Olivia R. March 5, 2019
New York Excelsior are the first Overwatch League team to secure a spot in Season 2’s stage one playoffs.
Overwatch League’s official Twitter confirmed the NYXL’s achievement after the team defeated Seoul Dynasty 3-1. League fans echoed a broad sentiment in response: No one is surprised.
The NYXL have dominated Season 2 with a 6-0 record thus far. The team is currently number one in the OWL standings.
“It’s all about teamwork,” NYXL said.
DPS main Hae-seong “Libero” Kim took to Twitter after their recent victory to hint at further potential improvement.
“Our team will be stronger if I do better," Libero said.
This came after Libero impressed fans with supportive Brigitte plays throughout Sunday night’s match versus Seoul Dynasty. NYXL's members were all on top of their game against Seoul, and while each map was close, the Dynasty couldn’t quite keep up.
Often called the world’s best tank in Overwatch, Seoul’s Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek was unable to hide his frustration after the loss.
NYXL continued to pile on in the post-game interview. Support main Bang “JJonak” Sung-hyeon told Dynasty’s support Jehong “Ryujehong” Ryu that he will make sure he never has the chance to win against him.
JJonak had similar words for any team that joins NYXL in the playoffs, including the confident Vancouver Titans who stated earlier that they would not lose a single match leading up to the playoffs.
“It doesn’t matter what team it is,” JJonak said. “We will beat you guys.”
Heading into week four, other OWL teams will be looking to claim one of the seven remaining playoff spots. The Vancouver Titans currently have a 4-0 record, followed closely by fellow expansion team Atlanta Rein.
After losing to Guangzhou Charge last weekend, the Los Angeles Valiant became the first team to drop out of contention for the stage one playoffs as they fell to 0-5.