Overwatch League 2022 – Summer Showdown Week 16 Expectations

Week 2 will start with APAC’s first games of the Summer Showdown, and the east has a reputation for being unpredictable. Mixed with the chaos we saw last week, with reverse sweeps, upsets, and enough Junker Queen to last a lifetime, it is impossible to predict these first few matches. The West has shown a definitive Overwatch Meta in week 1, with the DPS line of Ashe or Sojourn and Genji, Junker Queen tank, and almost always Lucio and Brig, with Ana and Zen making brief appearances.

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Top Matches in Week 16

The first key match of week 2 will be Seoul Dynasty against Hangzhou Spark, two of the east’s top 4 and a revenge match for the Dynasty after being defeated by the Spark in the Midseason Madness tournament. This could be Profit on his Genji, and Fits up against Shy in the Ashe head to head. Not much to say about the east just yet.

The second key match is Toronto Defiant against Dallas Fuel. Both teams went 2-0 in hard fought victories in OWL week 1, with Toronto taking down Atlanta Reign, and Dallas beating the LA Gladiators. The new meta doesn’t seem to favor the Defiant, with their Genji player Although having poor performance in the past, tank player Hotba has been struggling for years, and we have superstar Twilight in Brig jail, it doesn’t sound like it will work. They make it work though, despite almost giving the Vancouver Titans their first win of the season, every player is stepping up. The Fuel is simply a stacked team, and coach Rush’s genius peaks through once again with how well thought out this roster is. Hanbin once again proves he is not a Sigma one trick. DoHa makes a return to play the Genji and flex onto the Mei, a hero Sparkle always struggled with. Edison returned to play the Sojourn, it all just works.

The third key match is Shanghai Dragons against Hangzhou Spark. The Dragons and the Spark are the most dominant teams during regular season games, and both underperform in the tournaments. I’m looking forward to seeing how these two teams utilize Junker Queen.

LA Gladiators vs SF Shock

The fourth and final key match is a rematch of the Midseason Madness final, the LA Gladiators against the SF Shock. These OWL teams have given us three incredibly close games, with a map differential of 0, both teams have taken 8 maps off of each other. The Shock stand ahead as far as wins go, the Gladiators took the one that counts, denying the Shock’s latest roster their first major trophy. The Gladiators have had a rough start to the Summer Showdown, having lost to both Texas teams in heartbreaking fashion, back to back reverse-sweep denials. The Shock have continued their undefeated regular season win streak by stomping Florida Mayhem and winning a close series against a surprisingly strong Washington Justice.

The East is our only hope for a non-Junker Queen meta, but the new hero is so strong it is very unlikely. The Paris Eternal roster has also been nuked, with all the EU talent being dropped and replaced with NA, it’s also been confirmed that the team will be relocated to Las Vegas next year.