The 2019 Overwatch League playoffs were the postseason tournament of the 2019 Overwatch League regular season, beginning on September 5, and concluded with the 2019 Grand Finals, the second championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), on September 29.
Eight teams competed in the OWL Playoffs – a double-elimination tournament. The winner of each round of the Playoffs were determined by a single-match, where each match winner was determined by which team wins four maps. The final two teams remaining in the tournament advanced to the Grand Finals, which took place at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][2]
The defending OWL champions were the London Spitfire, who won the title against the Philadelphia Fusion in the 2018 OWL Grand Finals, but they fell in the first round of the lower bracket. The San Francisco Shock defeated the Vancouver Titans in the finals to claim their first OWL Championship.
Map pool
The postseason map pool consisted of twelve maps evenly distributed across the four map types.[3]
|
|
Control
|
Assault
|
Hybrid
|
Escort
|
| Pool
|
Lijiang Tower
|
Horizon Lunar Colony
|
Numbani
|
Dorado
|
| Ilios
|
Temple of Anubis
|
Eichenwalde
|
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
|
| Busan
|
Hanamura
|
King's Row
|
Rialto
|
Participants
Eight teams qualified for the Season Playoffs. The two division leaders from the regular season were awarded the top two seeds, the following top four teams, based on regular season standings, were awarded seeds three through six, and the top two teams from the Play-In Tournament were awarded seeds seven and eight.[4]
Bracket
Matches
First Round
Losers Round 1
Winners Round 1
Losers Round 2
Winners Round 2
Losers Round 3
Losers Round 4
Grand Finals
Winnings
Teams in the Season Playoffs competed for a total prize pool of US$3.5 million, with the payout division detailed below.[1]
|
|
Team
|
|
| 1 |
San Francisco Shock |
$1,100,000
|
| 2 |
Vancouver Titans |
$600,000
|
| 3 |
New York Excelsior |
$450,000
|
| 4 |
Hangzhou Spark |
$350,000
|
| 5 |
Los Angeles Gladiators |
$300,000
|
| 6 |
Atlanta Reign |
$300,000
|
| 7 |
London Spitfire |
$200,000
|
| 8 |
Seoul Dynasty |
$200,000
|
Broadcast and viewership
All matches of the playoffs were live-streamed on Twitch, the Overwatch League website, and the ESPN app.[5]
Telecast schedule
| Match #
|
Game
|
Date
|
Matchup
|
Network(s)
|
| 1 |
First Round |
Thu, September 5, 4:00 p.m. PDT |
Seoul Dynasty |
2–4 |
Vancouver Titans |
Disney XD/ESPNews
|
| 2 |
First Round |
Thu, September 5, 7:00 p.m. PDT |
Los Angeles Gladiators |
4–3 |
Hangzhou Spark |
ESPNews
|
| 3 |
First Round |
Fri, September 6, 4:00 p.m. PDT |
London Spitfire |
1–4 |
New York Excelsior |
ESPNews
|
| 4 |
First Round |
Fri, September 6, 7:00 p.m. PDT |
Atlanta Reign |
4–3 |
San Francisco Shock |
ESPNews
|
| 5 |
Losers Round 1 |
Sat, September 7, 6:00 p.m. PDT |
Seoul Dynasty |
1–4 |
Hangzhou Spark |
Disney XD
|
| 6 |
Losers Round 1 |
Sat, September 7, 9:00 p.m. PDT |
London Spitfire |
0–4 |
San Francisco Shock |
ESPNews
|
| 7 |
Winners Round 1 |
Sun, September 8, 12:00 p.m. PDT |
Los Angeles Gladiators |
2–4 |
Vancouver Titans |
Disney XD
|
| 8 |
Winners Round 1 |
Sun, September 8, 3:00 p.m. PDT |
Atlanta Reign |
2–4 |
New York Excelsior |
ESPNews
|
| 9 |
Losers Round 2 |
Thu, September 12, 4:00 p.m. PDT |
Atlanta Reign |
0–4 |
Hangzhou Spark |
Disney XD
|
| 10 |
Losers Round 2 |
Thu, September 12, 7:00 p.m. PDT |
Los Angeles Gladiators |
0–4 |
San Francisco Shock |
Disney XD
|
| 11 |
Winners Round 2 |
Fri, September 13, 4:00 p.m. PDT |
New York Excelsior |
3–4 |
Vancouver Titans |
Disney XD/ESPNews
|
| 12 |
Losers Round 3 |
Sat, September 14, 12:00 p.m. PDT |
Hangzhou Spark |
0–4 |
San Francisco Shock |
Disney XD
|
| 13 |
Losers Round 4 |
Sun, September 15, 12:00 p.m. PDT |
San Francisco Shock |
4–0 |
New York Excelsior |
Disney XD
|
| 14 |
Grand Finals |
Sun, September 29, 12:00 p.m. PDT |
San Francisco Shock |
4–0 |
Vancouver Titans |
ABC
|
Source:[6]
References
- ^ a b The Overwatch League. "Summary of Official Rules 2019 Season" (PDF). Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ George, John (May 8, 2019). "Egamers alert: This year's Overwatch League winner will be crowned in Philadelphia". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ Hoskins, Ryan (September 3, 2019). "Overwatch League Season 2 Playoffs Preview". Hotspawn. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ "The Overwatch League Grand Finals Headed to Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia" (Press release). Irvine, California. Business Wire. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "Overwatch League Announces Xfinity as 2019 Playoffs and Grand Finals Presenting Sponsor". Yahoo! Finance. Business Wire. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment (July 25, 2019). "2019 Season Playoffs Primer". The Overwatch League. Retrieved August 28, 2019.