Week 2 NA Preview | Davids vs Goliaths

The big success of week 1 was Spacestation Gaming, winning both their matches and shooting top of the table. Capped off by a fine debut from Xander "Hawk" Domecq, who was OWTV’s Player of the Week. If you missed any of the week 1 action, you can catch up on all of it in our weekly summary.

Week 2 in North America is set up to be the expected top 4 against the expected bottom 4, which means the region is desperate for an underdog story. Sakura and Extinction serve as the two most likely candidates after their week 1 performances. Make no mistake though, the theme of this week is David vs Goliath.

NA Week 2 - Day 1 (September 13, 2025)

Game of the week: Geekay vs. Sakura Esports

A tough task with this run of fixtures, but the most likely upset comes here. The way the meta has shaped up has forced Geekay to run Riley "cuFFa" Brown on Wrecking Ball, and Denis "Lethal" Tari on Reaper and Sombra. Two of the largest impact players from Geekay’s successful year, now in more challenging roles. Leading many to believe this will see Geekay fall short of the 1st place finishes they have grown accustomed to.

A decrease in power opens the door for the underdogs. Sakura will be hoping to exploit these weaknesses, potentially in the form of Alexander "Zeb" Shepard on Zarya. While outclassed by Hawk last week, this time, Sakura will have the advantage on the flatter maps. It will rely on drafting around good maps for the Wrecking Ball, but it gives Sakura a clear advantage to aim for nonetheless.

There's a chance Carson “pdk” Terry and Lethal will both be keener to play hitscan and could handshake away from the Reaper. With the former DhillDuck star keen to prove himself at a higher level, as he disccussed with OWTV last week. It could backfire and play into Geekay's hands but Sakura will need to risk something to get the upper hand.

Extinction vs. Team Liquid

Team Liquid come into this matchup as the heavy favourites, with a double flex DPS meta that aligns perfectly with their roster strengths. That being said, Extinction also saw success on double flex in their game vs DhillDucks, with Landon “Vision” Monteferrante playing the reaper and Rene “k1ng” Rangel flexing across a few different heroes.

With both teams likely leaning into these ball double flex comps, there will be two very different goals for these teams. For Liquid, it is very much about delivering a clean 3-0 and asserting their dominance against a bottom 4 team. On the other hand, Extinction will be looking to test the limits against a top team and try their hardest to upset one of the favourites in the region.

NA Week 2 - Day 2 (September 14, 2025)

Team Z vs. Spacestation Gaming

Alejandro "scissors" Léon's move to the starting lineup to fit the meta, combined with Hawk’s impressive return, will make Spacestation the heavy favourite. As they look to extend their perfect start through week 2. New star signing Rocco "Kronik" Iacobacci has seen limited playtime so far, but has won all of his maps. Fans will be keen to see more of North America’s top Freya if the team can work him into the meta.

Last week, NTMR and Sakura went head-to-head in the Reaper matchup vs scissors and later Kronik. Team Z will pose a slightly different test with both Ryan "ryan" Lawless and Devin “peace” Vasquez capable of flexing to Sombra and Genji, giving Team Z more possible solutions to Spacestation’s Zarya heavy game plan. Alongside Colin "Astro" Czulinski on Winston and Wrecking Ball, Team Z have access to a lot of the strong heroes in this meta, but will need to be at their best to put a dent in Spacetation’s ambitions.

NTMR vs. DhillDucks

Much of NTMR’s success in week 1 came off the back of Michael “Rhyn0” Willoughby on Ball and Winston, winning 2 Ilios maps on both of these heroes respectively. We also got to see Alex “Seeker” Taylor playing more flex dps, looking particularly impressive on the reaper despite 2 losses. DhillDucks also leaned into a lot of reaper in their series vs Extinction, although they found little success and lost 3-0.

This will likely be the most one sided game of the region this week. DhillDucks come face to face with a top 4 team after a 3-0 loss to Extinction, a team with considerably less success than NTMR. After a tough schedule in the first week of games, NTMR will be looking to close out this game quickly.