Scrub's OWL Power Rankings: Post Stage 1

Stage 1 of the 2019 Overwatch League season has finally concluded with 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 as the stage champions.

En route to their stage title, the Titans went a combined 10-0. Seven of their wins were earned in the regular season and they added three more in the stage playoffs.

Some teams can't wait to move on from the Stage 1 meta, while others -- the Titans, for example -- hope the GOATs meta sticks around for at least one more stage.

The final power rankings of Stage 1 will take into account the stage playoffs. Most teams won't be moved drastically, if at all, as a result of 12 of the league's 20 teams watching the playoffs from home. While there may be mentions of teams' futures, that won't play into their actual ranking.

This week's mostly stable rankings are an anomaly in a hectic start to the 2019 season.

Image credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Here are Scrub's Power Rankings following Stage 1:

1. (+1) Vancouver Titans (7-0)

Could anyone make an argument in favor of any team other than 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 atop the rankings? The short answer is no. They are now the first team in the Overwatch League's short history to go undefeated in a stage -- both regular season and playoffs. They haven't been shy about that on social media and have no reason to be.

2. (+1) San Francisco Shock (4-3)

A new team has entered the top two in the rankings for the first time since the Titans and Excelsior took hold of the top two spots after Week 2. 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 didn't just make the stage finals, they also played the Titans incredibly closely. While I'm sure they would prefer a victory after going up in the series 3-2, there is nothing to be ashamed of in losing to a team that has looked as good on this patch as the Titans. Finally, the Shock seem to be living up to the hype.

3. (-2) New York Excelsior (7-0)

The worst part about 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 's loss to the Seoul Dynasty was that it wasn't even close. Despite that, the Excelsior have looked pretty good throughout most of Stage 1 and remain undefeated in the regular season. Let's just hope the Excelsior don't make losing in the first round a habit after their last two playoff appearances.

4. (-) Toronto Defiant (5-2)

Sure, 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 didn't make it as far in the stage playoffs as the Philadelphia Fusion, but both teams lost to the same opponent in the San Francisco Shock. Neither made the match any closer than the other -- the Shock swept both teams. As a result, I will decline the opportunity to swap the teams in my rankings.

5. (-) Philadelphia Fusion (5-2)

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 remain in the same spot for the reasons listed above. In other news, they beat the Reign last week by a more comfortable margin than they did earlier in the season. That is perhaps a sign of progress from the Fusion -- or maybe it's just a sign of regression from the Reign.

6. (-) Los Angeles Gladiators (3-4)

It would be unfair to penalize 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 for not getting an opportunity to play in the stage playoffs. They appeared to not just adapt to Decay by the end of Stage 1, but enable him to truly shine. Regardless of the next meta, the Gladiators will need to continue to do so to carry their momentum moving forward.

7. (+1) Seoul Dynasty (4-3)

It wasn't just one lineup that looked good against the Excelsior for 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 , but two. They started the match with a lineup -- Marve1 , FITS , tobi and zunba -- one including that many have called the "B team" and looked so good that Twitch chat was left scratching their collective heads when that lineup was pulled for their usual starting group. The team's normal core looked just as good and went 2-1 to close out the series.

8. (-1) Atlanta Reign (4-3)

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 did not look as good near the end of Stage 1 as they did near the beginning. Their last four matches of Stage 1 were matches in which they were swept by the Gladiators, defeated in five maps by a surging Hunters, a 3-1 victory over the struggling Outlaws and a 3-1 defeat to a Fusion team they lost 3-2 to earlier in the season. Most notably, flex support looks like their weakest position. Their flex supports will need to get better to keep up with the best teams in the league.

9. (-) Boston Uprising (4-3)

It's hard to fault 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 for being swept by a Titans team that looked unbeatable last week until the Shock proved they were mortal. The Uprising enter Stage 2 after a second straight Stage 1 performance that exceeded expectations placed on the team. If they continue to follow last season's trend we should expect them to go 7-0 in Stage 3.

10. (-) Dallas Fuel (4-3)

Unfortunately for 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 , they were the only team at 4-3 or better to miss the stage playoffs. Nonetheless, they have a winning record and are in good shape heading into the next stage. Now all they need to do is find some consistency.

11. (-) Chengdu Hunters (3-4)

During stage playoffs weekend, the Titans stated in a post-game press conference that 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 were a team to look out for, especially with the recent buffs to Wrecking Ball. Should the prophecies be true and the meta does shift to Wrecking Ball, Ameng has a head start in practice over the rest of the league.

12. (+1) Guangzhou Charge (3-4)

While neither 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 nor the Shanghai Dragons played last week, it's hard to look at what the Charge did in Stage 1 and justify that they should end up lower than the Dragons. The team looked threatening at their peaks and enter Stage 2 just one match and one map under .500.

13. (-1) Shanghai Dragons (3-4)

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 are currently 3-44 all-time. That's a .064 win percentage, which is still an improvement over the .000 they entered the season with.

14. (-) London Spitfire (3-4)

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 were the one team that looked more inconsistent than the Dallas Fuel in Stage 1. The defending champions are likely hoping the next patch returns to an Orisa meta similar to last year's playoffs or to a dive meta. At the very least, they want the next patch to move as far from GOATs as possible. If it doesn't, the Spitfire better learn to adapt and become comfortable with this meta and better do so fast.

15. (-) Hangzhou Spark (3-4)

I look at 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 's academy team and scream in agony as I remember both Shy and Coldest are too young for the Overwatch League. Hopefully, they're learning Korean lessons while with Bilibili Gaming so they can join the main squad the moment they're old enough to compete in the league.

16. (-) Paris Eternal (3-4)

After a promising first couple of weeks, 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 's Stage 1 was disappointing to say the least. Hopefully they are prepared to take on whatever meta comes next and can pick up on a poor Stage 1 performance.

17. (-) Houston Outlaws (3-4)

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 managed to end Stage 1 12th in the overall standings despite looking like one of the worst teams in the league. They aren't too far removed from an ugly Week 4 win over the Valiant, after all. Their future doesn't look as forgiving: the combined record of their Stage 2 opponents is 29-20.

18. (-) Los Angeles Valiant (0-7)

With Verbo's retirement, there are only two players from the North American Immortals roster still playing Overwatch: Agilities and Nomy. Between the two of them, only Agilities is still in the Overwatch League and competing for the Valiant. Sodipop Sodipop Inactive hyped George Maganzini off tank GrimReality Christopher Schaefer dps Agilities Brady Girardi dps Nomy David Ramirez tank Aythen Athen Zhu support Jer Jeremy Santacruz support is truly dead.

19. (-) Washington Justice (1-6)

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 enter Stage 2 in a spot other than last. To add to that, they have a new main support in ArK . Things are looking up for the Justice.

20. (-) Florida Mayhem (1-6)

It's hard to say many good things 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 , but I will try nonetheless. They beat a Fusion team that ended Stage 1 5-2 -- albeit the Fusion squad they beat was neutered with main support Elk on flex support. They took opponents to five maps in three other matches and were only swept once. Still, it's a lot easier to say bad things than good considering the easiness of their schedule.

Weekly Wrap-up

The Overwatch League now enters a short hiatus before Stage 2 begins April 4. With that, the rankings will take a short hiatus, as well.

The first match of Stage 2 is between the Philadelphia Fusion and the New York Excelsior. Two teams as talented as they are will be a great opportunity to show off whatever the new patch has to show.