It has been a long six and a half months since we've seen matches that matter in the Overwatch League. Now, the first matches of the regular season are rapidly closing in on us.

With a new season comes a new series of power rankings. Teams will be ranked on a week-by-week basis in which their recent performance and available roster is analyzed.

For the preseason edition of these rankings, teams are ranked based on their current roster. Suspensions and how they may affect the opening week of games are also considered, as are injuries and absences from the teams.

It has been an offseason full of speculation as analysts and fans alike have tried to predict how teams will look in the upcoming season. The time for speculation will soon be over and results will begin to do the talking. Still, there's time for one last attempt to rank the teams before they begin their season. Introducing the Scrub Power Rankings!

OWL Grand Finals packed stadium Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

1. London Spitfire

The London Spitfire London Spitfire OWL Rank #12 Landon flex support SparkR William Andersson dps Backbone Jamie O'Neill dps Hadi Daniel Bleinagel tank Admiral Oliver Vahar support cut the fat near the end of last season and went onto finally live up to their potential and win the inaugural Overwatch League title. The starting lineup is still stacked, and there should be no playing time conflicts assuming offseason additions Guard and Krillin don't expect to start. This team should look more like playoff Spitfire than the Spitfire from Stages 2 through 4.

2. New York Excelsior

The New York Excelsior New York Excelsior OWL Rank #18 Gangnamjin Gang Nam-jin (강남진) flex support Myunb0ng Seo Sang-min (서상민) flex support Flora Lim Young-woo (임영우) dps Yaki Kim Jun-gi (김준기) dps Kellan Kim Min-jae tank lineup remains just as strong as last season even before factoring in the additions of DPS stars Nenne and Fl0w3R . While the starting six should still be near the top of the table this season, it will be interesting to see how the team deals with injury and illness. Perhaps the roster's five DPS players will be forced to show their ability to flex onto other roles.

3. Philadelphia Fusion

All of the Philadelphia Fusion Philadelphia Fusion OWL Rank #11 AimGod Min-seok Kwon flex support MN3 Yoon Jae-hee dps ZEST Kim Hyun-woo (김현우) dps Belosrea tank FiXa Kwon Young Hoon (권영훈) support 's core postseason roster—minus HOTBA—remain on the team. That roster proved its worth as one of the best in the league after defeating the New York Excelsior and advancing into the grand final. Yet, the team looked far less impressive during the regular season. If they play like the postseason Fusion, they should be a top five team. If they play more like the regular season Fusion, the season could look a little rougher..

4. San Francisco Shock

The San Francisco Shock San Francisco Shock OWL Rank #2 Viol2t Park Min-ki flex support Finn Oh Se-jin (오세진) flex support Proper Kim Dong-hyeon (김동현) dps s9mm Samuel Santos dps Coluge Colin Arai tank were a top five team before finishing their busy offseason with the acquisition of Striker . However, the team will be hampered in the first week by the absence of Viol2t , who will be serving a two match suspension for boosting. Once all their players are present and the new roster has time to build chemistry, expect this squad to compete for a championship.

5. Vancouver Titans

After finally taking the title in Korea's premier Overwatch tournament, RunAway RunAway Contenders KR Rank #11 F4zE Lim Si-hyun off tank Revenge An Hyeong-geun (안형근) flex support WOOHYAL Sung Seung-hyun (성승현) off tank Mer1t Choi Tae-min dps will now take on the Overwatch League as the Vancouver Titans Vancouver Titans OWL Rank #19 Aspire Luka Rolovic dps MirroR Chris Trịnh dps False Nick Wiseman tank Masaa Petja Kantanen support Aztac Park Jeong-soo (박정수) support . Their roster is talented and has plenty of history together, meaning they should be able to hit the ground running in the Overwatch League. Even if they need to take time to get used to playing on soil far from home, they have it. They only have one match in the opening week and it's against a Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #5 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 Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support team that has only had a few days of experience with their main tank.

6. Los Angeles Gladiators

Despite a hot ending to the season, the Los Angeles Gladiators Los Angeles Gladiators OWL Rank #4 Shu Kim Jin-seo flex support kevster Kevin Persson dps Patiphan Patiphan Chaiwong dps Reiner Corey Scoda tank FunnyAstro Daniel Hathaway support were eliminated in the quarterfinal by a London Spitfire team that got even hotter. Since then, the team parted ways with main tank and MVP candidate Fissure. Still, the team doesn't look like it will be significantly worse for it. rOar and Panker are definitely not Fissure but are still talented main tank players in their own rights and Decay is a huge boost to the DPS line.

7. Los Angeles Valiant

Considering much of the core is the same on a team that went 16-4 in the second half of last season, maybe seventh is too low of a placing for the Los Angeles Valiant Los Angeles Valiant OWL Rank #15 Molly He Chengzhi (何诚智) flex support Diya Lu Weida (陆炜达) dps innovation Oh Seok-hyun (오석현) dps Becky Il-ha Kim (김일하) dps Ezhan dps Marve1 Hwang Min-seo (황민서) tank Lengsa Chen Jingyi (陈婧逸) support . Their low ranking, however, is moreso a testament to the strength of the teams entering the Overwatch League this season. If Izayaki proves to be a top flex support and KariV 's DPS play is strong enough, the Valiant may be able to move higher as the season goes on.

8. Seoul Dynasty

The Seoul Dynasty Seoul Dynasty OWL Rank #3 Ir1s Kim Seung-Hyun (김승현) FITS Kim Dong-eon (김동언) dps Profit Park Joon-yeong (박준영) dps smurf Yoo Myeong-Hwan tank Vindaim Junwoo Park support solved their number one issue over the offseason by bringing in Fissure to play main tank. Additionally, the team rebuilt their coaching staff and will now be guided by KDG . Everyone who has worked with him has said good things about him and now he has the opportunity to prove he's worth the praise.

9. Hangzhou Spark

The Hangzhou Spark Hangzhou Spark OWL Rank #6 BERNAR Shin Se-won (신세원) off tank irony Kim Hyeong-woo (김형우) flex support Shy Zheng Yangjie (郑杨杰) dps AlphaYi Kim Joon (김준) dps guxue Xu Qiulin (徐秋林) tank superich Wu Gengtuo (吴梗拓) support could potentially have star-power in their two Chinese players: flex DPS Krystal and main tank guxue . It will likely be on the rest of the team, made up of X-6 Gaming and Seven players that failed to make noise in Contenders Korea during the latter half of 2018, to step up. Krystal will miss one game to serve a suspension for account boosting. That game, against the Shanghai Dragons, could prove to be a good barometer for how well the squad's Korean players can perform.

10. Dallas Fuel

The additions of rCk at off-tank and Closer at main support alone are enough to give Dallas Fuel Dallas Fuel OWL Rank #1 Fielder Kwon Joon (권준) flex support Doha Kim Dong-Ha (김동하) dps SP9RK1E Kim Young-han (김영한) dps FEARLESS Lee Eui-seok (이의석) tank ChiYo Han Hyeon-syuk (한현석) support fans hope they may see a better season than the last. There are, however, still questions to be answered before the team can enter the playoff conversation. Can ZachaREEE be the flex DPS the team needs? Can EFFECT become the star the team needs him to be? Unfortunately for the Fuel, their season starts out just as tough as it did last season. They play the Shock and Dynasty in the first week.

11. Atlanta Reign

The Atlanta Reign Atlanta Reign OWL Rank #10 Kai Kai Collins dps nero Charlie Zwarg dps Hawk Xander Domecq tank UltraViolet Benjamin David support Ojee Christian Han support have the potential to compete for a playoff spot if their roster plays to their peak. Dafran 's return to professional Overwatch cannot be ignored when analyzing the Reign. The question is, how will he look after not having played a match of top tier Overwatch in a year and a half?

12. Guangzhou Charge

The most promising aspect of the Guangzhou Charge Guangzhou Charge OWL Rank #9 Cr0ng Nam Ki-cheol (남기철) off tank Farway1987 Cao Jiale (曹家乐) flex support choisehwan Choi Se-Hwan (최세환) dps Develop Chae Rak-hoon (채락훈) dps Rio Oh Seung-pyo (오승표) tank Unique Yoo Dong-hyun support roster is their DPS core— Eileen , Kyb , Happy and nero —and flex support Shu . Whether or not the team can turn that DPS core into a formidable rotation will be key. After that, how far the Charge will go will depend on the ability of the rest of the team to keep pace with the league.

13. Paris Eternal

The Paris Eternal Paris Eternal OWL Rank #20 Kaan Emir Kaan Okumus flex support Glister Lim Gil-seong (임길성) dps Wub Cameron Johnson dps Dove Jesse Palomo dps Malthel Josh Gonzales dps Daan Daniël Vincentius Paulus Scheltema tank Krawi tank dridro Arthur Szanto support Lukemino Luke Fish support Rakattack Kyle Rakauskas support start the season with a match against the London Spitfire and followed by a match in the second week against the Los Angeles Gladiators. The start of the season may be rough for the Eternal. The team's most exciting signings were arguably in the coaching staff, which could be a boon or a bust. Regardless, their success won't be determined until the end of the season after the staff has had time to develop the players.

14. Shanghai Dragons

The Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #5 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 Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support have wildly moved up and down in the rankings the past week. Were this released a week ago, the Dragons would definitely be higher. If this was released a few days ago, they would be lower. This is the result of the team's announcement that its only main tank, FEARLESS , will be absent at the beginning of the season to take care of his personal health. Since then, the Dragons have traded for Uprising main tank Gamsu . Despite the save, the team hasn't had long with their new tank. Expect growing pains before they begin looking in form.

15. Houston Outlaws

The Houston Outlaws Houston Outlaws OWL Rank #7 Lastro Moon Jung-won (문정원) flex support creative Kim Young-wan (김영완) flex support Danteh Dante Cruz dps Pelican Oh Se-hyun (오세현) dps Mer1t Choi Tae-min dps Piggy Shin Min-jun tank dropped a few players who saw little to no playing time and made a new addition in the form of Danteh . While Danteh is a much needed upgrade at DPS for the Outlaws, it may not be enough in a league that looks fiercely more competitive than it did last season. The Outlaws start the season with opening week matches against the Defiant and Uprising; anything less than a 2-0 could be cause for concern.

16. Toronto Defiant

The two greatest bright spots on the Toronto Defiant Toronto Defiant OWL Rank #14 Twilight Lee Joo-seok (이주석) flex support Heesu Jeong Hee-su (정희수) dps Finale dps MuZe Kim Young-hun (김영훈) tank Ch0r0ng support are flex support Neko and off-tank envy . However, Neko will miss the first three matches of the season to serve a suspension for account boosting. It's hard to imagine the Defiant will look good to start the season without Neko in the backline.

17. Boston Uprising

The Boston Uprising Boston Uprising OWL Rank #16 Valentine Kim Byoungju dps punk Leyton Gilchrist tank Faith Hong Gyu Kim support Crimzo William Hernandez support will have only one DPS in the opening week of the season because Colourhex will be serving a two game suspension for account boosting. While it is possible for a team to exist without one or both DPS players when running GOATs compositions, missing one will limit their options should they choose they need to swap to something else. Starting off on the right foot may be difficult.

18. Chengdu Hunters

The Chengdu Hunters Chengdu Hunters OWL Rank #13 Mmonk Zhou Xiang (周翔) flex support Daizi Ni Yuandong (倪远东) off tank Jinmu Yi Hu (易虎) dps Leave Huang Xin (黄馨) dps GA9A Qiu Jiaxin (仇佳鑫) tank Nisha Tan Li (谭力) support face a similar issue as last year's Dragons: their all-Chinese roster doesn't include China's best players. Leave and shy are still too young while Eileen, Krystal and guxue all signed with other teams. The Hunters will need Baconjack and YangXiaoLong to shake off the rust and play like it's 2017 if they even want a chance to finish outside of the bottom five.

19. Florida Mayhem

The Florida Mayhem Florida Mayhem OWL Rank #8 SirMajed Majed Alrashied flex support Checkmate Baek Seung-hun dps Hydron Isaiah Rodriguez dps someone tank ANAMO Jeong Tae-seong (정태성) support deserve credit for undergoing a full rebuild after a disastrous first season. The new roster, however, doesn't inspire much more confidence than the first roster did. Analysts have not been kind to the Mayhem's new roster this offseason and thus the Mayhem scouts hope they will prove everyone wrong. Confidence in their ability to do so isn't high.

20. Washington Justice

Not only does the Washington Justice Washington Justice OWL Rank #17 Decay Jang Gui-un (장귀운) dps Happy Lee Jung-woo (이정우) dps Mag Kim Tae-sung (김태성) tank Krillin Jeong Young-hoon support Opener An Gi-beom support look less than promising, but they also begin the season with matches against each of the top four teams in these rankings. A single win in those games would propel the Justice upward in the rankings, regardless of how any of the other three matches looked.

Weekly Wrap-up

The teams near the bottom of the first Scrubasaurus Power Rankings of the season can take comfort in the fact that the playoffs won't be determined by preseason rankings. The time for speculation will finally be over and teams can start playing for actual positions in the standings. The new Overwatch League season will finally debut with a grand final rematch between the London Spitfire and Philadelphia Fusion.