The Washington Justice and Atlanta Reign posted wins Saturday to remain atop the standings in West Region qualifying for the Overwatch League’s Spring Stage Knockouts.
The Justice swept the San Francisco Shock while the Reign swept the Los Angeles Valiant. In the day’s other contest, the New York Excelsior topped the Vegas Eternal 3-1.
The OWL format is different this year, with lower-level teams getting the chance to compete with the top-level squads.
The season format will now see teams amass points based on their results in regional qualifiers rather than the standard league standings that were in place in previous years.
The Spring Stage will be followed by the Midseason Madness event, while the Summer Stage will be followed by the season-ending playoffs, but the makeup of the events will be different for the East and West regions.
Spring Stage qualifying matches will determine how the West teams are seeded in the Spring Stage Knockouts and which West teams make Midseason Madness.
On Saturday, the Reign opened with a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower before taking King’s Row 3-2 and Shambali Monastery 1-0 for the sweep.
The Justice opened with a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower and then took Hollywood 3-1. They topped off the sweep of the Shock with a 1-0 win on Rialto.
The Excelsior took Map 1 on Oasis with a 2-0 win over Vegas, which rebounded with a 3-2 win on Blizzard World. The Excelsior then took Junkertown 4-3 before clinching, 1-0 on Esperanca.
West Region qualifying continues Sunday with three matches:
London Spitfire vs. Florida Mayhem
Washington Justice vs. Houston Outlaws
San Francisco Shock vs. New York Excelsior
Overwatch League Spring Stage Knockouts, West Region qualifying with match record, map differential
1. Atlanta Reign, 6-0, plus-17
T2. Washington Justice, 4-1, plus-8
T2. Florida Mayhem, 4-1, plus-8
4. Boston Uprising, 3-1, plus-5
5. Houston Outlaws, 2-1, plus-4
6. Vancouver Titans, 2-2, plus-1
7. Los Angeles Gladiators, 2-2, minus-3
8. New York Excelsior, 2-3, minus-3
9. London Spitfire, 1-2, minus-1
10. San Francisco Shock, 1-2, minus-5
11. Toronto Defiant, 1-3, minus-5
12. Vegas Eternal, 0-4, minus-11
13. Los Angeles Valiant, 0-6, minus-15
–Field Level Media