Who advances from the other half of OWL Pro-Am?

Shocking results have already sprung from the 2023 Overwatch League Pro-Am, but there's still another half to go. Groups C and D remain with heavyweights like the Toronto Defiant and Houston Outlaws, as well as four new Overwatch Contenders teams looking to bottle lightning. Just who are our favourites to advance as the Overwatch League Pro-Am returns?

Group C

Few teams can boast resumes of the pedigree that the Boston Uprising house. Coalescing players like Yoo "smurf" Myeong-hwan, Kwon "Striker" Nam-joo, and Kim "birdring" Ji-hyeok as well as a myriad of other former Overwatch League winners, the Uprising look titanesque. Can this collection of veterans manage one last title chase?

Coming off the back of a franchise high the Los Angeles Gladiators have lofty expectations this season. Packed with fan-favourite additions like Dante "Danteh" Cruz, Kai "Kai" Collins, and Kim "Yaki" Jun-ki, the Gladiators are not hurting for talent. However, should those world-class expectations be warranted this season? 

Outside of a shocking Cinderella run during the 2020 Overwatch League playoffs, the Washington Justice has never found their sea legs. This season's experiment has seen the Justice acquire French phenoms Benjamin "BenBest" Dieulafait and Brice "FDGod" Monsçavoir as well as South Korean flex DPS Kim "AlphaYi" Jun. Will 2023 be the year that the Justice finds consistent success?

As for the Overwatch Contenders talent present, Team Peps is a French-backed collection of some of the best European talent available. However, don't let their amateur tag fool you, they're equipped with their own tenured leadership. Former Overwatch League players like Mikkel "Molf1g" Djernes, Nikolai "Naga" Dereli, and Dominic "Hybrid" Grove are looking to remind the league that they deserve a look.

On the North American Contenders front, WISP are your underdogs. Advancing through the qualifiers through a tiebreaker against Hive, WISP has everything to gain and nothing to lose. Led by longstanding Overwatch Contenders tank Louis "JkAru19" Power and Tracer ace Julian "Rokit" Pizana, WISP have quite the mountain to climb. 

While much of the community point towards both Boston and Los Angeles advancing without much effort, this looks to be quite the opposite. Washington and Team Peps have strong weapons to leverage against the obvious favourites. 

For the Justice, AlphaYi could rival and surpass some of the top Tracer players in the group. Stood next to him is former New York Excelsior hitscan Lim "Flora" Young-woo who showed his 'hot hands' as the 2022 season came to a close. This is vital due to Cassidy, Ashe, and Sojourn all being more than viable in the current metagame. 

Another discovery that we've found from the front half of the Overwatch League Pro-Am is how open the tank pool seems to be. With Winston, Wrecking Ball, Ramattra, Reinhardt and D.Va all sharing the spotlight, having a flexible tank player like Huy "MirroR" Trịnh might set them apart from their peers. 

On the other hand, our dark horse for the group is easily Team Peps. The catalyst here lies in how stylistic Team Peps has shown itself to be. The second seed from EMEA did showcase some proficient dive performances in the qualifiers using Naga's excellent Echo. However, their best look is the Reinhardt rush down that teams like Trick Room and London Spitfire have featured previously. 

Team Peps is going to be the pop quiz for some of these more veteran Overwatch League teams. If they can answer the different looks Peps aims to throw then they should pass pretty easily, but don't be surprised if the pride of France closes the gate on a fan favourite. 

Our predictions? 

The Boston Uprising and Washington Justice will advance from Group C. 

Group D

The Houston Outlaws is one of the three front-runners for the North American division. With a support line that rivals some of the best, at least on paper, that the league has ever seen, a deep yet potent tank roster and DPS that are no slouches. With their slept-on run during the 2023 playoffs, can this new build push Houston into consistent top finishes? 

The New York Excelsior is an outside shot but does have some upside that we'll all be paying attention to this weekend. Returning to the lineup is Kim "Kellan" Min-jae and by his side stand DPS players Kim "FITS" Dong-eun and Niclas "sHockWave" Jensen. The potential is there for some solid results in the middle of the season, but can they gel for the preseason?

Reuniting the American Tornado core, the Toronto Defiant are the North American hope in more ways than one. After an impressive rookie debut, Isaiah "Hydron" Rodriguez looks to cement himself as a DPS mainstay of the league, while teammates like Colin "Coluge" Arai and Nicholas "Speedily" Zou are prepared to answer any questions remaining from 2022. 

What's disappointing is that the Overwatch Contenders talent in Group D might be some of the most competitive but face some of the biggest hurdles. Redbirds Esports carries a track record of impressive domestic success while Twisted Minds comes in as EMEA's top seed with a very bold style that might catch a few league teams looking the other way.

Sadly, this group feels more cut and dry compared to others. For instance, San Francisco Shock was playing from South Korea with upwards of 200 ping, so calling Group A could have been fairly up in the air. Group B had Saints as a possible upset team, but the team failed to live up to expectations. And C has some Overwatch League talent that could be facing a reckoning. 

Group D has two Overwatch League teams that should pilot the meta well, have some superstars doing so, and from the looks of things might even make some deep runs. 

Our predictions?

The Houston Outlaws and Toronto Defiant will advance from Group D. 

The 2023 Overwatch League Pro-Am returns on March 30th.