The Overwatch League Grand Finals Participants

The regional Playoffs are finally over and we are headed for the Grand Finals. Only 4 of the initial 20 teams advanced to the next stage, and in this article I will take a brief look at their runs.

North America

The winners of the North American region are San Francisco Shock and Philadelphia Fusion. In other words, the teams that everyone expected to qualify.

San Francisco Shock

SFS finished the regular season in 2^nd place with 25 wins and 3 losses. Its overall map score was +39. In the NA Playoffs, San Francisco Shock was able to play directly in the Quarterfinals, thanks to its good results in the Group Stage. There, the team won 3 consecutive matches: 3 – 2 against Washington Justice, 3 – 1 against Atlanta Reign, and 3 – 1 against Philadelphia Fusion. With these results, SFS qualified for the Grand Finals and is regarded as one of the 3 teams that could realistically win the trophy. The other two are Philadelphia Fusion and Shanghai Dragons.

Philadelphia Fusion

Like its rival, San Francisco Shock, Philadelphia Fusion had an excellent Group Stage and finished in 1^st place with 24 wins and just 2 losses. Its overall map score was +40. Then came the Playoffs Stage, where everything went flawless in the first two matches against Los Angeles Gladiators and Los Angeles Valiant. But then, in the Winners’ Finals, SFS proved to be better prepared. It wasn’t really a matter of strength, because these two teams often met each other throughout the season and the results went both ways. The parity was maintained even in the Group Stage and there was very little difference between SFS’s results and PF’s.

After losing to SFS, PF had to play against the dark horse of the Playoffs: Washington Justice. The match ended with a clear victory in favor of Carpe’s team.

Asia

In Asia, the winners were Shanghai Dragons and Seoul Dynasty. Everyone expected Shanghai Dragons to qualify, but few people would have predicted that Seoul Dynasty would be the other winner.

Shanghai Dragons

This team totally smashed its region. It’s true, only 7 teams competed there, but still, SD finished with a score of 27 W – 2 L. That’s impressive, especially when you know their past. The overall map score was +44, the best in OWL. In the Playoffs, SD had a relatively easy match against New York Excelsior (3 – 1) followed by a tough one against Seoul Dynasty (3 – 2). With these two victories, they qualified for the Grand Final and are expected to play in the Finals of that event.

Seoul Dynasty

Seoul Dynasty finished the Group Stage in 5^th place (out of 7 teams) with a modest record of 12 W – 12 L. And yet, when the Playoffs began, they immediately started to play incredibly well. Along the way, Seoul Dynasty defeated Guangzhou Charge (2^nd in the region) and New York Excelsior (3^rd). Thanks to this last victory, Dynasty qualified for the Grand Finals and will have a shot at winning a massive amount of money. Their chances are slim, but you never know.