This article is part of our OWL Power Rankings series.
With the first season of the Overwatch League in the books, it's time to get to business with some bonified Power Rankings. Preseason is over and now we've got some actual meat to sink our teeth into as we evaluate these teams.
While some teams like the Seoul Dynasty and Shanghai Dragons were unanimous in their rankings, other saw some widely varying placements. The 6-8 spots were the most hotly contested by far. The Philadelphia Fusion saw placement anywhere from as high as 5th to as low as 9th, while the Los Angeles Gladiators got votes for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. You can bet that there will many conversations on that front going forward on our weekly show on Twitch. But enough about the squabbles, let's get down to business!
1. Seoul Dynasty (Last Week: 1)
After a dominating performance in the preseason, the amount of firepower in the Seoul Dynasty lineup showed no signs of fizzling out after destroying Dallas Fuel and the Los Angeles Gladiators. While not invincible, the team has a history pre-OWL of fixing any holes in their armor, and with a stronger DPS lineup this time around, they're clear favorites aiming for the top. -- Steven Nguyen
2. London Spitfire (Last Week: 2)
What's there to say? The team with the best logo is one of the best teams. And we all know logos alone win games. Memeing aside, the London Spitfire have earned their position as the second-best team with grace. Not only do they have some of the best players, such as the steady core that is tank Jae-Hui "Gesture" Huang and the flashy DPS Jun-Young "Profit" Park, but they easily have the most versatile line-up. In the first week, they only dropped one map to Florida Mayhem. Even then, the map was close and saw Florida Mayhem playing the best they could possibly play just to secure their win. -- Christiaan Kutlik
3. Los Angeles Valiant (Last Week: 4)
The top dogs in LA proved that they were just that by knocking off the Dallas Fuel in what everyone seems to be forgetting was a huge upset. Dallas had Seoul to worry about leading up to this week and probably didn't put much time into prepping for LA. Meanwhile, the Valiant likely overlooked the Shock, who probably couldn't even beat themselves, and focused harder on planning for Dallas. -- Travis Elliott
4. New York Excelsior (Last Week: 5)
The New York Excelsior certainly showed us their prowess this week taking 3-1 victories against two middle of the pack teams. They also displayed a level of adaptability only currently capable of other elite teams, and can dish out an outrageous amount of damage to back it up. Nonetheless, while they didn't go up against the top teams, there seems to be a crutch on the team of needing a pick to succeed. Hopefully we see them develop an independence from this habit, but until then they'll have trouble piercing the top 3 zone. -- Liam Craffey
5. Dallas Fuel (Last Week: 3)
Despite an 0-2 score coming out of the first week of the Overwatch League, Dallas Fuel had an incredibly difficult time against two of the undefeated squads thus far. Able to go toe-to-toe with Seoul Dynasty in one of the best matches in OWL's short history, the team's mentality eventually gave in towards the end of the set and it showed no signs of recovery when it went against Los Angeles Valiant. While this is certainly a weakness, with such a powerhouse roster with experienced players across the board, DF has every chance of getting back off the ground and moving forward. -- Steven Nguyen
6. Philadelphia Fusion (Last Week: 7)
After failing to get a roster together for the preseason, the Fusion came flying out of the gates with a win over the Outlaws. Despite Philly falling to the London Spitfire, the Fusion showed promise, especially with a roster that has yet to solve its communication problems. Much for the same reasons that the LA Valiant have seen success thus far, expect the Fusion to have a much more dominant presence in the league as time goes on (if they don't play against stacked Korean powerhouses). -- Noah Waltzer
7. Boston Uprising (Last Week: 8)
Rising up in the rankings is the Boston Uprising, who impressed in its match against one of the non-Korean OWL teams. A 4-0 over one of the weaker teams in the league isn't much to boast about but it certainly solidifies Boston as a mid-tier team, one that can consistently take maps off of the likes of New York. With this moneyball team still growing together, there is always potential to grow into a legitimate threat for the postseason. -- Noah Waltzer
8. Los Angeles Gladiators (Last Week: 9)
The lesser of the LA teams beat the stuffing out of the worst team in the league to open up the weekend and then ended the weekend by keeping it pretty tight against Seoul. They have the potential to compete for a Top 5 position if they can solidify their teamwork. -- Travis Elliott
9. Houston Outlaws (Last Week: 6)
I'll put it out there, I think the Houston Outlaws have potential. Yes, they have had an unimpressive first week, losing to the Philadelphia Fusion and New York Excelsior, but both of those matches were stacked against them. The Outlaws couldn't prepare against Philadelphia Fusion, since Fusion missed out on pre-season, while the New York Excelsior are working to break the upper echelons of the league and were simply out of Houston's lane. Outlaws also get somewhat unfairly compared to their state rivals, Dallas Fuel. I think, over time, Outlaw will grow as they figure out more of their team identity and fix some of their coordination issues. -- Christiaan Kutlik
10. Florida Mayhem (Last Week: 11)
The Mayhem started the season out on somewhat of a high-note (got to find those silver linings, right?)after somehow picking up a map against the London Spitfire, showing that maybe there was a bit of scrap to this team. Then they got clapped by Boston to the tune of a 4-0 sweep, solidifying their mediocrity. There were many questions about the sustainability of this six-man roster coming into the season and after one week, those questions are still largely unanswered. -- Wyatt Donigan
11. San Francisco Shock (Last Week: 10)
As a Southern California native, it brought me great joy to watch the Valiant trounce the Shock to open the season. While I think many had pegged the Valiant to win that particular matchup, I don't think many thought it would be this one-sided. Especially the teams played each other close during the preseason. The Shock may have salvaged their record with a 3-1 win over the Dragon on Friday, but considering the Dragons place at the bottom of the OWL, that was a mere consolation prize than a statement victory. -- Wyatt Donigan
12. Shanghai Dragons (Last week: 12)
It's safe to say that the Shanghai Dragons looks to be the weakest team out of the whole league. While it's clear to tell that some of the players have individual skill, notably Chao "Undead" Fang, the team as a whole lacks coordination. Their teamfights tend to always be sloppy, with their successes only coming through when a player pops-off. Rather than a fully-fledged, well-oiled, machine, the Shanghai Dragons seem like a group of random Top 500 players thrown together. -- Liam Craffey
