Overwatch League 2019 Stage 3, Week 5: Excelsior's Top Plays, Prize Money

Stage 3, Week 5 of the Overwatch League brought a little bit of everything—a raucous home crowd spurring a struggling squad, a race for playoff positioning and a dominant side continuing its undefeated march.

Here is a look at the results from the final week of competition before the Stage 3 playoffs.

Saturday

New York Excelsior defeat Florida Mayhem, 3-0

Philadelphia Fusion defeat Washington Justice, 3-1

Atlanta Reign defeat Toronto Defiant, 3-1

Guangzhou Charge defeat Shanghai Dragons, 3-1

Sunday

Shanghai Dragons defeat Philadelphia Fusion, 3-1

Guangzhou Charge defeat Washington Justice, 4-0

Atlanta Reign defeat Florida Mayhem, 4-0

New York Excelsior defeat Toronto Defiant, 4-0

There were a number of storylines heading into the week, not the least of which was the battle for the eight playoff spots with so much money at stake. The champion of the Stage 3 playoffs receives $200,000, while the runner-up ($100,000), third and fourth place teams ($50,000), and fifth through eighth place teams ($25,000) all take home significant payouts.

That final spot was up for grabs after the Shanghai Dragons lost to the Guangzhou Charge on Saturday, but the former redeemed themselves with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Fusion on Sunday.

The victory propelled Shanghai to a 5-2 mark and a game ahead of the Fusion, Los Angeles Gladiators and Charge, who all finished 4-3. Philadelphia missed its golden opportunity with the head-to-head matchup.

It wasn't just the winning teams who were under the spotlight in Stage 3, Week 5, as the competition at Cobb Energy Centre was the Atlanta Reign's homestand. Being the host served them well in wins over the Toronto Defiant and Florida Mayhem in a much-needed showing after they dropped their first five games of the stage.

While Atlanta is well out of the stage-playoffs picture, the home crowd made quite an impact in the bounce-back effort:

On the other end of the standings spectrum, the New York Excelsior entered the weekend looking to remain undefeated for the stage. They left little double with a straightforward 3-0 win over the Mayhem on Saturday and then steamrolled the overmatched Defiant, who didn't win a match in this stage, on Sunday.

The question now is whether anyone, including the 6-1 Vancouver Titans, can beat the Excelsior during the stage playoffs.

The competition will be steeper than they saw in Stage 3, Week 5, but they enter the playoffs as the favorites and top seed. Play starts Thursday and continues until next Sunday's title match.