London Spitfire 4 - Philadelphia Fusion 0
The London Spitfire made an emphatic statement to the rest of the Overwatch League on Saturday, crushing the Philadelphia Fusion in a 4-0 stomp at the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California.
The Fusion came into Saturday's match having won three straight games on the back of its aggressive dive composition, including a 3-2 barnburner against the Houston Outlaws on Thursday. The Spitfire, though, came prepared and dissected the Fusion's dive throughout the series. Philadelphia never looked like it had a chance on any of the maps played against the London.
London's teamplay caught the Fusion off-guard, as the Spitfire counter-dove the Fusion's supports time and time again. While that was happening, the rest of the Spitfire neutralized the Fusion's divers through great positioning and team collapses, not to mention some spectacular mechanical play. Spitfire flex support Choi "Bdosin" Seung-tae tore the Fusion up all series long, killing squishy heroes and tanks alike as Zenyatta. It's hard to say any one member of London carried, though, except perhaps the coaching staff. The Spitfire knew exactly what the Fusion wanted to do and knew exactly how to stop it, leading to one of the most lopsided matches among top teams in Stage 2 thus far.
In Week 3, the Fusion will take on the Seoul Dynasty at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, while the Spitfire prepares to battle the Boston Uprising at 7 p.m. ET on Friday.
-- Noah Waltzer
New York Excelsior 4 - Houston Outlaws 0
In a clash of Overwatch League leaders, the New York Excelsior reminded the rest of its competition why it's at the top of the standings with a 4-0 win over the Houston Outlaws on Saturday at the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California.
Coming into this matchup, the Outlaws looked like it could finally take down the Excelsior, who had looked somewhat shaky in previous maps. Houston had just suffered a loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Fusion on Thursday, but the Outlaws looked competitive in the defeat and had a good map pool to work with in this series.
Excelsior crushed the Outlaws dreams early on, though, full-holding Volskaya Industries to take a quick Game 1 and setting the tone for what would be a smothering performance from New York.
Excelsior rolled out lineups to counter some of the Outlaws' preferred compositions on maps like Lijang Tower: Control Center and first point Route 66, as well as changed how it used star hitscan DPS, Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong-reol. Rather than having Saebyeolbe do his normal cadence on Tracer, where he would single out and neutralize the opposing team's DPS characters, the Excelsior had Saebyeolbe instead help his team dive into the Outlaws' backline and kill its supports, effectively daring the Outlaws' DPS to go heads-up. While Houston's DPS players had their moments, with Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin and Jacob "JAKE" Lyon doing everything they respectively could to make this series close in Game 3 on King's Row, the rest of the Outlaws just couldn't outgun Excelsior.
The Outlaws will go back to the drawing board before facing the Los Angeles Valiant at 9 p.m ET on Thursday, while the New York Excelsior will take on the Philadelphia Fusion at 9 p.m ET on Friday.
-- Noah Waltzer
San Francisco Shock 4 - Shanghai Dragons 0
The San Francisco Shock closed out Week 2 with a 4-0 sweep of the floundering Shanghai Dragons on Saturday at the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California.
As with most Shanghai series, this one wasn't remotely close. The Shock was merciless from the beginning to the end in snapping a three-game losing streak, with flex tank player Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson leading the pack.
From picking apart the Dragons' backline on Nepal to absorbing ultimates on King's Row, Nevix was a force to be reckoned with on D.Va. Not to be outdone, DPS players Dante "Danteh" Cruz and Andrej "Babybay" Francisty made for an outstanding cleanup crew, working with Nevix to pick up easy frags.
Shanghai, meanwhile, is still struggling with its inability to keep up with the meta and lack of syneregy between the tanks and the DPS. Shanghai main tank Wenhao "Roshan" Jing is absolutely capable of making plays, and occasionally does so, but he often ends up diving into the fray alone, with follow-up damage from his teammates nowhere to be found. If Shanghai wants to grab its first win, it will need to iron out these glaring communication issues.
Shanghai doesn't have much time to rest as it faces the Seoul Dynasty at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, followed by the San Francisco Shock taking on the Dallas Fuel at 6 p.m. ET that same day.
-- Tyson Tavolazzi