BY BEARLIGHT @BEARLIGHTGAMING / CAROLINAESPORTS.GG
The end of Week 3 of the Watchpoint Weekly Summer Series marked the midway point of the regular season, where teams resume their aim to turn the heads of college recruiters. With Overwatch 2 set to release on October 4th of this year (shortly after the Summer Series Invitational) hopeful Overwatch 1 esports recruits continue to be in constant focus to master their main heroes, all of which will be transferred over to the new title. New teams with familiar faces has become a trend here in the Summer Series, and this week one of those teams had the potential to take out the Series' "Royalty of Watchpoint Weekly". Find out the results of that match, and the current Watchpoint Weekly Power Rankings in this week's breakdown.
NEW TEAMS, FAMILIAR FACES
As I interact with every team member who works on the Stay Plugged In platform, it is clear that they march by the mantra, "We can not celebrate enough when a player commits to a college". Every commitment confirms that their mission to assist these players is on course. So I will join in on the excitement and congratulate Hookbait (George Fox University) and TedsCousin (Nichols College) again on their new adventures into the collegiate Overwatch scene. I actually had the chance to sit down with Hookbait and ask questions about his recruitment journey. You can check out the interview on his commitment to George Fox University here.
Both of these Stay Plugged In Overwatch legends joined teams in the Summer Series as well in Week 3, some with old teammates and some new. Hookbait partied up with Team Galaxy for the week, while TedsCousin renewed the teammate companionship with true Flex and Hitscan DPS star, Platypigoose on the team known as Dance Lizards.
TEAM GALAXY
As strong of a competitor and leader as Hookbait is, it's tough to come together with a new team and hit the win column. Starting up the night against Subs made things much tougher. Subs had a clear advantage having participated in the Summer Series first two weeks and therefor being in full practice. A quick (0-2) for Team Galaxy, which could be taken as a learning experience on what the peak talent level would look like. Unfortunately the night wouldn't get better for new team. They wrap up their first week with losses against Blinn is LFT (0-2) and Dance Lizards (0-2). We hope to see Hookbait make a return in the Summer Series, but if not, the Stay Plugged In team and I wish him luck with the new GFU team.
DANCE LIZARDS
Dance Lizards would face the same teams as Team Galaxy in Week 3, but the results would be a bit different. Of course the Round 3 match between the two favored Dance Lizard, which would have automatically hoisted Dance Lizards above Team Galaxy in results at the end of the night. Dance Lizards also managed to start strong, as they began the week with a 2-1 win over Blinn. The TedCousin and Platypigoose combination has always specialized in capturing control points, so no surprise to see Dance Lizards edge out the stacked Blinn team at Lijiang Tower. Another win over the escort map of Junkertown sent the Lizards to Match 2 with a win in their back pocket. No team has been able to take down the Subs in a match this Summer Series, and they were next on the Dance Lizard's hit list. At this point, the Subs hadn't dropped a single map since Week 1, so perhaps targeting this team was a fool's errand. Though Dance Lizards were truly one of the best teams that have challenged the Subs thus far, their efforts would be in vain. A 0-2 result is a tough pill to swallow, but nothing to hang your head over when against the Overwatch semi-pros. Plus, finishing the night with high spirits in their win over Team Galaxy had to soften any hard feelings left in the matter.
TOP 5 POWER RANKINGS
1. Subs [9-0]
Note: Subs were the champions again here in Week 3. No arguments can be made against this top spot. Subs have only truly been challenged in one match back in Week 1 against Uzumaki. Until a team is able to take down this team I've labeled as the "Royalty of Watchpoint Weekly", they will continue to hold the number 1 spot. Though even if they drop a match, they will probably still keep it for now.
2. UZUMAKI [4-2]
Note: Although currently trailing Blinn is LFT in the points standings, Uzumaki hosts a better win percentage (67%) than Blinn is LFT (56%) and won the lone head-to-head match in Week 1. Uzumaki's inability to be present for Week 3 is the reason they aren't currently in second place in points. As the only team to take a map off of Subs, and having Subs be the only team to beat them in any match, swag has done a great job of leading the team to a well deserved number 2 bid through 3 weeks.
3. BLINN IS LFT [5-4]
Note: Unlike Uzumaki, Blinn is LFT has been present every week of the Series so far. They finished the first two weeks at a combined [4-2] record. It was a step back this week for Blinn however, as they finish [1-2] on the night. Since those losses came at the hand of Subs and a challenging new Dance Lizards roster, and since they've been getting their match reps in, Blinn's 3rd spot is secure for now.
4. JSERRA ESPORTS [2-4]
Note: A big drop off in results when moving from the third spot to the fourth. Dance Lizards has a much higher win percentage (67%) then JSerra Esports (33%), but it takes a commitment to get our attention here in the Summer Series. JSerra is continuously working on improvements as they show up for as many weeks as they are able. CostcoPatron also led the JSerra team to a win over Walter's Kittens, a team that out ranked them on paper. The continuous hard work has earned my respect.
5. DANCE LIZARDS
Note: It's rare that I will put a team on the Power Rankings at all after playing in just one week. Not because I don't think this team deserves a top 5, but instead I just don't have large enough of a sample pool of performance to go off of. The win over Blinn could justify a top 3 spot, but that head-to-head was so close, and they also got wiped by Subs. I have high expectations with the talent on this team, and truthfully believe they will reach the top 3 at some point, as long as they are able to show up.
Watchpoint Weekly will be taking next week off for the 4th of July holiday, but will return to action Thursday, July 14th at it's usual 7 pm ET start time. In the meantime, get caught up with all of the match results, standings, more here.