Overwatch announces competitive map pool for Season 20

Overwatch Competitive Season 20 is in full swing and with it, the game’s map pool has changed as well.

Season 19 was the first season to introduce a limited map pool, which was welcomed by the community. Instead of having every map in the game on rotation, the limited selected allowed for users to enhance their skills on a select list of Assault, Escort, Hybrid and Control maps.

Of note, some of the game’s most controversial Assault maps, Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony were removed from rotation for Season 19 and many fans will be pleased to learn that they remain on the sidelines for the twentieth installment of Overwatch competitive.

Russia remains in Overwatch’s map pool for Season 20.

In fact, all of the Assault maps from Season 19 remain intact with the original three: Hanamura, Temple of Anubis and Volskaya Industries returning.

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On the Escort side of things, players will be moving alongside the payload on Dorado, Rialto and Havana. Unfortunately, this means that Watchpoint Gibraltar has been relegated to quick play.

With Hybrid, the ever-popular King’s Row remains in rotation alongside the German map Eichenwalde. However, Hollywood has been replaced by Numbani.

Finally, there are two changes on the Control/King of the Hill front. Busan returns for Season 20 and is joined by Illios and Oasis. Nepal and Lijang Tower, meanwhile will be out of rotation until at least Season 21.

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It’s interesting to see how the Assault rotation remains the exact same. 2CP is often viewed as Overwatch’s most controversial game mode with many players voicing immense dislike of Paris in particular due to how the map overwhelming favors the defenders.

Watch out for traffic! Oasis is back.

With no new PTR up and running yet, it may be possible that Blizzard is in the process of refining some of the more unpopular maps to make them more fun to play.

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It will be interesting to see what the map rotation will look like come Season 21 and what the community’s reaction will be once maps like Paris join the pool once again.