Stage 2 has started after a brief break from Overwatch League action.
The changes to the meta the newest patch brought depended on the team. For some teams, GOATs was still the go to composition. For others, an increasing number of compositions with Orisa or Wrecking Ball were used. However, even those teams still used GOATs from time to time.
As a result, strong GOATs teams have been able to continue using GOATs to dominate their competition. Teams that struggled on GOATs now have the opportunity to try more compositions to win. Or, if the team is the Chengdu Hunters, the new meta is an excuse to continue doing what they were already doing.
Unsurprisingly, many of the teams that were hot toward the end of Stage 1 continued to win at the start of Stage 2. Teams that were looking more shaky as Stage 1 closed began Stage 2 with losses.
Consistency would be a welcome change of pace after a hectic Stage 1. After all, it's easier to rank consistent teams.
Here are Scrub's power rankings after Stage 2 Week 1 in the Overwatch League.
Image credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
1. (-) Vancouver Titans (8-0)
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
cleanly swept the Spark to maintain their place as the best team in the league. They even found the time to let
Bumper
show off some of his trademark flexibility and play Pharah.
2. (-) San Francisco Shock (6-3)
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 the lone team to go 8-0 in maps this week. Their opponents weren't all that strong -- they played the winless Valiant and the free-falling Charge -- but they took care of business nonetheless. In the unlikely event the Shock find themselves in trouble, they now have an extra roster spot to play with after trading away DPS BABYBAY.
3. (-) New York Excelsior (9-0)
After maintaining the best record in the league most of Stage 1, 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
have once again jumped out ahead of the rest of the league with more games played than the Titans and an equally undefeated record. They won their two matches with ease, however the two teams ahead of them won equally as easily.
4. (+2) Los Angeles Gladiators (5-4)
For the first time this 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
have a winning record. This is in large part thanks to a four match win streak that has helped the Gladiators rebound from a 1-4 start. The roster is now looking unstoppable with
Decay
and may be able to compete with the league's upper echelon.
5. (+4) Boston Uprising (6-3)
Even after trading away one of the best western off-tanks in the game, 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
have continued to surge and now find themselves with a 6-3 record. Their new off-tank, former Dallas Fuel player
rCk
, quickly fit in with his new team and won player of the match in his Uprising debut.
6. (-2) Toronto Defiant (6-3)
While 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
took care of business against the Washington Justice, they failed to hold off a surging Boston Uprising squad. Nonetheless, new recruit
im37
seems to be filling in the hole left by
Stellar
's retirement pretty well.
7. (-) Seoul Dynasty (4-4)
Taking the hot Los Angeles Gladiators to map five was about the best result 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
could ask for. While they failed to earn a win, they proved their ability to hold their own against one of the league's better teams. This is a strong follow-up to their stage playoffs victory over the New York Excelsior, and perhaps suggests that this could become a trend in their performance rather than an anomaly.
8. (+3) Chengdu Hunters (5-4)
The hype train for 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
continues to roll on to start Stage 2. In fact, now might be the best time to hop on that locomotive. The newest patch has more teams that are beginning to experiment with Wrecking Ball and multiple DPS compositions -- compositions the Hunters have been working to perfect the whole season. They have a leg up on their competitors trying to veer away from GOATs and should be able to flex that experience. Their match against the Paris Eternal was the first example of that.
9. (-4) Philadelphia Fusion (6-3)
There are finally enough good-looking teams to warrant a drop in 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 ranking. They took care of business throughout Stage 1, earning them a high ranking, but never really looked exemplary while doing so. Getting swept by the Excelsior is an example of their weakness and makes the Fusion look even worse when compared to the strong performances of their rivals.
10. (-) Dallas Fuel (4-3)
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
watched all of the action from home this week as they played no matches to open Stage 2. This should give them more time to work former Uprising star
NotE
into their lineup so his debut can be equally as strong as rCk's debut for the Uprising.
11. (+3) London Spitfire (5-4)
The up-and-down season for 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
continued this week with a 2-0 performance to get back above .500. While their 4-0 result against the Reign was a strong showing, their 2-1 match against the Mayhem was a little too close for comfort. Nonetheless, their record has them in the top half of the standings.
12. (-4) Atlanta Reign (4-5)
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 now lost four of their last five regular season matches and five of their last six matches overall. They have made a myriad of roster changes to try and correct course, although the effectiveness of these moves has yet to be seen. It will be hard to replace the recently retired
Dafran
and it's hard to see
BABYBAY
filling those shoes.
13. (-) Shanghai Dragons (3-6)
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
had a tough first week of Stage 2 with matches against the Los Angeles Gladiators and the New York Excelsior. On the bright side, neither team managed a clean 4-0 against them. That's a good takeaway in a week in which seven of the 16 matches were 4-0 sweeps.
14. (+2) Paris Eternal (4-5)
The plummeting
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
got a much needed win when they swept the Guangzhou Charge to start the week, but followed it up by being swept by the Hunters. The Eternal are now utilizing a new lineup -- one with
lhcloudy
,
Greyy
and
ShaDowBurn
. Perhaps the best thing to come out of both the lineup change and the new patch is the opportunity to watch ShaDowBurn play Genji and Pharah again.
15. (-3) Guangzhou Charge (3-6)
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
have appeared to regress since their high point midway through Stage 1. Getting swept twice is far from a good look and the team certainly needs a course correction.
16. (-1) Hangzhou Spark (3-6)
Winning this week was a tough ask for 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
as they had to face off against the top ranked Titans. Predictably, they were swept. They play just once again next week and it will again be against a tough opponent: the Boston Uprising.
17. (-) Houston Outlaws (3-4)
The extended break 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
have been granted between the end of Stage 1 and the beginning of Stage 2 has yielded no change in Outlaws personnel. For the second straight year, the Outlaws have a glaring hole that remains ignored by management: last year it was Tracer and this year it's at flex support. It's almost like the Outlaws have no interest in ever getting better.
18. (-) Los Angeles Valiant (0-8)
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
remain winless and were once again swept, but it was to a tough opponent in the San Francisco Shock. The Valiant's first win of the season and
Packing10
's first win as an Overwatch League head coach will have to come another day.
19. (-) Washington Justice (1-8)
ArK is definitely an improvement at main support for the Justice. Perhaps the team can trade for other players to start building a roster that can win. While midseason is not an ideal time to build a competitive roster, it's better than floundering at the bottom of the table.
20. (-) Florida Mayhem (1-8)
Now 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
are not just losing matches, but also losing any possibility of a good public image they may have had. The team is clearly addressing a needed change in fixing communication by shifting the roster fully to Korean, but making this change after the season has already started -- especially less than a month and a half after adding a new western player -- makes the organization look incompetent and poorly prepared for the start of the season. If that wasn't bad enough, Mayhem assistant GM
BEARHANDS
became the subject of criticism for public comments he made about Shock flex support sleepy. Times are rough for the Florida Mayhem.
Weekly Wrap-up
This week's Overwatch was a refreshing change as teams moved more away from GOATs and more toward a variety of compositions including bunkers, dive and multiple DPS setups.
Part of that could be the unpredictability and experimentation that comes with a new patch, but hopefully that's not the case.
In fact, maybe it works just the opposite. As teams become more comfortable with the new balance changes they may become more willing to deviate from the tried and true GOATs variations they've grown accustomed to and practiced.
We can only hope as we watch the new patch play out.