Shanghai Dragons vs New York Excelsior

Next up, we have what can rightfully be deemed as the most exciting clash of the weekend: Shanghai vs. New York.

This is about as premier a match-up as we can get in this online-only set-up. Both organizations have exceptional line-ups brimming with talent and while predicting the outcome with confidence is downright impossible, at least one thing is for certain: fireworks and top-tier Overwatch will not be absent!

New York, even though they've been absent for nearly a month, wasted no time in asserting their dominance last week. With two exceptionally quick 3-0 shellackings over Chengdu and Guangzhou, they made it known that they're looking to take over, rather than just participate. This is the New York we all know and love -- insanely talented, flexible, proactive, and bafflingly confident. That's the Excelsior in a nutshell.

Still, they haven't beaten any really good teams yet. It's easy to have hype and momentum after styling on sub-par Chinese teams, but they've yet to test their might against other seemingly equal challengers. In other words, their 7-1 record isn't all that thrilling once you factor in everything. They also hold wins over Florida, Washington, Houston, Boston, and London but that's also relatively unimpressive given how most of them are bottom-tier dwellers or mid-tier gatekeepers at best. In that sense, Shanghai will be their first true challenge.

Shanghai, however, are in a fairly similar situation. While they look amazing overall, they didn't have the toughest of opposition over the last couple of weeks. Getting dominant wins over Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu isn't all that hard these days, and arguably their biggest win so far came against Seoul last week. As things stand, many people consider Shanghai as a Top 3 team but it's hard to fully gauge whether that's a realistic assessment or an optimistic stretch. Without seeing them clash with the likes of Philadelphia Fusion and San Francisco Shock, we simply cannot know whether they have what it takes to truly compete with the best teams the Overwatch League has to offer.

Because of this, their clash against New York Excelsior is insanely important. It'll be an opportunity for both line-ups to prove their worth and solidify their spot at the top of the standings. Predicting the outcome of this one match is basically impossible. There's a brand-new hero pool in place and neither team had to fight particularly hard to get to where they are right now. This means we don't know how strong and resilient they are when their backs are against the wall.

We'll have to side with New York on this one although it could really go either way. They have more experience as a line-up and Shanghai's slightly inflated record -- while impressive on paper -- isn't a guarantee that they have what it takes to compete at the highest of levels. Either way, regardless of the outcome, we'll learn a lot more about both line-ups and their long-term potential.