There are no more undefeated teams in the Overwatch League.
The three all-Korean teams entered Round 3 with spotless records, and the trio exited the Blizzard Arena after the weekend with a single "L" in the loss column. It was a day of upsets on Friday as the chaotic Boston Uprising took the first win over the London Spitfire before Philadelphia followed up with a five-set win of its own over the New York Excelsior. NYXL took down the former Lunatic-Hai core to win the heavyweight fight of the season thus far.
1. New York Excelsior
Movement: +1
The XL wasn't ready for the Fusion on Friday. The team lost a close five-game set to the Fusion and came in looking like an entirely new team the next day against the previously undefeated Seoul Dynasty. Elaborate strategies and game plans throughout the series got them ahead of the only perfect team left in the league.
When his team needed him the most, Tracer maestro and team captain Jong-yeol "Saebyeolbe" Jong-yeol played like the ace he is and put the final touches on NYXL's historic win. NYXL, who has players from the core of OGN APEX's Luxury Watch Blue, was unable to beat Lunatic-Hai while in South Korea. Now, as the XL and Dynasty respectively, Saeyeolbe and his teammates have struck first in a rivalry that could culminate in the inaugural Overwatch League final this summer.
2. Seoul Dynasty
Movement: -1
For the first time in the team's history, Seoul Dynasty is not the first team on our Overwatch League Power Rankings. The match with NYXL will go down as a definite candidate for best match of the year when the season wraps up, and even though the XL was ready for everything the Dynasty had to offer, Seoul was only a few fights from winning that set.
When NYXL and Dynasty play again, it will be Seoul who enters the match as the challenger -- New York will need to be even better the second time around if it wants to turn its single victory into the start of a streak.
3. Houston Outlaws
Movement: +2
16-0.
That's all the reason you need to rank Houston in the Top 3 after it started the preseason and Round 1 winless. Ever since I called the team out after the first week to show some killer instinct, it's shown everything but mercy. You can talk all day about how the Outlaws haven't had the most difficult schedule the last two weeks, but all a team can do is take what the league deals. And Houston has stomped everyone put in its path.
I don't care if Jiri "Linkzr" Masalin is playing against the Seoul Dynasty or beginner A.I. bots, the Finnish ace is one of the best DPS players in the world and needs to be considered in the running for Stage 1 MVP.
4. London Spitfire
Movement: -1
London might have the most talent in the league, yet that doesn't matter when only six players can play a single map at one time. For a team that has the most offensive firepower in the competition and is heralded for its mechanics, the Spitfire has been just dreadful on Control maps -- and that showed in its first loss of the season against the Boston Uprising.
The team has tried almost every combination possible with its quartet of world-class DPS players, and the result remains the same: London is hapless on Control maps. It doesn't make sense for a team as good as London offensively with such star DPS players. If the Spitfire wants to make its way back up the rankings and have a legitimate chance at a Stage 1 title, it will need to fix its ongoing issues coming out of halftime and get some wins on Oasis and Illios.
5. Los Angeles Valiant
Movement: -1
The first "Battle for Los Angeles" between the Valiant and Gladiators couldn't have gone better for Blizzard. In its home city for the first two seasons of Overwatch League, the two Los Angeles teams put on a show to remember for the hometown crowds, with the Valiant taking the series after coming back to pull off an improbable reverse-sweep.
After such a high, a letdown was expected. Instead, a game with the Florida Mayhem turned into a commanding victory for the Valiant. In a Pacific Division where only the Valiant and Seoul Dynasty are at .500 or above, Los Angeles can really distance itself from the pack and put itself in a strong position for the playoffs in the next coming weeks.
6. Philadelphia Fusion
Movement: +1
If the Fusion is playing, be ready for a fight down to the wire. The Fusion has played six games, and five of them have been decided by a single map, with the lone exception coming in a series against the London Spitfire in Round 1 when the team got swept. The only team that hasn't had the preseason and extra practice time to come together, Fusion has gotten better as the weeks have passed, leading to the team's big victory in Round 3 against the Atlantic Division-leading NYXL.
When discussing which Overwatch League team has the best DPS duo, Fusion's pairing of George "ShadowBurn" Gushcha and Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok has to be right up there at the top.
7. Boston Uprising
Movement: +3
Alright, can the real Boston Uprising please stand up?
The team came into the preseason looking like the weakest team on paper, played well in the preseason, had an amazing Round 1, and then bombed in Round 2, leaving the team in a 1-3 hole. When the team was on the verge of becoming what the critics thought the inexperienced hybrid English-Korean roster would become, the Uprising took out both the Spitfire and Dallas Fuel in succession to bring itself back up to .500 and looking like a playoff contender again.
I'm done predicting how high or low this team could become.
8. Los Angeles Gladiators
Movement: -2
What was so close to being a marquee victory for the Gladiators turned out to be the start of a miserable weekend. It began its Round 3 up 2-0 against the Valiant and then saw that lead evaporate during the course of a five-game set.
To make matters even worse, the Outlaws ran through the Gladiators to close out the weekend, putting the team in an awkward position heading into the final two weeks of Stage 1. Luckily, the Pacific Division is weak, and if it outplays Fuel, Dragons and San Francisco Shock, three teams below the Gladiators in the Power Rankings, the team will make the playoffs.
9. Dallas Fuel
Movement: None
The Fuel has a win! The nightmare season for Dallas appeared to be ending when it got its first victory of the season over the San Francisco Shock. The good times didn't last long, though, as the Boston Uprising outlasted the Fuel in a marathon five-game series to put the Fuel at a 1-5 record following the first three weeks of the season.
Stage 1 playoffs are officially out of the question for Dallas, and the league playoffs are in serious jeopardy unless a winning streak begins. The Fuel will put its hopes on former Rogue DPS Dylan "aKm" Bignet to be the move it needs to turn fortunes around.
10. San Francisco Shock
Movement: None
We are only a little over a month away before Jay "sinatraa" Won can officially begin playing with his team. Until then, the Shock just needs to hang around and not sink before its $150,000 star can step on the Blizzard Arena stage for the first time. Although a map win versus the London Spitfire seems impressive, when you take into account how dreadful the Londoners are on Control maps and see how the Shock didn't win another map the entire Round, there isn't much to write about. The Pacific Division is terrible, though, so even at 2-4, the Shock is still in the running for the third position behind Seoul and Valiant.
11. Florida Mayhem
Movement: None
The entrances of the Florida Mayhem have become the most interesting parts of their games the last couple of weeks. The team isn't necessarily terrible and took a map off a strong Los Angeles Valiant team, but the issue for the Mayhem comes when you look at Florida's competition. Where the Shock and Fuel have a shot at getting somewhere this season in a weak division, the Mayhem is behind NYXL, London, Philly, Houston and Boston, who are all .500 or better and have had an easy time against Florida through the first three weeks. It's been talked about all season long, but eyes will be on the six-man roster if it adds any players going into Stage 2 in February.
12. Shanghai Dragons
Movement: None
Shanghai took a game off the Seoul Dynasty. Yes, the Dynasty was playing its B-team and looking forward to its big match with NYXL. Yes, in its next game it lost to the Philadelphia Fusion. Yes, the team is 0-6 and moral victories don't mean anything. It doesn't matter, though. Shanghai went from a joke in Round 2 to a respectable team in Round 3, and although the team hasn't progressed up the standings, a win in one of its last four Stage 1 matches is totally possible now. 1-9 might not seem like a good record, but for the Dragons, it'll feel like winning the championship.