If one thing is clear in the first couple of weeks of the 2019 Overwatch League season, it's that anyone can win any match.
There are only two winless teams left in the league and only three teams with unblemished records. Two teams that started 2-0 in first week ended the second with a 2-2 record.
While parity makes for an exciting league, it does not make for easy ranking. Teams have already made a habit of looking good in one game and bad in the next during the same week.
Still, the teams have been ordered from one to 20 in the newest set of power rankings. An effort was made to keep some semblance of stability, and therefore last week's rankings played a large part in where teams were ranked this week.
The third edition of Scrub's power rankings are upon us just as the league's third week is set to be underway.
Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment
1. (+2) Vancouver Titans (3-0)
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
take over the top spot after a spotless second week. While their game with the Guangzhou Charge was uncomfortably close, they dismantled the San Francisco Shock. So far, RunAway's transition from Contenders to the Overwatch League has been smooth.
2. (-) New York Excelsior (4-0)
This week looked a little bit better for 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
as they beat a Valiant team that is likely better than their record suggests and followed that up by rolling over the Outlaws. They're the first team to clinch a winning record in Stage 1. They've picked it up right where the 2018 regular season champions left off.
3. (+4) Paris Eternal (2-0)
While they haven't played very many matches thus far, 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
have looked solid the few times they've stepped onto the stage. Their final few weeks of Stage 1 will be a tough five matches that could allow them to cement themselves as a top team early in the season. They play against the Reign, the Titans, the Shock and the Fusion over the next few weeks.
4. (-3) Philadelphia Fusion (2-2)
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
's week may be cause for concern, but I am hesitant to punish them too much for a week of matches they played without a dedicated flex support player. For now, the Fusion are given the benefit of the doubt. That will change if the team continues to struggle once
Boombox
returns to the lineup next week.
5. (-1) San Francisco Shock (1-2)
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
should have played Titans to a closer game. Instead, the Shock were on the verge of being swept until a last map win ended the series 3-1. The Shock have an opportunity to turn around their losing record this week with matches against the Spark and the Justice.
6. (+3) Atlanta Reign (2-1)
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
's 9-4 map record is the best of any team outside of the undefeated three. They look solid early, but face a Paris Eternal squad that has looked strong thus far in their only Week 3 match. A win over the Eternal will certainly be enough to vault the squad into the top five.
7. (+3) Seoul Dynasty (2-1)
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
rebounded from their atrocious match with the Fuel to sweep the Hunters 4-0. Among their matches next week is one against the New York Excelsior. A win there will go a long way for erasing that match from memory for good.
8. (-2) Los Angeles Gladiators (1-2)
The toughest schedule of Stage 1 may belong to 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
. All three of their opening matches have been against teams ranked in the top seven of these rankings. Three of their final four are also against teams in the top 10. Escaping Stage 1 with a winning record will be no small feat and doing so would ensure the Gladiators stay in the top 10 themselves.
9. (-4) Hangzhou Spark (2-2)
After starting 2-0, 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
lost twice this week, including one to a very beatable Houston Outlaws team. Their schedule next week is far from easy -- they play the Shock and the Gladiators. The Spark need to win at least one of those to have a chance at a winning record in Stage 1. That will be no small feat given the quality of their opposition.
10. (+1) London Spitfire (2-2)
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
put up a much better showing in Week 2 after falling flat on their faces in Week 1. If the Spitfire have indeed found their footing in this meta, the rest of the league should be worried.
11. (+1) Dallas Fuel (2-2)
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
continue to be up and down. This week, they were swept by the Guangzhou Charge before defeating the Fusion 3-1. The Fuel will remain near the middle of the rankings until they start trending, whether negatively or positively.
12. (+3) Toronto Defiant (2-1)
A win against the Los Angeles Valiant should be the proof 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
need to prove they're for real. The Defiant have the Excelsior up next. A win could help push them into the top 10.
13. (-5) Los Angeles Valiant (0-3)
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
have played every match close. They've played against good teams. Regardless, 0-3 is still 0-3 and their place in the rankings need to reflect that. They play the top-ranked Titans and a Charge team that looked much better last week. There's a chance the Valiant could drop to 0-5.
14. (-) Shanghai Dragons (1-2)
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 finally won a match after going winless for the first 42 matches in their history.
Gamsu
seems to be settling in with his new teammates and the future looks brighter than it has ever been for the Dragons.
15. (+2) Guangzhou Charge (1-2)
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
nearly took the series win against 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
in a week that looked much better than their first. The only reason the Charge didn't move higher is because the parity of the first couple of weeks has left little room for other teams to move up. They won't stay so low in the rankings for long if they can keep up their performance from Week 2, however.
16. (-) Chengdu Hunters (2-1)
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
are now 2-1 after going 1-1 on the week. Their performances thus far seem to establish that they're better than the teams at the bottom of the league but not better than any of the top teams.
17. (+2) Florida Mayhem (1-2)
A victory over the Philadelphia Fusion, with or without Boombox, is huge for 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
. Their next match of the week, a loss to the Chengdu Hunters, kicked off a string of five straight matches against every other team ranked 15 through 20 in these rankings. Their performance in these matches should clearly define where the Mayhem stand at the end of this stage.
18. (-) Houston Outlaws (1-3)
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
followed a good victory over the Hangzhou Spark with a pitiful performance against the Excelsior. They only captured a single point during the entirety of the match. In a first couple of weeks in which almost everyone has gotten a win, their victory over the Spark stands out a lot less than how badly they loss to the Excelsior.
19. (-6) Boston Uprising (1-2)
Originally, 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
were brought so far down the rankings because it was ruled Week 1's star main tank
Fusions
was ineligible for the remainder of Stage 1. Since then, Uprising general manager Huk has revealed Fusions can return to action next week. The rankings were finalized earlier this week, so the Uprising won't be moved back up. Nonetheless, let this rankings be a testament to how bad the prospects were for the Uprising when they were without Fusions.
20. (-) Washington Justice (0-2)
Despite being only one of two teams yet to earn a week in the first two weeks, 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
have some positives to take away. They took a map off of the Excelsior and two off of the Spitfire. Only time will tell if they can convert map wins into match wins.
Weekly Wrap-up
Matches in the Overwatch League thus far have proven to be unpredictable. Should that trend continue, we should get an interesting stage playoffs. That and wildly changing power rankings.