Fusion Edge Eternal Move Into 1st In OWL

The Philadelphia Fusion retook sole control of first place in the standings with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Paris Eternal as Week 13 of the Overwatch League came to a close Sunday.

It was a big day for contenders, as three other teams in the top seven in the standings also won -- the New York Excelsior, Los Angeles Gladiators and Florida Mayhem.
The Hangzhou Spark was the day's other winner, climbing back to .500 with a win in the day's first match.

As for day's biggest contest, it was the third straight matchup between the Fusion and Eternal to go the full five games, with the Fusion winning two of them.

The Fusion started strong with a 2-0 win on Oasis and a 1-0 full-hold on Numbani.

Interestingly, the Fusion started rookie DPS Hee-Su "Heesu" Jeong at hitscan DPS over captain Jae-hyeok "Carpe" Lee, who did not play this match. Heesu was more than capable, piloting heroes like Reaper, Ashe and Tracer to great effect, while Josue "Eqo" Corona got the chance to shine on Echo.

Throughout the matchup, Eternal DPS Nicolas "NiCOgdh" Moret struggled in the Echo 1v1 while Paris stuck with a dive composition despite Philadelphia picking counter-dive heroes like Brigitte and Ashe to shut it down. Paris managed to make dive work in games 3 and 4, however, thanks to debuting rookie support Joon "Fielder" Kwon, who dazzled as Ana despite playing on 200 ping from Korea.

The Eternal struck back, taking Volskaya Industries 3-2 and Route 66 3-2 to force a series-deciding map on Nepal.

On Nepal, though, Philadelphia (5-5) had the upper hand. A quick 2-0 lead gave the Fusion the win and moved them into first place in the standings.
Paris fell from seventh overall to a tie for ninth with the Dallas Fuel (4-4) and the Seoul Dynasty (3-3).

The Dynasty struggled as the Spark (5-5) picked up a 3-0 win. Seoul looked uncoordinated and scattered throughout the series, looking unprepared while Hangzhou looked ready to play in the new Echo-laden meta.

The Spark took Busan 2-1, full-held Eichenwalde 1-0, and secured the series with a 2-1 win on Volskaya Industries.

The Excelsior (8-2) secured a 3-1 win over the Chengdu Hunters (3-8) in five maps. Through strong Echo play from DPS Seung-jun "WhoRU" Lee, New York recovered from Chengdu's 2-0 win on Nepal with a 3-2 win on Numbani heading into the break.

After a 4-4 draw on Paris, the Excelsior rallied for a 1-0 full-hold on Route 66 and a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower. The win keeps New York in third place overall.

The Gladiators (4-3) took a 3-1 win over the Toronto Defiant (4-6). Toronto struck first with a clean 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower, kynghidongduong.vn but Los Angeles would bounce back with aplomb.

The Gladiators took Eichenwalde 3-1, Paris 2-1 and finished the series with a perfect full-hold for a 3-0 win on Rialto. With the win, the Gladiators jump from 12th to sixth while the Defiant fall back to 15th.

Finally, the Florida Mayhem (5-4) continued their domination of the Boston Uprising (1-9) with a 3-0 win. After trouncing the Uprising in 24 minutes of game time in Week 12, the Mayhem were looking to break their own record, but the Uprising put up a better fight this time.

Still, the Mayhem cruised to a win with a 2-0 win on Busan, a 4-3 win on Hollywood and a 3-2 win on Hanamura. Florida moves up to seventh in the standings with the win while Boston remains in last.

Week 14 begins on Saturday with seven matches:

Shanghai Dragons vs Seoul Dynasty

Chengdu Hunters vs London Spitfire

Guangzhou Charge vs New York Excelsior

Paris Eternal vs Los Angeles Gladiators

Washington Justice vs Vancouver Titans

Houston Outlaws vs Atlanta Reign

Los Angeles Valiant vs Boston Uprising

Overwatch League Season 3 standings, with match record (W-L), map record (W-L-T) and map differential:

1.

(Atlantic South) Philadelphia Fusion, 10-1, 32-13-0, +19

2. (Pacific East) Shanghai Dragons, 9-1, 27-6-1, +21

3. (Atlantic North) New York Excelsior, 8-2, 27-9-1, +18

4. (Pacific West) San Francisco Shock, 6-2, 20-10-2, +10

5. (Atlantic North) London Spitfire, 3-2, 10-12-0, -2

6.
(Pacific West) Los Angeles Gladiators, tour shangrila 4-3, 14-13-2, +1

7. (Atlantic South) Florida Mayhem, 5-4, 17-13-0, +4

T8. (Atlantic South) Atlanta Reign, 4-4, 17-12-0, +5

T8. (Pacific West) Dallas Fuel, 4-4, 16-16-0, 0

T8. (Atlantic North) Paris Eternal, 5-5, 20-20-0, 0

T8.

(Pacific East) Seoul Dynasty, 3-3, 9-9-1, 0

T8. (Pacific West) Vancouver Titans, 2-2, 7-8-0, -1

T8. (Pacific East) Hangzhou Spark, 5-5, 18-20-1, -2

14. (Pacific East) Guangzhou Charge, 5-6, 17-23-0, -6

15. (Atlantic North) Toronto Defiant, 4-6, 19-22-0, -3

16.
(Pacific West) Los Angeles Valiant, 3-6, 14-22-0, -8

17. (Atlantic South) Houston Outlaws, 4-8, 19-28-3, -9

18. (Pacific East) Chengdu Hunters, 3-8, 16-25-1, -9

19. (Atlantic South) Washington Justice, 2-9, 12-28-0, -16

20. (Atlantic North) Boston Uprising, 1-9, 7-29-2, -22

--Field Level Media