Overwatch League Week In Review: 14-21 April 2021

It was a brilliant first week of the Overwatch League, with some surprise showings from teams right out of the gates! We’ve broken down every team’s performance this week below.

Chengdu Hunters:

This was arguably the most pleasantly surprising performance of the week. Chengdu came out guns blazing and after their warm-up of a game against Valiant, proceeded to 3-0 the Dragons. Their new line-up of mostly rookies exceeded expectations with standout performances from GA9A and Mmonk. If there was ever a lineup that could put the “Chengdu Zone” theory to rest, this is the lineup.

Philadelphia Fusion:

The Fusion defeated the scrim rumors and proved they’re still a top team. With the additions of tobi and HOTBA, they were able to compete without excessive ping issues, and they performed great in both their matches- 3-0 against the Valiant and 3-1 against the Dynasty. Rascal played the Tracer and kept up with Profit, which was an achievement on its own. Overall, the Fusion even without their EU players is still stacked, and it’s likely they will keep producing results.

Florida Mayhem:

Some doubted the Florida Mayhem coming into this season with the addition of OGE on main tank. It’s still too early to say but so far, the team has seemingly integrated OGE very well. Mayhem won both of their matchups 3-1 with some great performances from their newer players. Mayhem performed well on multiple team compositions with consistent individual performances all around. Lastly, Yaki made so many hero plays, he must be in early contention for MVP.

Toronto Defiant:

The Defiant had an easier first match against the Titans that they won convincingly with their starting line-up in. In their second match against Atlanta many were considering Defiant the underdog of this matchup and they eventually won 3-2 in a nail-biter reverse sweep. This team was built on a lot of different pieces with an ex-Fusion core and KDG at the helm.

Dallas Fuel:

With their recent loss of Xzi, the expectations for Fuel this week were not super high. After losing to a map 5 with Houston and then going on to beat the Gladiators, Fuel are not looking too bad. With so many heroes being played this week Fuel had the opportunity to work around not having a dedicated hit-scan. Fuel adapted well with the resources they have, a defined meta of 6 heroes could elevate or break this team. This upcoming week will be important for the Fuel with a difficult matchup in Washington and an easier matchup in Boston.

San Francisco Shock:

The Shock showed us a lot of different looks this week and had a similar issue to the Gladiators involving excessive substitutions but to a lesser degree. Viol2t playing hit-scan was NOT among these issues and he proved he can perform very will in the DPS position. A bigger question mark this week was the rotation of Nero/Glister/Striker with all three playing different hit-scan and tracer roles. Overall Shock still performed well, and we should expect them to pick it up more in the weeks to come.

Seoul Dynasty:

Dynasty had a rough start to the week losing 3-1 to Fusion but they picked it right back up and 3-0’d the Charge. The duo of Profit and FITS were very strong and Toyou on the off-tank also had a good performance. The backline of this team seemed to be the least potent this past weekend, Anamo and Creative stepping up could level up this team. Dynasty is known for inconsistent results, hopefully they can change that this year.

Shanghai Dragons:

The Dragons had a strong performance against the Charge and then dropped the ball when playing Chengdu. This was not the start to the season that people were expecting from the Dragons but there’s still a long season ahead. The Dragons seemed underprepared for their match against Chengdu, but this won’t hurt too much in the long run. The May Melee will be their first chance to prove dominance in APAC.

Atlanta Reign:

The most anticipated team in terms of scrimbux, the Atlanta Reign, did not fulfill the scrimbux rumors. They had two difficult matches against Mayhem and Defiant losing both 1-3 and 2-3 respectively. Atlanta looked really good on rush comps on maps that complimented rush. Diversity in specifically the tank role may prove to be an issue for this team in the future.

Vancouver Titans:

The Titans lost both of their matches this week, but they didn’t go down without a fight. They won 1 map in both of their matches and made a few other maps close. Overall, the Titans looked stronger than what many people were expecting. This team could achieve more than the very bottom of the standings but likely not too much higher. Teru had a nice first showing but the team is still lacking in star power.

Los Angeles Gladiators:

Losing to the Shock was expected, but an Xzi-less Dallas Fuel? Not so much. Gladiators seemed unable to correctly utilize their talent having excessive substitutions and a few role swaps. Considering how highly their roster is rated on an individual level, expectations were set a lot higher to say the least. All hope isn’t lost, their roster is still stacked they just need to address the problems quickly. The Gladiators have some easier matches coming into week 2, they should be able to turn things around quickly.

Los Angeles Valiant:

The Valiant were competitive which surpassed almost everyone’s expectations. While their roster and player history look awful on paper, they proved that they are a contender. They took a map off of Chengdu and made Fusion work for their 3 map wins. This team is still expected to fall to the bottom of APAC but they will not be going winless this season.

Guangzhou Charge:

Charge ended at the very bottom of the standings this week, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and his name is ChoiSehwan. ChoiSehwan looked very good against some of the better teams in APAC especially considering the lack of help he was getting. The other rookie DPS, MYKaylee, did not look as promising on the hit-scan role. Overall Charge looked below average and they have a long way to go.

Source: https://news.draftbuff.com/overwatch-league-week-in-review-14-21-april-2021/