Until today, the Los Angeles Valiant was undefeated in stage three of the Overwatch League. The London Spitfire killed their streak in a close 3-2 series, dropping the Valiant to 5-1 on the stage.
The win isn’t enough to push the Spitfire (2-4) high enough before stage playoffs begin. Still, London Spitfire must be pleased with the result, especially after settling on a new starting lineup that more heavily features GC Busan players Jung “Closer” Won Sik and Lee “Hooreg” Dong Eun. It may have been an odd call to have a player as talented as Kim “birdring” Ji Hyeok sit out, but it worked out well for Spitfire today.
London struck quickly, taking an early 2-0 lead in the series on Anubis and Blizzard World. Valiant fought back and took Nepal and Route 66, which forced the series to a game five. All seemed to have been in Valiant’s favor, since Oasis has been one of Spitfire’s worst maps, but London came out strong and got the W.
Profit was UNREAL this match as Tracer with 58 Elims and only 9 Deaths! @PROFIT_OWL #OWL2018https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/MMUoaOWv8W
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) April 21, 2018
Though today’s victory didn’t gain any ground for Spitfire in the way of playoff contention, it at least moved them to 17-9 for the season, ranking them third overall in the standings. Even though Valiant made the series close, London looked improved today compared to their stage three play so far.
Meanwhile, the Boston Uprising remains the hottest team in the Overwatch League after beating Seoul Dynasty in a 2-1-1 series on Friday. This was the team’s tenth win in a row, threatening the record 11-game streak by New York Excelsior that Uprising cut off last week.
Seoul kept things close and interesting against Boston, pulling out a three-tank composition featuring Gong “Miro” Jin Hyuk on Reinhardt and Kim “Fleta” Byung Kim on Roadhog. This comp seemed to fluster Uprising a bit on Blizzard World and Nepal, but the team stayed strong. Boston tied Blizzard World and bounced back from a 1-0 deficit on Nepal to take the series. The team even had a chance to demonstrate its versatility, with MVP candidate Kwon “Striker” Nam Joo playing Junkrat instead of his favored Tracer.
WHAT A Pulse Bomb from @STRIKER_OW! #OWL2018
Live: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/0IrqqDvXTs
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) April 21, 2018
The 10-game win streak is especially impressive since Uprising lost their starting DPS player Jonathan “DreamKazper” Sanchez when they released him after alleged sexual misconduct. The team seems to have stayed right on target and has beaten some of the league’s best teams even with a new player in the lineup, Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov.
Boston support player Park “Neko” Se Hyeon also had a chance to shine in Friday’s matchup. Despite posting numbers competitive with top players like London Spitfire’s Choi “Bdosin” Seung Tae, Neko is rarely mentioned among the league’s top Zenyatta players. However, Neko showed Friday that he’s a force to be reckoned with. At one point, he had built two ultimates in the time it took Mistakes to build a single Sombra ultimate.
After Friday’s match, Uprising is 18-8 and the second ranked team in the league behind the New York Excelsior, who they beat last week. They are undefeated in stage three, but have the toughest stretch of their schedule behind them. They are definitely one of the top teams to watch out for come playoffs.