Overwatch League 2019 Stage 2 Week 1: Titans' Top Plays, Prize Money
The Vancouver Titans know how important a fast start is during the Overwatch League after steamrolling through the competition on the way to a $200,000 prize in the Stage 1 playoffs.
Vancouver picked up right where it left off in Week 1 of the second stage, although it wasn't the only one to make an impression.
Action for Stage 2 started with four matches Thursday, four matches Friday, four matches Saturday and four matches Sunday. All the teams saw what a quick start could do after the Titans parlayed their commanding 4-0 blowout win over the Shanghai Dragons at the open of Stage 1 into a 7-0 record and playoffs victory.
Sunday Results
San Francisco Shock 4, Guangzhou Charge 0
London Spitfire 4, Atlanta Reign 0
Vancouver Titans 4, Hangzhou Spark 0
Chengdu Hunters 3, Washington Justice 1
While the season playoffs are not until the completion of four stages, there is plenty at stake with Stage 2 underway.
The league's official website explains there is $500,000 hanging in the balance for every stage playoffs, with the winner taking home $200,000, the runner-up landing $100,000, third and fourth place securing $50,000, and fifth through eighth place winning $25,000.
Sunday marked the first Stage 2 action for the Titans, and they wasted little time sending a message to the rest of the league that they are back and still a force to be reckoned with even after their last win. They notched a 4-0 win over the Hangzhou Spark and could be on another collision course with the San Francisco Shock.
San Francisco lost a 4-3 heartbreaker in the Stage 1 playoffs championship match but put that in the rearview mirror with a convincing 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Valiant on Friday and 4-0 win over the Guangzhou Charge on Sunday.
The Shock are not the only ones sitting at 2-0 after Sunday's action, as the London Spitfire followed their narrow 2-1 win over the Florida Mayhem on Friday with a 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Reign. Elsewhere, the Chengdu Hunters defeated the Paris Eternal on Saturday and Washington Justice on Sunday.
The Shock and Titans appear strong again, but there are still four more weeks of action before the stage playoffs.
Stage 2 Week 2 starts Thursday with a showdown between the Eternal and the Florida Mayhem.
