What We Learned: OWL Week 1

Power rankings and Team Summaries from the first week of competition

The first week of Overwatch League is finished and we can begin to answer some questions as well as pose some more.

Can the OWL draw viewers? Overwhelmingly yes, and not only that, it showed it can maintain leadership throughout the broadcast. Peaking over 400,000 viewers on opening night and maintaining and quite easily sat above 150,000 viewers for the whole first 4 days of matches. More information will be gained from it’s numbers in the coming weeks when it overlaps with the start of the LCS (League Championship Series) and the CS:GO Boston Major showcase matches. We should be able to make some observations as to if Overwatch is bringing in it’s casual player base as fans or if a lot of the viewing in Week one was by plain eSports fans. January is an incredible month for eSports nonetheless and seeing OWL in the thick of it all is a very good thing for all involved.

Will the OWL have parity? More so than the LCS in the beginning which is a great thing, but not as much as a standard traditional sports league. There definitely appears to be tiers of talent throughout the league but we should see some overlap and some quality upsets. The mid-table teams are definitely where the talent gets squished and there can be all sorts of mayhem when it comes time for the late season playoff push.

Is Blizzard in over their head? I’d say so. The production value, talent commentating and analysis, and talent on stage are all incredible. This is the biggest investment into eSports ever and it truly shows. This is a spectacle and a celebration. However, Blizzard has chosen to make some weird decisions about map rotation that is going to make the long season seem even longer and may impact viewers. The map’s only rotate once per phase, meaning that the same maps we’ve seen this week will be the same maps that we see for the following four. This may grow stale and I truly hope that Blizzard considers a map pick/ban system similar to Counter Strike which allows teams to have strengths and weaknesses as far as maps go and another layer of strategy in the pick-ban phase. Blizzard has also made it so that a team can only substitute if they file the roster change before the end of the first half of the map for the round after. Blizzard likely wants to avoid a scenario in which teams are just subbing at the result of the other teams subs and the spectator experience being boring and longer than it already is. This is a legitimate concern but could easily be fixed by having a uniform deadline that both coaches must file before for substitutions. Having coaches make sub’s based on a fraction of the information they could have is idiotic and takes away another layer of strategy. Blizzard appears to me flying by the seat of their pants a bit and hopefully viewers and fans do not grow fatigued by it.

Power Rankings

Los Angeles Valiant

Los Angeles Valiant (2–0) — If we are to go use the performances within the season thus far and ONLY this season thus far than it would be hard to put anyone else in this spot besides the Valiant. They looked dominant against the San Francisco Shock sweeping them 4–0. They then faced off against the darling of the West in the Dallas Fuel and refused to drop a map once again, although Horizon Lunar Colony ended up being a draw. So the Valiant finish the week 7–0–1 showing a will to fight as they pushed multiple maps into double overtime against the Fuel and came out on top. They also possess the likely leader for MVP after the first week in So0n. We will learn a lot in Week 2 as they go up against both the New York Excelsior and the London Spitfire. Seoul Dynasty (2–0) — The Dynasty dropped their first map of the season against Dallas but have looked like a well oiled machine since then. Beating the Fuel 2–1–1 and completely outclassing the Gladiators with a 4–0 sweep. The Dynasty find themselves at number 2. This puts them in a position to likely take the number one spot if the Valiant fall to NYE or LON next week as the Dynasty should be able to stomp their opponents being the Flordia Mayhem and the Boston Uprising. Fleta and Ryujehong look impeccable against all competition so far and should continue to carve out their path to remaining undefeated through week 2. London Spitfire (2–0) — London followed a very similar trajectory in their first week as the Dynasty, dropping the first map to the Florida Mayhem and from then on showing no holes in their game topping them 3–1. They also conquered the opposing Philadelphia Fusion in their final match of the week, sweeping them, just as Seoul beat up on the Gladiators. Why put Spitfire below Seoul? The Florida Mayhem are a worse team than the Dallas Fuel and that map loss takes more away from them. Bdosin looked like a top tier Zenyatta and Fury outplayed Poko from the Fusion quite remarkably. The Spitfire face off against both the Fuel and the Valiant in Week two which will tell us a lot about this team.

If either the Spitfire or the Valiant make it out of week 2 still undefeated they would likely capture the number one spot as they would have an impressive resume when compared to Seoul’s if they too were to remain undefeated. A lot will reveal itself in the coming week.

4. New York Excelsior (2–0) — The excelsior were…excellent. They managed to stomp out the Uprising 3–1 in a rivalry match by nature and also reigned in the Outlaws 3–1. They dropped 2 maps to midtier competition which seats them right below the big three. Much that was said about the previous three teams can be said about NYE. They looked dominant at times and their dropped maps weren’t huge missteps. New York may hold the best DPS squad in the league with Saebyeolbe, Libero, and the human highlight reel Pine. We haven’t been lucky enough to see some of the top DPS squads clash but that will change in the coming week when the Excelsior go toe-to-toe against the Valiant and also the Los Angeles Gladiators. They are quite favored to beat the Gladiators but the Valiant will pose a great challenge.

These mid-table teams are a little harder to rank and I won’t be as rigid on the map loss weighing and comparison as I was in the top tier. I will still attempt to do my best to explain my ratings.

5. Philadelphia Fusion(1–1) — The Fusion’s performance was a surprise as they were unable to attend the preseason and were said to be unprepared for the first week. They won a hard fought match against the Outlaws 3–2 and got shut down 4–0 by the Spitfire. None of this sound all that impressive but the Fusion have something that none of the other mid-table teams have. Carpe is very likely the strongest Tracer in the entire league thus far and Poko is creating unique situations with his lethal D.Va ults. They have something going for them that compels me to put them at the 5 spot. They will be battling the San Francisco Shock and the Los Angeles Gladiators in week 2. The Gladiators should pose a threat and the Shock are nothing to look past, but if the Fusion can come out of week 2 with a 3–1 record I will feel justified in placing them here.

6. Dallas Fuel(0–2) — The Fuel don’t exactly deserved to be placed at 6. They have so much more talent that the position insinuates. However, couldn’t pull out a win in Week 1 and only managed to win 1 map. They fought the Dynasty hard but lost 2–1–1 and couldn’t come with an answer for the Valiant and lost 3–0–1. This is a case where the scoreboard doesn’t exactly reflect the nature of the game though. The Fuel played very good in the first two maps of both series against top competition but then it appeared that they quite literally ran out of Fuel. Dallas seemed susceptible to being worn out and titling a bit after the many double Overtimes they endured in Week 1 and that is a bit worrisome. With a deep and talented roster that consists of a powerful trinity of Effect (DPS), Taimou (DPS) and Chipshajen (Heals) they should be able to build some momentum going into their eye catching battle against the Spitfire when they mount up against their natural rival, the Houston Outlaws. Dallas needs to refuel and iron out their kinks to be considered for a top spot that their talent deserves.

7. Los Angeles Gladiators (1–1) — The Gladiators are not exactly living up to the name. They are about as middling as mid-table can get thus far. They did look extremely impressive against the Shanghai Dragons, acing them 4–0, and styled on them a bit but then got absolutely outmatched by the Dynasty. They looked excellent against lackluster competition and looked lackluster against excellent competition. They have a very strong and solid roster consisting of 7 quality players and a support duo that looked incredible strong against the Dynasty but was exposed by Dyansty’s Fleta. If other teams study the way Dynasty shut down BigGoose and Shaz then the Gladiators could be in trouble if they aren’t able to adapt. They match up against the Fusion and NYE in week 2 giving them two quality opponents to show their worth against.

8. Boston Uprising (1–1) — The Uprising surprised by showing some grit and chutzpah as they stole a map from the superior Excelsior in a 3–1 loss. They then went on to trounce the Florida Mayhem 4–0. A pretty good start for the young, often referred to as “coachable”, team. None of the players really impressed but none of them looked particularly worrisome either. I just feel like we didn’t learn enough about this team in week 1 and as a result couldn’t justify putting them above a team with obvious strengths such as the Gladiators. The Uprising attempts will attempt to oust the Dynasty and withstand the Shock in week 2. I don’t seem them standing a chance against the Dynasty but the Shock should be formidable opponents.

9. San Francisco Shock (1–1) — The Shock are in a unique position. They obviously aren’t having too great a showing, getting swept by the Valiant 4–0 and giving up a map to the Dragons 3–1, but they have something that no other team has in OWL. They have two star players that are too young to play in Sinatraa and Super. Once these two are able to join the team we will likely a see a vastly different shock that isn’t so incredibly reliant on Babybay and will be able to develop some layers to their squad. But as it stands, Babybay is the obvious focal point of the Shock and the rest of the squad, while not incredibly problematic, isn’t able to carry the weight. San Francisco kicks the week off against the Fusion and closes it against the Uprising. Two matches that they have a chance in and it will be seen if the Shock can develop a wrinkle in their game.

10. Houston Outlaws (0–2) — Houston is another team that is better than the position that they currently hold. But unlike the Fuel who fought hard against top-tier competition that the scoreboard doesn’t properly capture, the Outlaws lost to the Excelsior 3–1 but also a another mid-tier team in the Fusion 3–2. The Houston v. Philly match was a highlight of week 1 and could have gone either way, but I can’t excuse their record as I can for the Fuel. The Fusion and Excelsior are still top half teams so that will come into play if the Outlaws impress in Week 2 as they battle the Fuel and the Shanghai Dragons. If the Outlaws cannot best the Dragons, than they show themselves to be completely deserving of this position.

11. Florida Mayhem (0–2) — It is too early to say this but I’m going to say it anyway. Running a 6 man roster, the league minimum and the number required to field a complete team, is perhaps the biggest blunder of the first phase of OWL. They came out hot and ready taking a game off the Spitfire in a losing 3–1 series and then got overthrown by the Uprising in a clean 4–0 sweep. I suspect that when they look good it’s merely out of surprise since the teams can prepare everything against them much easier than the other teams since they do not have to worry about substitutions. The players are under-performing greatly as well. It’s possible that this team comes completely into it’s own and have a chemistry unmatched by the other teams. I consider that possibility quite improbable. The Mayhem mix it up with the Dynasty and the Dragons next week. I expect nothing less than a beat down by Seoul but the Dragons game will be a bit interesting as they battle to see who can hold the 11th place in the power rankings.

12. Shanghai Dragons (0–2) — Shanghai is the obvious bottom of the barrel team at the moment in the league. Getting styled on by the Gladiators in a 4–0 sweep and beat up by the Shock in a 3–1 loss. The Dragons tie the Mayhem for least maps won, one, but seeing as the Mayhem’s map was against the vastly superior London Spitfire, the Dragons end up in 12th even by the most rigid system. It is said that this team has a lot of upside and they are young and inexperienced. That is well and good, but the other teams are going to continue to improve and grow together as well, and starting this far behind the pack may just be too much to ever overcome. The Dragons face off against the Houston Outlaws and the Florida Mayhem in the upcoming week.