RESULTS: Overwatch League's Matches of Day 1, Week 4 of Stage 2

With only two weeks remaining in Stage 2, we’ve seen some truly exciting matches as well as some that perhaps fizzled a little after launch. For Day 1, the Boston Uprising taking were on Dallas Fuel, New York Excelsior taking on Seoul Dynasty, and the Philadelphia Fusion taking on the Shanghai Dragons, here’s a brief recap of the matches.

Boston Uprising – Dallas Fuel

This match seemed pretty one sided from the get go, with Boston Uprising taking an early lead with their victory on Volskaya Industries. While Dallas put up more of a fight on the second map, Lijiang Tower, Boston were still able to claim the map 2-0. The third map, King’s Row, was do or die for Dallas, as Boston captured the payload with relative ease and managed to escort it all the way to the end with over two and a half minutes remaining. Unfortunately for Dallas, they proved unable to secure the payload in the beginning, meaning that map 4 would be purely for pride. The final map, Watchpoint: Gibraltar, was again a complete victory for Boston, securing all three checkpoints whilst preventing Dallas from even reaching their first.

New York Excelsior – Seoul Dynasty

The second match of the day was a much closer affair, with the two best teams in the Overwatch League putting on a masterpiece of a match. The first map, Hanamura, went well into overtime, as both teams battled back and forth in a true display of tactics and skill. It would ultimately be New York taking the map win, though it was very close. The second map, Nepal, went much better for Seoul, as despite losing the first round, they quickly managed to bounce back and take the next two, evening up the score. Map number three, Hollywood, was not quite as close, and with New York falling just short of the second checkpoint by the time they ran out of time, while Seoul’s attack proved much more successful, reaching the distance required to take the victory with over four and a half minutes remaining. Map number four was a must win for New York if they wanted to keep the match alive, and though it was an extremely tough battle, they ultimately proved successful. While both teams managed to reach two checkpoints, Seoul were unable to progress quite as far as New York, sending the match into map five for a tie-breaker. The final map, Ilios, was a close contest, but not as close as earlier when they played on Nepal. New York would take both rounds in the end, though Seoul did put up quite a fight, in a match that was easily one of the most exciting ones we’ve seen out of the Overwatch League to date.

Philadelphia Fusion – Shanghai Dragons

The final match of the day featured the Philadelphia Fusion looking to advance in the standings, while the Shanghai Dragons were simply looking for their first match win of the Overwatch League. Map number one, Volskaya Industries, was a stark contrast to the previous series game, with Philadelphia capturing both checkpoints with relative ease, while Shanghai could not secure the first checkpoint at all. The second map, Lijiang Tower, was much closer contest, with Shanghai at least managing to control the point for some time, though Philadelphia ultimately proved too strong, taking both rounds back to back. Map number three saw Philadelphia blitz through the defences of Shanghai, escorting the payload through all three checkpoints with over a minute and a half to spare, while Shanghai proved unable to get past the defensive line of the Fusion, effectively ending the series here. Map number four, Route 66, was an extremely similar story as the previous map, with the Fusion advancing quite quickly through all the checkpoints and ending their attack with over two and a half minutes remaining. For Shanghai, this was their last chance to salvage some pride, but they again were unable to get past the Fusion, ending their attack still short of the first checkpoint.

With day 1 finished, it’s time to look towards the games to come. For more information on the teams playing on day 2, check out the Official Schedule page, here, and for more Overwatch League news, check out the new signings for the San Francisco Shock, here.