Scrub's OWL Power Rankings: Week 1

The 2019 season of the Overwatch League is finally underway and the opening week of action has concluded.

The opening week was not short on excitement. There were six matches that went to map five, including three matches on the weekend's final day.

The new expansion franchises had strong debuts. In total, expansion teams were 7-3 in the opening week. One team, the Hangzhou Spark finished 2-0 and four other expansion teams started 1-0.

After a lot of VOD-watching to make up for a weekend of work and missed games, the rankings are ready. Without further ado, here are the updated Scrub's Power Rankings following the Overwatch League's first week of action.

Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

1. (+2) Philadelphia Fusion (2-0)

I'm not entirely sold on any one team for the top spot, but I think the Philadelphia Fusion Philadelphia Fusion OWL Rank #3 Fury Kim Jun-ho (김준호) off tank Alarm Kim Kyeong-bo (김경보) flex support Carpe Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁) dps Ivy Lee Seung-Hyun dps SADO Kim Su-Min (뜨용) tank FunnyAstro Daniel Hathaway support 's performance in the opening week was better than the Excelsior's. A 3-1 victory over the reigning champions and a hard earned 3-2 victory over the Reign currently place the Fusion on top of the standings (in a tie with the Spark). They play the Mayhem and the Fuel next week. Barring any upsets, they should start the season 4-0 and retain that top spot.

2. (-) New York Excelsior (2-0)

The New York Excelsior New York Excelsior OWL Rank #6 JJoNak Bang Sung-hyeon (방성현) flex support HOTBA Choi Hong-joon off tank Saebyeolbe Park Jong Ryeol dps Haksal Kim Hyo-jong (김효종) dps Mano Kim Dong-gyu (김동규) tank ANAMO Jeong Tae-seong (정태성) support did not have a particularly tough opening week schedule and should have the best map record in the league right now. Instead, they beat an Uprising team with a main tank player on Zarya in a 2-1 match and beat the Justice 3-1. The Excelsior play the Valiant and Outlaws in Week 2. The Valiant should serve as a better barometer for how the Excelsior look in the season's opening stage.

3. (+2) Vancouver Titans (1-0)

The Vancouver Titans Vancouver Titans OWL Rank #18 Roolf Randal Stark flex support KSAA Alhumaidi Alruwaili off tank Dalton Dalton Bennyhoff dps sHockWave Niclas Smidt Jensen dps ShRedLock Abtin Shirvani tank CarCar Carson First support 4-0'd a Shanghai Dragons team still getting their new main tank player accustomed to the team. While the matchup wasn't particularly hard, the Titans still deserve credit for solid execution. They should start 2-0 after playing the Guangzhou Charge. Their first real test is later next week when they play the San Francisco Shock in what could be the match of the week.

4. (-) San Francisco Shock (1-1)

After a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Fuel, the San Francisco Shock San Francisco Shock OWL Rank #2 ChoiHyoBin Choi Hyo-Bin (최효빈) off tank Viol2t Park Min-ki flex support Striker Kwon Nam-joo (권남주) dps ANS Lee Seon-chang (이선창) dps smurf Yoo Myeong-Hwan tank Moth Grant Espe support stumbled in a 3-2 defeat to the Los Angeles Gladiators. The Shock still looked good on the week overall and the loss was to a good Gladiators team. However, their only match next week is against the Vancouver Titans. There's a chance this team could start the season with a losing record.

5. (+4) Hangzhou Spark (2-0)

The Hangzhou Spark Hangzhou Spark OWL Rank #9 BeBe Yoon Hui-Chang (윤희창) flex support QOQ Yu Sung-joon (유성준) off tank GodsB Kim Kyeon-Bo (김경보) dps Architect Park Min-ho (박민호) dps guxue Xu Qiulin (徐秋林) tank M1ka Liu Jiming (刘济铭) support looked extremely good in their opening week. IDK is already making an argument for the best Lúcio in the league as he played a big part in setting up Ria's big Self-Destruct kills all weekend. However, the rest of the team deserves credit for working to set him up, as well. His Self-Destructs were almost always preceded by Graviton Surges and often assisted by Reinhardt Charges or Earthshatters when IDK couldn't offer a boop. The Spark have shown an impressive level of teamwork for an expansion team to open their debut season with explosive plays. They will be dangerous in Stage 1 if they can keep it up.

6. (-) Los Angeles Gladiators (1-1)

While the Los Angeles Gladiators Los Angeles Gladiators OWL Rank #13 Shaz Jonas Suovaara flex support SPACE Indy Halpern off tank birdring Kim Ji-hyuk (김지혁) dps kevster Kevin Persson dps OGE Son Min-seok (손민석) tank BigGoose Benjamin Isohanni support began the week with a 3-1 defeat to the Seoul Dynasty, they bounced back with a victory over a superior San Francisco Shock squad. Their tough schedule doesn't get any easier in Week 2. They play a Paris Eternal team that looked strong in Week 1.

7. (+6) Paris Eternal (1-0)

Speaking of the Paris Eternal Paris Eternal OWL Rank #7 hanbin Choi Han-bin (최한빈) off tank Fielder Kwon Joon (권준) flex support SoOn Terence Tarlier dps SP9RK1E Kim Young-han (김영한) dps BenBest Benjamin Dieulafait tank FDGoD Brice Monscavoir support , they rolled over the championship Spitfire squad in a 3-1 match. When the Spitfire thought they developed a counter to the Eternal's GOATs, the Eternal adapted and shut it down the next time they saw it. The Eternal may be one of the best, if not the best, teams in this meta, however they will need to continue to take wins off of top teams to prove it. They can start with a match against the Gladiators this week.

8. (-1) Los Angeles Valiant (0-1)

It took five maps for the Spark to finish off the Los Angeles Valiant Los Angeles Valiant OWL Rank #11 McGravy Caleb McGarvey off tank Lastro Moon Jung-won (문정원) flex support Shax Johannes Nielsen dps ksp Kai Collins dps Dreamer Song Sang-lok tank RAin Park Jae-ho (박재호) support . The Valiant looked strong even in defeat and proved not to be pushovers as they pushed the Spark to match point on the fourth map. Main tank Kuki looked surprisingly good on Lúcio and Izayaki took over what was Kariv's flex support role with ease. The Valiant have to play the Excelsior in their first match of Week 2 but will get a needed break from playing against juggernauts with a match against the Defiant later in the week.

9. (+2) Atlanta Reign (1-1)

The Atlanta Reign Atlanta Reign OWL Rank #14 Dogman Dusttin Bowerman flex support Hawk Xander Domecq off tank Lr1s Kim Seung-Hyun (김승현) flex support Edison Kim Tae-hoon (김태훈) dps saucy Garret Roland dps Gator Blake Scott tank Masaa Petja Kantanen support swept the Florida Mayhem before losing a tight 3-2 match to the Philadelphia Fusion. If there's such a thing as quality losses, that match was one. The Reign pushed the Fusion to the brink and nearly came away with the victory themselves. If that match was any indication, the Reign could be a threat to the league's top teams all season long.

10. (-2) Seoul Dynasty (1-1)

While the Seoul Dynasty Seoul Dynasty OWL Rank #4 creative Kim Young-wan (김영완) flex support FITS Kim Dong-eon (김동언) dps Profit Park Joon-yeong (박준영) dps Marve1 Hwang Min-seo (황민서) tank Gesture Hong Jae-hee (홍재희) tank tobi Yang Jin-mo (양진모) support started the week with an impressive win over the Los Angeles Gladiators, they looked far less impressive against the Fuel. The Dynasty still show promise, but their loss is still cause enough for concern.

11. (-10) London Spitfire (0-2)

The London Spitfire London Spitfire OWL Rank #17 BERNAR Shin Se-won (신세원) off tank Highly Lee Sung-hyeok (이성혁) flex support Glister Lim Gil-seong (임길성) dps Although Jung Hyun-wook dps JMac Choi Dae-han (최대한) tank SanGuiNar Lym Kyu-min support 's drop of 10 spots will likely be the largest single week swing in rankings this whole season. The issue wasn't so much that the Spitfire lost twice, but instead the issue was the Spitfire lost twice without forcing a map five in either match. They should be able to bounce back with a match against the Washington Justice. They also have a less forgiving match on their schedule next week: one against the Hangzhou Spark.

12. (-2) Dallas Fuel (1-1)

The Dallas Fuel Dallas Fuel OWL Rank #15 NotE Lucas Meissner off tank Crimzo William Hernandez flex support Doha Kim Dong-Ha (김동하) dps ONIGOD Stefan Fiskerstrand dps Gamsu Noh Yeong-jin (노영진) tank Paintbrush Nolan Edwards support 's opened their season with a match that was far from inspiring and ended up swept by the San Francisco Shock. They bounced back against the Dynasty, however, showing the team may have more fight than they did last season. Will the Fuel look more like they did in their first match or the second match for the remainder of the stage?

13. (+4) Boston Uprising (1-1)

While their performance alone surpassed expectations for the Boston Uprising Boston Uprising OWL Rank #20 Myunbong Seo Sang-min (서상민) flex support punk Leyton Gilchrist off tank Colourhex Kelsey Birse dps Jerry Min Tae-Hui (민태희) dps Fusions Cameron Bosworth tank mikeyy Michael Konicki tank Halo Kobe Hamand support , their opening week was made even more impressive considering Axxiom said he only had a day to practice Zarya before going on stage. The Uprising should be even better with Colourhex back in the lineup. It will be interesting to see how far Fusions can carry the team in the GOATs meta.

14. (-) Shanghai Dragons (0-2)

The Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #1 Izayaki Kim Min-chul (김민철) flex support Void Kang Jun-woo (강준우) off tank Fleta Kim Byung-sun (김병선) dps LIP Lee Jae-won (이재원) dps FEARLESS Lee Eui-seok (이의석) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support are now 0-42 all-time in regular season matches. However, they continue to hold their spot in the rankings. Partially because no one behind the Dragons did well enough to make it worthwhile to move them upward in the rankings and partially because I expect the Dragons to only get better the more time Gamsu has with the team.

15. (+1) Toronto Defiant (1-0)

The Toronto Defiant Toronto Defiant OWL Rank #16 KariV Park Young-seo (박영서) flex support Nevix Andreas Karlsson off tank Logix Andreas Berghmans dps Agilities Brady Girardi dps numlocked Seb Barton tank Kruise Harrison Pond support are undefeated at this point in the season, but they are undefeated because the Houston Outlaws choked away a 2-0 map lead. Despite their victory, it's tough to have confidence in the Defiant without Neko for one more week.

16. (+2) Chengdu Hunters (1-0)

The Chengdu Hunters Chengdu Hunters OWL Rank #12 Lateyoung Ma Tianbin (马添彬) off tank Molly He Chengzhi (何诚智) flex support Jinmu Yi Hu (易虎) dps Leave Huang Xin (黄馨) dps Ameng Ding Menghan (丁蒙涵) tank Yveltal Li Xianyao (李先曜) support are the first team with a majority-Chinese roster to win a match in the Overwatch League regular season. The Hunters have a more fearsome opponent next week in the Seoul Dynasty that may serve as a better test of the roster's strength.

17. (-5) Guangzhou Charge (0-1)

Their opening match was not a good start for the Guangzhou Charge Guangzhou Charge OWL Rank #5 Shu Kim Jin-seo flex support Cr0ng Nam Ki-cheol (남기철) off tank Happy Lee Jung-woo (이정우) dps Eileen Ou Yiliang (欧倚良) dps Rio Oh Seung-pyo (오승표) tank Chara Kim Jung-yeon (김정연) support as they lost to one of three teams regularly placed at the bottom of the league during the preseason. They will need to improve and play much better if they want to avoid falling even further down the league's rankings.

18. (-3) Houston Outlaws (0-2)

The two losses the Houston Outlaws Houston Outlaws OWL Rank #19 MekO Kim Tae Hong off tank rapel Kim Jun-geun (김준근) flex support LiNkzr Jiri Masalin dps Danteh Dante Cruz dps Hydration João Pedro Goes Telles flex Jecse Lee Seong-soo (이승수) support suffered in the opening week of matches couldn't be worse. Not only did they lose in two 3-2s, one of which was a reverse sweep, but they also lost to two teams not at their full strength. The Defiant played without a dedicated flex support and the Uprising played without one of their DPS players. How can the Outlaws expect to beat teams with their full starting six available if they can't beat teams with a player off his normal role?

19. (-) Florida Mayhem (0-1)

The Florida Mayhem Florida Mayhem OWL Rank #8 Gargoyle Lee Beom-jun (이범준) off tank GangNamJin Gang Nam-jin (강남진) flex support BQB Lee Sang-bum (이상범) dps Yaki Kim Jun-gi (김준기) dps Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank Kris Choi Jun-soo (최준수) support were rolled by the Reign in their opening week match. Fortunately for the Mayhem, the Reign looked really good against the Fusion, too. Maybe they can take solace in the fact that they were at least swept by a quality team?

20. (-) Washington Justice (0-1)

The Washington Justice Washington Justice OWL Rank #10 AimGod Min-seok Kwon flex support JJANU Choi Hyeon-woo (최현우) off tank TTuba Lee Ho-sung (이호성) dps Stitch Lee Chung-hee (이충희) dps Decay Jang Gui-un (장귀운) dps ArK Hong Yeon-joon support were beat by the New York Excelsior 3-1. Taking even one map off of the Excelsior exceeded expectations. If they can continue to take maps off top teams then they will be able to move past the Mayhem in the rankings.

Weekly Wrap-up

This week's rankings moved wildly as a result of it being the first real showcase of each team's talent. With each passing week, the rankings should stabilize so there are less teams moving four, five or even 10 spots in one week and more teams moving just one or two spots each week.

Week 2 should be just as exciting as Week 1. In fact, the Titans and Shock matchup may be one of the most exciting single matches of the entire stage. That match, as well as other less high-profile matches, should leave an impact on next week's Scrub's Power Rankings.