The Atlanta Reign and New York Excelsior won their respective matches on Saturday to jump into a tie atop the standings in Summer Stage qualifying action in the Overwatch League’s West Region.
The Reign swept the Washington Justice 3-0, while New York blanked the London Spitfire. Other winners on Saturday were the Boston Uprising and the Toronto Defiant.
Summer Stage Qualifiers in the West run through Sept. 4, with each team in the region playing a total of eight best-of-five matches. The top three teams will advance to the playoffs, while the fourth- through 10th-ranked squads will be sent to the play-ins.
East Region qualifying will run through Aug. 6. All matches will also be best-of-five in a single round-robin format, with all 10 teams moving on to the Summer Stage Knockouts. Matches between the three teams based in Korea (Dallas Fuel, Seoul Dynasty, Seoul Infernal) will all be offline.
The Reign began their match with a 2-0 win on Ilios and finished with close victories on Numbani (3-2) and Watchpoint: Gibraltar (2-1).
The Excelsior followed the same pattern, grabbing a 2-0 win on Busan followed by a 4-3 victory on Numbani and a 3-2 clincher on Dorado.
The Uprising began their match with a 2-0 win on Oasis, but the Houston Outlaws tied things with a 3-2 victory on Eichenwalde. Boston clinched with 1-0 conquests on Route 66 and New Queen Street.
The Defiant’s up-and-down match with the Vancouver Titans began with a 2-1 win on Antarctic Peninsula. Vancouver bounced back with 3-2 victories on Eichenwalde and Watchpoint: Gibraltar, but Toronto claimed the match with a 1-0 win on Esperanca and a 2-1 conquest on Lijiang Tower.
Qualifying action continues Sunday with three matches in the West and three in the East:
West
–Florida Mayhem vs. Vancouver Titans
–Boston Uprising vs. Vegas Eternal
–Toronto Defiant vs. Los Angeles Valiant
East
–Dallas Fuel vs. O2 Blast
–Seoul Inferno vs. Poker Face
–Dreamers vs. PANTHERA
West Region standings (win-loss record, map differential):
T1. Atlanta Reign, 2-0, plus-6
T1. New York Excelsior, 2-0, plus-6
3. San Francisco Shock, 2-0, plus-4
4. Florida Mayhem, 1-0, plus-3
5. Boston Uprising, 1-0, plus-2
T6. Los Angeles Valiant, 1-0, plus-1
T6. Toronto Defiant, 1-0, plus-1
8. Vancouver Titans, 0-1, minus-1
9. Vegas Eternal, 0-1, minus-3
T10. Los Angeles Gladiators, 0-2, minus-4
T10. Washington Justice, 0-2, minus-4
12. Houston Outlaws, 0-2, minus-5
13. London Spitfire, 0-2, minus-6
East Region standings (win-loss record, map differential):
T1. Dallas Fuel, 1-0, plus-3
T1. Seoul Inferno, 1-0, plus-3
3. Dreamers, 1-0, plus-2
4. Seoul Dynasty, 1-1, plus-1
T5. Hangzhou Spark, 1-1, 0
T5. Shanghai Dragons, 1-1, 0
7. Guangzhou Charge, 1-1, minus-1
8. O2 Blast, 0-1, minus-2
T9. PANTHERA, 0-1, minus-3
T9. Poker Face, 0-1, minus-3
–Field Level Media