Overwatch League Power Rankings entering June Joust

by Jessica Scharnagle

The first tournament of the 2021 Overwatch League season is in the books, and the results surprised many fans.

With the conclusion of the May Melee, teams are looking forward to Friday for the start of the June Joust, which brings a few changes with it.

The biggest change introduced into the next stage of the season is hero pools. Last year, hero pools were announced as a weekly rotation of heroes. Each week the league took four heroes out of rotation. The heroes that were removed from play were chosen from a pool of heroes that had a 10% or more pick rate.

Read more: Overwatch League’s May Melee ends with Dallas Fuel on top

This year, hero pools are only active in select tournaments. Only the June Joust and Countdown Cup will see the use of hero pools. The heroes removed from rotation for the June Joust are the following:

  • Tracer
  • Sombra
  • Reinhardt
  • Zenyatta

Because of the introduction of hero pools and the new patch for the June Joust (Patch 1.59.1), there is always the possibility that an underperforming team from the May Melee tournament wins the June Joust tournament.

Keeping in mind that these changes could have a significant effect on how teams perform in the next stage of the season, here’s how Nerd Street Gamers thinks the Overwatch League teams stack up heading into the June Joust.

20. Los Angeles Valiant

Season W-L record 0-4 | map record 1-12

The Valiant didn’t do their fan base any favors with their roster shakeup and move to China in the off-season, and their team’s performance hasn’t excited many people either. They managed to take exactly one map from the Chengdu Hunters, but were decisively defeated in the three other matches they played in the May Melee.

19. London Spitfire

Season W-L record 0-4 | map record 3-12

General manager Ysabel “Noukky” Müller wasn’t kidding when she told fans that the Spitfire are “very unlikely” to be a top-five team. Spitfire fans should be prepared for more of the same in the coming tournaments after a disappointing start to the season.

18. Vancouver Titans

Season W-L record 0-4 | map record 4-12

The Titans haven’t had any standout players in their matches so far, and they haven’t won any matches either. Although they have the smallest map differential among the 0-4 teams, they need to improve quite a bit in order to be even a contender for the playoffs.

Photo credit: Overwatch League

17. New York Excelsior

Season W-L record 1-3 | map record 3-10

The NYXL have lost three out of their four games so far, and only the Valiant are lower in the East Region rankings. Their entirely new roster, with the exception of star support Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang, doesn’t seem to be working well for them so far.

16. Guangzhou Charge

Season W-L record 1-3 | map record 3-9

Although the Charge were able to best the Los Angeles Valiant 3-0, they lost every other match 0-3. It will take a lot of practice and perhaps a little luck for the Charge to start producing better results.

15. Paris Eternal

Season W-L record 1-3 | map record 5-10

The exit of Alberto “NeptuNo” Gonzalez Molinillo is an unfortunate one for the Eternal, and because of it, fans might see them slip even further in the rankings. They’ve brought in Arthur “dridro” Szanto as their new support, but time will tell if they can pull things together enough to climb the standings.

14. Boston Uprising

Season W-L record 1-3 | map record 4-11

The Uprising have had a difficult start to their season. They have lost three out of the four games they have played this season, but they were missing veteran tank Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth and have added tank player Young-sun “GaeBullSsi” Yun to the mix as well. They could look like a whole new team this week.

13. Hangzhou Spark

Season W-L record 1-3 | map record 7-9

The Spark have a big list of players on their active roster. The problem is that most of them were picked up in the offseason. They could be dealing with some growing pains, or perhaps the coaches are suffering from a paradox of choice.

12. Atlanta Reign

Season W-L record 1-3 | map record 8-9

The Reign are running with the league minimum seven players at the moment, and that seems to be hurting instead of helping. With no deep bench to reach from, the players are forced to become experts in whatever happens to be the meta for the June Joust, and there’s no telling whether that will help them, or cause them to drop further in the rankings.

Photo credit: Overwatch League

11. Los Angeles Gladiators

Season W-L record 2-2 | map record 8-6

The Gladiators made a lot of offseason changes, and it seems they are still trying to settle in. Their 2-2 record isn’t too bad, but fans should note that their first two games were against the Shock and the Fuel, who won the May Melee. With their first two matches in the June Joust against the Vancouver Titans and the Atlanta Reign, fans might see a good start from them in the next stage of the season.

10. Toronto Defiant

Season W-L record 3-1 | map record 9-7

The Defiant sit at tenth place in our rankings, even though they have a 3-1 record. Unfortunately for the Defiant, they have the worst map differential out of the five teams that hold the same record. The Defiant can climb in the rankings, but if they don’t win decisively, their poor map differential will hurt them when it comes to tiebreakers.

9. Seoul Dynasty

Season W-L record 3-1 | map record 10-3

Fans are yet again frustrated with the Dynasty’s lack of progress. Sitting in the middle of the pack isn’t what most were hoping for, but the Dynasty haven’t proven that they are anything other than a mid-tier team so far.

8. San Francisco Shock

Season W-L record 3-1 | map record 11-6

Matthew “super” DeLisi has long been known as the Reinhardt master, but unfortunately for the Shock, Reinhardt won’t be making an appearance in the June Joust. There’s plenty of time for the Shock to practice with a different composition, but fans might not see their favorite tank grace their screens, especially when Myeong-hwan “smurf” Yoo is just as deserving in the main-tank role.

7. Washington Justice

Season W-L record 4-0 | map record 12-3

The Justice still seem to be adjusting to their new roster, but with star tank Junho “Fury” Kim on the team, it is only a matter of time before the Justice settle into a groove. With four DPS players on the team, fans are hoping that the hero pools don’t faze the progress the Justice have made so far.

6. Philadelphia Fusion

Season W-L record 4-0 | map record 12-3

Visa issues are rampant with the Fusion, but the team has made last-minute pickups Hong-joon “HOTBA” Choi and Jin-mo “tobi” Yang permanent, which means that even without their visa-troubled friends, they are still a menace to the other teams in the East Region.

Photo credit: Overwatch League

5. Houston Outlaws

Season W-L record 4-0 | map record 12-5

The Outlaws have been one of the most interesting teams to watch in the offseason because of the pick-up of Jake “Jake” Lyon as a player-coach, and their many additions to the roster. Dante “Danteh” Cruz and João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles are the only two Outlaws who remained from last season, but the new additions seem to be working out well for the team.

4. Chengdu Hunters

Season W-L record 3-1 | map record 10-4

The Hunters have proven to be a force to be reckoned with at the beginning of the season. In the first week, the OWL’s IBM Watson Power Rankings had a lot of Chengdu players at the top of the list, and their performance has followed. Although they aren’t dominating the IBM rankings anymore, they are still one of the most dangerous teams in the OWL.

3. Florida Mayhem

Season W-L record 3-1 | map record 9-6

Coach Kim “KuKi” Dae-kuk continues to be a beacon of light for the Mayhem. Although the Mayhem have struggled in past seasons, it seems that veteran tank Min-seok “OGE” Son might have been the missing team member they needed to climb in the rankings.

2. Shanghai Dragons

Season W-L record 3-1 | map record 9-5

Coming in at second place in the May Melee tournament, the Shanghai Dragons have been a strong contender this season so far, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t continue to see similar success in the June Joust.

1. Dallas Fuel

Season W-L record 2-2 | map record 9-7

The Fuel are on a roll, and although the hero pools might change up their strategy, they now have a complete roster with the addition of hitscan DPS Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim. With strong players across all three roles, Nerd Street expects the Fuel will continue to do well in the June Joust.

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