I missed doing game recaps last week because I was on vacation in Wisconsin, so I figured today instead of doing analysis of all the super exciting Junkerqueen mirror action I’ll just do power rankings with an update on how teams are doing. Changes are from post-midseason madness rankings.
1. SF Shock (16-0, 20 Points) (+1)
The Shock are in a perfect meta, where it seems like every single game ends with the winning Genji getting voted player of the match. Shock has the best Genji (Proper), so they’re running through teams with ease. The only team that has come close to beating them was Washington Justice, but then Justice lost 3 of its starting 5.
2. Shanghai Dragons (11-3, 13 Points) (+1)
Shanghai has the best Lucio player in the league and the best Brig player in the league, which is pretty neat in a Lucio-Brig meta. The only problem is that Leejaegon is both of those players. Either way, the team has been looking very good in the meta with Whoru shining on Genji and Lip doing Lip things on hitscan.
3. Dallas Fuel (13-3, 16 Points) (+6)
Hanbin is back, Sp9rkle is on Genji, and everything is looking good in Dallas. As it turns out, all the team needed was the right meta and they’re back to peak form. As the emphasis on hitscan dps play has lessened, the problems with the team’s roster have vanished and everything has been sunshine and roses.
4. Seoul Dynasty (11-3, 15 Points) (+1)
Profit has been playing Brig with Stalk3r on Genji, which is an unusual lineup but it’s been working so far for Seoul. Seoul hasn’t yet faced elite competition, but there’s no reason to believe they can’t keep up their current form. The addition of Ir1s makes this team stronger in future metas, but for now I expect he’ll sit on the bench.
5. Toronto Defiant (9-7, 11 Points) (+6)
As it turns out, Hotba is very good at the new hero. Although is good at Genji, Heesu is good at Sojourn, and Twilight is Twilight. With a chance to play in front of their hometown fans for the first time, Toronto has pulled out wins over Gladiators and Reign to secure a spot in the Summer Showdown Tournament.
6. Washington Justice (7-8, 8 Points) (+8)
Am I overrating this team? Probably, but they’re still one of the better teams in the league at running this Junkerqueen comp even after losing Mag, Happy, and Vigilante. Decay is a miracle worker, challenging Proper in the Genji mirror before Happy left and then swapping over to hitscan and rolling Florida while Assassin played Genji. If it weren't for the unfortunate financial situation causing this team to drop 3 players, I’d say they might be the 2nd best team in the West Region in the current meta.
7. London Spitfire (10-5, 11 Points) (+3)
As it turns out, when the meta shifts to allow the rush team to play rush, they win a bit. After starting the stage with an ugly loss to Florida the team has rebounded to win a pair of 3-0s over Boston and Houston. They aren’t perfect in how they play the current meta, but Backbone has been good enough on Genji to carry the team over the line against their most recent opponents.
8. LA Gladiators (10-6, 17 Points) (-7)
How does a team running a lineup of Kevster-Happy-Reiner-Skewed-FunnyAstro lose in this meta? I guess maybe Reiner isn’t that good at Junkerqueen? Either way, things are not looking too good for LA, which has somehow found itself on a 4 game losing streak after being the best team in the league for the first half of the season. Hopefully when the Junkerqueen nerfs Aaron Keller mentioned were coming after the Summer Showdown are implemented Gladiators will be back to their normal selves.
9. Hangzhou Spark (9-5, 11 Points) (-3)
With AlphaYi out the team has struggled in 2 ugly losses to Seoul and Shanghai. Despite this, I’m not as panicked about Hangzhou as other people might be, simply due to the fact that those are the only 2 teams we’ve seen Hangzhou play. I’m still confident in their chances against the other weaker teams in the East such as Philly and Charge, although you never know what Chengdu might do.
10. Boston Uprising (5-11, 5 points) (+5)
Boston are just 1-3 this stage, but that’s mostly due to a tough schedule that includes losses to Shock and Fuel. The addition of Mag gives Boston a new potential star to pair with a solid support line and a dps duo that seems to be improving. I would not be surprised if they pulled off an upset against Toronto this week and made it to the Summer Showdown Tournament.
11. Atlanta Reign (8-7, 11 Points) (-7)
Perhaps this is just Atlanta continuing the trend of playing badly in the regular season before doing well in playoffs every stage, but in losses to Boston and Toronto they did not look very good. A win over Paris means absolutely nothing and Atlanta will probably need to win 2 out of their next 3 matches to even qualify for the tournament to begin with.
12. Chengdu Hunters (6-8, 6 Points) (+1)
The Chengdu Hunters, for one glorious point on Ilios Well, ran something other than Junkerqueen rush in their match against Dynasty. Jinmu played Pharah, did Jinmu things, and the Hunters won the point. It was beautiful. Then, map geometry forced them back onto the meta comp and they got rolled the rest of the way. On the bright side, Chengdu did show they were capable of running the Junkerqueen comp in their 3-0 win over Philly.
13. Houston Outlaws (10-5, 12 Points) (-5)
Just when it seemed like the Outlaws were finally good, they collapsed in an unbelievable manner. With Piggy and Ir1s gone and the rest of the team seeming extremely unhappy, the Outlaws are on the verge of total self-destruction. They have 1 week to fix their problems with games against Atlanta and Vancouver coming up. If they do not win both of those games the team is headed for another lost season, I fear. Creative is an interesting pickup but I’d probably rather have Ir1s.
14. Philly Fusion (7-7, 10 Points) (-7)
Apparently Fusion is only good in metas where MN3 can hard carry on hitscan without having to worry about what the other team is doing. A close 3-2 win over Valiant followed by a merciless beatdown at the hands of Chengdu has Philly looking every bit like the mediocre team their 7-7 record would suggest. Zest’s Genji is alright but overall the team is nowhere near good enough to compete with the top teams in the East.
15. Florida Mayhem (7-8, 9 Points) (-3)
As it turns out, when you can’t just trade backlines every fight, it matters how good your supports are at keeping themselves alive. Florida’s supports, in this regard, are not good at all. Checkmate is not a bad genji and Xzi can still click heads from time to time, but not having the ability to sustain in longer fights hurts this team quite a bit.
16. Guangzhou Charge (2-12, 2 Points) (+2)
Jimmy is here to save the day, everybody! Give it up for Jimmy! The new-look Guangzhou Charge with Xerneas (the gamer formerly known as Yveltal) and Jimmy seems primed to once again return to their position as the 2nd worst team in the East or maybe even the 3rd worst if they can beat Philly or Chengdu occasionally.
17. Vancouver Titans (2-13, 2 Points) (+3)
Vancouver went from starting the season on a 13 game losing streak to winning 2 matches in a row in 3-0 fashion. How, you ask? By playing Paris and New York, mostly. The addition of k1ng (the American Genji player, not the Korean Valorant player) and Mirror’s Junkerqueen have given the team some new life and new respectability. I’m going to wait until they beat someone good before ranking them any higher, but it’s nice to see the Titans doing well.
Discord