Dragons and Fuel favorites at OWL May Melee Tournament Weekend

Overwatch 2
May 5, 2021
Jordan Ashley

The Overwatch League 2021 Season is entering into its first tournament. This year’s events are moving into a new format where regular tournaments are held in place of a normal season. This big change to the dynamic has really made the opening matches feel different. We’re now moving into the May Melee tournament this week. Some of the biggest names in Overwatch have already been completely eliminated making this year’s event pretty shocking. This is everything that’s happened going into the May Melee, and what you need to know for Overwatch betting this week.

OWL May Melee Bracket

Overwatch League 2021 Week 3 Recap

Week 3 of the May Melee’s regular Season saw teams competing in mini-brackets to determine who goes through to the tournament. The results were a bit surprising though, flipping around expectations going into the tournament bracket.

One of the weirdest and most impressive results to date has been what became of Shock. The reigning champions of the overall league have failed to even make it into the May Melee tournament. This is as much a victory for their opponents as it is a failure of Shock themselves. Things started shaky for them when they were taken to a tie break and eventually lost to Houston Outlaws. At the time, this felt like a moment of inspiration for Houston rather than a sign of things to come for Shock. That was their only lost game in the weekly matches, but things got worse in the knockouts.

Shock were due for a rematch with Houston in the second round of the knockouts, but they didn’t even make it that far. Dallas Fuel destroyed them in the first round, going 3-0. They went on to do the same to Houston, going to the actual bracket with a clean slate.

The other teams qualifying for the final tournament included Shanghai Dragons, who were in a difficult match in the knockouts. They went up against Philadelphia Fusion, and a tight race ended 3-2 in their favor. Chengdu Hunters are also progressing through, with a relatively impressive performance so far.

Florida Mayhem are the last team to head into the May Melee tournament, having put down Washington Justice and Toronto Defiant. As with Dallas Fuel, their performance has been unexpected and a good omen for their 2021 Season.

May Melee Tournament Predictions

The May Melee tournament is going to be kicking off this week and concludes on Sunday. It opens up with Shanghai facing Florida, and Dallas facing Chengdu. The losers from each match are moving into the losers bracket, with the top teams from both brackets going on to the finals.

Given how the tournament has gone so far, this one is close to call. Few would have expected such a wipeout for Shock going into the event, so if there was ever a time to take a chance on an underdog, now might be it. In terms of betting, looking at the esports odds is a good way to get a judge for where teams stand. At the moment, Shanghai and Dallas are the two favorites, but things are pretty close.

Florida Mayhem have the lowest odds of making it all the way through, but they shouldn’t be ruled out entirely. Their performance has been strong. They might be able to make some progress, even if they end up in the losers bracket. Dallas Fuel are looking very strong for the entire event, if only to justify their amazing story so far. Having had such a great performance in the knockouts, they are going to be under a lot of pressure to repeat that in the actual event.

The team that’s going in looking the safest bet based on past seasons is probably Shanghai. However, this Season so far seems to exist purely to remind us how much can change between Seasons. So if you’re looking at Overwatch betting, Shanghai is the choice if you’re defaulting to the established order. Dallas Fuel may be the choice for those who want to go an exciting narrative in the May Melee tournament to date.

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