We are now 60 percent of the way through the inaugural Overwatch League season. The New York Excelsior have a commanding grip on first place and look set to be the overall No. 1 seed heading into playoffs. However, the recent slides by both the London Spitfire and the Seoul Dynasty have put the rest of the playoffs seeds up for grabs. Currently, London and Seoul are level with the Boston Uprising and the Philadelphia Fusion in a four-way tie for second at 16-8. The two Los Angeles teams and the Houston Outlaws are right behind them, ready to pounce if one of those teams stumbles.
The Healer Down Crew discussed this and other storylines heading into Week 3 Stage 3 of the Overwatch League. (Mild language on podcast)
Los Angeles Valiant -208
Los Angeles Gladiators +150
This will be the third Battle for Los Angeles of the season. The Valiant won the first match with a reverse sweep after being down 2-0, while the Gladiators got revenge with a 4-0 victory over the Valiant in Stage 2.
The Valiant are favored coming into this match and are 4-0 so far in Stage 3. Yet they are still making major changes to their lineup. They have brought on Custa, KSF, Finnsi, and Izayaki over the last couple weeks and parted ways with envy, silkthread, GrimReality, and uNKOE.
While the Gladiators are 3-1 thus far in Stage 3, having played the same teams as the Valiant, I like them to win this match. One of the Valiant’s former players, silkthread, ended up on the Gladiators and he knows the ins and outs of the team. The Valiant have not had the chance to totally change their strategies since he left, giving the Gladiators an advantage.
San Francisco Shock -167
Dallas Fuel +125
The Dallas Fuel are in complete disarray at the moment. The Overwatch League’s most drama-filled team added another chapter to its soap opera over the weekend, parting ways with coach KyKy and star DPS player Rascal.
Coach Kyle Souder and DPS Player Dong-jun "Rascal" Kim have been released from the Dallas Fuel:https://t.co/SzLWUlXHZC
— Dallas Fuel (@DallasFuel) April 16, 2018
Once again, rumors of internal strife came out immediately following the move and with Taimou openly blasting fans on Twitter too, things aren’t looking great for the Fuel.
Conversely, San Francisco seems to be coming together nicely. The Shock have performed much better with super and sinatraa in the line-up, and some of their mid-season acquisitions are starting to pay off too. I love the Shock this week, and this is one of my strongest plays all season.
Seoul Dynasty -1429
Shanghai Dragons +600
Will Shanghai win a match this season? It’s a question I asked last week, and it continues to be one of the biggest stories of the year. It feels like the Dragons will eventually break through. They have looked more competitive in the last few weeks, and some of the new additions are really paying off. Geguri’s signing received a lot of attention, but the additions of Sky, Ado, and Daemin have made the team better too.
It’s hard to see them beating Seoul, even though the Dynasty have had their share of struggles. They continue to make confusing changes to their line-up and will inexplicably sit their two best players, fleta and ryujehong. That has led to Seoul being the most inconsistent team of the season. Still, with so much talent available, it’s hard to see them being the Dragons’ first victory.
