The first phase of the Overwatch League has concluded. In the playoffs, the three best teams of Stage 1 faced off – and London Spitfire ultimately claimed the victory and a prize of $100,000! But there was a lot of work behind it.
The first phase of the Overwatch League reached its peak and conclusion this past weekend. In the playoffs, always on the last day of the last week of a phase, the top 3 teams at that time compete against each other:
- Semi-finals: Here, a single semi-final between places 2 and 3 determines who gets to advance to the final.
- Final: The top-placed team waits for the winner of the single semi-final.
The strongest team from the “regular” season only needs to win one match in the end, the final. The other two teams must first play the semi-final against each other before they can duel with the top team.
In this phase, it was New York Excelsior, London Spitfire, and the Houston Outlaws who fought for the victory and the prize money.
For the first place in each phase, there is $100,000, for second place $25,000, and the third place only receives the honor of having stood on the podium.
London plays against the same opponents – with different results
The special aspect of this playoff was that the two finalists had already played against each other shortly before as “regular season” matches.
London Spitfire faced the Houston Outlaws on Friday, February 9, and on the same day as the final, Saturday, February 10, already faced New York Excelsior.
However, in both games, London was defeated by the challenger. With a 3:1 loss to Houston and a 3:2 loss to New York, Spitfire’s chances looked rather bleak.
Nevertheless, they shattered expectations and ultimately made a strong comeback in the playoffs. With a decisive victory against Houston and a surprising comeback against New York, they finally secured the crown of the phase.
Congratulations to our Stage 1 Champions, the @Spitfire! #OWL2018 pic.twitter.com/FeTP0AybsO
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) February 11, 2018
New York rolled over London – at first…
The final match against New York started off particularly poorly. Excelsior led at halftime with 2:0, having even taken Oasis without allowing London any points.
London had already played two matches on the same day: the first match against New York and the semi-final against Houston. They simply seemed exhausted and lacked the necessary concentration to put up a fight against the favorites.
Particularly one of the star players, Pine, constantly troubled the Spitfires. With Widowmaker, he took out several London players multiple times without ever being in danger himself.
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London Spitfire, like a phoenix from the ashes
As if they had activated their last reserves of strength once again, London struck back on the crucial third map for them. Had they lost on the Horizon Lunar Colony as well, victory would have already fallen to New York.
With an astonishing attack, they managed to overwhelm their opponent and capture both points almost effortlessly. Their subsequent defense was tough enough to secure the victory even after Excelsior equalized in the overtime with enough time to spare.
New York had no chance on Numbani and Dorado either. The DPS players Birdring and Profit consistently troubled Excelsior – and New York was clearly unprepared for that.
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Although they had to take setback after setback, they did not change or changed too late their compositions. This gave Profit and Birdring enough time to eliminate their core players and ultimately achieve victory.
