The Fifth Overwatch League Season One Playoff Team is Locked In
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentLondon Spitfire has locked in its spot in the Overwatch League season one playoffs.
The Spitfire took down Florida Mayhem in their penultimate match of the regular season to guarantee a quarter-final place.
The Spitfire’s match and map difference coming into the final week meant they only actually needed a single map win in either of their final matches to secure a top-six finish. They found that win in the very first game against Florida, but also went on to win the series 4-0.
At a 4-5 record in Stage 4 with one game to play, the Spitfire will not appear in the stage playoffs, but have now assured themselves a place in the far greater $1.7 million season playoffs. They currently sit in fourth in the overall standings, but their final placement will yet be determined by the results still to come in the last week of the regular season.
The London Spitfire have consistently been praised as a team with the potential to be the best in the league simply on the strength of talent in the squad, a potential they demonstrated in winning the first Stage playoffs.
Unfortunately, the team hasn’t been able to maintain that form consistently, and in Stage 4 in particular they’re looking perhaps weaker than ever. Having done enough to reach the playoffs, however, the Spitfire has given themselves more time to find themselves again before the most important games of the season.
Along with the London Spitfire, Boston Uprising and the Los Angeles Gladiators will also compete in the quarter-finals, with match-ups yet to be drawn. New York Excelsior and the Los Angeles Valiant have advanced directly to the semi-finals as the top teams of the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions respectively.
Only one playoff spot remains in contention. The Philadelphia Fusion currently holds sixth place, but a loss to Houston Outlaws on the same day means both they and the Seoul Dynasty could yet steal it from the Fusion.