The Overwatch League launched in Stage One with all the pomp and circumstance we expected. It was epic, it was professional, and it was thriving. The best players in the world all representing the twelve newly branded teams. Everything had a shiny new coat of paint. Although obviously not flawless, the Overwatch League in Stage One was the next evolution in esports we were hoping for.

Stage One was by no means was boring, but it followed the general storylines of any established sports league. The teams we expected to play well were dominant (New York, London, Seoul). The good teams usually dominated the bad teams, with the occasional surprise. Some teams played better than we were expecting (Houston Outlaws). Some teams played worse than we thought (Dallas Fuel). The Koreans were the best Overwatch teams, and while the Houston Outlaws impressed and snuck their way into the playoffs, they were dispatched by the London Spitfire. The two powerhouse squads of Stage One faced off in the Stage Finals. After a thrilling series the Spitfire prevailed over the Excelsior and Stage One was in the books.

After a meta shift and some roster moves, Stage Two played out similarly. The Koreans spent most of the stage exerting dominance, teams like the LA Valiant and Dallas Fuel were underwhelming. Meanwhile, the LA Gladiators hit their stride and looked like the breakout team of Stage Two. 60% of the way into Stage Two, the Philadelphia Fusion were quietly hanging around at 3–3. The team that posted a strong 6–4 record in Stage One, picked up a quality win over Stage One darlings Houston Outlaws, as well as commanding sweeps over Florida and Boston. The three losses came to the titans of the league, falling 0–4 to London and claiming a map against both Seoul and New York. With only two weeks left in Stage Two, London and New York were still destined for the title match, while Seoul was a popular choice for the 3rd playoff spot. If an “NA” team were to once again claim the 3rd spot, many of us were expecting it to be the surging LA Gladiators (4–2 at the time). Philadelphia was middle of the road, the playoff berth was in their grasp but certainly not something anyone expected. Then for two glorious weeks, the Philadelphia Fusion caught fire.

Week Four featured back to back sweeps over Shanghai and Dallas. Now both of those matchups could be considered easy wins for Philly, but a clean 8–0 week is fantastic regardless. The Fusion were trending upwards, riding a 9 map win streak into the final two matches of the stage. The Fusion were still longshots for the playoffs. A 2–0 weekend would not be enough, as Seoul would need to be upset as well. General consensus was that Seoul would pick up the needed wins. Furthermore, the LA Gladiators were favored to pick up the win over Philly in what was the pivotal match of the week. Ask around for predictions and most everyone would say either LA wins that match, OR Seoul takes care of business with the 2–0. Reddit user Terminator Skull had the most prophetic Reddit comment of the Stage, saying “I know it won’t happen, but I really want Philly to make the finals.”

If Week 4 was Philly catching fire, then Week 5 was one of those lightning strikes that only happens if the heavens open up in a certain way. In an excellent series, the Philadelphia Fusion conquered the LA Gladiators 3–1, symbolically stealing the title of Stage Two breakout team in the process. The next day the mighty Seoul Dynasty fell to Houston. The two things that were not expected to happen both happened at the same time and suddenly Philadelphia was in the drivers seat. If they could take care of business over the LA Valiant, the Fusion would complete a 4–0 run to finish out the stage. The Valiant made it difficult, pushing them all the way to the final control point of a map 5, before the Fusion finally rallied to victory and a 7–3 record in Stage Two. After all this miraculous winning, in true underdog fashion, the Fusion still needed one more puzzle piece to fall into place. The LA Gladiators could return from the grave to steal the playoff spot if they went 4–0 versus Boston. After all the heroics of Philly, they still waited and cheered for Boston to hammer the final nail in the coffin. Boston won the first map and eventually won the series over the Gladiators, giving the Philadelphia Fusion the playoff berth that was always possible but difficult to imagine.

As championship Sunday dawned, the Fusion were right back to the underdog role. Facing Stage One champions London Spitfire, the Fusion had a combined 0–8 map count against London in Season One. The expectation was for Philadelphia to bow out in a similar fashion as did the Outlaws in Stage One. How were the Fusion supposed to pull off a victory against a team they had yet to win a single map against all season. Well if their late stage heroics were a lightning strike, what they pulled off in playoffs must have been a true Fusion-esque atomic bomb. After falling in map one, the underdogs came back with a dominant map two victory. In a shocking combo, the Fusion then stole map three as well. London battled to win a close map four. Heading towards the map five tiebreaker, there was no debate that Philadelphia was playing their best Overwatch of the season, but maybe it was time for their run to end. It was not over, Philadelphia pulled out map five to win the series 3–2, dethroning the London Spitfire in another upset. The Overwatch League’s greatest story was being born right before our eyes.

Was the magic going to run out against New York? Were they finally going to hit the wall and hand over the Stage Two title to the New York Excel? New York loomed over them like a final boss. The headline “Philadelphia Fusion take out London and New York en route to Stage Two title” would be considered hysterical just a week prior. Philadelphia somehow still had surprises left, pulling out a 1–0 lead in the finals. The Fusion stole map two and found themselves 2–0, one map away from a stage title that I’m sure even some of the players thought was an unrealistic goal. Having been slapped in the face by a reverse sweep last stage, New York was not going to accept humiliation in another title match, as they swooped in to win map three. New York kept the momentum rolling in a map four victory. Once again heading into the map five tiebreaker, the Excelsior were not invincible however the Fusion were on the ropes. Fighting valiantly, the Fusion played well but conceded the reverse sweep. New York Excel had done it, the best Overwatch team from the start to finish of Stage Two, the Excel earned a well deserved title. Sitting on the other side of the stage wondering how they had allowed three maps in a row to slip away, the Philadelphia Fusion sputtered at the finish line.

Regardless, those two weeks of an otherwise average team finding some magic cemented itself in Overwatch’s history. The Overwatch League’s greatest story is this mid level team featuring players from Israel, South Korea, Russia, Sweden, France, Finland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Canada finally clicking and just continuing to win even as it continued to be more and more illogical. It is rather poetic how this roster of players who grew up thousands of miles apart joined forces under the orange Philadelphia banner to become one of the best teams in the world. Predictions for Philadelphia in Stage Three have them at 6–4 or 7–3, pretty good but also not much of an improvement. It adds to the magic of underdog runs when we understand that what we are watching may not repeat itself. Perhaps Philadelphia finds itself firmly among the best teams in the world, continuing to be on the same level as New York and London. What is more likely for the Fusion is a step back to being a playoff contender that likely won’t find itself in the stage finals for Stage Three or Four. We don’t know what the future holds but we do know that the players on Philadelphia have stamped their name in OWL history. A classic London vs New York stage finals may not be bad for the OWL, but when Philadelphia shook the entire league and almost knocked off both of those titans, it felt like the Overwatch League was truly reaching its full potential.