The Washington Justice and Florida Mayhem went the distance to earn wins on Friday in West region qualifying matches for the Overwatch League’s Countdown Cup.
The Justice topped the Boston Uprising 3-2 to move into fourth place in the region, while the Mayhem rallied from down 2-0 to defeat the Vancouver Titans 3-2 for their first win in qualifying. In the other match of the day, the Houston Outlaws swept the Paris Eternal 3-0.
Boston opened with a 2-0 win over Washington on Busan-UAT. Washington responded with two high-scoring wins, 4-3 on King’s Row and 5-4 on Circuit Royal. The Uprising evened the match with a 1-0 victory on New Queen Street before the Justice put it to bed with a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower.
Vancouver led two maps to won after it beat Florida 2-0 on Busan-UAT and 2-1 on Paraiso. The Mayhem stormed back by winning 2-1 on Circuit Royal and 1-0 on Colosseo. Florida completed the comeback with a 2-0 triumph on Lijiang Tower.
Houston took care of business against Paris, winning 2-0 on Lijiang Tower, 4-3 on Paraiso and 2-1 on Junkertown. The Eternal are now the only West region team still winless in qualifying.
The three teams in the East that finish the regular season with the most league points will qualify for the playoffs, while the top six finishers in the West will do the same.
The other berths in each playoff bracket will be determined through the play-ins taking place Oct. 14-15 in the East and Oct. 21-22 in the West as part of the Countdown Cup. Seeding for the Countdown Cup is based on results in the ongoing qualifying matches.
Two West playoff bids will be awarded via the Countdown Cup, while one East playoff bid will be at stake.
The double-elimination playoffs begin Oct. 30. The playoff bracket will culminate in the first in-person Grand Finals in three years at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center on Nov. 4. The grand prize is $1 million, while the runner-up team will earn $500,000.
Action continues Saturday with six matches:
–Guangzhou Charge vs. Hangzhou Spark (East)
–Los Angeles Valiant vs. Shanghai Dragons (East)
–Philadelphia Fusion vs. Chengdu Hunters (East)
–Atlanta Reign vs. Florida Mayhem (West)
–Washington Justice vs. Los Angeles Gladiators (West)
–Dallas Fuel vs. Houston Outlaws (West)
Overwatch League — Countdown Cup standings, with points, match record and map differential (*clinched playoff berth)
West
1. *Dallas Fuel, 4 points, 4-0, +11
2. *Los Angeles Gladiators, 4 points, 4-0, +9
3. Atlanta Reign, 3 points, 3-1, +6
4. Washington Justice, 3 points, 3-2, -1
5. Boston Uprising, 2 points, 2-1, +4
6. Houston Outlaws, 2 points, 2-1, +3
7. London Spitfire, 2 points, 2-2, -2
8. Toronto Defiant, 1 point, 1-3, -2
T9. *San Francisco Shock, 1 point, 1-3, -4
T9. Florida Mayhem, 1 point, 1-2, -4
11. New York Excelsior, 1 point, 1-3, -5
12. Vancouver Titans, 1 point, 1-4, -7
13. Paris Eternal, 0 points, 0-3, -8
East
1. *Seoul Dynasty, 4 points, 4-1, +10
2. Guangzhou Charge, 3 points, 3-2, 0
3. Los Angeles Valiant, 3 points, 3-2, -2
4. Philadelphia Fusion, 2 points, 2-2, +2
5. Chengdu Hunters, 2 points, 2-2, 0
T6. *Shanghai Dragons, 1 point, 1-3, -5
T6. Hangzhou Spark, 1 point, 1-4, -5
–Field Level Media
