And so ends Stage 2. We’re now halfway through the first season of the OWL, and it’s safe to say that very few people could have predicted that the standings would look like what they look like right now. In this crazy world, the Shock are one of the few teams that has really kept going as expected. The Shock went 3–7 in Stage One, but new players came aboard in Stage Two! A new meta that favored the Shock came around in Stage Two!

Therefore, the Shock put up a Stage Two record of….3–7.

Well then.

Don’t take this number for its face value though. The Shock looked hugely better in Stage Two. Nomy, for instance, massively improved. Danteh came out of the shadows and looked incredibly good for the majority of the Stage. Dhak…well, Dhak improved a little bit, but not significantly enough. Fortunately, the Shock solved this problem by signing Moth, who has looked quite good! Moth is working as a good complement for this improved Nomy as he is actually getting heals now, unlike before. And Sleepy has still been doing his thing. He’s not top-tier by any means at this point, but he sure as hell isn’t looking bad either. Babybay hasn’t been quite as flashy as he had been in past weeks, but he’s been getting the job done.

It isn’t all bells and whistles though. Nevix hasn’t been bad per se, but he hasn’t looked…great. And in this meta, “not looking bad” isn’t enough. D.Va is a hugely important hero right now (the most important in my opinion) and your D.Va player needs to be up to scratch. Nevix hasn’t looked up to par with other off-tanks this stage. Then there’s Sinatraa

I was excited for Sinatraa. We were all excited for Sinatraa. Sure, there were questions about his LAN performances in the past, and if he would gel with the team. He also needs an attitude check. Anyway, Mr. 150K made his eagerly awaited debut last week. And it was…meh. The only part that looked like that hefty salary was justified was his Zarya play, which was very good. But he wasn’t signed for his Zarya play. He was signed for his Tracer play. I wanted to love his Tracer play. But…well…the crowd went mild at it. It was just…ok. It wasn’t really better than Danteh’s. His other heroes were similarly average. Except for his Widow. Let’s not talk about his Widow.

Don’t write off Sinatraa just yet though. He hasn’t played LAN very much. Logix looked terrible in his first few LAN appearances, and now he looks like his old self. Let Sinatraa get used to it. Let him gel with the team. If he still looks bad by Stage Three, Week Four I’ll start to get really worried, but for now, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

The Shock lost both matches this week. They should have won both, but they looked unprepared for these teams. The Uprising and the Mayhem had both looked pretty bad up until the last two weeks of the Stage, where someone flipped a mental switch for both of these teams. Both matches were eerily similar. The Shock and their opposition were fairly evenly matched up until map five, where the Shock made some incredibly stupid decisions on Ilios and threw the game away. Ilios was the Shock’s biggest issue this week, no doubt. It was infuriating.

I know I said this for Stage Two, but prospects for Stage Three are looking up! Architect and Super are most certainly coming along, and due to some sneaky leaks I have received from the extremely important people I have contact with I have it on good authority that Choihyobin is likely to come onboard at some point too. I definitely didn’t see that he changed his Twitter status to say that he was on SFS. Nope, definitely heard that from important people who give leaks.

So, we’re at halftime of the first season of OWL. With an overall record of 6–14, The Shock’s chance of making the playoffs is miniscule. I expected better from the Shock this stage. 5–5 was what I would have loved to see, and we probably should have gotten there. We just…messed up…a few times. Sure, the Shock have improvements coming for Stage Three, but as always, these new players will take time to gel and learn to play with the team. It won’t be an instant improvement. I’m gonna set the goal for the next stage for the Boys from the Bay at 5–5 again. Might be repetitive, but that seems realistic. I give this Stage a C- for the Orange and Red. They should have improved. They did a little bit, but they should have been much better than a 3–7 record.

I’m going to try a new segment out for the end of stage writeups! Lemme know what y’all think and I may or may not keep it. I present…SputnikGT’s Stage Two special awards!

The Best Team Award: NYXL

This shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. The XL have played 20 games and only lost two of them. This stage they played 10 games and only lost one of them. They (barely) won the Stage Two playoffs. They have won 65 maps and lost 19. These amazing stats just roll on and on and on. Although all aspects of this team are incredibly impressive, their support play is what really stands out. Ark was the best Mercy in the league during Stage One by a considerable margin, and that hasn’t changed. Mercy may not be as important as she once was, although having a good Mercy player is still hugely beneficial, and Ark fits that role. Then there’s Jjonak. I shouldn’t have to say much about this guy. At this point Jjonak is a verb for “fucking everyones shit up.”

The Worst Team Award: Shanghai Dragons

I mean…I guess there were some positives this stage? Altering is looking better. Ado

and Fearless came aboard and looked decent. Geguri and Sky will be joining in Stage Three. But the negatives hugely outweighed the positives, and that’s why this team is still winless. Diya and Undead had to go back to China for personal reasons. (Undead’s “personal reasons” then turned out to be a shitshow of epic proportions). This meant the team was running Mg on Tracer which was….interesting. In fact the words “Mg on Tracer” kinda sums up the stage for them.

The Haas F1 Award for “Biggest Team Fuck-Up”: Dallas Fuel’s entire Stage 2

If you had told someone that this team would go 2–8 in Stage 2 at the beginning of the season they would have looked at you like you said “Haas F1 will be running 4th and 5th in the inaugural race of the 2018 F1 season but they will use a faulty wheel gun twice and both drivers will retire because their wheels weren’t on right.” (For those not well versed in the racing world, this is the equivalent of the Shanghai Dragons going up 2–0 on the Spitfire and then the DPS players unbinding their primary fire for the rest of the match.) The Fuel have had a myriad of issues, from communication, to frustrated teammates, to communication, to coaches that yell at fans, communication, stupid coaching decisions, and communication. Oh, and of course communication. Did I mention communication? The Fuel are an incredibly talented squad, but they are rolling out with teams and strategies that make little to no sense. It’s just sad to watch at this point. This team came from THE Pro Overwatch team. And now…well…let’s just say that they better win against the Dragons in their first match of Stage Three.

The J LUL K E Award: Jake

J LUL K E

The Biggest Surprise Award: Los Angeles Gladiators

This squad has come out of nowhere to become a prime competitor. The addition of Fissure certainly helped the team in getting off of their feet, but they’ve been playing incredibly well for this entire stage. Something with this team clicked once Fissure joined, and the Gladiators catapulted themselves to the upper half, partially due to this performance but also partially because of the unceremonious collapse of the mid-tier that happened halfway through the stage.

The Biggest Disappointment Award: Dallas Fuel

Shouldn’t have to say much about this. They just traded Custa to the Valiant for Unkoe for some reason, which just about sums up the Fuel’s decision making thus far. I’d rather drive the stupid Jeep Patriot rental car that I currently have than watch a Fuel game these days. And that’s saying something, cause this car stinks.

The xQc award for getting banned: Dallas Main Tanks

Seriously, this was just comical at this point. xQc got banned (because of course he did) so the Fuel decided to sign OGE. Who was promptly banned for boosting. Also why isn’t Cocco playing. I know he didn’t look great in Stage One but come on.

How do the Shock look for Stage Three? Well, pretty good, actually. Super is joining up in Week One, and Architect and Choihyobin will be coming along later this Stage. These are good players that the Shock needed, but with them the roster is looking quite good. Some might underestimate this team, but they could be a force to be reckoned with in the coming weeks.