Overwatch League 2019 Stage 2 Week 5: Shock's Top Plays, Prize Money
The Stage 2 playoffs are now set after the final action of Week 5 of the Overwatch League wrapped up Sunday.
Eight of the 20 teams played well enough over the past five weeks to earn a spot in the bracket, clinching at least a $25,000 prize. Of course, with $200,000 going to the stage winner, there is still a lot on the line going forward.
The Vancouver Titans completed their undefeated stage Saturday, improving to 14-0 overall over the course of the season. However, the San Francisco Shock moved ahead of them in the standings after finishing off a perfect stage.
This was all part of an action-filled week around the league.
Week 5 Results
Thursday, May 2
Dallas Fuel 3, Florida Mayhem 1
San Francisco Shock 4, Philadelphia Fusion 0
Guangzhou Charge 3, Houston Outlaws 2
Friday, May 3
Boston Uprising 3, Los Angeles Gladiators 1
Vancouver Titans 3, Toronto Defiant 1
Shanghai Dragons 3, Washington Justice 1
Saturday, May 4
London Spitfire 4, Houston Outlaws 0
Atlanta Reign 3, New York Excelsior 2
Vancouver Titans 4, Seoul Dynasty 0
Los Angeles Valiant 3, Chengdu Hunters 2
Sunday, May 5
Toronto Defiant 4, Paris Eternal 0
Washington Justice 3, Boston Uprising 2
San Francisco Shock 4, Shanghai Dragons 0
Hangzhou Spark 3, Seoul Dynasty 1
The most important match of the week was the final one, with the Seoul Dynasty and Hangzhou Spark battling for the final playoff spot in a head-to-head competition.
The competition didn't disappoint, with the two teams splitting the first two maps before Hangzhou won the third 5-4 in overtime. Seoul wouldn't go down without a fight, however, keeping it close in Rialto:
However, Guxue helped the Spark earn the 4-3 map win and eventually grab the final playoff spot with a 3-1 match victory.
Sunday also featured another show from the San Francisco Shock, which continued their dominance of Stage 2 with a perfect map record of 28-0.
It was a complete team effort, as it has been the past few weeks, although Super showed what he could do individually:
The squad also set the full-clear record on Paris twice during the match, per the league's official site.
This level of dominance could create a lot of excitement heading into the playoffs.
On the other end of the spectrum were the Washington Justice, which earned their first win of the stage with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Boston Uprising.
Down 2-0 at halftime, Washington turned things around with a win in Blizzard World:
Sleepy, the team's recent addition, came up big down the stretch to help earn victories on the last two maps, which was enough to pull out the win.
There wasn't quite as much drama in the first battle Sunday, as the Toronto Defiant earned an easy 4-0 victory over Paris Eternal.
Although both squads ended up just 2-5 in the stage, Toronto will at least gain some momentum heading into Stage 3.
The top eight teams will now advance to the Stage 2 playoffs beginning on Thursday, May 9. Vancouver and San Francisco are the clear favorites for the main prize, but anything can happen with a $500,000 total prize pool on the line.
