by The Overwatch League 2023 Spring Stage Qualifiers enter the final week of action on Friday, May 26, and here you can find the best bets for the first round of play. Check out our selections for London Spitfire vs Los Angeles Gladiators, Vegas Eternal vs Atlanta Reign, and Washington Justice vs New York Excelsior.
LONDON SPITFIRE vs LOS ANGELES GLADIATORS OWL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Spitfire +650 at BetOnline | Gladiators -1000 at BetOnline |
| When: | May 26, 2023 | 12:00 PDT |
| Watch Live: | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/overwatchleague) |
London Spitfire’s past performances this stage are shocking and not in a good way. This team is not playing well, and even though they’re 1-5, which is better than Los Angeles Valiant (0-8), even the Valiant look more promising.
Over their last three outings, London Spitfire have lost against Houston Outlaws (1-3), Vancouver Titans (0-3), and Florida Mayhem (1-3), and even though they stole a map from the Outlaws, it’s tough to find a good reason to feel excited about Spitfire’s future.
Los Angeles Gladiators are not the best team in the Western Division, but they have been playing well and enter this match with a 4-2 record. Last week they defeated Vancouver Titans (3-1) and Vegas Eternal (3-0), showing improvement from their 1-3 run over the first two weeks of the stage.
On paper, Spitfire don’t look that bad since this team still consists of good coaching personnel and talented players, but based on what we’ve seen from them lately, it’s highly likely that the Spitfire will suffer another 0-3 loss on Friday.
Los Angeles Gladiators -2.5 maps
VEGAS ETERNAL vs ATLANTA REIGN OWL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Eternal +1400 at BetOnline | Reign -10000 at BetOnline |
| When: | May 26, 2023 | 13:30 PDT |
| Watch Live: | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/overwatchleague) |
Atlanta Reign are easily one of the top-two teams in the Western Division and the main candidate to qualify for Midseason Madness as West’s top seed. They’re 6-0 after four weeks of action with an 18-1 map differential, well ahead of the current second-ranked team, Houston Outlaws (5-1, 16-5).
Their next opponents, Vegas Eternal, sit on the other side of the league table, with no wins to their name (0-6) and an abysmal 1-18 map differential. However, they didn’t look too bad against Los Angeles Gladiators last week, when Eternal won two maps on King’s Row – Hybrid (2-3) and Junkertown – Escort (2-3).
Winning against Atlanta Reign looks like an impossible task for the Eternal; however, at the offered Overwatch betting odds, the value is with Vegas Eternal to win a map.
It’s not uncommon for OWL teams to experiment with compositions once they’re guaranteed a spot in the next event (it happened with LA Gladiators last week), and it’ll likely happen with the Reign on Friday. This won’t make it much easier for Vegas Eternal to win the series, but at +600, the underdogs are worth backing to win a map.
Vegas Eternal +2.5 maps
WASHINGTON JUSTICE vs NEW YORK EXCELSIOR OWL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Eternal -500 at BetOnline | Reign +333 at BetOnline |
| When: | May 26, 2023 | 15:00 PDT |
| Watch Live: | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/overwatchleague) |
Washington Justice are 4-2 and guaranteed a top-nine finish, whereas New York Excelsior are not locked in for Spring Stage Knockouts yet. However, they should be safe unless London Spitfire and Toronto Defiant win all of their games and New York Excelsior lose against Washington Justice and Vancouver Titans.
Form-wise, Washington Justice are in a better spot. They went 1-1 in Week 3 of the qualifiers, with a dominant 3-0 win against San Francisco Shock and a one-sided defeat (0-3) against Houston Outlaws. On the other hand, New York Excelsior lost both their Week 2 games against the Shock (2-3) and Vegas Eternal (1-3).
Washington Justice should win, but $1.20 looks a bit too pricey. New York Excelsior aren’t one of the top teams in the league, but their DPS lineup is good enough for us to believe that they can cause problems to the Justice. At +137, New York Excelsior with a map advantage is a better choice.
