Overwatch League Week 1 Round-Up

Overwatch League Season 4 is here with a vengeance if this first week is any indication of the competition to come.

While the week technically started on April 13, the season didn't officially kick off until Friday, April 16. This left about three days of game time through April 18, with a grand total of 16 matches. The week will come to a close on April 20 with the next match set to start at 3 p.m. ET on April 23.

So far, the most impressive teams out of the gate are the brand new Houston Outlaws and the Philadelphia Fusion—with Los Angeles Valiant fans left to deal with a rather disappointing showing.

Overwatch League Week 1 Round-Up

Season 4 started off with the battle for Texas, pitting the Houston Outlaws against the Dallas Fuel. The rounds were tight throughout the match with both teams merely a point off from each other—eventually forcing the game to a fifth map. Eventually, the Outlaws were able to show their new colors, and beat out the Fuel 3-2 with a devastating wipe on Ilios.

From there, the Shock and the Fusion were quick to remind their competitors exactly who they were up against. Both teams prevailed over their respective opponents, the Los Angeles Gladiators and Seoul Dynasty, with a score of 3-1. The Fusion would then go on to completely destroy the Valiant 3-0. The Chengdu Hunters were able to stake a claim for themselves, as well, taking down the Valiant 3-1 and Shanghai Dragons 3-0.

The real battle came on April 18 and made shockwaves throughout the community. The Outlaws were pit against the Shock—Champions of 2020. To say the first two rounds blew everyone out of the water would be an understatement as the Outlaws mopped the floor with the Shock in Lijiang Tower and went on to tie in Blizzard World. They were able to find another Victory on Dorado which left the score 2-0—and the Shock barely clinging on to life.

Fortunately, the Shock were able to reignite as a team and push for a reverse sweep using their trademark aggressive style. Truly, they were fighting for their lives toward the end of this match. They swiftly proved they weren't about to going to go out that easily, taking Temple of Anubis 4-3 and dominating Oasis 2-0. The match entered the sixth map with both teams tied at 2-2.

That is until the Outlaws managed to "Ante Up" and score big on Havana with an impressive last-minute display from OWL rookie Min-jun "PIGGY " Shin on D.va helping to clear a bit of room for his team to maneuver. This opened the way for Myung-heum "JJANGGU" Cho on Reinhardt to delete Minki "Viol2t" Park on Baptiste, effectively robbing the Shock of a critical Support within the final moments of their last push and allowing him to round the bend and land an Earthshatter that wiped the Shock off the map for good.

Congratulations to the Outlaws on one heck of a first week.

Week Two starts off with a match-up between the Paris Eternal and Vancouver Titans on April 23. Fans can watch the rounds unfold live on the Overwatch League's YouTube channel.