One of the greatest esports tournaments, the Overwatch League, begins very soon, bringing tons excitement to the fans, and having the teams play outside of Blizzard Arena for the first time in history.
What is the Overwatch League?
The Overwatch League is a massively successful esports event with some of the best production value in the industry. It had two seasons of nail-biting action that saw the rise and fall of stars and teams and defined the metagame that affects all players of Overwatch, even the ones who don't pay attention to the pro esports athletes.
The tournament borrows it's format from American traditional sports leagues like the NBA or the NFL. Organizations purchase their right to join as a franchise and secure their slot on the list. Then, all teams are split into two divisions and battle it out in the course of 4 Stages that escalate into a Playoff series and culminate in a grand finale.
How did it go so far?
Season 1 was a big mystery box, as it had the arduous task of proving the concept, win the interest, and meet the expectations of fans and investors alike. With franchise fees of reportedly $20-40 million for a slot on the League and some of the most popular streamers and pro gamers in the world, OWL was a runaway success.
The Inaugural season started with 12 teams and culminated with the coronation of London Spitfire as champions. Season 2 stepped things up with eight new franchises entering the fray, one of which made it all the way to the Grand Finals but got defeated by the San Francisco Shock. Now, we are at OWL Season 3.
The names of cities in those two teams aren't a coincidence. Just like the NBA, all Overwatch League teams are based in a home city. Players on the team don't have to be locals, though. They are even required to be from the same country.
However, those massive organizations put a lot of money and effort to build state-of-the-art esports facilities in said cities to serve as a base of operations.
The Inaugural Season was played in Blizzard Arena in California exclusively, with the Grand Finals in New York being the only exception. In Season 2 a few games were symbolically played on home turf - one elsewhere in California and one in Texas. This is about to change this time.
What's new in OWL Season 3?
This time we start on home turf right off the bat! Pun intended!
The very first games will be in New York and Dallas. The former will be hosted by the New York Excelsior, arguably the best team from Season 1 made entirely out of star Korean players and owned by baseball giant New York Mets.
Dallas Fuel, a daughter squad to the legendary Team Envy, will play host to the second showdown.
While we don't have new teams, there is plenty of youngblood entering the prestigious competition, as most teams have refreshed and refined their rosters.
Now that OWL has been running for two successful seasons and the teams have established loyal fan bases worldwide, there is no way but up. Tensions will be high, plays will be epic and glory will be won. Get ready for OWL Season 3!
