Dallas Fuel vs Shanghai Dragons Prediction: Dallas Fuel on a Title Run

• Currently, Dallas Fuel is the second-highest-ranked team in the East group, with a win tally of 9-4 and a map tally of 30-17. 
• Shanghai Dragons are considerably lower in the standings in 7th place. Their win tally is 5-8, with a map tally of 20-29. 
• Due to their standings and a range of other factors that we will cover below, oddsmakers have listed Shanghai Dragons as five-to-one underdogs, while giving Dallas Fuel a considerable edge in the upcoming contest.

Dallas Fuel will face off against Shanghai Dragons in the Upper Bracket of the Play-Ins of the 2023 Overwatch League. The two teams are part of the East Group and have already played their way through the early stages of the tournament, getting through the Pro-Am and Regular Season stages with reasonable success. 

Dallas Fuel vs Shanghai Dragons Pick

• Our Pick: Dallas Fuel is to win. 

Tournament Structure

Popularly known as OWL, 2023 is the sixth season of the Overwatch League, which was launched in 2018. Due to the large number of participating teams, participants are split into two regional groups: East and West. This year, the tournament began with a pro-am tournament held in the West region, featuring Overwatch Contenders teams who competed against professional Overwatch League teams. This mix of amateur and professional teams put the spotlight on upcoming teams, allowing them to showcase their skills against some of the most well-established teams of the season. 

However, the same format was not followed in the East Region group, where Overwatch Contenders teams joined the regular season along with established Overwatch League teams, without an additional ProAm round. The season is further divided into two stages: the Spring stage, which started on April 27, and the Summer Season, which is currently underway. 

The Summer Stage is split into the play-ins, season playoffs, and the Grand Finals. The upcoming match between Dallas Fuel and Shanghai Dragons will take place in the first round of the play-ins stage. Up until 2023, Dallas Fuel was part of the West Region. From this year onwards, the team will be playing in the East Region.  

Ahead of the main tournament stages, the Eastern region plays a series of stages within the main categories of play-ins, season playoffs, and Grand Finals. Each stage is divided into opens, qualifiers, and knockouts. Overwatch Contenders teams compete in the Opens while Overwatch League teams compete in the qualifiers, while both teams compete in the knockouts. Unlike several other esports, the Overwatch League mandates that teams go through a high number of rounds to establish who the best teams are.  

Roster Structure

All teams participating Overwatch League must compulsorily have a minimum of six players, with the maximum number of players capped off at 12. Additionally, players need to be signed to contracts that are one season long, at a minimum. Teams and players also have the option of extending contracts by a year based on mutual agreements. 

Dallas Fuel vs Shanghai Dragons Prediction

Taking a look at Dallas Fuel’s recent results, it’s easy to see why they’re strong favorites with oddsmakers. The team is reigning champions of the Overwatch League, having won the 2022 season. Currently, Dallas Fuel is in admirable form and is coming off a series of wins. On the other hand, Shanghai Fuel was a top team in the recent past but has currently been in shaky form. The team dominated the 2021 season, culminating with a championship win. 

While Shanghai Dragons were able to start 2022 in decent form, their performances slowly went through a skid over the course of the season. Eventually, they were only able to finish the season in 9th-12th place, significantly below par when compared to their performances in the previous year. They are going up against Dallas Fuel, who has been on a tear since winning the championship last year. 

Dallas Fuel began the season by coming 4th in the Qualifier stage and replicated their success by finishing 3rd-4th in the Spring Stage knockouts. In the Summer Stage, they elevated their results by finishing the Qualifiers in first place. On the other hand, Shanghai Fuel finished the Qualifiers in sixth place and dropped down to 9th-12th in the Knockouts stage. Accordingly, it’s easy to see why the oddsmakers have positioned Dallas Fuel as strong favorites to win the upcoming match. 

Dallas Fuel on a Title Run

Based on their recent performances, Dallas Fuel seems to be retaining their championship-winning form. Despite representing Dallas, Texas the team consists entirely of Korean players. The squad for the current season consists of Sp9rk1e and Edison playing in the DMG position, Hanbin in the Tank position with MCD, and Bliss playing the support roles.  

Throughout the 2023 season, the team has played 78 matches - winning 44 and losing 34. Despite the departure of coach Aid in January this year, Dallas Fuel continues to be a dominant force in the Overwatch League, even if they are not at the top of the table in the East group. We predict a relatively easy victory for them against the Shanghai Dragons.

Shanghai Dragons Search for Consistency 

Shanghai Dragons will be eager to replicate the success that they found in the 2021 season, even if the path to this success currently seems unclear. Like their upcoming rivals, the Shanghai Dragons consists entirely of Korean Players. Viper and Heesu are on DMG duties, while Fate is the team’s Tank. Joining them in support positions are Gangnamjin, BeBe, and Ir1s. 

In 2023, the Dragons played 66 matches, winning 25 and losing 25. It’s hard to see how they will be able to turn things around this late in the season, especially against the reigning champions. While we can never completely rule out the possibility of an upset, it’s highly likely that Dallas Fuel will be walking away with the win in the upcoming contest. 

How to Watch Dallas Fuel vs Shanghai Dragons 

• Teams: Dallas Fuel vs Shanghai Dragons 
• Location: Canada, Toronto
• Date: September 15, 2023 
• How to Watch: YouTube Gaming