OWL Week 13 takeaways: Seoul falls and Philly stays hot

Week 13 of the Overwatch League (OWL) came and went and gave us plenty of surprises along the way. Here’s what we learned from the matches over the weekend. We’ll be talking about intriguing ups and downs for the likes of Seoul Dynasty, Philadelphia Fusion, Shanghai Dragons, and more.

Seoul Dynasty looking shaky

The Seoul Dynasty came out swinging in 2020, opening their OWL season with a 2-0 start. Since then, they have gone 1-3, including two more losses this weekend. Their loss to the Shanghai Dragons wasn’t unexpected, but losing two more in Week 13 to the Guangzhou Charge and the Hangzhou Spark is definitely a cause for concern.

Many thought that Seoul’s acquisition of Joon-yeong “Profit” Park and Seung-tae “Bdosin” Choi would make them one of the top teams. They will have to find a way to bounce back if they hope to compete with the top teams.

Shanghai Dragons and Philadelphia Fusion stay on top

The Shanghai Dragons have done nothing but win after going 1-1 in their first weekend of the 2020 OWL season. They had a strong opponent this weekend in the New York Excelsior. New York started the match 2-0, winning the maps Hanamura and Eichenwalde. Shanghai bounced back, however, and took the reverse sweep.

This was the most exciting match of the weekend and showcased how strong both of these teams are. Despite New York’s loss, they easily could have won this match. Perhaps a change in hero bans could swing a future series between these teams the other way.

The Philadelphia Fusion had a different challenge against the Paris Eternal, playing without their star DPS, Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee. They went up 2-0 but almost got reverse swept. This match did showcase one thing, however — that Philly isn’t reliant on Carpe to win games. This is an excellent sign for Fusion fans moving forward in the 2020 OWL season.

Other notable takeaways

The Atlanta Reign losing in a reverse sweep to the Los Angeles Valiant is concerning for Atlanta fans. Their questionable start puts them a half-game behind the Florida Mayhem, who beat the Boston Uprising again this weekend. It’s unlikely that any of these teams will be able to compete with top teams like Philly, Shanghai, San Francisco, or New York.

Most of the other games went as expected, with the Dallas Fuel beating the Washington Justice, the San Francisco Shock beating the Houston Outlaws, and the Los Angeles Gladiators beating the Toronto Defiant.

Next weekend showcases the return of the London Spitfire to the OWL. Hopefully, we will get some more exciting reverse sweeps and fun matches in Week 14.