Overwatch League 2020 Week 19: New York Excelsior's Top Plays, Prize Money

Following the most bizarre team implosion in sports and esports history, the league's most coveted free agent, Haksal, is no longer on the Vancouver Titans and, instead, plays for the New York Excelsior. The Overwatch League's 2019 Rookie of the Year, OGN APEX's Season 4 MVP and 2018 Korean Contenders champion is now on NYXL, which has already been a top-five team in each of the OWL's first three seasons.

New York has always been a dominant team but has a deserved reputation for choking in the playoffs. Given the team's obvious talent, its failings may be attributed to questionable mental fortitude. "Haksal" means "massacre" in Korean and, if his debut weekend was any indication, he most certainly brings a fiery energy to the Excelsior.

Here's how the first weekend of qualifiers for the OWL's Summer Showdown shook out, including NYXL's top plays.

Saturday, June 13

London Spitfire 0-3 Shanghai Dragons

New York Excelsior 3-0 Seoul Dynasty

Paris Eternal 3-2 Boston Uprising

Florida Mayhem 3-1 Dallas Fuel

Atlanta Reign 1-3 Los Angeles Gladiators

Sunday, June 14

Philadelphia Fusion 3-0 Houston Outlaws

Vancouver Titans 0-3 Toronto Defiant

Los Angeles Valiant 3-0 Washington Justice

Full schedule and standings available here.

The Dynasty are a very impressive team, but Haksal made absolute mincemeat of them in his first weekend donning New York's blue, red and white. The 19-year-old's claim to fame is his patented Genji play, and that was put on full display against Seoul despite the hero not being considered entirely meta.

Not to be outdone, it was another 2020 addition to NYXL who helped set the team apart in what most expected would be a tight matchup. With the Dynasty continually unwilling to play a true flex tank, Michelle, in lieu of their two main tanks, Gesture and Marve1, New York's HOTBA pulled off some devastating plays—including one hilarious hook onto a Tracer—as Roadhog.

There will be two more weekends of qualifiers to determine seeding for the Summer Showdown, which will follow the May Melee's format and award a combined $275,000 to teams. Considering Haksal and the Excelsior's high expectations, they won't be satisfied without first place's $50,000 cut.