Before you’re able to say ‘NERF SOMBRA!’, it’s the final week of Stage 2 of the inaugural Overwatch League season and today we are delving into the six questions we have related to this week’s games. Let’s get right into it.

Who Will Shock Start at DPS? 

Mr 150K Sinatraa is set to make his debut this week but it would be foolish of us to assume he’d walk right into the Shock starting lineup considering Danteh’s performance in Stage 2 so far. The so called stand-in for Sinatraa stepped up a gear or two and is currently among the top-5 tracers in the league – no mean feat considering he’s going against the likes of Saebyeolbe, Munchkin, Soon, Birdring, Profit and Carpe. That aside, the Shock are definitely much stronger heading into Stage 3 and we can’t wait to see what impact Sinatraa is going to bring to his team that’s been patiently waiting for his inclusion.

Will We See Geguri at the Venue? 

Having had her visa approved and is expected to be in Los Angeles by the time Week 5 kicks off, it would be one of the rare good news coming from the Shanghai Dragons camp after having a few of its players mired in off-stage controversies as well as notable absences and departures. While the Shanghai Dragons have been improving throughout Stage 2, the same cannot be said for the Houston Outlaws who have struggled to remain competitive in light of the meta change. Their biggest issue so far is which player should slot into the Tracer role, following the largely unsuccessful Jake experiment. Clockwork who also slips into the role wasn’t that hot as well, as he is almost last in every category. It might be a longshot but we won’t be surprised to see the Dragons nick an unlikely win here.

Will We Finally See Seagull Back in Fuel Lineup? 

All throughout Stage 2, the Fuel made the news more due to off-screen controversies and their underperforming roster.  Probably burdened by the hype which the team carried heading into the Overwatch League, they have so far been unable to live up to their top-billing and have been fielding weird team compositions for the longest time. Their acquisition of soldier specialist in AKM while seen at first as a masterstroke has become their burden as he’s been fielded more often than other players who were perceived to be better picks. Fan favorite, Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larned have been missing for the longest time and word has it that he’s been training on D.Va. Will we finally get to see the fruits of his labor before the end of the Stage? They have the hardest fixture this week as they face NYXL and Spitfire – both games they were expected to lose – so why not just unleash the bird, right?

Does Philadelphia Fusion Has What it Takes to Play Spoiler?

The Los Angeles Gladiators need to win both of their remaining regular season matches to keep the hunt for the playoffs alive. Philadelphia Fusion on the other hand, require both teams ahead of them, the Gladiators and Dynasty to drop sets. So in part-1 of the impossible task, the Fusion will have to overcome the red-hot Gladiators to even have a chance of playing in the title match rounds. While teams such as Fuel and Outlaws have issues of not having the right personnel to fill a particular DPS role, the Fusion are the exact opposite. Who should they run? Tracer God Carpe? Genji specialist ShaDowBurn? What about the prodigious Eqo? Oh don’t forget Snillo. Be sure to catch the match of the week which carry huge implications on how the race for third pans out by the end of the week.

Will Seoul Make it To the Title Match Round?

It was a sense of deja vu for the Dynasty as they again fail to avoid defeat when going against the boys from London Spitfire and NYXL. What was even more worrying was that it was on the back of matches against the two that the Dynasty started crumbling in Stage 1 which led to them missing out on the playoff stage. Their match against the Houston Outlaws this week cannot be any more important as while they are tied on third with the Gladiators at 6-2, the Gladiators hold a better map win record. The Dynasty would be smart to go all out and pick up as many map wins as possible to remain in contention while also hoping the Gladiators to drop several maps in their matches this week. Touted as the best team going into the Overwatch League, the Dynasty have suffered some nasty bumps to their ego and reputation following losses to the other two all-Korean rosters and would love to exact revenge and regain some pride by defeating them in the title matches next Monday.

Have the NYXL Found A Solution to the London Spitfire?

Despite finishing Stage 1 first in the standings, the NYXL were pipped to the big prize after losing to the Spitfire in the Stage 1 title match. Their attempt to exact revenge for that loss at the start of Stage 2 fell flat as the Spitfire again prove to have the NYXL figured out. While the Spitfire are the more inconsistent of all three all-Korean rosters having suffered shock losses to the likes of Boston, Houston and LA Gladiators in the past, they appear to be the only team in the league who knows how to handle their Korean brethren. Saebyeolbe & Co are expected to finish the season at the top of the standings and should meet the winner of the Spitfire and whichever team finishes third. We have a feeling that they are rooting for the Gladiators to finish third since they have found a way of defeating the Spitfire in Week 3.

The games start early tomorrow morning at 7am as the Gladiators take on the Fusion. We discussed about the state of the playoff hunt here if you are interested in getting a quick picture of what is required by each team in order to make it to the title match.