Stage 1 Championship Rematch Highlights Day 3 of Stage 2
By Nicholas Barth ·
With two heavy hitters looking to claim their place at the top, two disappointing Stage 1 teams looking to show improvement, and a heavy favorite going up against a underdog, Friday's matches had plenty for fans to look forward to.
The third day of Week 1 for Stage 2 of the Overwatch League treated fans to three great matches of high quality Overwatch. In a rematch of the Stage 1 championship, the New York Excelsior battled the London Spitfire in an exciting five game series. The new look Dallas Fuel went up against the Los Angeles Gladiators in a match of two teams looking for their new roster additions to make a large impact. Finally, the San Francisco Shock had a tall task in front of them, as they went up against the talented Seoul Dynasty. Here is the short breakdown of how each match went.
London Spitfire Vs New York Excelsior
A rematch that fans have been waiting for since the end of Stage 1, the New York Excelsior were looking for revenge against the London Spitfire for their defeat in the Stage 1 Championship match. Beginning on Volskaya Industries, the highly anticipated matchup got underway with the defending champions capturing both control points to take a 2-0 lead. Continuing their strong start to the match, the Spitfire were able to build an impenetrable defense that the Excelsior could not break through. This lead to the Spitfire winning the map 2-0 and taking a 1-0 lead in the match. Next up was Lijiang Tower, and the Excelsior were able to rebound from their less than stellar performance on Volskaya Industries and capture the first two hills to win the map 2-0 and tie the match at 1-1. King's Row was the third map our teams traveled to next, and the Excelsior were able to hold the Spitfire to only one point in their attack round. This opened up the door for the Excelsior to take the victory in their attack round, and they took advantage. With Jong-Ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park leading the way for the Excelsior with 16 eliminations and no deaths on Tracer, New York was able to secure the necessary two points to win the map and take a 2-1 match lead. Watchpoint: Gibralter was up next, and the Excelsior were able to secure two points in their attack round. However, not being able to finish the map would be their downfall, as the Spitfire were able to execute an impressive attack round to complete the map and take the 3-2 map win and tie the match at 2-2. The tie breaking map five would be Ilios and in a repeat of the Stage 1 Championship, the Spitfire were able to make the important plays when they mattered most. London was able to secure the first two hills and win the map 2-0 and take the match with a 3-2 scoreline.
Ji-Hyeok "birdring" Kim was named the player of the match, as his performance with Widowmaker (32 eliminations, 22 final blows and 13,554 damage done) was too much for the New York Excelsior to handle. With the win, the London Spitfire improved to a record of 8-4, while the New York Excelsior dropped to a record of 10-2.
Dallas Fuel Vs Los Angeles Gladiators
Roster additions of talented players had both the Dallas Fuel and Los Angeles Gladiators looking to show that they are much improved from their lackluster Stage 1 versions of themselves. Hanamura was up first and the Gladiators looked to start out strong, but were only able to capture the first point in their attack round. In a back and forth struggle, new Dallas Fuel member Dylan "aKm" Bignet was able to help lead his team to capturing both points with 31 eliminations and only nine deaths with Soldier: 76. The Fuel would take a 2-1 map victory and a 1-0 match lead. Not wanting to let the Fuel take a 2-0 lead going into halftime, the Gladiators were able to capture two of the three hills on Lijiang Tower to take a 2-1 map victory and tie the match at 1-1. Jun-Sung "Asher" Choi was the man of the map for the Gladiators, as his 31 eliminations and nine kill streak with Tracer pushed Los Angeles to the victory. King's Row would follow and played host to a high scoring affair, as both teams would complete the map in their attack rounds to force a 3-3 tie. A strong defensive round would allow the Fuel to stop the Gladiators from scoring a single point in their second attack round, and an intense battle for the payload in Dallas' second attack round would end with the Fuel capturing it and scoring the winning point. Dallas would take the 4-3 map victory and a 2-1 match lead. With their backs against the wall, the Gladiators had to win Watchpoint: Gibraltar to force a map five. They would not get off to a good start, as the Fuel were able to deliver the payload and take a 3-0 lead. Seeing victory in their grasps, the Fuel completely shutdown the Gladiators' attack and held them scoreless. This led to Dallas taking the 3-0 map victory and a 3-1 match victory. Another strong performance from aKm (37 Eliminations and only six deaths with Soldier: 76) led the way for the Dallas Fuel.
Félix "xQc" Lengyel had 93 eliminations, 21 Jump Pack kills and 25,742 damage done in his first match back from his Stage 1 suspension, showing that his talented Winston play was sorely missed by the Dallas Fuel. With the win, the Dallas Fuel improved to 2-0 in Stage 2 and 5-7 overall. The loss dropped the Los Angeles Gladiators to a record of 5-7.
Seoul Dynasty Vs San Francisco Shock
Many people were expecting the Seoul Dynasty to roll over the under performing San Francisco Shock, but the underdog had other plans. Surprising everyone watching, the Shock came out extremely aggressive and was able to secure a 2-1 victory on Hanamura to take a 1-0 lead in the match. A major factor in the strong start for the Shock was Nikola "sleepy" Andrews going toe to toe with the superstar support player of the Dynasty, Je-Hong "ryujehong" Ryu. Lijiang Tower followed and the powerhouse team of Seoul looked to tie the series going into halftime. With the exceptional Lucio play of Jin-Mo "tobi" Yang (28 eliminations, 14,467 healing done and only seven deaths), the Dynasty were able to grab a 2-1 map victory and tie the match at 1-1. Looking to take their first lead of the match, the Seoul Dynasty were able to prevent the Shock from completing Hollywood and held them to two points. Needing to deliver the payload to the end of the map to win, the Dynasty were able to accomplish this with the strong Winston play of Jin-Hyuk "Miro" Gong (23 eliminations, 13,305 damage blocked and only four deaths) helping to secure the 3-2 map victory. This would give Seoul a 2-1 match lead heading into map four. A map four win would clinch the match for the Dynasty, while a win for the Shock would force a tiebreaking map five. The Shock looked to have a strong chance of scoring three points in their attack round, but the mistake of playing too far from the payload in overtime would cost San Francisco a third point. Seeing the chance to close out the match, the Dynasty would make the necessary plays in their attack round to complete the map and win 3-2. This victory gave them the 3-1 match victory.
The player of the match honor was given to tobi for his excellent Lucio play (61 eliminations, 37,602 healing done and only 17 deaths) throughout the series. With the win, the Seoul Dynasty improved to a record of 9-3. The loss dropped the San Francisco Shock to a record of 3-9.
Stage 2 is shaping up to be an exciting slate of Overwatch action for fans, as many teams are improving, while the top dogs remain playing at an extremely high level. Looking forward to Day 4 of Stage 2's first week, the Philadelphia Fusion will be taking on the Florida Mayhem at 1:00 PM PST to get the action started. A matchup between the strong Boston Uprising squad and the top tier Houston Outlaws follows, as Houston will be looking for their 10th win. Finally, the Shanghai Dragons will be looking for their very first win against the talented Los Angeles Valiant. If you happened to miss the action from Day 2, check out our recap of every match.