The worst-kept secret of the first Overwatch League offseason has finally been revealed.
The Vancouver Titans were unveiled as the seventh of the eight new OWL teams during Saturday’s Vancouver Canucks hockey game. The team is owned by Canucks Sports & Entertainment, and is co-managed in partnership with Canadian esports veterans Luminosity Gaming. The team’s blue and green color scheme echoes that of their sister NHL team and its AHL counterpart.
Contenders season is upon us. It’s a very exciting time, but for many fans who are new to the Overwatch League and the Overwatch esports scene as a whole, entering into the wide open world of Tier 2 competition is daunting. I’ve heard a lot of excuses.
“I don’t know any of the players, who do I root for?”
“When is it even on? Isn’t it ALWAYS on?”
“I only know OWL, I feel like I’m not informed enough to start Contenders now.”
Good news. I’m here to get you on the Contenders train.
I’ll be blunt with you, especially those of you who have only watched the Overwatch League. There’s still another two months until OWL returns, there’s nothing else on, and whether you admit it or not, you’ll miss the action of games eventually. Luckily for us, there are seven – yes, SEVEN – active regions of Contenders that are almost always playing. Here are ten good reasons, from Contenders talent, coaches, and analysts, to stop crying into your stack of Outlaws jerseys and join the Contenders party.
This week’s Contenders China recap was completed with the invaluable help of Eren “Kenobi” Erkey — thanks for the assist!
After Week 2 of Contenders China, we’ve started to get a sense of who’s on top and who might be missing out on a playoff spot as we reach the end of the group stages. T1w Esports Club and Team CC are yet to drop a map, as expected, but a dark horse in LinGan e-Sports is keeping pace and has also registered two shutout victories. On the other side of the standings, we have five teams yet to win their first map, although two of these teams are set to play each other on this upcoming Saturday. What else did we learn from Week 2?
Okay, just to be clear, I am the hypewoman for the Los Angeles Valiant, but like my mama always said, “Game recognize game.”
So, as I am casually scrolling the hell that is Twitter and talking to my friends, Suddenly, I read this bombshell of a tweet:
The second week of Australian Contenders was a lot of ups and downs. Floats, a modified GOATS comp with Winston and D.va for main tanks, was the flavour of the week. Two veterans of Aussie esports squared up while a set of new teams saw some fun and tense matches.
The Toronto Defiant have finalised their full roster for the Overwatch League, announcing the move on Twitter earlier today.
In this week’s Minority Report, Briggsy recaps her experiences at both California Cup showmatches between the Los Angeles Valiant and the San Francisco Shock. The true champions, we find out, aren’t necessarily the players – especially when things get rough.
College is about making mistakes. My mistake was going to college.
I grew up watching movies and nonfiction testimonials about college sororities providing lifelong bonds, fun parties that would become stories to tell my grandkids, and classes that were engaging and interactive to prepare me for a lifetime of success. I was excited to start this new chapter in my life after enduring a rather miserable high school experience. Turns out not much changes after high school. In college, I didn’t fit in, the material didn’t interest me, and most of my time was spent dealing with lecherous instructors and abusive relationships. I left unceremoniously after I simply stopped going to classes.
The first week of Contenders China has come and gone, and week 2 is almost upon us already. The region is undergoing a huge amount of turnover, as four new teams have come up from Open Division to compete and many of the star players we saw last season have moved on, presumably to the Overwatch League. Who can take up their mantles? How can teams which saw success previously but have had to make sweeping changes keep up with the competition? Here’s a brief rundown of what we learned in the first week.
Australian Contenders kicked off with a fun set of matchups that gave teams new and old a chance to flex their strength. A startling amount of GOATS composition was run; almost every team, it seemed, either started out on it or hurriedly switched to mirror their opponent’s GOATS. Even so, the first week of Contenders Season 3 proved to be an exciting one.
In the last few months, six of the eight new expansion teams participating in Overwatch League’s second season have revealed their branding and team colors. Fans eagerly await branding reveals, whether to see how new teams fit in the League or to find out how ugly the jersey they’re buying for their favorite player will be. In any case, I found that many media outlets have posted brand updates, but haven’t really passed judgement on them. That’s what I’m here for.
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