Six Stack is back again with all the biggest stories from this week’s round of Overwatch League matches (and other stuff around it). Let’s hop right into it.

1. Dynasty Taking Charge

Currently undefeated in Stage 2 with a combined map tally of 17-5, the Seoul Dynasty is the league’s in-form team due to several factors which played to their hands; the current meta which befits their play-style, invoking the halcyon days of the dive meta circa OGN APEX S3 as well as favorable matchups leading up to Week 3. Their biggest test comes next week, in Week 4 where they face the New York Excelsior and London Spitfire back-to-back. The last time Dynasty met both teams, it started the meltdown which not only saw Dynasty losing in the matches against these teams, but also played a huge part in denying them a spot from the stage playoffs. The boys from Seoul will be baying for blood and will seek to exact revenge. Successfully doing so will pretty much cement their spot in Stage 2’s playoff stage.

2. Houston, We Have A Problem

While many will laud their comeback win against the Florida Mayhem to stymie the three-match losing streak as a sign of recovery, the Outlaws are not out of the woods yet. For a start, no one saw how the Outlaws – who was one of the most dominant teams in Stage 1 – to even struggle against one of the weakest teams in the league, Florida Mayhem. The fact that Mayhem were a whisker away from pulling off a shock win shows how the Outlaws is having a hard time coping with a much faster playstyles and have been affected the most following the departure of the Mercy meta. Jake’s Junkrat is no longer the game-changing factor it once was and his plays on Tracer is mediocre at best. The roster is struggling – mechanically and tactically – in keeping up with other teams and unless they add new blood to the team, will find themselves languishing at the bottom half of the table by mid-Stage 3.

3. Spluttering Spitfire 

Since winning Stage 1 in that epic reverse sweep against New York Excelsior, the Spitfire has undergone several changes, most notably on the personnel side. They shipped out two of their backup players and have also parted ways with their coach. Some may see the move as streamlining to achieve maximum efficiency but from the look of things, it has yet to pay off as the struggles of a long season has started to take a toll on the players. Other teams are slowly catching up to the Spitfire and the latest one are the Gladiators who is now led by one of Spitfire’s former players, Fissure. With a 4-2 record in this season already, they cannot afford any more slip-ups if they are to qualify for the stage playoffs. Luckily for them, though, the the only realistic threat to them in their remaining four matches are the Seoul Dynasty.

4. Resurgent Gladiators

Some may label their win over the Spitfire as a fluke but you shouldn’t dismiss the fact that this team has been on the up since Fissure joined. Save for the loss to the Fuel and Dynasty, this team has been on a decent run capped by the brilliant performance against the Los Angeles Valiant where they won 4-0. The Gladiators right now are definitely much stronger than they were during Stage 1 and can only get better as Fissure assimilates with his new teammates over time. The team is no longer solely reliant on Surefour to make plays and Fissure’s ability to create space opens up countless possibilities for the likes of Hydration and Bischu to shine.

5. A Week of Reverse Sweeps for Florida Mayhem

What a week it has been for the Florida Mayhem. Not only reinforcement(s) finally arrive in the form of Zappis, they almost pulled of a shock result over the Houston Outlaws on Saturday before being on the receiving end of a reverse sweep. Undeterred, they inflicted the same onto crisis team, Dallas Fuel on Sunday to double up their overall win tally and match Stage 1’s record. The Scandinavians showed grit and determination and we while we’ve witnessed several epic reverse sweeps in the Overwatch League already, none came close to the value of that morale-boosting 3-2 win over Fuel. The worst is possibly over for the Mayhem and we look forward to more strong performances as well as potential shock results in weeks to come.

6. The League Lays Down the Law 

The league warned, fined and suspended players and a coach this week and guess what? Trouble magnet and Dallas Fuel tank main xQc is again involved. Fined $4000 and suspended for four games, this is the second time xQc found himself at the receiving end of the league’s disciplinary whip for things he said on Twitch chat, along with remarks aimed at Overwatch League casters and fellow players. He claims that he’s been targeted by the league and that other players are also guilty of the same, yet were spared the whip. But regardless of how true that claim may be, xQc would be wise to steer clear from such issues moreover when his team isn’t doing so well at the moment. Our issue though is how inconsistent the punishments are. In some cases similar offences in the past saw some really tough punishments compared to what was dished recently and the league would be wise to take into account previous, similar infractions when dishing out punishments in the future.

*Update Monday 12th March 2018 

The Dallas Fuel have released an official statement announcing that they have released xQc from their roster. For full news on this, head over to our report here.