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Category: Overwatch

OWL 2021 Week 1 Recap – Getting Started

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

After much wait, the Overwatch League kicked off and before we knew it, the week of action was over. Accordingly, it’s time to sit back and enjoy a concise weekly recap for the inaugural week of OWL 2021. Let’s see how it all went down!

OWL 2021 – West and East

pediaowlweek
Credits: Liquipedia

Now we’ll list some of our key take-aways from this exciting weekend:

  • Roster changes are working?

Wow; many teams have had a strong start, especially in the West, after a poor season last rear. Thanks to some overhauling roster changes, Florida Mayhem, Toronto Defiant and Houston Outlaws are looking so much stronger. On the east side, the same can be said for Chengdu Hunters, who also clenched a 2-0 start to the season.

  • San Franciso Shock and Shanghai Dragons Fall
Credits: Overwatch League Twitter

The reigning champions of San Francisco Shock from last year were stunned by a 3-2 loss to the Houston Outlaws and now, the community is somewhat questioning whether a winning season is in the books or not for OWL 2021.

Likewise, the other top team of Shanghai Dragons also suffered – probably moreso – after getting winded with a 3-0 at the hands of the Chengdu Hunters.

Overall, there are serious shifts in competitive Overwatch right now – we can’t wait to see how the rest of the league shapes up!

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

Hotba Returning to Philadelphia Fusion Overwatch team

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

It has been announced that Hotba is returning to the Philadelphia Fusion organization as part of their Overwatch team. Here is their announcement:

Hotba Returning to Philadelphia Fusion – Who is he?

21-year-old Hong-joon “HOTBA” Choi is a professional Overwatch player from South Korea. He started his career in 2017 with LW Red, and then went to play for Philadelphia Fusion later that year. After many successful performances at tournaments, he went on to play for Guangzhou Charge, and then New York Excelsior. Now he’s returning to the team that made him most successful to continue dominating the Overwatch scene.

Here are some of Hotba’s best achievements:

  • 2nd at Overwatch League – Inaugural Season Playoffs – 28th July 2018 – $400,000
  • 3rd in Overwatch League 2020 – Asia Playoffs – 13th September 2020 – $250,000
  • 6th at Overwatch League – Inaugural Season – 17th June 2018 – $100,000

What’s next?

During the Grand Finals of the OWL 2020 playoffs, the Philadelphia Fusion didn’t do so bad. They achieved a 4th placement just under teams like SF Shock, Seoul Dynasty and Shanghai Dragons. Overall not a bad result, but we’re sure that Fusion can get a better result this time round.

Be sure to visit www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!

How to Watch Overwatch League 2021: teams, format, schedule, streams, predictions

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

In less than two weeks, the Overwatch League 2021 will be upon us! Accordingly,, we’re more excited than ever for this $4,250,000 to get underway. Kicking off on the 16th April, here at esportsguide we’ve got all the viewership details in one place in this featured ‘How to Watch’ article!

Event Background

Credits: Overwatch League Twitter

Since last season, the off-season has felt like forever for the competitive community. Indeed, all 20 teams divided into two regions are more ready than ever. Specifically, this first stage of the season will involve a total of $900,000. In addition, performance here is essential for seeding into the Playoffs upon ending in August.

Here is the list of the 20 teams involved in the franchised league:

EAST

  • Chengdu Hunters
  • Guangzhou Charge
  • Hangzhou Spark
  • Los Angeles Valiant
  • New York Excelsior
  • Philadelphia Fusion
  • Seoul Dynasty
  • Shanghai Dragons
Credits: Overwatch League Twitter

WEST

  • Atlanta Reign
  • Boston Uprising
  • Dallas Fuel
  • Florida Mayhem
  • Houston Outlaws
  • London Spitfire
  • Los Angeles Gladiators
  • Paris Eternal
  • San Franciso Shock
  • Toronto Defiant
  • Vancouver Titans
  • Washington Justice

Format

In terms of format, teams are split into East and West as listed above. Unlike last season, this season of the Overwatch League will involve a format similar to that of the Call of Duty League. Entirely, four tournaments will punctuate the season, backed up with three weeks of qualification.

Credits: Overwatch League Twitter

Each match-up earns a team points which will determine seeding for subsequent events – placing in the top 3 at events involves bonus points too. Overall, each match will be BO3.

Accordingly, at the end of the season, the top 3 teams from the West and the East region based on points will proceed to the epic Playoffs.

Specifically, here’s how tournaments will work:

  • Three Weeks of Qualifiers – top six (west), top four (East) move to Regional Knockouts
  • Regional Knockouts – single elimination bracket – top two from each region make it to the Tournament Weekend
  • Tournament Weekend – double elimination with just four teams to declare a champion

Up to August, events such as the May Melee, June Joust, Summer Showdown and Countdown Cup will lighten things up too.

Schedule for the Overwatch League 2021 (CET)

Credits: Overwatch League Twitter

There’s a massive schedule outlining the 19 weeks of competition – be sure to visit the official Overwatch League Schedule here. To facilitate our viewers, here’s the first few days of competition:

  • Friday April 16th – Houston Outlaws vs Dallas Fuel (21:00)
  • Friday April 16th – Los Angeles Gladiators vs San Francisco Shock (22:30)
  • Saturday April 17th – Guangzhou Charge vs Shanghai Dragons (11:00)
  • Saturday April 17th – Los Angeles Valiant vs Chengdu Hunters (12:30)

Watch the Overwatch League 2021 on esportsguide.com

You can also watch the Overwatch League 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.

Overwatch League 2021

Predictions for the Overwatch League 2021

Taking place all the way back in September, the Playoffs from last year do give us a vague idea on who the top dogs are at the event:

Credits: Overwatch League Twitter
  1. San Francisco Shock
  2. Seoul Dynasty
  3. Shanghai Dragons
  4. Philadelphia Fusion

While these four may be the supposed favourites, do note that a tonne of roster changes have riddled the community. With that being said, expect the first few weeks to be a little unpredictable as teams adapt to one another. Regardless, I’d find that these four teams are a safe bet when thinking of picking a winner.

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

Activision Layoff Employees – Focusing on Online Events

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

There’s been quite a buzz over at the head office of Activision Blizzard. Specifically, esports scenes such as that of Call of Duty are concerned with a recent happening. Supposedly, the Activision Layoff of several employees is due to the company’s shift towards organizing online events. Is this a cause for concern? Let’s find out.

To begin with, here’s what Tony Petitti as the president of sports at Activision Blizzard told The Esports Oberver:

We learned a lot last year in terms of how the leagues can be structured for online play, and we’ll look to carry forward the best practices from that.

In terms of timing, it’s a reaction to the realities of how the leagues are playing and what resources we need to allocate to best serve the league, owners, teams and fans.”

– Tony Petitti with The Esports Observer

So what’s going on with the Activision Layoff? Basically, the organization is realizing that online events will likely be the rage for a couple years, and are engineering themselves towards this market shift.

Credits: Jason Schreier Twitter

Hosting both the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League online, there seem to be longer plans in place.

Activision Layoff – The End of LAN events?

CoD League Rostermania Update
Call of Duty League 2020 Season 2020-02-09 / Photo: Robert Paul for Activision Blizzard

No, it simply isn’t. I have to address the panicked Reddit posts saying that we’ll never have in-person events again. As a business, Activision need to adapt to current demand, and there’s no demand for in-person events at the moment. However, once the world gets back on track, it’s undoubted that live events will be the first thing on the menu.

For more esports new, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

Philadelphia Fusion Rascal – A Monumental Signing

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Over in the Overwatch League, Philadelphia Fusion are still licking their wounds. Indeed, after a disappointing finish at the OWL League 2020 Playoffs in 4th, the organization has been trying to improve their roster. And just like that, by announcing Philadelphia Fusion Rascal, they’ve arguably made the signing of the season! Read on to learn why!

Why Philadelphia Fusion Rascal is a Big Move

Over the past couple of years, Philadelphia Fusion have had their moments, but always haunted by a lack of inconsistency and championship grit. That’s why they’ve signed ‘Rascal” from their star-studded rivals of San Francisco Shock. Accordingly, this player is revered as one of the best DPS players in the game.

Overwatch League 2021 Stadium
Credits: OWL

Here are some of his achievements on Shock:

What more could you possibly need if you’re Philadelphia Fusion? Well, simply put, a team that allows ‘Rascal’ to reach his potential.

Accordingly, here is the entire list of active players for Philadelphia Fusion by role:

  • DPS – Carpe, Eqo, sHockWave, Rascal
  • Tank – Poko, Mano
  • Support – Alarm, FunnyAstro
Credits: OWL

This roster will prove itself in roughly 4 weeks on the second week of April.

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

2021 Overwatch Contenders announced

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

The 2021 Overwatch Contenders has been announced. Here’s all the details you need to know, and how to watch.

Regional Information + Changes

North America and Europe:

The North American and European Overwatch Contenders will hold a similar format to the one prior. It will have 8 teams fighting in a double-elimination format on a monthly sequence.

The first Overwatch Contenders Trials is set to kick off early in March. And then, the first tournament will take place in the late stages of March.

South Korea:

In Korea they will stay with the 10-team league format, including a couple of new features. Blizzard are adding a new inter-group play round between the group play and playoffs. This will aid in determining the playoff seeing and final qualifications. These will adopt a stepladder format where the teams will get seeded based on their performance in the regular season.

China:

In China however, the teams will decrease from 12 to 8 to increase the match quality for all participants. This also means that  the number of Trials tournaments has been alleviated from 4 to 2 this year in order to create more stability between the teams.

Australia:

The Australian Contenders will resume as a single-group, reducing the amount of teams from 8 to 6.

Screenshot e
Credits: Blizzard

2021 Overwatch Contenders announced – Scheduling

The Australian contenders will start on the 11th of March, whereas the Chinese one takes place on the 24th. The European Contenders day 1 starts on the 29th of March, and the North American Contenders starts a few hours later. In Korea however, the event takes off on the 15th of March. 

If you would like more information regarding the scheduling of events, visit here.

With the Overwatch League season for 2021 set to kick off on April 16, the Overwatch Contenders is a perfect time for any fans to see high level gameplay beforehand.

Visit www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!

Overwatch League 2021 – Massive News Update!

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

If you’re an Overwatch fan – strap yourself in. Indeed, Blizzard just revealed some exciting new details with regards to the Overwatch League 2021. In this short article, we’ve got all the details in one place!

Overwatch League 2021 – A New Schedule

Credits: Overwatch League YouTube

We finally have our date – Friday 16th April! Viewable here, the schedule revolves around four tournament cycles, similar to the Call of Duty League. These teams will be fighting to qualify and earn seeds for the first Major of the year.

Two Regions

Accordingly, games will take place across two regions:

  • East – Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Los Angeles Valiant, New York Excelsior, Philadelphia Fusion, Shanghai Dragons and Seoul Dynasty
  • West – Atlanta Reign, Boston Uprising, Dallas Fuel, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, Los Angeles Gladiators, Paris Eternal, San Francisco Shock, Vancouver Titans, Toronto Defiant and Washington Justice

Prize Pool

There’s a lot on the line here – a total of $4,250,000 of prize for the entire year! Accordingly, everything will be broke down as follows:

Overwatch League 2021
Credits: Overwatch League

And as you can expect, everything will be available on YouTube with live broadcasts. Beyond that, you’ll also want to stay tuned to esportsguide for all the news.

Further on, we’ll be working on a How to Watch for all of you to enjoy!

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news

Toronto Defiant bringing on Lastro

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

Overwatch organisation Toronto Defiant have made it public that they are bringing on Lastro on their main roster for the 2021 OWL season. Here is their announcement:

Toronto Defiant bringing on Lastro – Who is he?

19-year-old Jung-won “Lastro” Mun is a Korean Overwatch player which specializes in the Flex-Support role. He’s played with a couple of teams back in the day, most notably, StormQuake, Skyfoxes and recently, Los Angeles Valiant. He has been competing since 2018, and has accumulated up to $26,685 in total esports earnings. Now he’s interested in helping Toronto Defiant get a better result and placing higher in this season’s OWL.

Here are some of his best achievements:

Screenshot
Credits: Blizzard

What’s next for Toronto Defiant?

The team didn’t really have the best results in 2020, and are certainly hoping for a better turn out this time round. With Lastro on their side, the team will definitely improve and this is the first step to improving and becoming one of the best teams in their region. The 2021 OWL will kick off sometime in April.

Be sure to keep yourself updated on www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!

LA Valiant parting ways with entire roster

Posted on by Nathan Bonello

The LA Valiant Overwatch Team has announced that it is parting ways with the entire roster, including the staff behind it. Here is their announcement:

LA Valiant parting ways with entire roster – Why?

The pandemic has hit multiple sectors in esports, especially the Overwatch League, as it has split the teams in two separate leagues. China and Korea are competing in the East, whereas North America and Europe are competing in the West. According to the announcement, the main reason for the parting ways was due to visa issues relating to the current global health situation.

Sadly this isn’t the first time in recent months that we’ve seen an Overwatch roster turn into shambles. In fact, the Dallas Fuel and the London Spitfire made drastic changes to their lineups for the 2021 season.

What’s next?

Well, with the LA Valiant aiming at getting a Chinese roster for 2021, this leaves the ex-LA Valiant roster homeless. Meaning that some are probably searching for a new roster, or that some are retiring, and switching to VALORANT. We will just have to wait and see for what comes up, and hopefully we still get to see them in the esports world.

Be sure to keep yourself updated on www.esportsguide.com for all your important esports news!

Overwatch League 2021 Season Details Announced!

Posted on by Gabriel Sciberras

Only a few days ago, the details for the start of the Call of Duty League were revealed! Also under Blizzard-Activision, the Overwatch League has been pending. Accordingly, we’ve just received a similar piece of news. Read on to learn how the Overwatch League 2021 kicks off in April!

All of the news is neatly encompassed in an explanatory YouTube video:

Credits: Overwatch League YouTube

Headed by Vice President of Overwatch Esports, Jon Spector, there’s a lot to dive into. Here are some points to bear in mind for the Overwatch League 2021:

  • Kicks off in April – going to follow a tournament format this time around
  • Once again, teams will be sorted into East and West
  • 4 regular season regional qualifier matches to seed into tournaments
  • Said tournaments will hopefully be held offline!
  • To fight online imbalance, a new minimum latency feature is coming into play
  • Also, broadcast looks to be of higher quality and more viewer-friendly, with a virtual set.
  • Spoiler-free viewer mode – if you love a team but can’t make it to the live game, non-disclosing recordings will be available
  • Further statistical analysis of player performance
Overwatch League 2021 Roadmap
Credits: Overwatch League

And it all kicks off with the Kanezaka Community Tournament on January 22-24th. Furthermore, more details will be revealed at Blizzonline from 19-20th February.

It’s an exciting time to be an Overwatch League 2021 fan. This could be the turn around season.

For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news