Philadelphia Fusion vs New York Excelsior

After a couple of high-octane quarterfinal matchups, we’ve finally come to the Top 4. Eight teams are out of the mix, and we are left with the four absolute best - New York Excelsior, Los Angeles Valiant, London Spitfire and the Philadelphia Fusion.

It’s not surprising that these are the four teams that made it all the way to the end. New York always excelled regardless of the stage and meta, the Valiant had an upward trajectory from the very beginning and they made the right changes at the right time, London was always incredibly talented but they couldn’t clutch things out when it mattered the most, and lastly - Philadelphia was always in contention for the best Western team, but they often weren’t able to maintain a certain level of excellence

For the first playoff match we have a very interesting clash between the New York Excelsior and the Philadelphia Fusion.

Now right off the bat, New York has an advantage. They didn’t play in the quarterfinals, they had ample time to rest, watch Philly play and come up with a solid counter-strategy. That’s a huge deal in every competitive sport.

But before we delve deeper into the head-to-head, let’s take a look at how Philadelphia got here.

The Fusion started off incredibly strong on Wednesday - they outclassed Boston on all fronts and went home with the 3-1 victory. It looked like they had the series in the bag, but Boston had other plans. They fought back valiantly and managed to tie the series 1-1. Things were looking a bit dire for the Fusion as Boston had the momentum going into the deciding match. Fortunately for all Philadelphia fans, they had more than enough fuel in the tank to fight back and advance to the semifinals. They adapted incredibly quickly and even though they didn't plan things out to the last detail, the fact that they were more skilled individually was more than enough when all was said and done.

This time around though, they have the best Overwatch League team in front of them, and that’s a tall task. Philadelphia is a momentum based team, but when you’re up against such a well-rounded team like New York then it doesn’t really matter.

The Fusion have the tools to make this into a highly competitive scrap - there’s no doubt about that, but they’ve already lost to New York four times for a reason.

The only time they've been able to take down the Excelsior was all the way back in January in Stage 1. After that single win - which was an insane upset in its own right, Philly lost in every subsequent matchup, with the last one being a clean 4-0 win for New York.

EQO and Carpe are insanely talented players, but they shouldn’t be able to take down the likes of Libero, Saebyeolbe and the “Big Boss” himself - Pine. Whatever Philadelphia can do - New York can do better.

New York’s tank line is also far stronger than what Fusion have to offer - given the New York doesn’t start with Janus.

As for New York, they’re essentially as strong as they ever were. Sure, they looked vulnerable - almost human - nearing the end of Stage 4, but you have to remember that they’ve been at the very top for almost six months. They lost only a handful of times and being at the top and maintaining that form for so long takes it’s toll. They knew this, and because of it they were focusing more on the grand scheme of things - and that’s the playoffs, rather than just the Stage finals.

Then, finally, you get to the Most Valuable Player of the inaugural Overwatch League season - Jjonak. The man is an absolute beast on Zenyatta, and he’s proven to be head and shoulders above the rest from a statistical standpoint.

This is a rare case of an individual not being as good as he is because he’s in a top tier team - Jjonak is sensational all on his own, and that’s making New York even better. He’s essentially considered as a third DPS player by casters, analysts and players as well. He dishes out more damage than he heals and that’s just the kind of player New York needs.

Even if Philadelphia manage to upset for a single match, there’s no way that they’ll be able to sustain the level of play that’s necessary in order to take New York down twice in a row. Because of that, we’re going with the Excelsior. They’ve been the favorites to win the whole League ever since Stage 1, and with good reason. Whenever they really wanted to win - they did, and with relative ease.

That said, if Carpe and EQO come to play, we could be in for some incredible Overwatch that could very well go the distance.