Stage 1 of the 2019 Overwatch League season has finally concluded with 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
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 #19
Aspire
Luka Rolovic
dps
MirroR
Chris Trịnh
dps
False
Nick Wiseman
tank
Masaa
Petja Kantanen
support
Aztac
Park Jeong-soo (박정수)
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
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
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 #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
'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 #14
Twilight
Lee Joo-seok (이주석)
flex support
Heesu
Jeong Hee-su (정희수)
dps
Finale
dps
MuZe
Kim Young-hun (김영훈)
tank
Ch0r0ng
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 #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
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 #4
Shu
Kim Jin-seo
flex support
kevster
Kevin Persson
dps
Patiphan
Patiphan Chaiwong
dps
Reiner
Corey Scoda
tank
FunnyAstro
Daniel Hathaway
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 #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
, 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 #10
Kai
Kai Collins
dps
nero
Charlie Zwarg
dps
Hawk
Xander Domecq
tank
UltraViolet
Benjamin David
support
Ojee
Christian Han
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 #16
Valentine
Kim Byoungju
dps
punk
Leyton Gilchrist
tank
Faith
Hong Gyu Kim
support
Crimzo
William Hernandez
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 #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
, 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 #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
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 #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
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 #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
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 #12
Landon
flex support
SparkR
William Andersson
dps
Backbone
Jamie O'Neill
dps
Hadi
Daniel Bleinagel
tank
Admiral
Oliver Vahar
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 #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
'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 #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
'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 #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
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 #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
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
SirMajed
Majed Alrashied
flex support
Checkmate
Baek Seung-hun
dps
Hydron
Isaiah Rodriguez
dps
someone
tank
ANAMO
Jeong Tae-seong (정태성)
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.