Dragons Reverse-sweep Excelsior In OWL Showdown

The Shanghai Dragons rallied for a reverse-sweep of the New York Excelsior in a showdown between top teams on Saturday, as Week 13 of the Overwatch League kicked off.

The Dragons (9-1) moved into first place in the overall standings with the statement 3-2 win over the third-ranked Excelsior (7-2).

The Excelsior struck first with a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower and a 4-3 win on Eichenwalde.

New York had prepared for the introduction of Overwatch's newest hero, Echo, by picking DPS heroes like Torbjorn and Sombra to shut her down while playing a more brawly-style team composition, whereas the Dragons went for an aggressive dive-focused composition.

After the break, though, the Dragons made adjustments that paid off in a big way.
Main tank Eui-Seok "Fearless" Lee dove into the enemy supports with reckless abandon, and the rest of Shanghai followed up, stunning New York with their pressure. The Dragons took Volskaya Industries 3-2 and Rialto 2-1 to send the series into overtime, where they completed the reverse-sweep with a 2-0 win on Busan.

With the win, the Dragons took the top spot in the standings from the Philadelphia Fusion (9-1) based on map differential, while the Excelsior remained in third place despite the loss.

Speaking of reverse-sweeps, the Los Angeles Valiant (3-6) picked up an upset win against the Atlanta Reign (4-4) in similarly dramatic fashion. Atlanta took Lijiang Tower 2-1 and Hollywood 4-3 to start the series, but the Valiant's adjustments helped them take the series.

The Valiant fielded DPS Damon "Apply" Conti, who made his debut on Echo to great effect, often winning duels against the Reign's DPS players.

Los Angeles took Hanamura 3-2, Dorado 3-2 and tour Lệ Giang then capped off the reverse-sweep with a 2-0 win on Busan.

In other Saturday action, the San Francisco Shock (6-2) took down the Houston Outlaws (4-8) in a 3-0 sweep to remain fourth in the overall standings.

The Shock looked as lethal as ever despite the recent sudden retirement of DPS and reigning league MVP Jay "sinatraa" Won. San Francisco took Oasis 2-0, full-held Numbani 3-0 and tour lệ giang shangrila tied Paris 3-3 before finishing a 3-1 win on Rialto.

The Guangzhou Charge (5-6) picked up a big win against the Seoul Dynasty (3-2), who looked lost with the debut of Echo.

The Charge took Ilios 2-0, full-held Hollywood 1-0, and full-held Hanamura 1-0 for a dominant victory.

Finally, the Dallas Fuel (4-4) took out the Washington Justice (2-9) in a 3-0 sweep. Dallas took Nepal 2-0, Hollywood 3-1 and finished with a 2-1 win on Paris.

Week 13 concludes on Sunday with five matches:

Seoul Dynasty vs Hangzhou Spark

Chengdu Hunters vs New York Excelsior

Philadelphia Fusion vs Paris Eternal

Florida Mayhem vs Boston Uprising

Toronto Defiant vs Los Angeles Gladiators

Overwatch League Season 3 standings, with match record (W-L), map record (W-L-T) and map differential:

1.

(Pacific East) Shanghai Dragons, 9-1, 27-6-1, +21

2. (Atlantic South) Philadelphia Fusion, 9-1, 29-11-0, +18

3. (Atlantic North) New York Excelsior, 7-2, 24-8-0, +16

4. (Pacific West) San Francisco Shock, 6-2, 20-10-1, +10

5. (Pacific East) Seoul Dynasty, 3-2, 9-6-1, +3

6.
(Atlantic North) London Spitfire, 3-2, 10-12-0, -2

7. (Atlantic North) Paris Eternal, 5-4, 18-17-0, +1

8. (Atlantic South) Atlanta Reign, 4-4, 17-12-0, +5

9. (Atlantic South) Florida Mayhem, 4-4, 14-13-0, +1

10. (Pacific West) Dallas Fuel, 4-4, 16-16-0, 0

11.

(Pacific West) Vancouver Titans, 2-2, 7-8-0, -1

12. (Pacific West) Los Angeles Gladiators, 3-3, 11-12-2, -1

13. (Pacific East) Guangzhou Charge, 5-6, 17-23-0, -6

14. (Atlantic North) Toronto Defiant, 4-5, 18-19-0, -1

15. (Pacific East) Hangzhou Spark, 4-5, 15-20-1, -5

16.
(Pacific West) Los Angeles Valiant, 3-6, 14-22-0, -8

17. (Atlantic South) Houston Outlaws, 4-8, 19-28-3, -9

18. (Pacific East) Chengdu Hunters, 3-7, 15-22-0, -7

19. (Atlantic South) Washington Justice, 2-9, 12-28-0, -16

20. (Atlantic North) Boston Uprising, 1-7, 7-26-2, -19

--Field Level Media