs against the wall, London was able to prevent New York from completing the map and gave themselves the chance to take the win with a perfect attack round. The Spitfire were able to accomplish this behind the dominating Zenyatta play from Seung-Tae "Bdosin" Choi (29 eliminations, 11,651 healing done and 11,615 damage done). Outdueling New York's Jjonak, Bdosin helped London force a match deciding game five on Lijang Tower. 

With first place and a straight shot to the Stage 1 playoff championship on the line, both teams came out firing on cylinders. The talent and determination of New York to hold onto first place was too much for London to handle, as the Excelsior were able to capture the first two hills and secure the 2-0 map victory and most importantly the 3-2 match victory. 

Does @JJoNakLove know he's listed as Support? Look at that Zenyatta damage! #OWL2018 @NYXL https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/EQ08hTbPzr

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 10, 2018

Jjonak was named player of the match, as his highly agressive Zenyatta play added a whole other level to New York's damage output. Jjonak was able to dish out 85 eliminations and 44,511 damage in the five game series. 

With the win, the New York Excelsior secured a first place finish in Stage 1 and now will be waiting for the winner of the second and third place finishers playoff match in the Stage 1 championship game. London was able to take one map off of the New York Excelsior, so they have guaranteed themselves a playoff spot and will play either the Houston Outlaws, Boston Uprising or Los Angeles Valiant. 

Check the official Overwatch League standings to see where your favorite team currently stands. Interested in more Overwatch League news? Check out our recap of all of the action from yesterday!