Overwatch League Stage 2: New York Excelsior grind out victory over Seoul Dynasty in five maps

Two top-of-the-league teams clashed Wednesday night in the Overwatch League.

So far in Stage 2, the Seoul Dynasty have found themselves back on top. But never far behind is the New York Excelsior, with impressive wins on their resume like the clean sweep they executed over the Houston Outlaws.

The only team able to find a chink in New York’s armor so far and exploit it is the London Spitfire. The last time these two teams met, the Excelsior walked away with the hard fought 3-2 win. Would the Dynasty be able to finally prove they are just as powerful as the other two Korean teams, or would they still be just one step behind?

Map One: Hanamura

Seoul set up defenses first, with Tobi on Ana, FLETA on Soldier 76 and ryujehong on Zenyatta. New York came out the gate with Libero on Hanzo, an unusual hero pick for him. And while he got no picks, the Excelsior slowly but surely made their way to the point. The Dynasty, aware of the opposing sniper, backed off the point and elected to hover under the cover of the buildings around the objective. New York took advantage of their superior positioning to quickly start taking point A, with just two quick picks by Saebyeolbe to finish capping it.

After a couple of stalled pushes, New York struck true with a first pick onto Tobi. Libero, now on Soldier 76, unleashed his Attack Visor onto the point from the far balcony and managed to take out Seoul’s other support. With the balance now tilted in the Excelsior’s favor, the rest of the team flooded onto the objective. All that was left was to deal with respawns and point B was also theirs.

To defend, New York had Libero on Genji. Instead of a sniper, FLETA went Soldier 76 and the Dynasty took point A through sheer aggression. Moving onto point B with both support ults up along with the Attack Visor, Seoul seemed in a great position to make progress on the objective. However, even as New York started losing team members in the fight, Seoul lost numbers as well and were forced to temporarily retreat.

Fortunately, not many ultimates were used in the engagement, which meant Seoul could come back with a handful of ultimates at their disposal. Even though this time New York had ultimates as well to counter, the Dynasty was still able to get two ticks of control before the Excelsior pushed them back. After getting stalled single-handedly by a huge Libero Dragonblade, Seoul came roaring back and was able to take the last tick needed to tie the map up.

New York attacked first in the time bank round, with just 10 seconds less than Seoul on the clock for them to use. This time, the Dynasty eschewed a passive defense with one right up in the fray, resulting in them picking the Excelsior clean during their first attempt at attack. With time nearly gone, New York got the engagement they wanted, with both Seoul DPS players falling early. Miro tried to save the situation with a Primal Rage, but was unable to even the ledger enough.

After taking point A, New York hurried right onto point B, very aware that they wouldn’t have much time to work with. But time ended up not being an issue. Libero charged through with a huge two-kill Dragonblade, and that signaled the end for Seoul’s point B defense. Very quickly, the Excelsior had a point B cap as well.

Seoul was now tasked with also taking both points in order to keep the map alive. Again, the Dynasty aggressively pushed onto point A, with Miro jumping far and deep to get the picks necessary to keep the Excelsior off balance. Working much more quickly than New York, Seoul set themselves up with more time to take point B. However, the Dynasty once again were repelled by the lethal force known as Libero’s Genji. The Excelsior’s defense held strong long enough to force overtime, but that was when the Dynasty finally struck true, with a crucial ryujehong Transcendence right at the end of the fight that allowed Seoul to outlive their opposition. Even Libero was unable to prevent Seoul from capping the second objective.

More from Gaming

• John Madden on the Madden NFL 23 cover
• Madden 22 adds 10 college football teams in ‘Campus Legends’ limited time event
• Look: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes share the Madden 22 cover
• FanSided250: Overwatch League fan groups are bridging the digital divide
• Some creative genius made Street Fighter characters out of NBA legends

So each team got one more minute on the clock to get as many points as possible. On offense again, New York quietly wound their way to the right side of the objective, where the defense usually sets up. When the teams did clash, Saebyeolbe got the first pick on ryujehong, and that was enough to tip the scales in New York’s favor. In overtime, the Excelsior finished up on point A and moved right to point B. Here, Libero’s Genji again came up huge, with a first pick onto Tobi followed quickly by an elimination of FLETA. Dominantly, New York kept the pressure on until point B was also in their grasp.

As Seoul readied themselves for their own attack, Saebyeolbe hid behind the buildings outside the courtyard. As the Dynasty focused on getting through the doorway, Saebyeolbe struck from the side, surprising all of Seoul and managing to down ryujehong. As the Dynasty attempted to make sense of the situation, Munchkin was downed as well. Seoul hastily attempted to regroup and reengage, but they just didn’t have the time necessary to make it back onto the point. Overtime ticked away and New York finally claimed the first victory of the series.

Map Score: Excelsior 6, Dynasty 4

Match Score: Excelsior 1, Dynasty 0

Map Two: Nepal

Sanctum started this map off, and even though New York saw more people fall in the first engagement, it was the Excelsior with ownership of the point first. The Excelsior were able to stall on the point up to 21 percent before the Dynasty took control. But Seoul wouldn’t have the point for long before New York took it right back. From there, the kill feed consistently favored New York. It felt a bit like Seoul was getting blocked out no matter what approach they tried to take toward the objective. After one final Primal Rage contest from Seoul in overtime, New York went ahead and took the lead on the map.

The first engagement on Shrine was furious and long, and once again went New York’s way at first as Saebyeolbe managed to build up and use his Pulse Bomb brilliantly by taking out ryujehong. But his teammates started to fall around him at the same time, which forced him to withdraw and give up the point to Seoul. This time, the Dynasty clung to the objective tenaciously, with a Attack Visor from FLETA shredding through members of the Excelsior. At 99 percent, Seoul finally relinquished the point to New York, largely thanks to Libero’s own Attack Visor. But before New York could get comfortable, Seoul was back. After outlasting a desperate Self Destruct from New York’s Meko, the Dynasty took Shrine and tied up the map.

On Village, Seoul took control first and never looked back, dominating every single New York push on the point. Unable to even get a single tick, the Dynasty capped the last point to tie up the series.

Map Score: Excelsior 1, Dynasty 2

Match Score: Excelsior 1, Dynasty 1

Map Three: Hollywood

Seoul set up on defense with Miro on Orisa, Tobi supporting on Mercy and FLETA on Junkrat. New York attacked with Saebyeolbe on Pharah, a different look than what he normally plays. Libero went Hanzo once again, attempting to do damage from the alcoves on the side that would also provide him with a measure of cover. After raining down damage but not getting eliminations, Saebyeolbe was finally able to Tobi. However, FLETA’s Junkrat and Munchkin’s Soldier 76 used their ultimates to put an end to New York’s attack.

After finding no success on Pharah, Saebyeolbe was back on Tracer. Libero went Pharah instead. Seoul managed to whittle down the time available to New York all the way to overtime, which is when the Excelsior finally found success. With one big Pulse Bomb and one big Rocket Barrage, New York capped the first point in just the nick of time.

As the payload started to move, Saebyeolbe switched again, this time to McCree. But Seoul wouldn’t be intimidated, with the team working together to cleanly wipe New York once again from the map. As time once again ticked away, New York attempted to get back to the payload but would ultimately be unable, with Miro’s Primal Rage hunting down members of the Excelsior with low health and forcing them to meet their end.

Switching sides, Seoul attacked with triple tanks supported by ryujehong on Moira. Right away, Munchkin’s Roadhog ground through Janus’ Winston. Meko would fall soon after and right away the point was cleared for a quick Seoul take. The payload became a runaway train under the big bodies of Seoul, with all New York defenses getting slapped back and away as the car moved to the goal line. In short order, Seoul had the payload crossing the finish line, taking the lead in the series.

Map Score: Excelsior 1, Dynasty 2

Match Score: Excelsior 1, Dynasty 2

Map Four: Watchpoint Gibraltar

Libero went Hanzo once again for New York, and his constant pressure allowed his team to take control of the corner. One scatter arrow down the stairs was enough to take out Munchkin’s Tracer, putting Seoul at a disadvantage as the payload bore down on the first checkpoint. With really no last attempt at contest, New York glided to the first point.

It wouldn’t be until the payload was threatening at the doors of the second checkpoint before Seoul’s defense came awake. Even with the Dynasty finally able to get some eliminations to their name, the stall would not last long before the Excelsior was back on the case. As the payload steadily rolled through the last section of the map, Saebyeolbe’s Tracer got to work harassing Seoul right at their spawn room doors. The prolonged engagement saw New York escorting the payload dangerously close to the end while Saebyeolbe farmed and unleashed two Pulse Bombs before Seoul got enough picks to force New York to completely withdraw.

With less than 30 seconds remaining for New York, both Excelsior snipers were downed early. Their supports then fell shortly after. Time ran out at the same time as New York’s tanks lost their steam. After a fast start that made New York look nearly unstoppable, Seoul managed to deny the Excelsior the last point on the map.

On attack, Seoul was also able to move the payload through the tunnel with no issue. Munchkin did his best Saebyeolbe impression on Tracer, cutting through Mano and Saebyeolbe himself. Ryujehong on Zenyatta also helped Seoul secure the first point by dropping Libero where he stood even as he was pulling out his sword for a Dragonblade. Without really stopping, the payload continued to roll through the second section of the map.

New York threw their might into one last contest over the payload just before the second checkpoint. Libero dashed into a Dragonblade, but was only able to get Tobi before once again ryujehong stopped him cold. Ryujehong’s Zenyatta continued to deal damage to the remaining members of New York around the payload, and with a quick Transcendence, Seoul finished up the push to the second checkpoint.

In the home stretch, New York doubled down on defense. Libero finally got not only one big Dragonblade but two to clamp down on Seoul and end their chances of getting an easy series win. Overtime burned away, sending the teams to another fifth map fight.

Map Score: Excelsior 3, Dynasty 2

Match Score: Excelsior 2, Dynasty 2

Map Five: Ilios

The teams found themselves on Well first, where New York’s Meko started things off well for New York by hunting down members of Seoul in the close quarters areas of the map. With the Excelsior up 86 percent on the point, Munchkin and FLETA did the work necessary to flip the point in the Dynasty’s favor. The next engagement saw picks getting traded, but this time the ones who died first on the side of New York were able to come back to the point sooner and make enough of a difference for the point to flip again in favor of the Excelsior.

In overtime, Seoul retook the point and tried to hang on even as Miro and Munchkin fell in the resulting scuffle. But Mano’s Primal Rage was too much to handle, and the Dynasty had no choice but to watch as overtime burned away to give the Excelsior the first map lead.

On Ruins, FLETA’s Widowmaker started Seoul off right with picks onto DPS and tanks alike. But New York took the point back after a huge Self Destruct from Meko laid down an unrecoverable amount of damage across the entire Seoul team. The Excelsior extended their control on the point as Saebyeolbe pushed forward to badger the Dynasty as much as possible, including getting a pick on FLETA in close range after sneaking up on him while he was focused down his scope.

Next: Overwatch League Stage 2: SF Shock destroy Dallas Fuel

But it was FLETA who was able to get two quick picks to open things up for Seoul, and just in the nick of time as New York reached 99 percent. Seoul flipped the point, but before they could even utter a sigh of relief, New York was back. The Excelsior regained control of the point and Libero wrapped things up with one final Dragonblade. Just as it happened last time, New York found themselves with the victory after five ferocious maps against Seoul.

Map Score: Excelsior 2, Dynasty 0

Final Map Score: Excelsior 3, Dynasty 2

Player of the Match: Saebyeolbe, New York Excelsior