|
 SCHEDULE | WATCH @ YOUTUBE GAMING | WATCH IT LIVE WHAT IS THE OVERWATCH LEAGUE? OWL is the premier esport league that’s home to the highest level of professional Overwatch competition. Unlike other esport leagues before it, OWL’s structure and format is modeled after traditional sport leagues like the NBA or MLB, i.e., franchised teams representing major cities from across the globe compete against one another over the course of a rigorous regular season, culminating with postseason playoffs. PREVIOUSLY ON SEASON 2 A rabid caprinae fever took over the league for three stages, which most people hated and found boring to watch, and it took Blizzard a major restructuring of the whole queue system in order to make it go away. They even made a skin to commemorate it. We are now at what many people agree is the make-or-break season for the League, as we're finally moving onto local homestands across the globe. With ongoing challenges like changes in sponsorships, a new broadcasting platform, the departure of the majority of the broadcast talent, major shifts on the path to pro and even an ongoing global outbreak, the future looks uncertain for the League in its third season.  THE TEAMS No teams have been added for this season. The teams have been grouped into conferences, with four divisions: Pacific Conference East      Pacific Conference West      Atlantic Conference South      Atlantic Conference North      Team rosters are capped at 12 player spots, and during matches, teams can sub in players between each map set. Check out the Overwatch League Liquipedia for information on each team including coaches, players, team owners, and more HERE THE HOMESTANDS The regular season kicks off this weekend on February 8th, with two homestands in New York and Dallas. Each team will play 28 total regular-season matches, which includes two matches against each in-conference opponent and one match against all out-of-conference teams. The regular season will consist of 26 weeks—with all matches played over weekends—and will include a break for All-Stars and a midseason tournament between Weeks 12 and 13. Each team will host at least two home weekend events during the season, with an additional 12 events—three per division—collectively hosted by teams in their home territories. Tickets are now available for most of the homestands.  As of this writing, the homestands that were to take place in China for February and March have been cancelled as a precaution for the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China. The League has yet to announce their plans for these matches, so we don't know yet if they're playing the matches online, or playing them later in the year. Most of the chinese teams have relocated to Korea, in case the emergency escalates in the future; the Chengdu Hunters have elected to stay in China.REGULAR SEASON & POSTSEASON PLAYOFF FORMAT New in 2020, teams will play regular-season matches in a first-to-three format. Each match will open with control, and then teams will play hybrid, assault, and escort in an order that rotates across matches to ensure they are played evenly throughout the season. If a match reaches the fifth map, only control maps will be played until a team gets to three map wins. After every two maps played, teams will get a quick break to strategize. Starting March 7, we will see the addition of Hero Pools (ie hero bans). The League will make one tank, one support, and two damage heroes unavailable for selection during matches each weekend. The heroes will be randomly selected from a group of eligible heroes based on play-rate data from the previous two weeks of Overwatch League matches—only heroes that are being played regularly can be pulled from the next hero pool. No hero will be unavailable two weeks in a row. Hero Pools will not be used for the midseason tournament, the play-in tournament, playoffs, or Grand Finals; all heroes will be available for those matches. Teams will be informed of each week’s Hero Pool approximately one week in advance of matches. The 2020 postseason format is similar to 2019, with a play-in tournament followed by double-elimination bracket play culminating in the 2020 Grand Finals. The seventh- through 12th-seeded teams in the standings will qualify for the play-in tournament. The double-elimination bracket will feature the following eight teams: - The two top teams per conference as the top seeds (as determined by record with map differential as the tiebreaker) - The next four teams across both conferences as the three to six seeds - The two teams that advance from the play-in tournament as the seven and eight seeds ALL-STARS AND MIDSEASON TOURNAMENT The traditional All-Stars event will take place after Week 12, and it will feature an actual money pot in order to entice our possibly jetlagged heroes into making the trek wherever this will take. Stage playoffs are no longer a thing ever since last season, so instead we're getting a midseason tournament, which will feature the top four teams in the league: the top team from each conference and the next best two teams by record from either conference. In order to manage logistical requirements for teams around the world, the teams will qualify based on their record over their first nine matches in the 2020 season. Those teams will play in a single-elimination bracket, with the top seed picking their opening-round opponent. The time and place for this tournament has not been announced yet. CONTENDERS & PATH TO PRO Path to Pro has a ton of changes of their own that it's probably worth separating on its own post so see the next post whenever I finish writing it, I guess??? WHERE TO WATCH This year, the League is ditching Twitch for a new deal with Youtube Gaming as their exclusive broadcaster. This means you no longer will be able to follow matches through the usual Twitch channels! The League has been kind of mum as of what's going to happen with other broadcasting deals like the ones they had with ESPN, Disney and ABC. Because of this change, the tokens system and the all-access pass will not be active, for the time being.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Ignis fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Feb 8, 2020 |
#
¿
Feb 7, 2020 10:13
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 17:39 |
|
|
(Reserved post for Contenders / Path to Pro content, whenever it is that I get around to write it)
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2020 10:14
|
|
|
Bottom Liner posted:What are the week 1 bans (if any)? None because hero bans start in March e: actual news stuff https://twitter.com/Viol2t_OW/status/1225735815197863936 https://twitter.com/hastr0/status/1225838876419403787 
Ignis fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Feb 7, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2020 19:24
|
|
|
I didn't mind goats for the record, in fact I kinda miss Stage 3 because of all the chaos from all teams knowing role q was coming and throwing caution to the wind 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2020 21:06
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1225890728410259462?s=21 https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1225898821479067648?s=21 https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1225883527914196992?s=21
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2020 23:02
|
|
|
NYXL Homestand looking dope https://twitter.com/espn_esports/status/1226169721042751489?s=21 https://twitter.com/willproduces/status/1226169732199600129?s=21 e: 90 minutes until games https://youtube.com/overwatchleague If for whatever reason you miss the Twitch experience try https://gigabra.in/ (includes the companion streams, and the traditional twitch chat) e2: smexy is out for this weekend. Who's gonna offtank for Paris now? 
Ignis fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Feb 8, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 16:51
|
|
|
Probably not? There's only two people on desk left iirc (Soe and Custa). Puckett's gone, Malik's gone, Danny and Mica are gone, Brenshow are gonna be casting at the Homestand, and who knows about Emily because she deleted her Twitter and her insta is just her being an influencer e: oh duh, Reinforce Wolf and Achilios. So there is a desk lol Ignis fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Feb 8, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 18:03
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/Mangachu_/status/1226196541779693568 i guess statefarm and cocacola are the only sponsors right now...? Ignis fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Feb 8, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 18:44
|
|
|
They didn't realize they were running out of time before the nyxl event began 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 18:59
|
|
|
Btw if they all play their hype videos before the match that means there's a chance we're gonna see the Valiant team intro video today  Nihilarian posted:The real problem is paris playing without an off tank Apparently not a problem right now!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 19:19
|
|
|
MLG.com has their own stream too. It's chugging like hell for me, so that probably means it'll run better for you guys 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 20:11
|
|
|
Figures he does much better when he's not stuck on Reaper jail
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 20:41
|
|
|
The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Games > Free State Farm > Cheez-It Grooves League: Crunch Time 3
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 21:48
|
|
|
I wish Legday was there
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 21:51
|
|
|
Twitch chat is surprisingly chill when you don't have 100k people typing at once and you do have an extension that filters the word token from it
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 22:22
|
|
|
Anamowns, as usual 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2020 22:34
|
|
|
McGravy is here to eat your ults e: honestly Valla should've hired Cloneman he was the better XL2 tank Ignis fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Feb 9, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 01:32
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1226309016579645440?s=21
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 02:09
|
|
|
Imagine Gladiators VS Valla. KSF and KSP and Shax and Shaz https://twitter.com/_harksharks/status/1226276355840659457
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 02:32
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/OWLeagueSigns/status/1226320920492564480
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 02:47
|
|
|
I'm never forgiving LAV for making me watch that dumb Spongebob parody
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 03:12
|
|
|
Sideshow interviewed McGravy and Aero before the match https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c3Ys90QrPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYb5FptHx6s
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 03:21
|
|
|
e: nvm Clips from Dogman spectating Valla VS Dallas https://clips.twitch.tv/NaiveAuspiciousLyrebirdGOWSkull https://clips.twitch.tv/PlayfulQuaintMomCorgiDerp Trill's Dead Shatter https://www.twitch.tv/dogman/clip/CuteShortDonkeySmoocherZ Ignis fucked around with this message at 08:14 on Feb 9, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 05:40
|
|
|
oh woops, I didn't think he was leaking that sort of stuff. e: gig got better as the match went through, he was very shaky at the beginning. I'll chalk it to him being a late addition to the team plus stage jitters. https://twitter.com/auzziejleesexy/status/1226385105842659328 Ignis fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Feb 9, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 08:13
|
|
|
Valla Titans is on now
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 23:18
|
|
|
Rain got too cocky at the end there https://twitter.com/reinforce/status/1226626015033585665
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 23:59
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/sk1pow/status/1226619675905265665?s=21
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2020 01:28
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1226928822160744450?s=21 Play 5 is too overrated imo, as if Anamo wasn't there to pocket JJ's old grandma rear end through all that 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2020 22:09
|
|
|
Replay Viewer is updated (for reals now), here's some highlights synced to the broadcast audio https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1227367378175983616
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2020 00:58
|
|
|
Goldenboy's gonna host the Philly homestand https://twitter.com/goldenboyftw/status/1227617692615663617?s=21
Ignis fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Feb 12, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2020 20:14
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/Outlaws/status/1228031081909227520 https://twitter.com/Jezi_Belle/status/1228033507487866882 jesus christ, Spree  e: Diem is feeling better and will join the Dragons next week Ignis fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Feb 13, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2020 20:43
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/legdaygaming/status/1227935996584570883?s=21 You can hear Colorhex crying from this clip
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2020 21:32
|
|
|
https://overwatchleague.com/en-us/news/23315578 The canceled chinese homestand matches will be played in Seoul and streamed live.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2020 23:38
|
|
|
flame peeling for his supports irl https://twitter.com/flameirl/status/1228508008667385857
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 05:10
|
|
|
Presenting Nipples posted:What’s up with the jerseys? They looked terrible week 1 with the rectangle text ironed on. minimalistic fashion it seems it does look like they just slapped a paper with their names in it, from afarRooting to #BringTheWeightLoss (good luck Tommu!)
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 22:35
|
|
|
I'm the hotlaws cowering at the choke as the timer whittles, waiting for Saya to have mercy and stop shooting at them
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 22:55
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/kxnggrey/status/1100272786818457602?s=21
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 23:10
|
|
|
Show them the vod of Gladiators v Titans
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 23:24
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/legdaygaming/status/1229113451081031683?s=21
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2020 20:19
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 17:39 |
|
|
Corey and Blase fighting hard for the dubious title of worst McCree in the league so far e: case in point https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1229154431679242240 Ignis fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Feb 16, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2020 22:18
|
|