The London Spitfire won a pair of matches in play-in action on Sunday to secure the final playoff berth in the Overwatch League’s West Region.
London edged the Vancouver Titans 3-2 in the lower-bracket semifinal before ousting the Toronto Defiant 3-1 in the lower-bracket final to join the Boston Uprising as the two teams in the West to clinch playoff spots via play-ins.
Three other squads in the region — Atlanta Reign, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws — had already clinched a spot in the postseason thanks to their performance in Summer Stage Qualifiers.
The fourth- through 10th-place teams from Summer Stage Qualifiers were competing in a double-elimination bracket, with the top two squads locking down a playoff berth. There was an upper and lower bracket, and all matches were best-of-five.
The ninth- and 10th-seeded teams opened play-ins with a knockout match last weekend. The Washington Justice ousted the New York Excelsior in that meeting.
The Spitfire went through the gauntlet during play-ins, opening their run in the upper-bracket quarterfinals. They made it to the upper-bracket semis, where they lost to get relegated to the lower bracket. In all, London played a total of five matches to punch its ticket to the playoffs.
On Sunday, the Spitfire beat Vancouver 2-1 on Ilios before the Titans answered with wins on Midtown (3-2) and New Junk City (3-1). With its back against the wall, London prevailed 1-0 on New Queen Street and 3-2 on Circuit Royale to stave off elimination.
Then in the final, the Spitfire once again opened with a victory — 2-0 on Busan — and saw its opponent draw even, as Toronto took Midtown 5-4. But London didn’t face a deficit this time around, coming out on top on New Junk City (3-1) and Esperanca (1-0) to land in the playoffs.
The playoffs begin Sept. 28 in Toronto.
West Region play-ins final standings:
1. Boston Uprising — qualifies to playoffs
2. London Spitfire — qualifies to playoffs
3. Toronto Defiant
4. Vancouver Titans
5-6. San Francisco Shock, Washington Justice
7. New York Excelsior
–Field Level Media
