Overwatch League Mid Stage Map Record Analysis

With the end of the Overwatch League Preseason I published an article highlighting how each team performed on the various maps and game modes that make up each match in the OWL. My hope is that with the additional games played to date in the first stage of the regular season that we might gain some insight on the strength and weaknesses of each team and what traits the best teams share. The best teams in the league have shown strength primarily on Control + one other game mode tilting even a 5 map set in their favor. Success can also be found with a strong two game mode foundation outside of Control but does leave the team without a fail-safe should they fail to find a third map in regulation. The weakest teams rely on exposing opponents and less on enforcing their will on strengths of their own resulting in these teams suffering a higher number of shutouts and an inability to get stops on defense.

With New York’s recent victory over the Seoul Dynasty many consider the NYXL to be the team to beat in the OWL and the current king of the all Korean squads. As has been the trend so far teams winning on their control map tend to win their match to the tune of 32 wins to 4 losses. NY is 6–1 on control and 5–0–1 on Hybrid maps. Each match in the Overwatch League consists of 1 map on each of the 4 game modes that currently exist in Overwatch: Escort, Hybrid, Assault and Control. In the event that after the 4 game modes have been played a winner has not been decided a fifth and final map is played on Lijiang Tower, a control map. New York Excelsior has developed the most reliable way to earn victories: phenomenal control play and another game mode on which they excel. If the NYXL can win control and hybrid even if they lose the remaining two maps their opponents must beat New York on a control map. Something to date only one team has been able to do. The Excelsior are on a .500 record on the remaining game modes but have found a way to win either escort or assault against every team they have played except in their 2–3 loss to the Philadelphia Fusion.

Unsurprisingly the Seoul Dynasty have a map record that looks very similar to the New York Excelsior. Seoul are 5–2 on Control and 4–1–1 on Hybrid. The Dynasty has dropped fewer maps than any other team conceding only a single map of each game mode with the exception of Control where they have lost twice to the NYXL in their only match loss. If not for the exceptional play of Saebyeolbe and his ability to assassinate his mirror in the Tracer battle the Seoul Dynasty could very well have remained the only undefeated team in the league. The Dynasty possess the most adaptable lineup in the Overwatch League evidenced most dramatically in their map wins over the Dallas Fuel on Anubis and the New York Excelsior on Horizon Lunar Colony and have won every single map that required overtime. Seoul have the strongest map pool in OWL but were victim to the whims of control like so many other teams.

Houston has climbed there way out of a suspect map record and transformed it into one of the best in the OWL surrendering all 6 of their map losses in their first two matches. Since gaining confidence against the league worst Shanghai Dragons the Outlaws have had a lock-down defense surrendering more than 1 point in a map only once, a 4–3 victory over the LA Gladiators and shutting out opponents in 10 of their last 16. 3 of the remaining 4 matches for the Outlaws feature: Seoul, London and New York, the three best teams in the league. If Houston wants to be considered among the league’s best at least one victory against a top team is required and two are necessary if the Outlaws truly hope to cement that position. While the last 4 matches have been impressive for Houston their soft schedule leaves me questioning just how much this squad has improved. Jake on Genji has been a revelation along with the more heavy use of Linkzr in the Outlaws lineup only the last two weeks of Stage 1 will show how much progress this squad has made.

London has performed less well than would be preferred on Oasis and have the worst record of the top teams on control. A moderately difficult schedule with their most challenging test to date a 3–2 win over the LA Valiant and a surprising inability to deal with the Boston Uprising’s dive give me pause when considering London’s chances at a Stage or league title. The Spitfire’s 5–1 record on Assault, 5–1 record on Hybrid and 5–1 record on Escort is compelling but, given how important control has shown it self to be it seems difficult to imagine the Spitfire emerging victorious over either Seoul or New York both being juggernauts on the game mode. London’s inability to consistently win control gives them little margin for error as a dropped map on any other game mode leaves them no path to victory unless they can reverse their fate the second time around on Lijiang, a feat they have managed once to their credit. London on paper possesses everything they need to excel in the OWL, improved performance on control is essential if they are to challenge for the number one spot.

With the Philadelphia Fusion we begin to see teams with glaring weaknesses on specific maps and game modes. The Fusion have taken 3 of their 4 victories in tiebreaker series losing Ilios and Numbani every single time they have played the maps. Philadelphia plays seemingly to the level of their opponents failing to lodge a convincing win against any of the teams they faced and a 5 map series against the Shanghai Dragons is particularly suspect. Anubis has been the foundation of the Fusion’s success to date but will see it featured in their contests only 2 more times this stage, Lunar Colony has been significantly less convincing. Philadelphia has shut out opponents only twice in twenty four regulation maps but are fortunate to possess the “clutch” gene winning three times on Lijiang 2–0. The Fusion’s only apparent strength comes on Anubis, not nearly enough to consistently challenge the best teams.

The fate of Los Angeles’s Valiant has followed an inverse trajectory to that of another western squad: The Houston Outlaws. LAV began week 1 7–0–1 defeating what at the time appeared to be an explosive Dallas Fuel roster. A tough week 2 against the New York Excelsior and London Spitfire was an opportunity for the Valiant to truly impress the global Overwatch fan-base but a weak history on Horizon Lunar Colony scuttled any thoughts of going undefeated into week 3. A 5–1 record on control with 4 straight Ilios victories, undefeated on Numbani, combined 4–1–1 on Hybrid seem to indicate the Valiant are NYXL-lite. Their are certainly worse teams to model your game around than the Excelsior and LAV’s losses in week 2 can be succintly summed up under a skill deficit when compared to the all Korean lineups. With their worst map mostly behind them and two of the three Korean teams out of the way look for the Valiant to steadily increase their map records in the final two weeks of Stage 1. The Outlaws tough schedule to close out the stage means the Los Angeles Valiant should be able to comfortably confirm their reservations at Best Western.

The crowning achievement in an otherwise checkered showing for the Boston Uprising to date was certainly their match win over the London Spitfire in a series London had every advantage stylistically. Boston has a terrible record on Junkertown and Numbani, both maps they played and lost versus the Spitfire and yet despite being quite poor on control and avoiding Oasis, London still conceded Ilios and then Lijiang to hand Uprising a victory on a silver platter. Curiously, like the Fusion, Boston has won Anubis all three times it was played however, a 3–2 score each time against a varying degree of resistance make it hard to call the Assault map a comfort for BOS. Boston’s 5–1 record on Assault is something the Uprising roster can build upon but will have to do much better on Escort and Hybrid maps to consistently beat their closest competitors.

The Gladiators have had a tough schedule with the Shanghai Dragons the only opponent in which we would expect a decisive advantage. LAG has been shutout on 7 maps, twice on Dorado, Ilios, once on Anubis, Oasis and Numbani and have failed to claim a game mode as their own, mustering a winning record on only one map: Eichenwalde. The Gladiators have been carried to date by their support battery of BigGoose and Shaz with the latter showing moments of superb play on Zenyatta. LAG has faced most of the top contenders in the league already with the London Spitfire their toughest test remaining, look for the Gladiators record to improve in the coming weeks but it will likely come through capitalizing on opponents weakness and less on building a strength of their own.

The Shock have struggled this season managing only 2 victories to date. 2 and 1 records on Oasis and Dorado is the best San Fran can offer in the way of consistent map performance with Eichenwalde and Horizon being especially suspect. San Francisco has failed to capture a point in 3 of their 4 games played on Horizon, including a map versus the Shanghai Dragons and are a combined 0–6 on Assault. What separates mid table teams and what determines victory ultimately comes down to match-ups. The Boston Uprising, a team the Shock beat is 5–1 on Assault and is currently ahead of SF in the standings. With the Shock so weak on Hybrid and Assault maps if the trend plays out the Cali based squad is fighting for a best case scenario of a tiebreaker on Lijiang.

The deeper we go down the standings the more difficult it is to find positives for the teams analysed. Shut out 3 times on Ilios and Oasis combined and enough red to look like a homicide investigation the Fuel have shown no real ability to consistently win a single map let alone game mode. The Fuel have faced a tough schedule to date but their losses to the Uprising and to some extent their 0–4 against the Outlaws raise serious questions as to whether Dallas has a pro level understanding of strategy and meta.

The McMayhem have the most glaring weakness in the league. Florida has been shutout 4 times out of 6 on control and have never captured a single point on Oasis, that they captured any at all on Ilios is a byproduct of their opponent that day: The Shanghai Dragons. The Mayhem have won by a 2 point margin exactly once showing just how abysmal their defense is which only further enlarges the hill this squad has to climb to even have a chance at victory. For Florida to win they have to capture the maximum possible points in every single map, hope their opponents run out of time-bank before they do and pray the enemy is absolutely asleep on defense to even sniff at the possibility of a victory.

Last but maybe not least as the Mayhem are certainly fighting with the Dragons for rock bottom the Chinese contenders have a dismal 4 map wins. The sea of red and black compliments the Dragons jerseys nicely but is the sole compliment they’ll be receiving in the Overwatch League for some time. Simply put the Dragons are bad across the board their clinging to life with a map victory over Seoul on Dorado and pushing the Fusion to overtime. Shanghai has never captured a point on Ilios, never captured Point B on Anubis, never captured a point on Eichenwalde, never completed Numbani. Weakness after weakness plague the Dragons. New additions are required to strengthen the Chinese bloodline if the team is to ever be taken seriously in the OWL.

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