A Blagger’s Guide To The ‘Overwatch’ League

Rosh Kelly
Games Overwatch
Games Overwatch Xbox PlayStation PC Gaming

They were the only European team in the entire league. They entered the grand finale to a surprising amount of (hopefully) good-natured booing, but against all odds, this little underdog still managed to win it all.  We are, of course, talking about the current reigning champions of the Overwatch League – London Spitfire.  With the UK team beating out the Philadelphia Fusion to win the trophy, the season culminated in a tense final which saw the Spitfires taking home a jaw-dropping $100,000,000 cash prize.

With this massive spectacle taking place at the sold out 19,000 capacity Barclay Centre in New York, these two finalists came to embody the fledging season of the OWL to the world. The message? Overwatch League is here to stay.

From ropey take off to Soaring victory

'Overwatch' game director, Jeff Kaplan, presenting the trophy to Spitfire after the season 1 finals.

The Spitfires might have “captured history”, but their journey through the OWL over the last year was not in any way normal or expected. As the teams formed throughout 2017, London Spitfire quickly became the one to beat. Made up of extremely high profile players, their raw skill immediately made them a league favourite and during the preseason and stage one, London Spitfire seemed destined to take it all the way.

But following their great success in the early stages of the inaugural season, Spitfire quickly fell into obscurity. Despite winning both of the title matches in stage one, The London Spitfires lost their only title match in stage two, and didn’t even reach them in stages three and four. The playoffs to decide who would compete in the finals were between the best six teams from the season overall. London Spitfire was the fifth, barely scraping above the cutoff despite their stellar start.

From there, the team got their mojo back and went from victory to victory, until they found themselves standing on stage at the Overwatch League grand final. They dominated the playoffs and reminded the world of their former glory with amazing feats of skill and teamwork. Their story was a rollercoaster ride, and demonstrated the unexpected upsets that can come from the Overwatch League, with players like Bdosin and Profit making names for themselves as perhaps the best players in the league, in spite of their rocky past.

Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia Fusion, on the other hand, had a different story. They were a somewhat eccentric team to begin with, deploying experimental tactics and oft-forgotten heroes with varied results. They were also something of a mystery. Unlike every other team in the league, Philadelphia did not compete in the preseason.

When they first arrived on the scene against the Huston Outlaws in stage one, their composition was soft, squishy and aggressive. This was a team frequently willing to gamble with high-risk strategies and were by far one of the most interesting teams to watch during the early seasons. Their tactics led to victories nearly as often as it led to defeats, but they just slipped into the playoffs where they became the true underdogs of the League.

Perhaps that was why their players developed a level of celebrity that other teams couldn’t find. Poko, a D.Va player, became infamous for his creative and deadly self-destructs, while Carpe’s offensive dives into the enemies backlines were legendary.

With new characters now joining the roster, OWL season 2 will certainly feel different to its inaugural season.

It felt right that these two teams should clash during the grand finale. London Spitfire was a riches to rags and then back again story. They were fallen princes of the league determined to win back their honour. Philadelphia Fusion were the mysterious underdogs that always seemed to always have a trick up their sleeve. London might have won their first match again Philadelphia in stage one, but the teams had clashed again throughout the season, and by the end, Fusion had won three of its five matches again Spitfire.

Which made the grand finale just a little disappointing. However fun it was watching David and Goliath compete for the top spot, the matches were as one-sided as a Widowmaker singling out a Zenyatta. It turns out giants can’t be killed with slingshots, and Philadelphia Fusion suffered a clear and unrelenting defeat on both days.

what next for the Overwatch League?

The first ever Overwatch League not only had respectable viewing figures, but more importantly, it attracted a devoted following.

The Overwatch League though, like any competition, is as much about the journey as the win. All the matches and surprises that led to that final moment, to those final teams competing against each other, secured the OWLs as a new player in eSports. There is more to enjoying these spectacles than simply seeing which team will win.

If that were the case, England fans wouldn’t be nearly as interested in the football world cup. The crowds, community and comradery that spawns from these sporting events are almost magical. And although the OWLs never broke any viewing figure records, the competition has no clear signs of stopping.

After a successful first year, we're expecting even greater production values for season 2.

So where can Overwatch League go from here? Well for starters it can broadcast its matches at a more European friendly time because I am stuck staying up until 2am to watch them. The OWLs unfortunately average viewing figures might be bolstered by PANDERING TO THE ENTIRE CONTENT OF VIEWERS THEY IGNORED. Secondly, and on the back of that, Blizzard could consider introducing a few new European teams to the roster too. Maybe the Paris Revolutionaries, the Barcelona Bullfighters or the Cologne Conquerors?

Either way, the next season is promising to be more exciting than the first, with champions to dethrone and grudges to be settled or reignited, but this first foray into eSports came with the perfect amount of upsets and next to no mistakes.

Rosh Kelly