New York Excelsior, Seoul Dynasty matchup highlights start of Week 4

Boston Uprising 4, Dallas Fuel 0

The Boston Uprising completed a 4-0 drubbing of the Dallas Fuel in the Overwatch League on Wednesday in the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California.

Dallas stood no chance with the return of Boston main tank Noh "Gamsu" Young-jin to the lineup. While Boston has a solid DPS lineup and tank Shin "Kalios" Woo-yeol had been doing well in his place, Gamsu looks to be the core of this team and certainly showed it throughout this series. Boston looked reborn and ready to make up for its slipups early on in Stage 2 thanks to Gamsu's stellar Winston play. The Uprising's offense and defense throughout each map was much cleaner and better-than it's seemed during Stage 2, and Gamsu's highlight-reel play with Winston's Primal Rages on Lijiang Tower showed what an impact player he can be.

All of this added up to a one-sided series that saw Dallas pick up just a single point across all four games. After a muddled showing with three straight 4-0 losses in the first three weeks of Stage 2, the Uprising look to be in top form heading into the home stretch of this stage.

The Fuel, on the other hand, continue to struggle at every turn. Dallas, which is regrouping after the release of Félix "xQc" Lengyel, looked sloppy from start to finish.. Whether it was DPS Dylan "aKm" Bignet's lackluster play on Genji or tank Timo "Taimou" Kettunen ineffectiveness on Winston, there was simply nothing Dallas could do to stand up against the Boston onslaught. Wednesday's loss marks the fifth straight for Dallas as it continues to tumble in the standings; the Fuel sits in 10th place with just three games left to play in Stage 2.

The Boston Uprising will next duel with the Los Angeles Valiant at 11 p.m. ET on Friday, while the Dallas Fuel has a chance to recollect itself and finish strong this week against the Philadelphia Fusion at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.

-- Steven Nguyen

New York Excelsior 3 - Seoul Dynasty 2

The New York Excelsior proved it deserves to be on top of the Overwatch League with an incredible 3-2 win over Seoul Dynasty on Wednesday at Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California.

After Game 1 on Hanamura went to double overtime in the Excelsior's favor, it was clear that these two teams were the top squads in the OWL. The Dynasty, previously undefeated in Stage 2, was surging thanks to a renaissance from Tracer specialist DPS Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom and renewed brilliance from support Yang "tobi" Jin-mo. Meanwhile, New York was enjoying a run of success thanks to its ability to outthink its opponents as well as outplay them mechanically.

All of these things would factor into this result, but New York had additional aces up its sleeve.

Flexible DPS star Kim "Libero" Hye-sung did a great job throughout the series and showcased his skills on Genji, Hanzo and or Soldier: 76. Libero's fragging power went largely unchecked, though Seoul's superstar supports did a good enough job to keep him NYXL completely running away with the series.

Where the Dynasty ultimately failed, however, was in the kills department. Dynasty DPS Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun simply couldn't get the job done against New York, especially with the Excelsior putting heavy pressure on him no matter what he tried to do against Excelsior DPS Park "Saebyolbe" Jong-yeol, who once again proved that he is the best Tracer in the world.

In all likelihood, this series might've been a preview of the Stage 2 finals. While New York pulled out a big win Wednesday, there was still plenty of room for both teams to improve, and Seoul is famous for not making the same mistakes twice. All OWL fans can hope for is that these two top-tier teams meet each other sooner rather than later.

The Excelsior will next take on the Shanghai Dragons at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, while Seoul prepares for another South Korean clash when it faces the London Spitfire at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.

-- Noah Waltzer

Philadelphia Fusion 4 - Shanghai Dragons 0

The Philadelphia Fusion closed out Wednesday's slate of games in the Overwatch League with a clean 4-0 sweep over the hapless Shanghai Dragons in Burbank, California.

It should come as little surprise at this point that Shanghai couldn't put together a win, especially considering how strong the Philadelphia Fusion has been in Stage 2. While Philadelphia usually wins on the back of stellar hitscan play from DPS Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok, today saw rarely utilized substitute, Simon "snillo" Ekstrom, see action against the winless Dragons.

Still, Philadelphia looked as potent as ever, thanks to versatile DPS Josue "Eqo" Corona, who is making a stellar debut in the Overwatch League. It takes a great player to overthrow Carpe's historical projectile partner, George "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha, but Eqo was more than up to the task, dominating on everything from Genji to Widowmaker as the Fusion destroyed the Dragons.

For Shanghai, any list of positives takeaways from losses like this are growing shorter with each subsequent defeat. After taking a map win off of Seoul's substitutes last week, Shanghai has seemingly stagnated.

Ultimately, it's not surprising that the Dragons are struggling without DPS player Weida "Diya" Lu, who is in China dealing with family issues. It's simply unfortunate that Shanghai started the inaugural season of the Overwatch League in such disastrous fashion and has essentially taken itself out of playoff contention for not just Stage 2 but the overall Season 1 playoffs as well.

Shanghai has a tall task ahead of it when it faces the New York Excelsior at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, while Philadelphia prepares to take on the struggling Dallas Fuel at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.

-- Noah Waltzer