Overwatch League Recap, Week 11

The Overwatch League wraps up Week 11 in the regular season and moves one step closer to the half-way point. Some teams have risen to a definite lead in the ranks, while others continue to flounder at the bottom. The real struggle happens somewhere in between as teams push to rise above the rest. This weekend featured another Battle of LA, the San Francisco Shock taking a last-minute win and the Paris Eternal faltering. Check below for your Overwatch League Recap, Week 11.

Atlanta Reign 3 v 0 Washington Justice
Los Angeles Gladiators 3 v 2 Los Angeles Valiant

Florida Mayhem 3 v 0 Paris Eternal
Boston Uprising 1 v 3 Toronto Defiant

Dallas Fuel 2 v 3 San Francisco Shock
Chengdu Hunters 3 - 0 Guangzhou Charge
Shanghai Dragons 3 - 0 Hangzhou Spark

Guangzhou Charge 3 v 1 Hangzhou Spark
Chengdu Hunters 0 v 3 Shanghai Dragons

The Battle of LA is always a match to watch and this one is no different. Historically, the Valiant has more wins over the Gladiators at 4 and 3. The Gladiators, however, have more map wins at 15 to 14.

On Busan the biggest difference in team compositions is the Gladiators coming out with double shields while the Valiant elect for Orisa shield with a D.va off-tank. Damage heroes vary but start to favor dive picks. The Gladiators are able to punish the Valiant's overly aggressive attacks and push back with aggression of their own. Johannes "Shax" Nielsen and Kai "KSP" Collins are nearly able to help bring the win over. However a strange Ashe pick by KSP throughout the series held them back compared to the Reaper on the Gladiators side.

The Valiant continues to run Ashe on Route 66 on defense. They do burn all the time off the Gladiator's clock, but the Gladiators still finish the map. On offense, KSP's Ashe doesn't seem to add much to the composition and the Gladiators' aggression almost leads to a full hold at point A. The Valiant manages to squeak by point A and B and nearly push to C but the Gladiators stop the payload.

The Gladiators come into Hollywood with the same aggression they've been using to pressure the Valiant all match. That aggression ends up biting back on the final point, with only half a meter to map completion they keep fighting as the Valiant trickle back on point burning down the clock. The Valiant to hold the Gladiators just short of point C. The Valiant on attack answer back with the same aggression they've been met with the entire match. With a good time bank going into point C, the Gladiators overextend and the Valiant is able to capitalize on it and take the map.

The Valiant starts off Hanamura with a great attack, netting them a time bank of over 2 minutes with an Ashe, Pharah, Wrecking Ball, D.va, Ana and Mercy composition. Chaotic and brawling they're able to tear their way to map completion. The Gladiators stick to the two-shield composition with Orisa and Sigma with the standard Mei and Reaper damage picks. The Valiant burn off almost a 3rd of the time bank on point A, leading he Gladiators with over 4 minutes to take point B. The Gladiators are completely lost trying to out-play the Valiant and the series goes to a map 5.

Both LA teams bring out Ashe and Pharahs for a DPS mirror match-up. The Gladiators are able to build up to 99% before the Valiant are finally able to flip it back but the Gladiators still manage to take round 1. The Gladiators take first control and KSP finally switches off the Ashe for a Tracer pick along with Shax on the Torbjorn. They face off against the Doomfist and Reaper on the Gladiators side. The Valiant is able to flip the point in their favor. However, the Gladiators outplay the Valiant and secure the win for a 3 and 2 victory.

The Florida Mayhem have been looking as good as they ever have these past two seasons, but are still struggling to stay above the bottom of the ranks. The Paris Eternal is in a similar situation where they're trying to escape the reputations of past seasons. The Eternal has shown some promise but still struggles to reach the heights some say they have the potential for. Today was a day for the Mayhem to celebrate and the Eternal to despair as they once again let victory slip away.

Both teams come out with standard meta composition of Reaper, Mei and double shields. Paris plays a bit more aggressively with a Doomfist pick over the standard Mei. They take first capture on the point but the Mayhem are eventually able to play into the Eternal and flip the point. Florida is in complete control of the tempo of the match and finishes round 2 of the map 100% to 0%. Nicolas "NiCOgdh" Moret wasn't able to get much of anything done on the Doomfist, putting the Eternal at a major disadvantage compared to Florida's Reaper and Mei.

Paris Eternal starts on the attack and through a HanzoPharah composition they're able to break through the first team fight and capture point A with a HanzoDoomfist. As they move into point B, Paris swaps back to the ReaperDoomfist and immediately gets wiped out by Florida. The Paris Eternal pushes to the edge of point B but isn't able to take it. On Florida's attack they forgo the Mei and Reaper for Tracer and Soldier 76 and they run over the Paris Eternal for a point A take. The Mayhem keeps up the tempo and aggression and rolls through to a victory on Rialto with little to no resistance.

The Eternal finally decide to answer the Mayhem with a mirror composition using the standard MeiReaper, double shield with Moira and Lucio. The Mayhem continues to roll through Paris with huge momentum, capturing point B with 4 and a half minutes on the clock. There's nothing the Eternal can do but burn time off the clock as the Mayhem finish the map. On their attack Paris looks their strongest yet in this match-up, securing point B with over 5 minutes on the clock. The Eternal is able to finish the map with exactly 1 minute and 1 second more in their timebank. Despite an inferior time bank, the Florida Mayhem was able to take point A and push the payload in OT nearly to point B. Paris is able to capture point A, but the Florida Mayhem come out on top and complete the full 3 and 0 sweep.

For more Overwatch League recaps and analysis by Robbie Landis and Jake Lyon, make sure you check out the OWLs Nest!

Follow Checkpoint XP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!