Esports Update: The Pacific Division of the Overwatch League is stacked top to bottom with quality teams, with three sides from California, two from Asia and one from Texas.
The two obvious top teams in this division are the Seoul Dynasty and the Dallas Fuel, given their stacked rosters and previous successes under different guises.
Seoul have diversity
The Seoul Dynasty are based on the former Lunatic-Hai roster, with star players littered across the team. Miro is considered the best Winston in the World, with incredible timing and coordination with his teammates at the core of his play. An incredible DPS lineup of Bunny, Fleta, Munchkin and Wekeed give Seoul a level of diversity lacking in almost every other team. With ryujehong, one of the best supports in the world, pairing with tobi, Seoul are an almost guaranteed lock for a top-four finish.
Dallas are stacked
The Dallas Fuel are a Western favourite, with a similarly stacked roster all the way through. Apex Season 1 champions under the EnVyUs banner, the Fuel have been a top-tier team ever since their inception, with their Overwatch League squad being no different. Dallas added two fan favourites during the offseason, with popular streamers xQc and Seagull both joining the roster, and both have also had a large effect on the main roster. xQc mainly sees play on Orisa, with his shot-calling adding a new layer to the Fuel’s overall abilities. Seagull, on the other hand, is similar to fellow Fuel DPS Taimou in his ability to play specialist heroes (Mei, Hanzo, etc) in order to keep the opponent guessing. The Dallas Fuel are also expected to reach the final four alongside the Seoul Dynasty.
Valiant expected to challenge
Three other teams are considered playoff or fringe playoff teams, beginning with the Los Angeles Valiant. The Valiant open with a solid combo of Soon and Agilities for their DPS roles, each a specialist on a popular hero; Soon with Tracer and Agilities with Genji. While perhaps lacking overall flexibility, the skill cap of these players is incredible and should be a solid foundation. One key note for the Valiant is that flex player Space will not be able to join the roster until Stage 3, or halfway into the first season. However, the Valiant are still expected to perform well even without Space, given the abilities of players such as Fate and Envy, who may see less play when Space is introduced.
Shock could live up to their name
The San Francisco Shock are a team that could start slowly, but should pick up after the midway point. The Shock are also waiting on players to become old enough to play, with stars sinatraa and super becoming available for Stage 3 onwards. San Francisco performed well in the preseason, primarily playing around star DPS player BABYBAY, with a resurgent IDDQD protecting him. Another surprise during the preseason was the exceptional play of support player sleepy, who had been brought in essentially straight out of Solo Queue with limited expectations. The Shock play their own style, with aspirations of playoffs riding on how well the team can perform without super and sinatraa.
Gladiators in the mix
The second Los Angeles team, the Gladiators, are also expected to vie for a playoff spot. The Gladiators have a solid basis in their tank line of Bischu, a former League of Legends LCS player, and iRemiix, who have played together in past teams. Coupled with quality players in every role, in particular with DPS player Asher on Tracer, the Gladiators have a fundamentally sound team. While perhaps not the biggest names, the Gladiators should see relative success early on given their prior history together and decent showing during the preseason.
Dragons may struggle early
The final team are the Shanghai Dragons, a Chinese team formed from the two top Chinese teams pre-Overwatch League. Not much is expected of the Shanghai Dragons, given their limited play in LAN tournaments with other regions, yet they do have a key advantage moving forward. For now, as they’re the only team using mostly Chinese players, any high-tiered player from the region will want to join Shanghai, giving them a wealth of talent to choose from. If at any point this team struggles, look for them to quickly add talented players to the roster to see if anything sticks.
Pacific is shaping up to be a potentially more competitive division than the Atlantic, where the top three teams are clear. The Pacific Division also is likely to see its upsets early on as teams figure out their best combinations and tactics.
