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Who’s going to the Overwatch League’s Stage 3 playoffs?

While an upset or two is possible, we probably already know who’s heading to the playoffs

Blizzard Entertainment

Stage 3 of the Overwatch League’s first season has nearly come to an end and the playoff participants are nearly set. But there’s still a little room for some end-of-season dramatics, so it’s worth taking a look at where the top teams currently sit.

The three teams currently locked into playoff positions are the Boston Uprising, The Los Angeles Valiant and the New York Excelsior. The Uprising are currently in a perfect place to clinch the first seed, all they have to do is win their final match against the Los Angeles Gladiators. This leaves NYXL looking at a likely second place finish, though if Boston lose, NYXL takes their place as the first seed. Meanwhile, the Valiant are likely going to stick in third place thanks to the map differential.

That leaves three teams vying for the final playoff spot, but the race isn’t as close as it may sound. While the Philadelphia Fusion and Seoul Dynasty both have a chance at making it, the LA Gladiators sit in the driver’s seat. If they beat the Uprising, the Gladiators are in, even if they lose, they only have to keep the map differential close and they have a good shot. For the other two teams, their path to playoffs is pretty complicated.

For the Fusion, they need the Gladiators to lose to Boston by at least two maps, then themselves will have to defeat the Valiant by at least three maps to even have a chance at over-taking the Gladiators in the standings. For Seoul, that proposition gets even tougher, as they face the London Spitfire, a team that has had the Dynasty’s number all through the third stage so far. But if they were to make it, Seoul have two matches left to improve their -2 map differential, and will still have to hope for a sweep of the Gladiators to make things easy.

While these teams do have an outside shot of making the playoffs, we’re still left with a pretty clear picture of the four teams most likely to be competing on Sunday. With so many new teams heading into the playoffs for the first time this season, Stage Three’s playoffs might be the most exciting we have seen so far in the Overwatch League’s inaugural season.