Overwatch League 2019 Stage 4, Week 1: Top Plays and Prize Money

DPS is back, and it feels so right. Although the Shanghai Dragons helped usher in the era of DPS with their dominance during the Stage 3 Finals, the return of damage-dealers has now been officialized by Stage 4's 2-2-2 role lock.

Teams are now locked into playing two DPS, two supports and two tanks. The San Francisco Shock's triple-tank, triple-support GOATS is gone, as is Shanghai's triple-DPS. In their stead, fan-loved heroes like Genji, Tracer and Reaper have made a highly anticipated return—accompanied by the players who are best with them.

While we may already miss Shanghai's proclivity for Widowmaker, Pharah and Doomfist, the returns of various players and heroes has been a welcome shift in the overall meta. Let's break down the first week of the final stage leading into this season's playoffs and their $3.5 million prize pool.

Thursday, July 25

Houston Outlaws 1-3 Paris Eternal

Los Angeles Gladiators 3-1 New York Excelsior

Guangzhou Charge 3-2 Philadelphia Fusion

Shanghai Dragons 1-3 Vancouver Titans

Friday, July 26

Toronto Defiant 1-3 Washington Justice

Dallas Fuel 1-3 London Spitfire

Seoul Dynasty 1-3 San Francisco Shock

Philadelphia Fusion 2-3 Chengdu Hunters

Saturday, July 27

Paris Eternal 2-3 Los Angeles Valiant

Boston Uprising 0-4 Guangzhou Charge

Los Angeles Gladiators 1-3 Houston Outlaws

Atlanta Reign 3-1 Hangzhou Spark

Sunday, July 28

Shanghai Dragons 3-1 Seoul Dynasty

London Spitfire 3-1 Toronto Defiant

Vancouver Titans 4-0 Florida Mayhem

Boston Uprising 2-3 Chengdu Hunters

Thursday

The Excelsior and Fusion were two of the most logical candidates to improve under the 2-2-2 role lock. The former because they would be forced off their disastrous, inflexible GOATS comp. The latter because their star DPS duo, Carpe and Eqo, would finally be able to play their preferred roles.

Instead, the Excelsior struggled to sort through their DPS rotation in a demolition by the Gladiators. And the Fusion, while looking improved, still lost a winnable match.

On the bright side for logicians everywhere, the Eternal were also expected to improve—and actually did. Their former star DPS players, SoOn and ShaDowBurn, finally made a triumphant return on their best roles after being relegated to the bench by the league's earlier meta.

Similarly, Haksal's infamous Genji is back and helped the Titans comfortably get their revenge against the Dragons for the Stage 3 semifinals.

Friday

The Justice and Spitfire also benefited from the return of DPS as each got easy wins in a major improvement upon their earlier forms. The coordination between Profit's Hanzo Dragonstrike ultimate and Gesture's Orisa Halt ability was absolutely majestic.

Saturday

After a season spent in bench purgatory, Fragi and Bischu are back. Following their acquisitions by the Charge, the two fan-favorite tanks finally got some stage time in a big win.

Elsewhere, the Reign looked much better with the role lock, and the Outlaws capitalized on a substitution mistake as danteh stayed in and pulled out a much-needed victory.

Sunday

Another day, another huge return to the stage. The OWL's only female player, Geguri, made an emphatic appearance with some nasty Roadhog gameplay in Shanghai's win over the Dynasty.

In a perfect bookending to a DPS-filled week, Haksal had some disgusting Dragonblades in Vancouver's rout of the Mayhem.