Welcome to our Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 2 Day 2 Recap! OWL History was made at the Blizzard Arena yesterday, where we saw the longest losing streak in professional sports history finally come to an end. Alongside some surprising results and intense moments, here is a recap of what happened in the recent Overwatch League matches.

Atlanta Reign versus Toronto Defiant

The first match of the night was between two new faces to the league. The Atlanta Reign battled against the Toronto Defiant, and whilst some were hoping for a close match, Atlanta managed to pull the rug from underneath the Defiant and take the win with a 3-1 victory.

A majority of people predicted for the Reign to take the win over Toronto, and it isn’t too surprising either. With a convincing clean sweep over the Florida Mayhem last week and falling shy of a map against the Philadelphia Fusion, Atlanta have already made a name for themselves in the league. Flex support, Dusttin “Dogman” Bowerman, had an exceptional performance on the Zenyatta during Numbani. Dogman took down three members of the Defiant during Atlanta’s defence, forcing the team back and halting their payload progress. He also managed to take out RoKy on the side of the Defiant as he was speed boosting towards the payload on Lucio to push the game into overtime. However, Dogman eliminated him, and the round ended before RoKy could touch the payload.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Defiant. They managed to take the map win on Busan, and that’s not by accident. Toronto have now proven that they have a bloodthirsty support duo in the form of main support Joo-seong “RoKy” Park and Jae-yoon “Aid” Go. As the progress was building for Atlanta, Aid used his Coalescence as Moira to take out two key members of the Reign. RoKy then followed his support counterpart’s lead and wiped out three more players while Aid killed another. These two wiped out the entire team, allowing their teammates to flip control of the point over to them and win the round.

New York Excelsior versus Los Angeles Valiant

From almost constant map fives to nearly none at all, this was the only game that went the distance as New York Excelsior faced off against the Los Angeles Valiant. Whilst some fans were hoping that the LA squad in green and gold could take down the Excelsior, the team from New York took the win 3-2.

The Valiant lost, but the team are still putting together all the pieces to work out which players work best in the line-up. With four DPS players to choose from, the Valiant subbed different players into the rotation to see who worked best. But one consistent player on the roster was main tank Pan-seung “Fate” Koo. Fate and his team somehow managed to survive a whole team Earthshatter from the NYXL on Nepal Shrine, and to retaliate, Fate landed a three man kill on the Reinhardt. With the Valiant still in control of the point, and both sides at 99% capture progress, overtime was ticking away. New York tried to flip control, but they were stopped in their tracks by the Valiant. With nobody left on the point as Fate and his team took out the remaining members, the Valiant won the round.

NYXL is King

The New York Excelsior once again proved their dominance in the Overwatch League as they took the win in this match. Teamwork is key, and the Excelsior showed this. With the help from new DPS player Yeon-kwan “Nenne” Jeong on Zarya, flex tank Tae-hong “MekO” Kim launched his Self-Destruct into the Graviton Surge that was holding most of the Valiant in place on Hollywood.

The ultimate wouldn’t have done much if it wasn’t for the Excelsior’s main tank, Dong-gyu “Mano” Kim. Mano noticed that the Valiant’s Reinhardt still had it’s shield up, protecting his team from the oncoming blast. To stop this, Mano charged into the Graviton Surge and knocked the players out of it, but also took down the Reinhardt shield at the right moment. With no protection and still in the blast radius, MekO took out three players on the side of the Valiant with his Self-Destruct, stopping them from making any capture progress on the point.

Shanghai Dragons versus Boston Uprising

History has been made. The Shanghai Dragons went up against the Boston Uprising and whilst not many people had confidence, some fans still believed that the Dragons would be able to get their first Overwatch League win. Those fans were right. The Blizzard Arena erupted into cheers and applause as the Shanghai Dragons won the series 3-1 against the Uprising, ending their 42-game losing streak, the longest losing streak in professional sports history.

Did Shanghai win or did Boston Lose?

Boston did have a few issues before the match started though. Main tank Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth declared ineligible minutes before the match was due to start, forcing the team to play main tank Min-seob “Axxiom” Park. It’s still unclear why Boston couldn’t put Fusions in, but it’s possible that Fusions didn’t receive the correct contract when he was brought up to the main roster. Fusions was previously on a two-way contract for the team. If that contract wasn’t changed to a full-time roster contract, Fusions can only play two matches this stage. Since Fusions has already played two games this stage already, if this is the case, then it would explain why he couldn’t play.

Boston still managed to take a win off of the Dragons during the final map though. Boston attacked first, and unfortunately, they were full held by the Dragons. In retaliation, Boston did the same to them. The Dragons didn’t have too far to go to reach the box that would secure them the 4-0 sweep, but Boston were determined to make sure they didn’t get there. DPS player for the Uprising, Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang, managed to stun DDing out of his EMP before it could go off, nullifying it to give his team an advantage as they continued to force Shanghai back. With some well-timed ultimates and good teamwork, Boston managed to take the map win in the end.

Shanghai Triumphs

Shanghai won. Their first ever Overwatch League match win. And it wasn’t just because of pure luck or Boston’s misfortune with their main tank situation. The Dragons won because they were the better team overall during the match. One player who stood out on the roster however, was DPS player Jin-kyeok “DDing” Yang, who had a very strong showing as Sombra. As the Dragons pushed the payload forward and Boston arrived to stop them, DDing sent out his EMP ultimate that connected with the entirety of the Boston Uprising.

One by one the members of Boston fell at the hands of the Dragons thanks to DDing’s EMP, and the team from Shanghai continued to push the payload through the streets of Kings Row. DDing did this more than once to enable his team across the series, and along with good team communication and coordination, Shanghai took the map win and the match win as well after the third map.

Houston Outlaws versus Hangzhou Spark

The final match of the night was the most surprising of them all. The Hangzhou Spark faced off against the Houston Outlaws, and most viewers had it down that Hangzhou would take the victory. Even the desk for the Overwatch League during the preshow had predicted that Hangzhou would win. However, Houston flipped this prediction on its head and impressed their fans by taking the match victory 3-1 against the Spark.

Houston took the win, and from what they showed during the match, they earned it. Flex tank for the Outlaws, Alexandre “SPREE” Vanhomwegen, secured the map win on Kings Row for his team with a triple kill using his Self-Destruct as D.va. The bomb wiped half of Hangzhou off of the point, and made way for the rest of Houston to clear off the rest of the Spark as overtime ticked away, and Houston took the win. The most impressive thing from Houston though, was their strategy on Temple of Anubis. Houston started their attack by scouting to see the Hangzhou composition and then returned to spawn to switch their own comp.

Houston's Fantastic Plays

Once switched, Houston ran to the left of the map through the chokepoints to force some members of Hangzhou off of the platform. After forcing Hangzhou back, Houston then ran to the right side of the map and to force Hangzhou’s supports, iDK and Revenge, off of the high ground. The Outlaws also forced the supports out of position, allowing for Houston to take them out. Houston then pushed back onto the point, killed the rest of Hangzhou, and took Point A.

Hangzhou may not have won the match, but their performance was still admirable to watch. Through good communication and coordination, they won several teamfights. Kyeong-bo “GodsB” Kim, also managed to land a triple kill as Zarya on Kings Row to halt Houston’s push on the payload. Hangzhou also took a map off Houston on Dorado, holding them to the first checkpoint.

Coming Up

Here are the next upcoming matches in the Overwatch League:

SATURDAY 23RD FEBRUARY:

3 pm EST – Los Angeles Gladiators vs. Paris Eternal

4:30 pm EST – Philadelphia Fusion vs. Dallas Fuel

6 pm EST – Vancouver Titans vs. Guangzhou Charge

7:30 pm EST – Chengdu Hunters vs. Florida Mayhem

SUNDAY 24TH FEBRUARY:

3 pm EST – Hangzhou Spark vs. London Spitfire

4:30 pm EST – New York Excelsior vs. Houston Outlaws

6 pm EST – Toronto Defiant vs. Los Angeles Valiant

7:30 pm EST – Vancouver Titans vs. San Francisco Shock

Make sure you check out Don't Sleep on the Toronto Defiant, where an ex-pro gives us some insights, or take a look at Toronto Defiant's Contender's Team, the Montreal Rebellion!

Images via the Overwatch League