Around the OWL: San Francisco Shock, Guangzhou Charge continue to perform

With just two weeks left in the final stage of regular season play, the top half of the table has seen some noticeable shifts as NYXL have dipped in form while San Francisco Shock and Vancouver Titans have remained relatively steady. Once again, the revelation of Washington Justice continues to shine brightly as they have really come into their own in this DPS meta. Paris Eternal got a much needed win under their belts to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, and Guangzhou Charge continue to sharpen their tools in Stage Four as the top twelve spots have started to solidify.

Here comes the Charge

Guangzhou Charge turned heads this week as they put another two wins together and most impressively over NYXL and Seoul Dynasty. With two weeks left and one match left to play, the Charge control a 5-1 stage record and plenty of confidence within their ranks. Their display against NYXL was refreshing to say the least, as ‘one note’ players such as HOTBA and Nero were able to show off their skills on a wide variety of heroes within the series. HOTBA’s association with D.Va has always been known, but now the Zarya proficiency has grown to a point where he can rival even the best Tank lines.

Wholistically speaking, Guangzhou Charge’s synergy looks much improved across the board as their healing core and DPS line have been able to pull off flashy plays now that their team has a solid enough foundation to compete. The DPS meta has been nothing but a blessing for this team and as they continue to show their flexibility and killer instinct simultaneously. As a mixed roster within the OWL, Guangzhou have been finding a successful formula regardless of their international identity as other teams have consolidated approaches one way or another to find some wins.

Depleting morale?

In a meta where matchups and stage selection is so crucial towards victory for some of these teams, it’s hard to really decipher where some of these rosters have gone wrong in recent weeks, or if the remaining competition has simply superseded their ability. When looking at Dallas Fuel, their record this stage is a dismal 0-4 with their most competitive games arguably still ahead of them.

While OGE remains a rock for this team even in the face of a shellacking that they received at the hands of San Francisco Shock, the rest of Dallas Fuel has not culminated around their win conditions and the teamwork proficiency they showed with the GOATS meta has completely dissipated since. Granted, it is hard to look good against the best team in the league, but Dallas Fuel have taken a noticeable step down in form and their fans have all but kissed playoff chances goodbye with the surrounding teams looking visibly more together as a unit.

On the other side of the table, NYXL’s dip in form is spelling massive playoff upsets in the future as their performances this week have been lamentable to say the least. As of right now, it seems like this version of NYXL has virtually no identity, being bested by double sniper compositions and Reaper-Mei duo’s at a breakneck pace. With all their wins cumulatively stacked, NYXL will more than likely end up as the second seed but many fans have called their performances into question as this Stage of Overwatch League action has drilled many holes into their previously impervious winning formula.

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