Blizzard recently revealed many details on the upcoming 2020 Overwatch League Playoffs. For the first time in its history, this tournament will be held online. As this will be the first online OWL Playoffs, nobody knew what the format would look like until now. Starting September 3, all twenty OWL teams will face each other to crown a team that will join San Francisco Shock and London Spitfire in history.
Overwatch League Playoffs 2020
Overwatch League Playoffs features two different brackets, one for North America and the other for Asia Pacific. The NA bracket holds thirteen teams.
- Atlanta Reign
- Boston Uprising
- Dallas Fuel
- Florida Mayhem
- Houston Outlaws
- Los Angeles Gladiators
- Los Angeles Valiant
- Paris Eternal
- Philadelphia Fusion
- San Francisco Shock
- Toronto Defiant
- Vancouver Titans
- Washington Justice
On the other bracket, only seven teams from Asia Pacific will face each other to make history.
- Chengdu Hunters
- Guangzhou Charge
- Hangzhou Spark
- London Spitfire
- New York Excelsior
- Shanghai Dragons
- Seoul Dynasty
On September 3, each team will be seeded based on performance during the regular season before clashing again in both brackets. Furthermore, like in any other tournament, the best-seeded teams hold advantages like picking maps first or choosing opponents. These two weeks of competition will decide which two teams in each bracket will advance to the final competition.
OWL Finals 2020
These four teams will face each other in a double-elimination tournament, ending with the championship match. In order to make the final match as fair as possible, Blizzard decided to make these teams play on the same server. As a result, North American teams must fly to Asia to participate in the final rounds.
However, in the official announcement, Blizzard stated that OWL’s organizers need some time to prepare a safe location, including setting up health and safety measures. Even though teams will compete in the same servers, players, coaches, staff, and organizers will work remotely.
Overwatch League may even crown two regional champions instead of one league champion according to Jon Spector, VP of Overwatch esports. This shows that organizers are planning for many unexpected situations and creating backup plans accordingly. Nonetheless, one thing remains in every plans, safety.
Overwatch League Playoffs are known to be an amazing in-arena spectacle. Shifting the format online brings many challenges to create a memorable experience for fans. Organizers also stated that they have plans to make this tournament special and fans will be looking forward to the 2020 Overwatch League Playoffs.
Written by Charles FUSTER
Source: https://www.esportznetwork.com/overwatch-league-playoffs-2020-details-finally-revealed/
