OWL Week 15 takeaways: Vancouver is in for a rough year

Another week of the Overwatch League (OWL) is in the books, so it’s time for another look at the league. While the biggest story of the week was undoubtedly Philip “ChipSa” Graham’s debut, we saw plenty of other exciting matches. Let’s get take a look at some of the key takeaways from Week 15.

Vancouver is in for a rough year

If you had told someone last year that Vancouver would now be 18th in the OWL standings, they would have laughed at you. That, however, was before losing their entire roster because of internal conflicts between players and the organization due to a global pandemic.

As it stands, the team did lose all of its players, and their replacements have a lot of work to do. They have yet to win a single game with their new roster. This weekend, Vancouver lost to the Houston Outlaws and the Philadelphia Fusion. In both games, they lost 3-0 without taking a single map. Philly was so confident, they started ChipSa for the first time. While it was fun to see him make an appearance, it sure doesn’t look good for Vancouver.

The four at the top

The New York Excelsior, the San Francisco Shock, and the Shanghai Dragons all remain at the top of the OWL standings after winning their matches this week. As of right now, the top four are Philly, Shanghai, San Francisco, and then New York in that order. The Florida Mayhem also picked up a win in their match, putting them (perhaps unexpectedly) in fifth place. The Paris Eternal is a half-game behind them in sixth.

Of these top OWL teams, it seems like Philadelphia and San Fransisco are clear favorites so far. However, it will be difficult to tell which teams are in the best shape until we see them all play against each other. Currently, due to the coronavirus, not every team has had a chance to face one another.

Disclosure: The Vancouver Titans are owned in part by Enthusiast Gaming, the publisher of Daily Esports.