New York Excelsior are the Overwatch League Stage Two champions

After a thrilling, and highly unpredictable, second stage of the Overwatch League, the New York Excelsior have been crowned the champions in the league’s second ever Finals.

While the actual Stage Two playoffs weren’t held until Sunday, the surprises started off earlier in the week. In the first match of Week Five, the Philadelphia Fusion, who were barely holding on to an outside playoff shot, upset the Los Angeles Gladiators, putting the Seoul Dynasty in the drivers seat for the third place playoff spot. The next day, however, Seoul got blown out 3-1 by the Houston Outlaws, moving Philadelphia from long-shots to favorites in the race to playoffs.

By the end of the week, the Fusion had not only made playoffs, but set up wound up making Sunday one of the most entertaining days in the Overwatch League so far. The first match of the day has the Fusion facing off against Stage One champions, the London Spitfire.

After a close first map on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, the Fusion took two commanding wins on Nepal and Hanamura to move within one map of the Finals. However, the Spitfire weren’t going down that easy, staging an incredible defense on the first point of King’s Row to take that map 4-3 and force a fifth map. The series ended on Route 66, one of the Spitfire’s best maps, but thanks in large part to the incredible Widowmaker play of Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok, the Fusion came out on top 3-2 and advanced to the Stage Two Finals.

In the Finals, the Fusion faced off against NYXL, who had spent the entire stage sitting atop the Overwatch League standings. Maps one and two, both proved close, but the Fusion narrowly took each one, moving within one game of two massive upsets in the same day. However, NYXL fought back and proved why they were Stage Two’s best team, winning three straight maps in commanding fashion to complete the reverse sweep and take home the title of Overwatch League Stage Two champions.