Overwatch League Power Rankings Season 4: Week 3

Time Stamp: May 4, 2021 1:17 PM
Source Node: 838466

Now that every team in the league has played, audiences finally have some sort of sense of how teams are stacking up. Things are wild over in the APAC region. With Chengdu looking incredibly dominant through their first three maps and the Spark dropping their coaches after just two games, it is just a whirlwind of action on and off the server.

[Related: Overwatch Unveils MM-Mei Skin for Overwatch League May Melee]

Over in the NA region, the Shock don’t look like they have the same stranglehold over their competition. In fact, it’s the Houston Outlaws that have everyone glued to their monitors this season. The middle of the pack is a tight race between several talented rosters, but only six teams are going to make it to the regional knockout round. With one last week of play before the bracket, there are still plenty of teams that can sneak their way into the May Melee.

With another great weekend of matchups on the horizon, here are The Game Haus power rankings after Week 2. These rankings were created before the results of the May Melee.

APAC Region

1. Philadelphia Fusion 

Motto of the Week: “Next man up, while Carpe knocks ’em down”

The Philadelphia Fusion have come out firing to start the 2021 season. Despite not having any of the European players with them in Korea, the recent additions of Jin-mo “Tobi” Yang, Hong-joon “Hotba” Choi, and Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim have helped the Fusion cruise past the strong APAC competition. Philadelphia is poised for a deep run in the May Melee bracket for as long as they can keep up their high level of play.

  • Bryan Rockwood
2. Chengdu Hunters

Motto of the Week: “Eyes on the prize, Jinmu in the skies”

Overwatch Rankings Season 4
Courtesy of the Chengdu Hunters

The Hunters were unable to claim the best record in APAC due to falling to the Fusion 3-1. However, both Hu “Jinmu” Yi and Xin “Leave” Huang make it into the top five DPS players so far. They have set the pace for this Hunters team that have continued their fan-favorite playstyles. The fact that they’re now getting results makes it all the sweeter. With the Fusion separating themselves from the Hunters, the Hunters are putting in distance between the rest of the APAC region. To nab the ultimate prize in the May Melee, however, they’ll need to learn, adapt, and execute perfectly against the Fusion.

  • Dalton Jewell
3. Shanghai Dragons 

Motto of the Week: “The Slumbering dragon doesn’t rest for long”

For the team with the most expectations, the Shanghai Dragons have had a sluggish start to the new season. Their record would indicate the Dragons are doing just fine, but it really hasn’t looked that way. Losing a brutal 0-3 game to the Chengdu Hunters was a big wake-up call for Shanghai. They aren’t going to roll over opponents anymore in the APAC region.

  • Bryan Rockwood
4. Seoul Dynasty

Motto of the Week: “Just wait till we can play Roadhog”

The Seoul Dynasty are sitting squarely in the middle of the pack. That is okay for now as they have fought a mixture of the harder and easier ranked teams. They have shown multiple compositions but still look like there could be some polishing to be done. Hopefully, their performance in the May Melee tournament will raise their stocks. Knowing the Dynasty they won’t be happy with anything other than sitting on top of the APAC region at #1.

5. New York Excelsior

Motto of the Week: “New names, new great plays, new problems”

New York took a pretty big gamble in the offseason by signing an almost brand new roster comprised of Contenders talent. It’s worked before for some teams like the 2019 Vancouver Titans, but it has equally failed for others – like the 2020 Titans. Either way, it looks like there is some upside with the new DPS lineup for the NYXL, but the main focus will be on the veterans Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang and Seung-hyun “IVY” Lee. 

  • Bryan Rockwood
6. Hangzhou Spark

Motto of the Week: “Finish the week with a Bang”

Overwatch Rankings Season 4
Courtesy of the Hangzhou Spark

Hangzhou suffered a couple of tough losses this week after not able to muster up more than a single map win in either game. While the team still looks great on paper, a few questionable coaching decisions and potential latency issues caused the new-look Spark to falter from their hyped-up lead into the 2021 season. Going off of that, the team has drastically made some major coaching changes after a weak first weekend in hopes of turning the ship around. Week 3 will be a solid litmus test on what the underlying issues are with the currently mid-tier roster and whether it truly was the coaching.

  • Jordy Garcia
7. Guangzhou Charge

Motto of the Week: “Seems like the batteries need a bit of charge”

The Charge made a whole bunch of moves in the offseason, but for many, those moves may have been a net negative. Losing Jin-seo “Shu” Kim and Jung-woo “Happy” Lee look to be truly tough losses for the team, as the new rookies for Guangzhou still need time to acclimate to the league. Guangzhou looked to be quite meta-dependent last season, and it is starting to look the same way once again. 

  • Bryan Rockwood
8. Los Angeles Valiant

Motto of the Week: “We may be down, but our wings are still out!”

The Los Angeles Valiant are a team that is fighting every map just to prove they are capable of competing. As a team that was brought onto the roster extremely late in the offseason, they face an uphill battle before they even hit the server. In their first few matches, they seemed mediocre at best but definitely displayed some signs of life. It’ll be quite a surprise to see this team win a match, but teams can’t go on auto-pilot as the Valiant could upset any unsuspecting opponent. 

  • Bryan Rockwood

NA Region

1. Houston Outlaws

Motto of the Week: “Having this much fun should be Outlawed”

Overwatch Rankings Season 4
Courtesy of the Houston Outlaws

Wow, what a complete surprise, the Houston Outlaws have been in this early 2021 season. There was quite a bit of skepticism about the tank line and the support line performing at a high enough level to compete with the top teams. Little did the fans know, the Outlaws are a team that has figure out how to win and have fun doing it. The biggest surprise without a doubt has been main tank Myung-heum “JJANGGU” Cho. With flashy shatters and a big smile on his face, JJANGGU has made his presence felt across the league.  

  • Bryan Rockwood
2. San Francisco Shock

Motto of the Week: “Even our supports are fragging out”

The Shock hit their first speedbump of the season in the map 5 loss to Houston in week 1. In past years, the team has bounced back stronger after their losses, making their next matches look scary. Despite the .500 record, these are still some of the best players in the world, and they are out for blood.

  • Matthew Kennedy
3. Washington Justice

Motto of the Week: “Hell hath no fury, like Fury”

The Justice have come out of the gate strong with super showings from every position. It didn’t take long at all for Taeseong “Mag” Kim to make quite the impression alongside Junha “Fury” Kim with the two tanks setting the tone for most fights. The main strength of this team however is the DPS. With a heavy focus on different team compositions, the flexibility that the Justice have at this position will continue to be key. With two opponents on tap before the May Melee, the Justice should feel comfortable going in as a higher seed. The Justice will be looking to make a statement early.

  • Dalton Jewell
4. Dallas Fuel

Motto of the Week: ” Who needs McCree to SP9RK1E”?

The Fuel followed up their Week 1 performance with a mirrored result, a win and a loss. Funny, since the Fuel are unable to mirror whenever the opposing team locks in a McCree. They’ll have to wait on the results of the Reign and Eternal matches to see where they place in the May Melee. If they make it, they’ll still have to contend with their self-imposed hero ban and cut the mistakes. They ran through some experimental comps and looked good against the Justice, however it’s a clear weakness being unable to run the McCree. There’s no more time to light the flame under this highly competitive team, it needs to come together now.

  • Dalton Jewell
5. Los Angeles Gladiators

Motto of the Week: “Glad we got the rust off early”

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Gladiators

The Gladiators had a rough start to the 2021 season, but were able to rebound with back-to-back 3-0 finishes over London and Boston. Ji-hyeok “birdring” Kim and Kevin “kevster” Persson have cemented themselves as the defacto starting DPS lineup for the team and should be run as much as possible. Grant “moth” Espe continues to excel and Min-seok “skewed” Kim has found his niche as a Brig specialist. Big questions still linger around the tankline and Jin-seo “Shu” Kim as they have struggled. Only time will tell.

  • Brad Killion
6. Florida Mayhem

Motto of the Week: “OGE feeling good in South Beach”

With their key new offseason additions, the Mayhem are looking like the contenders the league saw last summer. Min-seok “OGE” Son is getting a third chance to prove he can excel in the league, and so far it is working out. The full Korean roster seems to put OGE in a position where he can really succeed, and Florida are happy to see the positive results so far. The team certainly has the talent to beat even the best opponents, it’s now time to see if the Mayhem can pull it all together and consistently win. 

  • Bryan Rockwood
7. Toronto Defiant

Motto of the Week: “Defying plenty of preseason rankings”

Toronto has found its groove thus far this season, gaining a 2-0 record. SADO has been a standout, ranking second in the league in damage done per 10 minutes as Winston. However, he is the most resource-intensive tank, requiring nearly 1500 more healing per 10 minutes than any other tank. The remaining matches will prove whether this strategy is viable in the long run or not.

  • Matthew Kennedy
8. Atlanta Reign

Motto of the Week: “Our Reign over the mid-table continues”

Losing their first matches of the year certainly doesn’t feel great for the exciting new Atlanta Reign. Signing Kai “Kai” Collins and Se-hyun “Pelican” Oh gave fans plenty of reason to be excited for the Reign this year. These two all-star talents could easily push Atlanta through the barrier that has stopped this team from truly succeeding the past two years. However, it looks like the team will need more than overwhelming firepower to find wins early in the season. It’ll up to the coaching staff to get the best out of this team. 

  • Bryan Rockwood
9. Boston Uprising

Motto of the Week: “On the rise, but just gotta get going first”

Courtesy of the Boston Uprising

The Uprising were one of the teams that were hyped up thanks to some high-value scrimbucks. Before their first game, rumors were swirling around that the Uprising had overperformed in scrims and looked to be a dark horse contender in 2021. Unfortunately, that’s not quite what fans witnessed in their opening weekend. Two tough losses to the Gladiators and the Fuel put a damper on Boston’s debut. Overall it looks like it’ll take some time for the new DPS players for the Uprising to find their footing in the league. 

  • Bryan Rockwood
10. Paris Eternal

Motto of the Week: “Showing plenty of heart for the City of Love ” 

After a really shaky opening game against the Vancouver Titans, the Paris Eternal looked a little better in their following match. Paris is one of two teams playing on the ping system that was added this year, and luckily it doesn’t look like it’s hurting the European squad too much. Fans came into the year looking towards Stefan “OniGod” Fiskerstrand and Elliot “ELLIVOTE” Vaneryd to help this team find success, but right now it’s all about the electric rookie Emir “Kaan” Okumus. The German flex support is making a name for himself as one of the most dangerous Baptiste’s in the league. Maybe fans even see some nano-Bap shenanigans from Paris soon enough?

  • Bryan Rockwood
11. London Spitfire

Motto of the Week: “Ready for takeoff but the engines are stalling”

In their first two outings as the Spitfire, the promoter Hurricane players and their new friends looked uncharacteristically uncoordinated. Many thought that as most of the team was coming up together as a unit they would have an early advantage in terms of synergy. Yet this was sorely missing in their first two games. The talent is there however, with players like Hadi, Shax and Ripa leading the way. Spitfire fans need to keep the faith, as it is still early days and the team could soon return to their winning ways

  • Ethan Butler
12. Vancouver Titans

Motto of the Week: “Please, we need breadsticks”

The Titans find themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard with an 0-4 record and eliminated from contention in the May Melee. Their play has been sloppy so far, but with flashes of skill beyond what the results say. Teru’s visa just got approved, so soon he will no longer be playing on ping, and hopefully the team can improve their chemistry and playmaking before the next tournament.

  • Matthew Kennedy
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