Overwatch League Stage 3, Week 1, Florida Mayhem vs New York Excelsior

The first week of Stage 3 has already shown some great matches, with the teams coming back hard after their week off. New York continued their dominance over the league, taking down Florida in a decisive 4-0 fashion. Here’s a brief breakdown of the match.

The first map, Volskaya Industries, saw Florida taking first blood on attack as they secured the first point. Though New York put up an excellent fight, they were unable to stop Florida from capturing the second point as well, though they heavily delayed them. With the score set, New York threw themselves into their attack with gusto, securing the second point after a prolonged skirmish before moving onto the second assault phase. New York also managed to secure the second point, though they did so with a lot of time left in the bank, compared to Florida’s narrow overtime secure. With so much time remaining, it seemed impossible that New York would not be able to secure the required capture percentage, and they proved that to be correct as they steamrolled the Florida defence to gain an early map lead.

The second map, Blizzard World, proved to be a much closer affair, with Florida making the first attack of the map. The Mayhem’s assault allowed them to capture the first point before attempting to move the payload, a task that proved to be harder than it seemed against the New York defence. Though they were able to move the payload quite far, they were unable to reach the second point, leaving an excellent mark for New York to attempt to reach. New York’s assault went a bit smoother than Florida’s, as they captured the first point and set out on their own payload. Though Florida again put up a good fight, they ultimately fell short with just seconds remaining in the round, as New York pushed the payload the required distance to gain a two map lead.

The third map, Ilios, was not as closely contested as we’ve previously seen. Though Florida got time on the first point, they were unable to build up their defences in the area, and New York were able to ultimately secure the first round for themselves. The second round proved much the same, with Florida showing glimpses of greatness but also proving unable to stop the juggernaut that is New York, leading to a three map advantage and the series win.

The final map, Route 66, was again a close brawl, as both teams renewed their aggressive playstyles. Florida again took control early in their attack, pushing the payload through the first two checkpoints. It was at the third that they faced the final resistance of New York, a defence that stopped them cold before they could reach the last point and end the round. With New York making their last attack of the series, they knew exactly how far they needed to push the payload in order to secure victory, and quickly set about the task of picking apart Florida’s defences. Though they would meet fierce defence in the attempt, New York ultimately proved too strong for Florida, advancing the payload the required distance in overtime to round out the series 4-0.

For more Overwatch League action, check out Geguri’s strong debut in yesterday’s game, and for more information on when these teams are playing again, check out the Official Schedule page, here.