It’s been a long weekend of Overwatch League playoff games. Sometimes, everything feels like a roller-coaster ride. Yesterday’s playoff matches included numerous games that went all the way to map five, with tense showdowns and extremely close teamfights. Today’s games were a bit more clear-cut, with sweeps across the board in both regions.
Asia
Shanghai Dragons vs. New York Excelsior (3-1)
The Shanghai Dragons, currently ranked first in the overall Overwatch League standings, finally began their playoff run against the New York Excelsior.
NYXL DPS Park “Saebyeolbe” Jong Ryeol had a second day of dominant play alongside main tank Kim “Mano” Dong-gyu, but the Dragons were at their usual level of absolute focus. Lee “LIP” Jae-won, Shanghai’s Sombra specialist, ran amok in the Excelsior’s backline. After this loss, New York will be dropped to the lower bracket of the Asia region.
Seoul Dynasty vs. Guangzhou Charge (3-0)
Looking at this game’s scoreline, fans might assume that it was a total stomp. In reality, the Guangzhou Charge brought most maps to a tipping point, forcing the Seoul Dynasty to bring out their full playoff power. Tank Hong “Gesture” Jae-hee continued to show his flexibility by bringing out an enormously deadly Roadhog. As Seoul’s DPS squad played musical chairs and utilized the depths of their hero pools, the Guangzhou Charge couldn’t find an answer. Guangzhou will now face the lower bracket.
North America
Florida Mayhem vs. Los Angeles Gladiators (3-0)
Yesterday, the Florida Mayhem suffered a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to the Los Angeles Valiant and were knocked to the lower bracket. Today, the Mayhem decided to take their revenge against the other Los Angeles team.
Florida’s DPS players continued their reign of terror today, with Lee “BQB” Sang-bum taking over Reaper duties and Kim “Yaki” Jun-gi soldiering on as Sombra. Everything appeared to point to a clean sweep for the Mayhem after two dominant maps, but the Gladiators came alive on Volskaya Industries to force a draw. Despite a swift change in meta, Yaki locked the Genji on final map Dorado and sliced through the Gladiators to secure the win.
Since this match was in the lower bracket, the Los Angeles Gladiators were eliminated from playoff contention due to the loss.
Washington Justice vs. Paris Eternal (3-0)
The Washington Justice have been on a warpath during these playoffs, nearly dragging the San Francisco Shock to the loser’s bracket yesterday. That destruction continued today and the Paris Eternal were the Justice’s latest victim.
While members of the Eternal had some impressive moments, including a surprise “boop” from support Brice “FDGoD” Monscavoir on Numbani, Washington looked like a well-oiled demolition machine. Justice damage extraordinaire Jang “Decay” Gui-un continued destroying dreams with high-powered Zarya play, but Lee “TTuba” Ho-sung showed him up with stunning Pharah play on Lijiang Tower.
The Paris Eternal squad, who won the 2020 Summer Showdown, were eliminated from the postseason after losing to the Justice.
Philadelphia Fusion vs. Los Angeles Valiant (3-0)
While the Washington Justice have been annihilating the lower bracket, the Philadelphia Fusion have simply decided to take over the winners bracket. Philadelphia took no prisoners as they achieved a clean sweep against the Los Angeles Valiant.
Philadelphia DPS Jeong “Heesu” Hee-su continued to impress on Sombra, using hacks to ruin Los Angeles’ dives and dreams of moving on in the winners bracket. Off-tank Kim “Fury” Jun-ho proved why he was once considered one of the best off-tanks in the world, absorbing infinite ultimates and damage on behalf of the Fusion. Final map Volskaya Industries was the most competitive in the series with some unique compositions from the Valiant, but Philadelphia saw right through the schemes.
Philadelphia will move on to the winners bracket finals while the Los Angeles Valiant drop down to the losers bracket to face the Washington Justice.
San Francisco Shock vs. Atlanta Reign (3-1)
Exactly one year ago, the Atlanta Reign knocked the San Francisco Shock to the lower bracket of the 2019 Overwatch League playoffs. While the Shock rallied back and later won the season championship, those wounds still run deep. Today, San Francisco got revenge.
Some bright spots existed in Atlanta’s play, especially on Hybrid map Hollywood, where the team managed to fully hold a Shock squad experimenting with team compositions. After San Francisco went back to basics, however, Atlanta couldn’t stand up against them. Shocks’ DPS duo, Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo and Lee “ANS” Seon-chang, had a wildly successful series. ANS, normally a hitscan player, took up the mantle of Sombra and disrupted numerous Reign attacks.
The Atlanta Reign dropped down to the lower bracket and will face the Florida Mayhem next week. Meanwhile, the Shock have moved on to the winners bracket final against the Philadelphia Fusion.
Next week’s matches
Matches continue on Friday, Sept. 11 and run through Sunday, Sept. 13. By the end of the weekend, we’ll know which teams will be participating in the grand finals bracket on Oct. 8.
Sept. 11
- Florida Mayhem vs. Atlanta Reign (2pm CT)
- Los Angeles Valiant vs. Washington Justice (4pm CT)
Sept. 12
- Philadelphia Fusion vs. San Francisco Shock (2pm CT)
- Loser’s bracket finals, TBD vs. TBD (4pm CT)
- New York Excelsior vs. Guangzhou Charge (4am CT)
- Seoul Dynasty vs. Shanghai Dragons (6am CT)
Both losers bracket finals will take place on Sept. 13, with North America at 4pm CT and Asia at 4am CT.
