With the first two weeks of the Overwatch League Playoffs over, we’re officially halfway through the playoffs. There’s been some heartbreaking losses, emotional wins, and shocking defeats. It has been a roller coaster of emotions the past two weeks for these team so let’s take a look at what happened and who’s still left.
Overwatch Playoffs Week 1 Results
The first match was taken by the Charge who easily defeated the bottom seed Hunters. The Dragons were able to upset the Fusions 4-2 in the second match of the first night. Not much to talk about from the first night, the only story of the night was that both the Charge and the Dragons were not going to have much time as they had approximately 24 hours before the had to fight again in round 2 in hopes to get one step closer to fighting for the trophy. The Dragons fought again in a tough match against the London Spitfire. Unfortunately for the Dragons, they fought hard, but it wasn’t enough as the Spitfire were able to pull out the win 4-3. The Dynasty were the heavy favorites in their matchup against the Charge and they took the easy win 4-1.
Overwatch Playoffs Week 2 Results
The first match of Week 2 was an exciting one. We saw the Number 1 seed Vancouver Titans against the 8 seed Seoul Dynasty. Both teams stuck with the same lineup the entire match, making no substitution between any matches. The Dynasty took a surprising early lead against the regular season champions; however, it wasn’t enough as the Titans won three straight games to win the match. It was a heartbreaking lost for the Dynasty as they put up a great fight early but seemed to really struggle after game 4 when they moved to Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Between Match 4 and 6, they were outscored 6-2. The second match of that week involved the Gladiators vs the Spark. An intense battle that saw the Gladiators upset the Spark 4-3. The Spark took the first match, which led to the Gladiators taking three straight. Luckily, the Spark were able to even the matchup 3-3 but the Gladiators won the overtime game to win the Series. The number two seed Excelsior easily defeated the London Spitfire and the red-hot Atlanta Reign “upset” the SF Shock 4-3. Looking back at the way the the Reign have been playing though, I wouldn’t call this defeat an upset. After Round 2, the results are as followed:
Overwatch League Playoffs Winners Bracket:
- Vancouver Titans (1) vs. LA Gladiators (5)
- New York Excelsior (2) vs. Atlanta Reign (6)
Overwatch League Playoffs Losers Bracket:
- Hangzhou Spark (4) vs. Seoul Dynasty (8)
- SF Spark (3) vs. London Spitfire (7)
The teams in the Winner’s bracket are still allowed to lose one more match, but those in the Loser’s bracket are automatically eliminated upon their next loss. As expected, the Titans and the Excelsior won their respective matches against the Gladiators and the Reign, respectively. Both winning with a score of 4-2. Also, the Spark easily defeated the Dynasty 4-1 and the Spark swept the Spitfire in a match that caused a lot of drama and controversary over the benching of Birdsong. These matches marked the end of the road for the 2018 Champions Spitfire and the Dynasty this season, placing them as 7th and 8th respectively. A sad ending for both, but each teams were able to walk away with $200,000 in prizes.
Overwatch Playoffs Conclusions and What to Expect
With these results, the Excelsior will take on the Titans in probably the most anticipated matchup of the year in the Semi-Final with the winner automatically moving on to the Grande Finale and the loser moving to the Loser’s Bracket. Luckily for the loser of this match, it will be the final match that they will have to fight in so the winner will move on to the Grande Finale. Will we see a rematch from the semi-final? Also to come in this following week, we will see the Spark face the Reign and the Shock face the Gladiators. The winners of these two matches will face each other to move one step closer and the losers will be eliminated on the spot. We have six teams left, plenty of exciting matches to come, and more hearts to be broken. What has been your favorite moment of this playoff series? Check back in again soon to keep updated on the OWL Playoffs.