Rethought my rankings a little bit. What do you think?

Discussion

NYXL: Putting New York at the top was a difficult decision, especially looking at the shock team. However, the more i looked at them, the more confident I felt that they could take it this year. They have a whole host of proven players, and being in the easier division, i can atleast see them getting number 1 in regular standings this season.

Shock: Okay, look, i know what you're gonna say. Yes, i know how dominant they were last year, and i know about their Pickup of ANS, to round out their DPS with a good widowmaker. But hear me out, I think that with all the traveling this season, and the strength of most of the pacific division, they will lose a few more games than they should.

Reign: Bumping this team up to 3rd from 5th in my last rankings was questionable, as i didnt want to oversell and overhype the team and the players. I love Atlanta, and i dont want to see them flounder after a ton of hype. But they very much seem like the logical choice with some very good DPS, Tanks, and supports. I see them as the leader of the Southern division, and a close second in the overall Atlantic.

Dragons: What can i say about the Dragons? This team has some fantastic Players, most all pretty solid at their roles. And with the recent addition of Fearless, i think he rounds out a Tank line that really looked questionable. With a supercharged DPS line, and a solid back line, and now this rounded tank line, theres no question that this team will be at least top 6, tho them having coach moon does worry me a bit.

Charge: This team is pretty much similar to the Dragons and others above. It's full of solid players, that are really good at their roles. Cr0ng would be my only real question mark, but even then, this team looks like a real contender for top 6 right now.

Gladiators: Okay, I'll level with you. I was hard questioning putting this team here. While they do have solid front and back lines, the DPS is where this team looks questionable. However, I believe the coaches can do what they have done in the past and make this team a constantly improving team. For the past two season, thats been what this team has done, constantly improve, and I see no difference with that this year.

Fusion: Heres where things start to get interesting. I do think this team will do well. They have a remarkable back line, and an excelent front line, and Im going to give Sado the benefit of the doubt here, and say that the past happened because he wasnt comfortable with the meta (season 2) or he wasnt comfortable on stage (season 1). The only thing keeping this team from being higher is the DPS. Carpe and EQO have had consitency issues in the past, Ivy wasnt really that impressive last season (tho that could be more the Defiants coaches fault), Chipsa's more of a specialist, and I dont really know about Heesu, but im going to give him the benefit of the doubt too. All in all, this team isnt terrible, but it could've be better potentailly

Titans: The core is still there, but will the synergy? Axing Bumper and TiZi after last year was kind of surprising, and replacing them with Fissure was just as, and it leaves me with questions about how well this team will do. It also leaves me with concerns about what Fissure could do to this team, if he keeps on the path that he has so far in the past two seasons. Oh, and then theres Ryujehong, but hes probably gonna be more like Rapel was last season, riding the bench and coming in for some games.

Dynasty: It's a start, I'll give the Dynasty that, but is it enough? I can somewhat understand having both Gesture and Marve1 as maintanks, because 1 has more of an aggresive playstyle, and the other a more team orriented, passive playstyle. Kind of like Super and Smurf or Mano and Janus. The backline of Tobi and Bdosin looks fairly good, and if Profit can be consistent throughout the season, I dont think it'll matter who the other DPS is.

Spark: If it aint broke... add a new support line and maybe we'll do better than last year, and if not, switch back to the old support line and destroy the other teams. I have to imagine that dialogue had to have been exchanged at some point with the Spark management and Coaches. But seriously, these guys kept alot of the synergies from last year, and added to it. These guys could end up surprising us and making top 8, but for now, theyre at number 10.

Hunters: Pretty much the same as the Spark. However, they do have Leave now (he turned 18) and added a 2nd Main Tank and 2 more supports. I think this team and the Spark are in very similar positions. And, the addition of a 2nd Main Tank and a new support duo could help this team change up their play style and be ready for anything.

Defiant: What can I really say? These guys are solid. Proven players in all positions except Main Tank, but compared to other teams in the League, these guys are more or less just average.

Fuel: This does pain me, as i feel that The tankline of Gamsu and Note is strong, Decay and Doha DPS duo seems strong on paper, and Closer and Unkoe support duo has been proven. My biggest question mark, and why this team is so low, is about the coaches. These coaches have failed for 2 seasons straight. I so badly wanted to put them above toronto, but the coaches are what makes me uneasy, and I just cant shake that.

Justice: Ark and Aimgod as a Duo seem pretty good. Nobody would really question Corey's skills, or his synergies with stratus. I'm just not sure about the tankline here. Not sure what else to say...

Outlaws: They got quite a few good pick ups in the off season, but will it ultimately be enough? I'm not sure. However, I can see them doing around average, maybe above and slip into the playins. or maybe they stay out of reach

Mayhem: This team Made some strong pickups this off season. Yaki and Gangnamjin are solid players, and Put with Sayaplayer, they can be really lethal, im sure. However, for this team to be higher, Fate needs to be the Main Tank he was in season 1, stage 4. And If need be, Karayan will probably take his place. I do have my questions about Gargoyle and Kris, however, I will trust that Florida dont want to be a bottom tier team anymore, and that they kept them for a good reason.

Eternal: I still have my questions and concerns about the Supports, and I doubt that Soon and XZI can keep this team out of the bottom 6 for long before Sp9rk1e turns 18 in may. They did make some Upgrades in their tankline, and by that i mean Hanbin. Smex hasnt impressed me to much, but he could surprise. And then theres Main Tank. I Honestly wish that this team had bought Fusions, because hes without a doubt better than BenBest or NoSmite. But then again, NoSmite is considerably better than BenBest, so he's probably gonna get majority playtime.

Spitfire: Im not even gonna try. This team is one big questionmark for me. However, I have heard good things about some of the players, and since i know next to nothing about them, im going to set my expectations low, and i may get a nice surprise in the end. Who really knows with this team?

Valiant: Okay, so realistically, i have no problem with the DPS for this team. Overall seems really good. Everything else tho is a big helping of WTF stew. Except for McGravy. He seemed atleast half decent last season, and maybe, hopefully, he's improved.

Uprising: I really dont know what to think about Boston. I think Mineral has a vision, and that this team could be much better (especially if the other teams struggle), but I just dont really know. Their supports and off tanks are still big questionmarks, and Munchkin, Fusions, and Colourhex are good, but will doubtfully be enough to save this team.

https://preview.redd.it/nr6n1fq47tb41.png?width=502&format=png&auto=webp&s=b2c1aa3e265676d8334e4f227fc48a75238c7aff

Posted Jan 19, 2020, 10:10 PM UTC

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Shadowtheorist:defiant: Toronto Defiant•6 yr. ago

Shanghai is really shakey to me because of coaching but yeah they definitely have potential but I say they are like 6th

Reversed1289Los Angeles Valiant•6 yr. ago

Definitely

DarkFraternity3:spitfire: London Spitfire•6 yr. ago

Lets discuss a few things.

Starting from the top I agree with New York, Shock and Reign. Maybe Shock take top seed because they are just that elite but New York is in Atlantic and looking fire so it's definitely a warranted placement.

Now these next two tiers is where I think you are way off. Shanghai number 4 I think is too high, especially when you consider they have a very questionable tank line, a decent support line but not top 5 and play in the pacific region. That is what lifts Philly up in comparison, because they are gonna be dunking on Atlantic teams for starters not to mention they have both a stronger tank line AND support line than Shanghai. Carpe and Eqo are question marks but not as much as everyone thinks because at the end of the day they are top tier dps finally getting to play their roles after a majority Goats season with a fresh new upgraded squad backing them. So I would go Philly 4, Shanghai 5.

Gladiators and Charge I think you’ve wayyy overrated. Charge have a solid squad through and through, Nero and Shu are their standouts in my opinion, but you can more or less do a straight swap with them for where you’ve placed Hangzhou. Hangzhou are much better than them in the tank line with MVP candidate Guxue and Ria, IDK is far superior to Charra and Shu is solid but not light years ahead of Bebe. Guangzhou have better dps overall but only about as much as Hangzhou have better supports and then Hangzhou’s tank line are far and away better then Charges. Add in the facts that Hangzhou finished 4th last year and had a much better playoff run in a dps meta and I would love to hear an argument for why they are getting slept on, let alone why the Charge of all teams would perform better this season.

Now the Gladiators are a play in team for sure. You can easily name 6 teams, I would argue 7 or 8, that will be better than them. Space, best western off tank, support line banging, but OGE has a huuuuuge question mark and even if he performs I don’t think its enough for them to be a top 6 team because there are probably 15 dps lines that are superior to theirs. How you going to be a top 6 team with a dps line down amongst the bottom in the league? That is 3 players, half their starting lineup with huge question marks, no chance that is going to be better than Seoul, Titans, Spark or Fusion, or at the very least two of those teams.

I’d argue Titans are going to be better than both Charge and Gladiators. They are stronger than both teams in every single position when you match them up except for maybe Nero and then of course Fissure. Plus they got rid of Bumper and Tizi which although people are shocked about they clearly did because of internal strife so that should improve and we all know how good Vancouver are when their chemistry is clicking. Now Fissure is a tricky one, we know what his peaks are and dam are they high, but obviously hes a problem child haha. Vancouver aren’t dumb they defenitely knew this when they made the trade but having him as the star of the show in main tank giving him their full backing will be good for his ego and bring out the best in him I think. That's my prediction, but at the end of the day even if hes below average it doesn't matter because Titans are so much better in every other role than Charge or Gladiators.

Hunters is the final one for me which I think is way off. They were successful last year because they surprised teams by playing unique strategies that accentuated their strengths with characters like wrecking ball and pharah. This season teams are ready for them and since its been 2-2-2 they haven’t been up to par when forced to pit their players head to head in direct match ups. This is because they don’t really have stellar players in any position, they’ve got a massive main tank problem and an average/below average support line. Leave is their saving grace and only significant improvement they’ve made in the offseason. Finally, playing in Pacific is going to bury them down into the ‘missed out tier’ for sure.

Also, a little biased one because i’m a London fan but no chance are Paris gonna perform better, they’ve got trash tanks, a whacky mixed roster and a dodgy coaching staff. Backing Pavane, Glister, Bernar and the Cloud 9 orgs top tier scouting/management to carry them over Valiant, Boston and Paris.

Would love to discuss it all further, lets debate! ;)

ThrobbinHood11OP:reign: Atlanta Reign•6 yr. ago

Okay, I'll admit I may have over and underrated some teams in this. Starting at the bottom, I put london at 18 because I just dont really know what to think of them. But I do believe they have the biggest range because they are mostly a new team.

I put Hunters where I did because of the new Pickups and they kept the synergies from last year, same with Spark. I really do think their new Main Tank will add more play styles to this more or less one trick pony team. Plus, I think the Chinese homestands will help this team pull out a few more wins and squeeze into playins. Titans are really good, and they do have very good synergies together. But, id somewhat argue that there wasnt any other available Main Tank that they wanted to take a chance on other than Fissure. I'd say he was their only option. And thinking back to how he did the Gladiators in season 1, being the Star of the show and all that, and then benching himself before playoffs, it doesnt give me much hope for him. This is his 4th team in what'll be 3 seasons. And the main tank is fairly important. If he does go on one of his spells, then I think vancouver could suffer. Start dropping more games than they should, and infighting breaks out. Also, Bumper had been with this team since 2016, and was their leader. Plus, they lost Harsha to Outlaws.

Gladiators I'm putting there more because of their good players and good coaches. I believe that OGE can finally get the mentorship he deserves and will be a very good Main Tank. Tho Birdring does do something similar to Fissure, where if he doesnt care, hes eh, but when he does, he can carry hard. Seeing as he will be the starting Hitscan, im sure that he will care a good deal.

Charge youve kinda convinced me on. Not really gonnna try to think of an argument for them. Now for Shangai/Philly. I think my main problem with rating Philly is that i was a bit to harsh on them. And looking at shanghai, I may have been to forgiving. Shanghai having coach moon does not inspire confidence, ill level with you, especially after the disaster of stage 1 last season. But if he's done being bone headed, then sweet, more confidence. Now as for the players, i'd argue shanghai has the better DPS line, philly has the better tank line, and the support lines are both pretty good. But, if id have to give one the edge, Philly does have the better support line.

Now, my argument for NYXL taking number 1. I feel like if they still had Meko, then definitely 2nd for sure, but with Hotba, and a seemingly more aggresive playstyle, and being in the Atlantic division, id really like to say they can pull out more wins than shock.

However, any and all placements depend on how the homestands effect the teams, and how much traveling and practice they will be able to get in. Really, We could end up with Paris vs Mayhem at the Grand finals, who knows?

DarkFraternity3:spitfire: London Spitfire•6 yr. ago

You make some good points, particularly about Titans and New York. New York I don't really disagree with too much, I think it makes a lot of sense with how weak the Atlantic div is and the fact they've definitely made roster gains this season. Titans could go either way, I lean more towards positive purely because they haven't given us a reason to believe otherwise yet with how successful they were last year despite these 'internal struggles'. Fissure is not gonna ruin this squad, too much talent. But he could do you make a good argument so it's whatever happens!

I'm glad we can agree on Shanghai, Philly and Guangzhou more. I feel they are all Witte justifiable looking at their rosters.

Hunters eh, it's tough supposedly they've made these pick ups but someone's gotta suck in the Pacific division and it ain't gonna be the other eight teams so I struggle to see it.

I still want to convince you on Gladiators though, seriously this team has only got half a top 6 roster, a main tank which has a high potential but you just don't know cuz he crashed last year and a 'star' DPS that refused to play and hasn't hit any peaks for more than 2 stages worth of 2 owl seasons. It's just not reliable evidence to justify them over a star studded Philly roster, a Titans team with 5 out of 6 of their roster being some of the most elite Overwatch League players around and that haven't given us a reason to doubt them yet after taking #1 seed and making grand finals, a Spark squad thats superior in every position (particularly main tank and DPS) except off tank (space is better) and that finished ahead of them last year, and then I'd argue maybe even Seoul who've got better DPS by miles, a more dependable tankline but perhaps a slightly worse support duo. Condemn them my friend mwahahaha 🙏

It's gonna be a wild ride tho, I completely agree homestands are gonna mess these rankings up big time and make for an adrenaline fueled season.

ThrobbinHood11OP:reign: Atlanta Reign•6 yr. ago

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to sell Chengdu for being higher than they are. If it weren’t for the Fuels coaches, I’d put them lower than the Fuel. I don’t disagree that they’ll be bottom of the pacific, but they’re still better than quite a few Atlantic.

Gladiators I’m more putting in about 10th place now. There are many more teams with better pieces, however, if they can achieve that high point and keep it, they can be a top 6 team again