The most dominant rounds in 2021 Overwatch League May Melee
The May Melee, the first tournament cycle of the 2021 OWL, came to a close. It was an action packed affair with a total of 2380 teamfights happening across 483 rounds, 201 maps, and 52 matches.
Out of all the rounds played in the May Melee, which do you think was the most one sided? The dominance index (DI) was used to evaluate the dominance of one team over another in a round. If DI isn’t a familiar concept to you yet, check out my previous post (https://medium.com/andbox/dominance-index-v2-0-102d699ed750). Cases where only one teamfight happened, such as when a team wins with only one teamfight after a full hold in the previous round, were not included in today’s analysis.
East
In the East Division, Shanghai Dragons. vs Philadelphia Fusion, Week 3 Day 3, Nepal: Sanctum
DI: 1.29
In East Division, Shanghai Dragons recorded 1.29 DI on the match vs Philadelphia Fusion on Week 3 Day 3 in Nepal: Sanctum, the 3rd round of the map. Both teams played Rein-Mei-Lucio comps and Shanghai got 20 final blows while Philadelphia got none. There were 4 teamfights, and the maximum RCP_sum/s was the last teamfight at 1.893. Attached below is the graph on Hero Damage Dealt, Final Blows, Ultimates Used, and RCP.
West
Houston Outlaws. vs San Francisco Shock, Opening Weekend Day 3, Lijiang Tower: Control Center
DI: 1.374
In the West Division, Houston Outlaws recorded the highest DI at 1.374 against San Francisco Shock. During 5 teamfights Houton took 27 Final Blows while San Francisco got 8. The only teamfight San Francisco won was the 4th teamfight as can be seen in the graph below. The highest RCP_sum/s for a single teamfight was the 2nd teamfight at 2.341.
Interestingly, both teams used Rein-Lucio rush comps, just like in the Shanghai-Philadelphia round. The fact that the round with the highest DI across both regions involved Rein-Lucio comps on control (KotH) maps is not surprising. In this matchup, the team that wins the first teamfight becomes significantly ahead in all sorts of resources such as ultimates, chokepoint priority, and point control. This makes it very difficult for the trailing team to overcome the pressure from of the winning team at chokepoints. Also, both Shanghai and Houston were really good at managing ult economy. This is the reason why all OWL teams plan out details for the first teamfights in control maps.
