Raisin's Pre-Season Power Rankings, 2022 Edition

A new year, a new season, and an entirely new game that nobody has seen any of these teams play before. That's right, in this edition of my pre-season power rankings I'm going to be attempting to predict teams' success in Overwatch 2 despite never having seen the game played at any level. Given my record, I'm expecting this to be 100% accurate except for Chengdu who are somehow again going to outperform my expectations. Anyways, with apologies to Tamagao, Hudsen, and all of the other actual writers who have worked for this site and vlr, here is the order of finish for all 20 OWL teams for the 2022 season.

1. LA Gladiators
The most complete team. They have a support line with god aim and fantastic flexibility. Space seems like an ideal solo tank player. ANS-Kevster is a scary dps line, with incredible aim and experience. Patiphan is the X factor. He might be an mvp candidate or he might ride the bench all season, but even if he does, the aforementioned duo of ANS and Kevster are more than capable of carrying. With the support of a great org in The Guard and elite experience at the highest levels of esports, Gladiators can finally break through to win a title and earn the respect they've been seeking as one of the league's perennial favorites.

2. Shanghai Dragons
2021's champs return with a lineup featuring the dps gods Fleta and Lip. These two can carry the team far even if they don't get the same level of tank and support play as last year. Shifts in the way the game is played could hurt this team a bit, as Leejaegon might not be as effective in certain possible metas forcing the team to sub him out for newly acquired BeBe, but Void and Izayaki should be good enough to keep the Dragons in any game while Fleta and Lip kill everything.

3. Seoul Dynasty
Losing Jjonak to retirement hurts this team, but the Dynasty still look to be a top team in 2022 for 1 reason: Profit. Overwatch's GOAT looks to carry over his incredible flexibility, god aim, and unbreakable mental into this new era. With his trusted partner Fits and new addition Smurf, Seoul can never be counted out. As usual, expect this team to underperform in the regular season before going on a run in the playoffs.

4. Chengdu Hunters
With a reputation for chaotic play and a legendary love of low-heal, high damage compositions, Hunters seem best suited to make the transition to OW 2. While I don't rate the duo of Jinmu and Leave as highly as some people, they're still legitimate threats who know how to play with the space created by star tank Ga9a. Farway1987, Mmonk, Yveltal and Nisha form possibly the most flexible support rotation in the league.

5. Dallas Fuel
Returning mostly the same team from last year's 3rd place squad, Dallas look to star dps Sp9rkle to lead their team into the future. It will be interesting to see who gets the majority of the playing time between tanks Fearless and Hanbin, as neither seem completely capable of filling every role but both have the potential to be stars on their best heroes. Fielder and ChiYo form a potentially deadly support duo, although the pair's flexibility remains a bit of an unknown.

6. San Fransisco Shock
Unlike many of the teams above them, the Shock's strengths are not found in their dps line. Rather, their biggest strength comes in the form of their team captain and the face of the league, super. A unique talent who can play just about any tank hero, look for super to take on a much greater role with the departures of smurf and Choihyobin. Viol2t still has the potential to be the best support player in the league, but we'll have to see if he can meet that potential, as he did in 2019 and 2020, or if he'll falter as he did in 2021. Coach Crusty must reassert himself as the best in the business for this team to truly contend for a championship. If things start to go poorly and super retires to become a full-time streamer, this team could end up in a downward spiral that might send them to the bottom tier of the league.

7. Atlanta Reign
Last season's surprise finalists return with a western-focused lineup led by legendary tank Gator. With the ability to play a wide variety of heroes at a high level, the leader of the original GOATS squad that revolutionized Overwatch back in 2018 will try to replicate that team's success as a trailblazer and innovator of novel strategies in a new game. The loss of dps player Pelican and support players Ir1s and Masaa weaken the team a bit, but at least they retain one star dps in Kai.

8. Washington Justice
On paper, this team has the talent to compete with anyone in the league. Dps players Decay and Happy have incredibly high ceilings and great flexibility, while tanks Mag and Kalios provide consistency and flexibility. Supports Krillin, OPENER, and vigilante are relative unknowns, but the biggest question for this team will always be whether they'll be able to avoid self-destructing and failing to meet their potential. Last season's team had the potential to be the best in the league but ultimately had to settle for 7th/8th after nearly failing to qualify for playoffs and then winning just 1 of 7 maps they played once they got there.

9. Hangzhou Spark
Over the past couple of seasons, the Spark have become a bit of a benchmark for the other teams in the APAC region; the good teams beat them and the bad teams lose to them. Led by dps Shy and tank guxue, the Spark figure to be on a similar level as last year. Not quite competitive with the league's elite but more than capable of beating up on weaker teams like the LA Valiant. New support addition Superich is highly thought of, but it remains to be seen if he'll be able to adapt to the changes coming in OW2.

10. Houston Outlaws
Similar to the Spark, 2021 saw the Houston Outlaws, aside from a pair of early season upsets, mostly beat weaker competition while losing badly to their rivals in Dallas and Atlanta. The team has made some big changes, with the additions of Pelican, MER1T, Lastro, and Ir1s giving the team the option to field a full-Korean lineup for the first time in franchise history. I’m not sure I’m a fan of this, as it makes it difficult for Houston to find a role for their only remaining western player, Danteh, who had a down year in 2021 but is still probably capable enough to consider giving some playing time to. PIGGY being the team's sole tank player is the biggest unknown for this team, but other than that expect this group of veterans to perform at a consistent league-average level while Pelican tries to carry.

11. Toronto Defiant
Led by star support player Twilight, the Defiant look to finally find some consistency in their roster and in their results. Since their debut in 2019, the Defiant have undergone complete roster overhauls 4 separate times, with the current team retaining only Heesu from last year's team. Even if the team doesn't have a ton of history together, however, the players individually bring a significant amount of experience, with Heesu, Hotba, Muze, and Twilight all having played for teams that made deep playoff runs.

12. Philly Fusion
Veteran tank player Fury returns to Philly after a year in Washington, to find only one other player remaining from the 2020 team that finished in 4th place. That player, of course, is dps legend carpe, who has become almost as synonymous with the city of Philadelphia as Ben Franklin or overrated sandwiches. The two of them will look to find success for a Fusion team coming off a disappointing 2021 season as well as the tragic passing of Alarm, who was not only an MVP-caliber support player but also a beloved teammate and friend. We miss you Alarm.

13. Boston Uprising
2020 Grand Finals MVP Striker returns to the team that originally signed him back before the inaugural season in 2017. He joins new additions Marve1, Crimzo, and MCD as well as returning starters from last season’s 7-9 Boston team Valentine, Punk, and Faith. Depending on how well the team can create opportunities for Striker and how well Striker adapts to the new game, this team could finish pretty much anywhere outside of the top and bottom 3.

14. NYXL
For the first time in team history, the NYXL will play without their MVP, Jjonak. As the team rebuilds around the former Florida Mayhem duo of Yaki and Gangnamjin, fans must look to the future as the franchise that went 56-12 over its first two seasons tries to reinvent itself after going 7-9 in 2021. Yaki and Gangnamjin come in with their own uncertainties, having played for a talented but underwhelming Florida team that was the biggest disappointment in the league at 5-11 last year. They are joined by former Boston support Myunbong, new tank Kellan, and dps Flora, the only holdover from last season’s NYXL.

15. Paris Eternal
Last season’s pleasant surprise at 8-8 returns a very similar team, with the biggest change being the addition of dps Glister to make up for the departure of Onigod. A team that traditionally has favored team play over individual talent, Eternal may struggle to adapt to the new game. Then again, I’ve underestimated this team in the past and Glister has shown flashes of potential during his time with London and San Francisco.

16. Guangzhou Charge
A team still looking for its first playoff win after 3 years in the league, the Charge have made the rather unusual choice of bringing back the majority of their roster from 2021 despite going just 5-11 in the regular season. The dps duo of Eileen and ChoiSehwan are hoping to have a breakout year after playing respectably last season but being unable to carry the rest of the team. New support players Unique and Molly will try to be upgrades over 2021 starters Mandu and Kariv, and they will have to be if this team wants to go anywhere in 2022.

17. Vancouver Titans
The breadstick kings come into 2022 fielding a roster headed by the dps duo of Aspire and Shockwave, who is back with the Titans after a year riding the bench in San Francisco. The additions of Masaa and Aztac on support should be solid upgrades over Roolf and Fire. As of this writing False is the only tank player on the Titans’ roster, which could be problematic, but, as with everything else, I’m only speculating about a game I’ve never even seen played. Either way, this team finally managed to get rid of LiNkzr, so they’ll be better than they were last year.

18. Florida Mayhem
Built around the unproven talents of Checkmate, SirMajed, and SOMEONE, as well as two unusual veterans in MirroR and Anamo, this Florida team seems to have embraced all of the memes and might be banking on the Avast/Plat Chat companion stream to keep people interested while they get pummeled by superior talent. GM Albert “Dickomode'' Yeh has to prove he’s capable of building a team after last season’s disappointment, or else Mayhem should move on from the community darling. #BrickedUp

19. London Spitfire
A team that went 1-15 last year has brought back 2 players, dps SparkR and Shax, and will look to the addition of veteran fan-favorite tank player Poko to lead this group of otherwise unremarkable talent. The team continues to insist on an all-EU roster despite the lack of success from previous all-EU teams, but there is at least some legitimate talent on the roster. I’m not expecting much from London, but maybe Shax can lead them to respectability.

20. LA Valiant
Everybody’s favorite punching bag hasn’t announced its full roster yet, but from what we do know nothing about this team looks particularly promising. They’ve abandoned their previous all-chinese identity by adding dps players Innovation and Becky from Contenders KR. They’ll join Diya to form an unimpressive but potentially competent rotation. The Valiant support line currently consists of Coldest and Lengsa. Neither of them are fantastic, but at least they’re not putting a tank player on support again. Depending on who else they sign (they have not announced a tank player yet) the potential of this team ranges from “Chengdu but without the talent to push them any higher than 15th” to “somehow subjecting Diya to another winless season”.

holy fuck another over.gg user WWWW

Wow excited for Los Angeles Gladiators and Chengdu

W. This site is really starting to be revived lol
Good to see another over.gg user aside from Hater.

I should learn from this guy!

goat raisin overlord

just here for the raisin

Chengdu forever.

Omg the og over.gg users are multiplying

excited to see what pati can bring

If possible can you share some site which shows schedule for OWL of this year?

W

Real talk, that Florida under titans and charge is a hot take and half. Given this roster is built by one of overwatch (and with his stint in val) if not esports best budget player talent scout in Gunba, a man credited for a lot of the 2020 variants successful scouting the tallent of the players is much less in question. And definitely has much higher potential than the Vancouver and Charge (not to mention they scored hydron who is a hugely talented hitscan in a more dps focused game). Aswell the management and coaching resources behind either of the 2 above teams hasn't exactly been amazing either. Florida probably have better tallent and better coaching having them lower than 16th complaining for 15th is a highly questionable take

W