London Spitfire won Stage 1 of the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, and they're in a position to do it all over again this weekend with the culmination of Stage 2.

The team is comprised of two former Korean rosters, GC Busan and Kongdoo Panthera. Each of these teams was great on their own, but their coming together has formed what is probably the best DPS partnership in the league.

People were excited about the pairing of Joon-yeong 'Profit' Park and Ji-hyeok 'Birdring' Kim, and so far, they haven't disappointed. Mail Esports chatted with both of them ahead of their big matches this week.

London Spitfire are reigning Stage champions and have the best DPS pairing in the league

Spitfire are playing Shanghai Dragons and Dallas Fuel this week, the two teams who are languishing at the bottom of the Stage 2 standings. Barring any major upsets, Spitfire should be qualifying for Sunday's playoffs as one of the top three teams.

A number of teams are in the running still. New York Excelsior are guaranteed a spot, while the most likely other candidates are Philadelphia Fusion, Los Angeles Gladiators, and Seoul Dynasty.

Profit told me that he imagined New York and Seoul would be joining them in the playoffs, but that was before Dynasty's surprising loss to the Houston Outlaws last night.

Philadelphia Fusion currently hold the number three spot in the Stage 2 standings, but Los Angeles Gladiators are only one map behind them. Seoul is four maps back, so will need some help from other teams if they're going to make it.

Los Angeles Gladiators have been one of the most improved teams in the league, pulling off surprising results this Stage. They beat the Spitfire 3-1 in week three.

Ji-hyeok 'Birdring' Kim, formerly of Kongdoo Panthera, is a versatile DPS player for the Spitfire

'I want a revenge match against Los Angeles Gladiators,' said Birdring. 'So I hope they'll be in the playoffs. New York will probably be there too. The final will probably be a repeat of Stage 1 between New York and us.'

London came through a grueling final day of Stage 1, having to play both the Houston Outlaws and New York Excelsior twice in regular season and playoff matches. They eventually came out 3-2 victors against New York in the final, taking home the Stage title and $100,000.

Beyond winning Stage 1, their greatest achievement so far has been their dominance of Seoul Dynasty. What many thought would be the best team in the league has struggled twice against the Spitfire, losing both matches 4-0.

'Going into the Seoul games, the week of scrims was actually not very good,' admits Profit. 'But it feels like, since we're going against Seoul and we haven't lost to them, we have a lot of confidence. I think we even play a little better on stage against Dynasty.'

'I didn't really have this before,' said Birdring. 'But it seems the GC Busan guys have this confidence that they've never lost to that Seoul lineup before.'

Joon-yeong 'Profit' Park is a fantastic Tracer and Genji player, and always seems to be smiling

Profit and Birdring are both used to success from their time in Korea, but they admit that it feels different now that they're in the USA playing in the Overwatch League.

'The reaction from fans here seems to be bigger than fans in Korea,' said Profit.

Every week, hundreds of people pack out the Blizzard Arena in California, while hundreds of thousands watch the matches online.

'In Korea we used to have fan meets after the games, which was nice,' said Birdring. 'But here, the fans are super cool and chill.'

Both said their favourite aspect of their new fans from the league is when they receive pictures or see fans in the arena who have purchased a Spitfire uniform with their name on it.

They've had success apart, and now together, they're arguably even better. Profit came from GC Busan, while Birdring was formerly on Kongdoo Panthera. I asked each of them what they thought the other brings to the Spitfire.

'Profit is probably the best Tracer and Genji player in the league, so it's really easy to play DPS with him,' said Birdring.

Profit was equally full of praise for his colleague, but did manage to slip in a cheeky backhanded compliment.

'Because Birdring is on our team, we are able to play any DPS hero in the game... apart from Pharah.'

Profit and Birdring have high praise for the other, they've played as opponents and teammates

As for other players in the league, Profit likes to watch New York Excelsior star support Sung-hyeon 'Jjonak' Bang, while Birdring's favourite player is Seoul's Je-hong 'Ryujehong' Ryu.

'I'm pretty close to him,' said Birdring, 'and he's really wholesome. I like that.'

They also have praise for Houston's Jiri 'Linkzr' Masalin and Boston's Jonathan 'DreamKazper' Sanchez. They've been surprised by their high level of play when they've faced them so far.

Profit and Birdring are two of the best Overwatch DPS players in the world, but they do enjoy playing other heroes from time to time.

'Tracer is a lot of fun,' said Profit, 'but outside of DPS, Winston is probably my favourite hero to play.'

'Zenyatta is really fun and I'm really good on him too,' said Birdring. 'Hopefully one day I get to play him on stage.'

They'll probably both be sticking to Tracer, Widowmaker, and Genji for now in professional matches, but who knows what future metas may bring? New heroes are added periodically to the game, and they can always switch things up too.

Each of them has ideas on what Blizzard should be working on next.

'I haven't really thought much about this before, but a new DPS hero with something like a Winston ultimate where you could completely destroy the enemy team's formation would be really fun to play,' said Birdring.

Profit doesn't want much. 'An invulnerability DPS hero would be great.'

They believe they'll make it to the final of the Stage playoffs again, and expect to face New York

This interview was conducted with a Korean translator, so I asked them how their English lessons were coming along.

'It's been difficult to secure a teacher who speaks both English and Korean fluently,' they told me. 'The English teachers we've had were not proficient in Korean. Hopefully we get to find someone who's proficient in both soon.'

At some point, Spitfire will be visiting the UK. Eventually, the plan is for the team to have their home base in London. The team has a 'British Consultant' in the form of popular YouTuber Tom 'Stylosa' Stewart, who has been introducing them to a few quintessential British experiences.

'It's an honour to be representing such a historic city as London,' said Profit.

Neither of them had been outside of Korea before moving to the US for the Overwatch League, so everything has been a new experience for them so far.

I asked them what they're most excited about seeing or doing when they get to London for the first time. Would they want to go and see Buckingham Palace? Ascend The Shard? Check out the London Eye?

'We want to try fish and chips,' they said. 'We've actually heard some mixed reviews about it, but we still really want to try it.'