Overwatch League 2019 Stage 2 Week 2: Excelsior's Top Plays, Prize Money

The New York Excelsior (11-0) and Vancouver Titans (10-0) look destined to meet in the Overwatch League Grand Finals.

The two undefeated sides won a pair of matches in the second week of Stage 2, and neither side encountered many difficulties against their opponents.

However, the Dallas Fuel could upset the likely title pairing if their recent hot streak is any indication.

Dallas started the league 1-2 overall but has since gone 5-1, with the lone loss occurring by a 3-2 score. The Fuel won 10 of 12 maps in their last three victories and are in a groove heading into a showdown with Vancouver in Week 3.

For now, here's a look at the Week 2 results, alongside notes on the Excelsior, Titans and Fuel. A prize-pool listing is also below.

Stage 2, Week 2 Results

Thursday, April 11

Paris Eternal 3, Florida Mayhem 1

New York Excelsior 4, Washington Justice 0

Vancouver Titans 3, Seoul Dynasty 1

Philadelphia Fusion 3, Toronto Defiant 1

Friday, April 12

Los Angeles Valiant 3, Atlanta Reign 2

Hangzhou Spark 3, Boston Uprising 2

San Francisco Shock 4, Guangzhou Charge 0

Shanghai Dragons 3, Chengdu Hunters 1

Saturday, April 13

London Spitfire 2, Philadelphia Fusion 1

Vancouver Titans 3, Houston Outlaws 1

Dallas Fuel 4, Toronto Defiant 0

Los Angeles Gladiators 4, Guangzhou Charge 0

Sunday, April 14

Dallas Fuel 2, Paris Eternal 1

Atlanta Reign 3, Washington Justice 1

New York Excelsior 4, Florida Mayhem 0

Los Angeles Gladiators 2, Los Angeles Valiant 1

Stage 2 Playoffs Prize Pool

Winner: $200,000

Runner-up: $100,000

3rd and 4th Place: $50,000 Each

5th Through 8th Place: $25,000 Each

Overall League Champion: $1.1 million

Full scores, standings and prize-money information available at the league's official site.

New York Excelsior Stays Perfect

Excelsior went 11-0 overall (and 4-0 in Stage 2) with emphatic wins over the Washington Justice and Florida Mayhem.

The heavily favored Excelsior crushed the Justice 4-0. Although a win seemed all but inevitable given the Justice's one-win record, the Excelsior left no doubt en route to their sweep.

Fl0w3R won the match MVP award thanks in part to his stellar performance on the first map:

Teammate JJONAK also excelled:

Mano celebrated his birthday in style with some positive contributions:

The second result was a carbon copy of the first.

Once again, Excelsior won 4-0 against a team that was 1-9 entering the match.

Once again, Mano and JJONAK came to play:

New York will look to stay undefeated in the league in Week 3 with matches versus the Philadelphia Fusion and Atlanta Reign.

More of the Same for the Vancouver Titans

The Titans earned matching 3-1 victories against two teams in the Overwatch League's second division: the Houston Outlaws and the Seoul Dynasty.

Vancouver beat Seoul in its first three maps before dropping the last. The Titans notably didn't have much issue in taking a 2-0 edge:

Match MVP JJANU was particularly dominant:

The score in the Outlaws match was the same, but it was much harder to obtain that result.

The Outlaws earned a first-map victory:

However, Vancouver immediately bounced back to knot the score at one entering halftime:

The Titans' strength eventually proved to be too much, and they took the last two maps.

Outlaws general manager Matt Rodriguez gave Vancouver its much-deserved credit:

Outlaws support Rawkus also called the Titans the league's best team:

The matchup between Overwatch's top two teams will take place on Sunday, August 25, in Los Angeles.

Dallas Fuel Notches 2 Key Wins

The Fuel entered the second stage in the middle of the league pack, but they vaulted themselves to fifth place with two victories over a solid pair of competitors in the Toronto Defiant and Paris Eternal.

The Fuel's 4-0 victory over Toronto was fairly surprising, as the Defiant entered the match 6-4 in league play.

The marksmanship of aKm helped give Dallas the win on the second map:

That ended up being a close victory:

NotE took over in the latter two stages, leading to the four-map sweep:

OGE was the difference-maker against Paris:

Dallas won the first stage and drew the second before winning the match thanks to a victory on the third:

The Fuel lost the fourth map, which proved to be their only defeat of the week.

Dallas, which was 4-3 entering the stage, now finds itself in a coveted top-six overall spot. After the four stages end, the top six teams automatically make the league playoffs, with the other two seeds decided via a round-robin tournament involving non-automatic qualifiers.

We'll see if Dallas uses this momentum against the undefeated Vancouver Titans, its next opponent. OGE seems confident about his team's play in advance of the match, and rightfully so given how well it's done:

Regardless of the result versus Vancouver, Dallas will enjoy its homestand during Week 4 of the second-stage series, which could be a huge boost toward a higher overall seeding.