Scrub's OWL Power Rankings: Stage 3 Week 4

The final week of Stage 3 before Atlanta's home weekend has come with more upsets and close matches.

Included in the lists of both upsets and close matches was the Shock's 3-2 defeat at the p̶a̶w̶s̶ hands of the Chengdu Hunters. That defeat marks the third straight week these rankings' number one team has lost.

For most of the league's teams, Stage 3's regular season has ended. For eight teams, there is still one more week to be played in the Peach State.

Among those teams are Stage 3's only undefeated team and all three teams that have gone winless in Stage 3. Of the three winless teams, only the Reign and Defiant play each other, meaning there is a possibility two teams go winless in Stage 3.

Seven teams have locked themselves into the Stage 3 playoffs. As for the eighth spot, the Dragons are in pretty good shape to clinch their way in and just need a win over the Fusion to do so.

So here are how Scrub's OWL Power Rankings look entering the final week of Stage 3.

Image credit: Ben Pursell for Blizzard Entertainment

1. (+1) Vancouver Titans (20-1)

The dance between 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 and the Shock for the number one spot continues this week as the Titans take it over once again. They looked much better running Sombra compositions with Stitch in to play Sombra and with JJANU substituted out to let SeoMinSoo play Zarya. This might be the lineup that wins the Stage 3 title.

2. (+2) Hangzhou Spark (14-7)

For the first time in ages, there is a new team entering the top three. 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 have played well throughout Stage 3 -- in fact, they nearly beat out the Titans for the Pacific team with the best Stage 3 record. Their close victories over the Valiant and Dynasty proved they can beat good teams and they now find themselves firmly in the top four of the season's standings.

3. (-) New York Excelsior (17-2)

A slow start against the Fuel keeps 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 from taking the second spot in this week's rankings. However, barring any disasters, the Excelsior should finish Stage 3 undefeated and only one game behind the Titans for the best record in the league. The Excelsior are in great shape and will be eager to prove themselves in the Stage 3 playoffs.

4. (-3) San Francisco Shock (16-5)

It's not easy to pin down why 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 have been slow to make the changes necessary to adapt to Stage 3's meta -- it could be that they've continued to win most of their games and thus have been reluctant to make changes, it may be that they realized they needed to adapt too late and now don't want to bother adapting to a meta that will soon be out the door (assuming that 2-2-2 lock is indeed coming in Stage 4) or it could simply be that they cannot adapt well. It's unlikely the stage playoffs will give us any clearer of a picture, so we may need to wait until next stage to find out.

5. (-) Los Angeles Valiant (8-13)

Don't look now, the once 0-8 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 are now in the top 12. That's trouble for the other teams on the bubble of the top 12.

6. (-) Seoul Dynasty (12-9)

After floating around .500 for much of the season, 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 are finally stringing together wins. They're now in position to contend for a top six spot to automatically qualify for the postseason playoffs.

7. (-) Shanghai Dragons (11-8)

Two wins in Atlanta will push 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 to a 6-1 record in Stage 3 and a 13-8 record, good enough for sixth place, on the season. They've slowly gotten better with time this season and have quietly put themselves in contention for an automatic bid into the postseason playoffs.

8. (-) Los Angeles Gladiators (13-8)

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 were unlucky enough to run into the Titans right as they found their magic in this meta with their new lineup. Still, they should be playing the top teams more competitively at this point in the season.

9. (+2) Houston Outlaws (8-13)

While 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 have looked pretty good this stage, they haven't played any good teams since beating the Shock. They're locked into the stage playoffs and will have plenty of good competition there to prove themselves against.

10. (-1) London Spitfire (12-9)

Under no circumstances should Profit be on 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 bench. He is the team's star player and is a dark horse MVP candidate. Sitting him against the Shock was not the correct way to try and adapt to Stage 3's meta.

11. (-1) Philadelphia Fusion (11-8)

It's true that 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 look better when playing DPS heroes as opposed to GOATs, but the difference isn't enough to convince me they'll be in good shape once the meta changes. Yes, their mostly unchanged starting lineup finished second last season. However, they were the sixth and final team to make last season's playoffs and this is a new season with better teams. I have confidence they'll make the play-in tournament, but I have doubts they'll make it further.

12. (+2) Chengdu Hunters (9-12)

Time and time again 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 look done. They lose too often to weaker teams and it seems their plummet through the standings is inevitable. Time and time again they then upset a much better team -- or at least put up a good fight -- and look like they have a chance at fighting for the playoffs again. This week's high was incredibly short -- right after they beat the Shock they lost in a devastating 3-0 to the Dynasty.

13. (-1) Guangzhou Charge (7-12)

Week 5 will give 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 an opportunity to rematch the Dragons immediately following their 3-1 defeat to the team. A victory over such a tough team would be a huge boost for the Charge as they enter the race for a spot in the postseason's play-in tournament.

14. (-1) Paris Eternal (8-13)

After a 3-1 start to Stage 3, 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 looked poised to make their first ever stage playoffs. Three straight losses led to that quickly falling by the wayside. Still, they aren't the worst of the worst. The Eternal are by no means spectacular, but they've done enough to put themselves in play-in contention.

15. (+1) Dallas Fuel (10-11)

Taimou helped 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 put up a good fight against Stage 3's only unbeaten team in a performance that brought excitement and was reminiscent of his Envy days. His later substitution out of the match reveals a problem with having both aKm and Taimou on the same team that has persisted since the beginning: their hero pools are too similar to play both. That means the Fuel must play one or the other and if the Fuel wanted aKm for any reason (that reason being that they could play GOATs with him on Zarya), then Taimou had to leave the game.

16. (-1) Boston Uprising (8-13)

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 can finally breathe a sigh of relief as their nightmarish Stage 3 has come to an end. They lose a spot this week because losing in five maps to the Fusion is less impressive than losing in five maps to the Excelsior.

17. (-) Atlanta Reign (7-12)

All five of 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 's matches to open Stage 3 have been against teams with winning records. Their final two matches are against a pair near the bottom of the standings and thus should be winnable for the Reign.

18. (-) Toronto Defiant (7-12)

It's hard to get a good read on how 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 's new additions fit into the lineup after just one week of play. The players will likely need some time to gel and get accustomed to playing with their new teammates in this new environment. Unfortunately, the Defiant don't have a lot of time to let Logix and Mangachu do that -- they only have nine matches left to get themselves back into position to make the postseason play-in tournament.

19. (-) Florida Mayhem (2-17)

There isn't much to say about 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 except that their match against the Spark went as expected.

20. (-) Washington Justice (2-17)

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 have yet to go winless in a stage this season. If they lose their two matches this upcoming week in Atlanta, Stage 3 will be a different story.

Weekly Wrap-up

The majority of the teams playing in Atlanta's Homestand Weekend will miss the stage playoffs, meaning that most of the teams in the stage playoffs will enter it with a one week break.

It will be interesting to see how that works against or for the Excelsior and the Dragons (assuming they qualify for the stage playoffs) when they play against rested opponents the following week.