Stage 2 has brought about more clear divisions than last stage, a stage in which teams were all over the place and most finished within one game of .500.
The first two weeks of this stage, however, seem to suggest that Stage 2 will end with more teams clearly at the top, more teams clearly at the bottom and fewer teams jockeying for spots within the middle.
While that shouldn't be surprising considering the major patch change made before the start of Stage 2, GOATs composition variants are still the most popular in the game. With that in mind, one would expect Stage 1's trends to continue.
However, that's not a problem. Parity is fun to watch but can be difficult to follow. More importantly, parity makes it hard to rank.
So far, ranking the teams in Stage 2 has been a much easier task than it was in Stage 1; this week's OWL power rankings included.
Image credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
1. (-) Vancouver Titans (10-0)
As said in the introduction, GOATs compositions are still the favorites of Overwatch League teams and 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
happen to be the best GOATs team in the world. The Titans should have another good stage to put them in a great position by the season's halfway point.
2. (-) San Francisco Shock (7-3)
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
are the only team in the league to have won every map so far in Stage 2. Their opponents haven't been particularly hard -- they've played the (then) winless Valiant once and the free-falling Charge twice -- but it's an accomplishment nonetheless.
3. (-) New York Excelsior (11-0)
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 also yet to lose a map in Stage 2, although they did end one map with the Dragons in a draw. This week, the Excelsior swept two of the league's worst teams in the Justice and Mayhem. They took the opportunity to finally give
Fl0w3R
some playing time -- marking his first appearance on the OWL stage.
4. (-) Los Angeles Gladiators (7-4)
Now on a six match winning streak, 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 looked clearly better than most other teams in the league. However, they haven't been as dominant as the league's top three teams. If these rankings were divided by tiers, the Gladiators would likely be in their own tier below the Titans, Shock and Excelsior but a tier above everyone else.
5. (+5) Dallas Fuel (6-3)
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
looked pretty good in their first week playing alongside
NotE
. The team is looking much different from how they looked at the beginning of the season, however they have had a history of looking up and down. The Fuel will have to keep their momentum going in harder matchups this week against the Titans and Dynasty.
6. (+5) London Spitfire (6-4)
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
haven't had any particularly difficult opponents in this stage thus far and it's unlikely that will really change at any point this stage. Both the Boston Uprising and the Chengdu Hunters appear to be positioning themselves for qualification into the stage playoffs, but it's likely both teams will be seeded in the lower half of the playoffs bracket. Unless the Spitfire fall apart, they should be able to coast into the Stage 2 playoffs pretty comfortably.
7. (-) Seoul Dynasty (4-5)
It's hard to justify penalizing any team for a loss to the Titans. Unfortunately for the Dynasty, last week wasn't the last time they play the Titans this stage. They play them a second time in Stage 2's final week.
8. (-3) Boston Uprising (6-4)
The game five magic for 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
ran out last week with a loss to the Spark. While the Uprising have proven to be a good team thus far, they need to start winning matches before map five again -- otherwise matches like the one with the Spark may start to become more common.
9. (-) Philadelphia Fusion (7-4)
After a 2-2 start to Stage 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
now need an upset over the Excelsior or the Shock to finish the stage with a winning record (assuming they beat the Outlaws). Even if they fail to do so and end Stage 2 3-4, they will at least be over .500 on the season with an 8-6 record.
10. (-2) Chengdu Hunters (5-5)
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
should be slowing its pace somewhat after a loss to the Dragons. They have a tough task in trying to recover this week against a strong Gladiators squad.
11. (-5) Toronto Defiant (6-5)
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
have now lost the last three matches, each consecutive one by a worse margin, after starting 6-3. Their schedule doesn't get any easier this stage as their next two matches are against the Shock and the Titans.
12. (+1) Shanghai Dragons (4-6)
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
should be able to build some momentum off their victory over the Hunters: their next three matches are against the Mayhem, Outlaws and Justice.
13. (+3) Hangzhou Spark (4-5)
Krystal
finally made his
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
debut and he looked fantastic. He,
guxue
and
iDK
look far better than the rest of the team. They could make for a solid core to build around in the future, but for right now appear to be carrying the load on an otherwise unformidable team.
14. (-) Paris Eternal (5-6)
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
are 2-2 in Stage 2, but both wins have been to teams that have been extremely weak out of Stage 2's gate. They look better than they did at the end of Stage 1, but they don't look great either.
15. (+2) Houston Outlaws (3-5)
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
looked really good on their first map against the Titans and even looked good at other points throughout the series -- most of the time when they integrated DPS into their lineup. There were plenty of arguments for and against the Outlaws' decision to repeatedly try their hand at matching the Titans' GOATs compositions, but none were as informed as the debate between Sideshow and clockwork. Lost in all of the debate around the Outlaws' composition choices was the nice injection of
ArHaN
. He has seen little playtime since being added to the Outlaws last year and he looked pretty solid. It would be nice to see some more ArHan playtime.
16. (+2) Los Angeles Valiant (1-9)
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
finally have one in the win column! However, the Valiant still look like one of the weakest teams in the league. They play the Washington Justice this week, meaning there is an opportunity for them to get a second win.
17. (-5) Atlanta Reign (5-6)
The team that lost to the Valiant? 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
. They are now 2-5 in their last five regular season matches, beating only the Outlaws and the Justice. Their stretch of defeats began before
Daco
went to the bench and
Dafran
retired, so their absences aren't entirely to blame. The team as a whole just looks bad.
18. (-3) Guangzhou Charge (3-8)
19. (-) Washington Justice (1-10)
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
are still one of the worst teams in the league, but they do look better whenever
Corey
is on Widowmaker. In fact, the Justice are a fun to team to watch when they play DPS compositions. They're unlikely to pull off many upsets even with those compositions, but at least they can put on a show.
20. (-) Florida Mayhem (1-10)
Last week went more smoothly 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
than the week before. They were only getting destroyed by the opposing teams on stage rather than getting destroyed on stage and by the public on social media.
Weekly Wrap-up
Rapidly approaching is the first homestand in the history of the Overwatch League as the Dallas Fuel are set to host matches on April 27 and 28.
Anyone who wants to watch the Overwatch League's first home games live has missed their opportunity to buy tickets. The Fuel announced this week that tickets have been sold out.
As for this upcoming week of matches, there are few matchups between heavyweights this week, meaning the strongest teams should continue their winning ways. At least they will if there are no upsets, which is always a possibility.