The stage is set for the Season 2 playoffs for the Overwatch League, as eight teams have secured their spots to compete for the whopping $3.5 million prize pool following the conclusion of the regular season and the play-in tournament.
$1.1 million is on the line for the first-place winners, and the playoffs will convene with the grand finals in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center on September 29th.
The Philadelphia Fusion’s dream of a grand finals in front of the home crowd ended early, when they fell to the Shanghai Dragons in the first round of the play-in tournament. London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty both emerged victorious in that tournament to qualify for the playoffs main event.
They join division champions NY Excelsior and Vancouver Titans, as well as the four other teams with the best records in the San Francisco Shock, Hangzhou Spark, LA Gladiators, and Atlanta Reign, in the playoffs of season two.
Overwatch League Playoffs stream
The OWL Season 2 Playoffs will be streamed live on the Overwatch League Twitch channel, starting on September 5th. You can watch the stream below.
Selected matches will also be broadcasted on ESPN and Disney’s XD channel.
Overwatch League Playoffs format
The Overwatch League playoffs use a double-elimination bracket format, meaning a loss doesn’t eliminate a team right away, it just sends them down to the losers bracket. The first round matchups are seeded based on regular season record, so for example, the top-seeded 25-3 Vancouver Titans will play the lowest seed 15-13 Seoul Dynasty in the first round.
Both the Atlanta Reign and the London Spitfire finished with 16-12 records, but London had to play through the play-in because Atlanta had a better map differential. Atlanta will also go into the playoffs with a higher seed.
Our #OWL2019 Playoff bracket is SET. :raised_hands:
Here's a look at the final eight teams making a run for the Grand Finals!
Read more :point_right: https://t.co/HSdGYLSvpi pic.twitter.com/AbybH52yPb
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) September 1, 2019
Unlike the four-map match used in the regular season, all playoff matches will be a best-of-seven. The higher seed will pick the first map for every series, and each following map is picked by whoever just lost the previous map, (if you lose a map, you pick the next one). Whichever team doesn’t pick the map, gets to pick whether they attack or defend first.
Each map will be played only once per series. A notable exception to this rule happened during the Shanghai-Philly series in the recent Play-in tournament, when due to a game issue, the Numbani map was made unavailable. The league consulted with both teams, and the Fusion were allowed to select King’s Row a second time.
Overwatch League Playoffs schedule
September 5
*BST times cross into September 6
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| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals (Winners’ Round 1) | Vancouver Titans 4 – 2 Seoul Dynasty | 4PM | 6PM | 12AM |
| Quarterfinals (Winners’ Round 1) | Hangzhou Spark 3 – 4 LA Gladiators | 7PM | 9PM | 3AM |
September 6
*BST times cross into September 7
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals (Winners’ Round 1) | NY Excelsior 4 – 1 London Spitfire | 4PM | 7PM | 12AM |
| Quarterfinals (Winners’ Round 1) | SF Shock 3 – 4 Atlanta Reign | 7PM | 10PM | 3AM |
September 7
*BST times cross into September 8
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Losers’ Round 1 | Seoul Dynasty 1 – 4 Hangzhou Spark | 6PM | 9PM | 2AM |
| Losers’ Round 1 | London Spitfire 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock | 9PM | 12AM | 5AM |
September 8
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinals (Winners’ Round 2) | Vancouver Titans 4 – 2 LA Gladiators | 12PM | 3PM | 8PM |
| Semifinals (Winners’ Round 2) | NY Excelsior 4 – 2 Atlanta Reign | 3PM | 6PM | 11PM |
September 12
*BST times cross into September 13
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Losers’ Round 2 | Atlanta Reign 0 – 4 Hangzhou Spark | 4PM | 7PM | 12AM |
| Losers’ Round 2 | LA Gladiators 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock | 7PM | 10PM | 3AM |
September 13
*BST times cross into September 14
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winners’ Finals | Vancouver Titans 4 – 3 NY Excelsior | 4PM | 7PM | 12AM |
September 14
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Losers’ Round 3 | Hangzhou Spark 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock | 12PM | 3PM | 8PM |
September 15
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Losers’ Finals | NY Excelsior 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock | 12PM | 3PM | 8PM |
September 29
| Round | Match | PST | EST | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Finals | Vancouver Titans vs San Francisco Shock | 12PM | 3PM | 8PM |
Overwatch League Playoffs rosters
| Team | Players |
|---|---|
| Vancouver Titans | DPS: Haksal, Hooreg, StitchTank: JJANU, Bumper, TiZiHealer: Rapel, SLIME, TwilightFlex: SeoMinSoo |
| New York Excelsior | DPS: Saebyeolbe, Libero, Pine, Fl0w3r, NenneTank: MekO, ManoHealer: JJoNak, ANAMOFlex: |
| San Francisco Shock | DPS: Architect, sinatraa, Rascal, StrikerTank: ChoiHyoBin, Nevix, super, smurfHealer: moth, Viol2tFlex: |
| Hangzhou Spark | DPS: Adora, Bazzi, GodsB, KrystalTank: Ria, guxue, NoSmiteHealer: Bebe, iDK, RevengeFlex: SASIN |
| Los Angeles Gladiators | DPS: Surefour, DecayTank: Void, rOar, PankerHealer: BigGoose, Shaz, RipaFlex: Hydration |
| Atlanta Reign | DPS: babybay, Erster, NLaaeRTank: DACO, frd, Gator, PokpoHealer: Masaa, Dogman, FunnyAstroFlex: |
| London Spitfire | DPS: birdring, Profit, GuardTank: Fury, GestureHealer: Bdosin, NUS, Krillin, QuatermainFlex: |
| Seoul Dynasty | DPS: FITS, Fleta, ILLICITTank: Michelle, zunba, Marve1Healer: Jecse, tobi, ryujehong, HighlyFlex: |
Overwatch League Playoffs talent list
| NAME | ROLE |
|---|---|
| Chris Puckett | Desk Analyst |
| Malik Forté | Desk Analyst |
| Josh ‘Sideshow’ Wilkinson | Desk Analyst |
| Brennon ‘Bren’ Hook | Desk Analyst |
| Soe Gschwind-Penski | Desk Analyst |
| Christopher ‘Montecristo’ Mykles | Caster |
| Erik ‘DoA’ Lonnquist | Caster |
| Mitch ‘Uber’ Leslie | Caster |
| Matt ‘MrX’ Morello | Caster |
| Auguste ‘Semmler’ Massonnat | Caster |
| Robert ‘Hexagrams’ Kirkbride | Caster |
| Wolf ‘Wolf’ Schröder | Caster |
| Seth ‘Achilios’ King | Caster |
| Danny Lim | Insider/Interviewer |
| Emily Tang | Insider/Interviewer |
| Mica Burton | Insider/Interviewer |
This page was last updated on September 15, 2019 at 3:39 pm PDT.