Welcome back to The OverSeer, everyone! I hope you're ready for another predictions post, because I'm really excited to get into it! We have a very unique and interesting meta on our hands, and I can't wait to see how all 20 teams have worked on it and polished their strategies after one week of experimentation! Please note that I won't be sharing all of this week's predictions at once, since I like to watch each team play their latest game before trying to predict their next one, so be sure to return to this link after each day of play and see what I have to say!
DAY 1
1. Atlanta Reign vs. Boston Uprising- Reign wins 3-0. Atlanta looked pretty good last week with their 'Partial Dive' (because it had a Sigma) comps, which I'm sure are better than the conventional Dive comps that Boston took a liking to. I'm looking to Edison to be the playmaker for Atlanta once again, and expect this series to be very one-sided. The Uprising came out swinging on Map 1 and had a good showing on Map 2, but the Reign adapted to their playstyle and beat them 3-1.
2. Florida Mayhem vs. San Francisco Shock- Shock wins 3-0. Despite the Florida Mayhem having a more credible showing in Week 24, the Shock showed their dominance against the Boston Uprising with super on Genji. San Francisco's Dive comp was stellar, and also unique, since they didn't play around their Genji unlike most other teams. Instead, they used the trio of smurf, ChoiHyoBin and Striker to win them team fights. For this reason, I think integrating their latest DPS addition, Ta1yo, won't be a problem for them, since he won't be the carry player according to their playstyle anyway. I don't think this will be one-sided, since the Mayhem were quite good last week, but the 3-0 is still possible, and plausible. This match was more one-sided than I expected for most of the series, which I think led the Shock to be more complacent and lose Anubis. If they'd shown more respect to the Mayhem and continued playing like they did on the first two maps, they'd have won 3-0 for sure.
DAY 2
1. Seoul Dynasty vs. Chengdu Hunters- Dynasty wins 3-2. Last week, Seoul looked pretty bad. They had no clear idea of the meta, and spammed a set of comps they couldn't execute properly. The Hunters were more decisive, and although they weren't polished, they executed their comps in a sensible manner. However, Seoul has always looked better with time in any new meta, and with a clear idea of what Chengdu might run this week, they must have a game plan in place. This series won't be pretty, and things could go either way, but my vote goes to Seoul. The reason I expect this to be close is because of the in-game adjustments Seoul will have to make against Chengdu, which they're pretty poor at. The more both these teams stick to their plans, the better it will be for the Dynasty. A close match between two variances on Partial Dive comps made for an entertaining watch, but the Hunters ended up on top with a 3-2 score instead of the Dynasty. I think Seoul's biggest mistake wasn't their execution, but rather their lack of focus on counterpicking, but this is what I mean when I say that Seoul can't adapt well...if instead of playing Illicit on Genji and Profit on Tracer, they had played FITS on Sombra and Profit on Genji/Tracer, their comp would've made Ameng's life much harder, and tipped the odds in their favour.
2. Shanghai Dragons vs. London Spitfire- Dragons win 3-0. I don't even need to look at how London played last week to know that Shanghai will beat them. Besides, London hasn't been too impressive in this meta. We'll have to see what they bring against the Dragons, but until then, my bet's on the May Melee APAC champions. A surprisingly good showing from the Spitfire helped them seize 2 maps against the Dragons before falling to them.
3. New York Excelsior vs. Guangzhou Charge- Charge wins 3-2. In Week 24, we saw the Excelsior lose a weirdly-embarrassing series to the Chengdu Hunters, whereas the Charge got a victory against the London Spitfire. That said, I think the NYXL just had problems figuring out their playstyle, and were boomed by the Hunters' usual unorthodox strategies. I was also not a fan of them picking WhoRU to play Genji over Haksal, and I suspect they'll right that wrong this week. If they focus on enabling Haksal, they can give Guangzhou a good fight. Still, the Charge are just too good at Dive/Partial Dive to lose this. This match was surprisingly one-sided, with the NYXL sweeping the Charge. I think Guangzhou got a little overhyped because they won the Summer Showdown, since I still believe they're not the most consistent team, despite having probably the highest peak in the League. Their Double Shield comps elevated their reputation, which is well and good, but they fell to the more-consistent team today, and that's pretty noteworthy. I'm also super happy that the NYXL's success was in part because of Haksal's involvement; the team really enabled him to pop off and make plays as I'd hoped, and it's at least good to know that my thought process is sensible.
4. San Francisco Shock vs. Vancouver Titans- Shock wins 3-0. Sigh...a year ago this would've been the most highly-anticipated match of the day. Now, it's an affair few would care to pay attention to. "EZ clap" is all I have to say for the Shock. Fastest match in the history of OWL...lmao.
5. Florida Mayhem vs. Washington Justice- Mayhem wins 3-0. Don't think I need to explain this one either. The Mayhem are just better and far more consistent. EZ.
6. Boston Uprising vs. Dallas Fuel- Fuel wins 3-0. No-brainer. Decent competition by Boston, but they weren't good enough. Dallas won 3-1.
7. Philadelphia Fusion vs. Los Angeles Gladiators- Fusion wins 3-0. And again! Fusion almost lost, but reverse-swept the Gladiators!
DAY 3
1. Chengdu Hunters vs. Hangzhou Spark- Spark wins 3-1. The main reason Chengdu has been able to secure wins in this meta is rigid opponents. The NYXL as well as the Dynasty were unable to adapt to their strats, and lost as a result. However, the Spark have shown that they can throw many different looks and counter a variety of comps (on their good days, of course). For this reason, I'm guessing they'll take the win. Also, despite Dive/Partial Dive being the go-to for most teams in this meta, Hangzhou ran a good amount of Rein-Zarya last week, and if Chengdu hasn't scrimmed against that comp, they'll probably find it difficult to work their 'magic' against it. It's rather unbelievable how well Chengdu played in this meta, going undefeated for 3 matches straight. The way they swept the Spark today was shockingly amazing, so kudos to them!
2. Shanghai Dragons vs. Seoul Dynasty- Dragons win 3-0. This meta has been rough for Seoul so far, and it'll probably continue to be so. The Dragons had a pretty good showing against a suddenly-formidable London Spitfire yesterday, and seeing how Seoul lost to both Hangzhou and Chengdu, the Dragons should have no problem taking this with ease. There are few that can challenge the Dragons, as we saw today. With LIP's deadly Sombra picking off Seoul's squishies with surprising success, there was nothing the Dynasty could do but lose. They put up a fight every now and then, but you could tell that Shanghai was the better team, and that's why they won 3-0.
3. Los Angeles Gladiators vs. Paris Eternal- Eternal wins 3-0. Perfect!
4. Toronto Defiant vs. Philadelphia Fusion- Fusion wins 3-0. Perfect again!
5. Washington Justice vs. Houston Outlaws- Outlaws win 3-0. The Justice really stepped it up and won. GGs.
This week, I got 10/14 (71.43%) winners and 5/14 (35.71%) scores correct! That's actually not too bad! Let's see if we can go even higher next week! To be notified when I post my Week 26 predictions, subscribe to this blog and keep an eye out for them! Cheers, stay safe!
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