2018 Overwatch League season

The 2018 Overwatch League season was the inaugural season for the Overwatch League, an esports league based on the video game Overwatch which began on January 10, 2018. Regular season play continued through June 16, 2018, while post-season play ran from July 11–28, 2018. The London Spitfire won the Grand Finals over the Philadelphia Fusion to become the League champions, with the Spitfire's Park "Profit" Jun-young named the Finals MVP. An All-Star Weekend was held following the post-season from August 25–26, 2018.

2018 Overwatch League season
LeagueOverwatch League
SportOverwatch
DurationJanuary 10 – June 17
July 11 – 28 (Playoffs)
Number of matches40
Number of teams12
TV partner(s)
Global
United States
France
Regular season
Season MVPBang "JJonak" Seong-hyun
Top seedNew York Excelsior
Stage Champions
Stage 1London Spitfire
Stage 2New York Excelsior
Stage 3New York Excelsior
Stage 4Los Angeles Valiant
Grand Finals
VenueBarclays Center,
Brooklyn, New York
ChampionsLondon Spitfire
  Runners-upPhiladelphia Fusion
Finals MVPPark "Profit" Joon-yeong

Schedule

The season's format and schedule were announced in November 2017. The inaugural regular season ran from January 10 to June 17, 2018, broken out into four stages. Each stage lasted five weeks, with a one-week break between each stages. Each regular season week featured twelve games, three matches per day from Wednesday to Saturday, with each team having played in two games that week. During stages one and two of season one, at the end of each stage, the top three teams across both divisions, based on their standings in that stage, played a final set of matches to win a US$100,000 prize with the runner-up taking a US$25,000 prize. As of season one stage three, four teams made each stage playoff. The #1 seed chose their opponent in the first round between the remaining three qualified teams. These matches are played on the final day of the stage.[1][2]

The season's free agency signing window opened on January 22, 2018, and closed on April 3, 2018 (the start of Stage 3). During this period, teams could sign any eligible free agent player or make trades with other teams. Any player on a new team contract before the start of Stage 2 on February 21, 2018, was eligible to play during Stage 2. Otherwise, they had to wait until the start of Stage 3. After April 3, team rosters could not be changed until after the completion of the post-season games.[3]

The post-season playoffs were held over three weeks in July 2018. It was a single-elimination playoff featuring 6 teams: each division leader, and the next top four teams from both divisions, with their position seeded by their standings.[1] The Grand Finals were held on July 26 and 27, 2018.

All matches in the inaugural season (except for the Grand Finals) were played at the 350-seat Blizzard Arena, located on the former soundstage for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in Burbank, California.[4] Games were broadcast on the Overwatch League's website and through Major League Gaming (owned by Blizzard), and by third-party broadcaster Twitch. The Grand Finals were played at Barclays Center in New York City, where all 11,000 seats available were sold out for both days of the event.[5]

Pre-season

Pre-season matches were held from December 6 to 8, 2017. Pre-season matches are exhibition only, and do not count towards the regular season standings. The Philadelphia Fusion had to pull out of pre-season play just before these events, citing "player logistics issues".[6]

Broadcast and viewership

The Overwatch League began the season with a two-year exclusive contract for Overwatch League broadcasting. Its debut week held an overall peak of 441,000 concurrent viewers on its three Twitch channels, with 392,000 English, 65,000 Korean, and 11,500 French viewers.[7] Through the season, average online viewership ran between 80,000 and 170,000.[5] At least 310,000 viewers watched the final match of the Grand Finals.[5]

On the first day of the season playoffs, Disney and Blizzard announced a multi-year partnership that would bring the league and other professional Overwatch competitive events to ESPN, Disney XD, and ABC, starting with the playoffs and throughout all of the following season.[8] Nielsen ratings for the Grand Finals include a 0.18 rating (approximately 218,000 households) for the Friday match airing on ESPN, while the recap of the series airing on ABC on the Sunday after the event had a 0.3 rating (approximately 359,000 households).[9] Blizzard estimated that over a million people were watching the Grand Finals at any time, between broadcast and streaming formats, with a total viewership of over 10.8 million.[10][11]

Regular season

A team's standing is based on both their overall match win–loss record, with ties broken by their overall round record.

At the end of Stages 1 and 2, the top three teams overall in the current stage, regardless of division, made the stage playoffs. The first seeded team earned a bye, with the second and third seeded teams playing a best-of-5 series to advance to the stage finals. Beginning with Stage 3 of the 2018 season, Blizzard announced changes to the Stage Playoff format. Introduced was a four-team Stage playoffs going forward, so that both teams in the final match will have played the same number of games on that day. The first seed has the option of selecting their opponent for the first round and has home team advantage, with the remaining two teams assigned based on seed ranking. These stage playoffs have no effect on overall standings and are only for bonus prize money.

Teams' overall standings were used for placement in the post-season playoffs. The top team of each division received an automatic bye, while the next top four teams, regardless of division, filled in the remaining tournament slots.

Overall standings
Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 ATL New York Excelsior 40 34 6 0.850 126 43 4 +83 Advance to season playoffs semifinals
2 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 40 27 13 0.675 100 64 7 +36
3 ATL Boston Uprising 40 26 14 0.650 99 71 3 +28 Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals
4 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 40 25 15 0.625 96 72 3 +24
5 ATL London Spitfire 40 24 16 0.600 102 69 3 +33
6 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 40 24 16 0.600 93 80 2 +13
7 ATL Houston Outlaws 40 22 18 0.550 94 77 2 +17
8 PAC Seoul Dynasty 40 22 18 0.550 91 78 3 +13
9 PAC San Francisco Shock 40 17 23 0.425 77 84 5 −7
10 PAC Dallas Fuel 40 12 28 0.300 58 100 7 −42
11 ATL Florida Mayhem 40 7 33 0.175 42 120 5 −78
12 PAC Shanghai Dragons 40 0 40 0.000 21 141 2 −120
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

Stage 1

Stage 1 ran from January 10, 2018, to February 10, 2018, with Stage playoffs occurring on February 10, 2018.[12]

Standings
Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 ATL New York Excelsior 10 9 1 0.90 31 10 2 +21 Advance to stage finals
2 ATL Houston Outlaws 10 7 3 0.70 30 13 0 +17 Advance to stage semifinals
3 ATL London Spitfire 10 7 3 0.70 29 14 0 +15
4 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 10 7 3 0.70 26 13 3 +13
5 PAC Seoul Dynasty 10 7 3 0.70 25 16 2 +9
6 ATL Boston Uprising 10 6 4 0.60 27 17 0 +10
7 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 10 6 4 0.60 20 24 1 −4
8 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 10 4 6 0.40 16 26 0 −10
9 PAC San Francisco Shock 10 3 7 0.30 16 24 2 −8
10 PAC Dallas Fuel 10 3 7 0.30 14 25 3 −11
11 ATL Florida Mayhem 10 1 9 0.10 9 31 1 −22
12 PAC Shanghai Dragons 10 0 10 0.00 6 36 0 −30
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

Playoffs

With a league best 9–1 stage record, the New York Excelsior earned a bye directly into the stage finals. In the semifinal match, the Houston Outlaws took an early 1–0 lead over the London Spitfire, but were ultimately defeated 3–1. In the stage final, the New York Excelsior took a commanding 2–0 lead over the Spitfire, but New York could not secure their third match win. The London Spitfire completed a reverse sweep, winning the series 3–2 and their first stage title.

Stage Semifinals
Saturday, February 10, 2018 		Stage Finals
Saturday, February 10, 2018
1 New York Excelsior 2
2 Houston Outlaws 1 3 London Spitfire 3
3 London Spitfire 3

Stage 2

Stage 2 ran from February 21 to March 24. Following Stage 1, Blizzard took input from players and fans and moved all future Stage playoff matches to Sunday, with Stage 2's playoffs taking place on March 25. This avoided a twelve-hour day of matches, which could see a team playing as many as three different matches in the same day.[13][14] Stage two introduced the Overwatch patch that weakened Mercy's resurrection abilities, which outside of League play had caused her to be played less frequently.[15]

Standings
Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 ATL New York Excelsior 10 9 1 0.90 34 9 0 +25 Advance to stage finals
2 ATL London Spitfire 10 8 2 0.80 31 11 0 +20 Advance to stage semifinals
3 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 10 7 3 0.70 27 15 0 +12
4 PAC Seoul Dynasty 10 7 3 0.70 25 16 0 +9
5 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 10 6 4 0.60 25 16 1 +9
6 ATL Boston Uprising 10 6 4 0.60 21 22 0 −1
7 ATL Houston Outlaws 10 5 5 0.50 22 22 0 0
8 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 10 4 6 0.40 18 23 1 −5
9 PAC San Francisco Shock 10 3 7 0.30 15 22 1 −7
10 ATL Florida Mayhem 10 3 7 0.30 15 27 1 −12
11 PAC Dallas Fuel 10 2 8 0.20 13 28 1 −15
12 PAC Shanghai Dragons 10 0 10 0.00 2 37 1 −35
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

Playoffs

The New York Excelsior finished with the best stage record again, earning another bye into the stage finals. The semifinal match featured the London Spitfire, looking to repeat on their Stage 1 championship, against the Philadelphia Fusion. The Fusion won the series, 3–2.

In the finals, the Fusion took 2–0 lead over the Excelsior, though New York came back and completed a reverse sweep to win the series and their first stage title.

Stage Semifinals
Sunday, March 25, 2018 		Stage Finals
Sunday, March 25, 2018
1 New York Excelsior 3
2 London Spitfire 2 3 Philadelphia Fusion 2
3 Philadelphia Fusion 3

Stage 3

Stage 3 ran from April 4 to May 5, with the stage playoffs occurring on May 6. This stage introduced a four-team stage playoffs format so both teams in the final match will have played the same number of games on that day. The first seed was given the option of selecting their opponent for the first round and received home team advantage, with the remaining two teams assigned based on seed ranking.[16] Stage 3 introduced the Hybrid map "Blizzard World," which was released in November 2017, to the map pool. Stage 3 also introduced the patch that buffed Sombra's abilities, making her a more frequent component in winning team combinations.[17]

Standings
Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 ATL Boston Uprising 10 10 0 1.00 31 13 1 +18 Advance to stage playoffs
2 ATL New York Excelsior 10 9 1 0.90 33 11 0 +22
3 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 10 7 3 0.70 28 15 1 +13
4 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 10 6 4 0.60 25 19 1 +6
5 PAC San Francisco Shock 10 6 4 0.60 21 20 0 +1
6 ATL London Spitfire 10 5 5 0.50 24 21 1 +3
7 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 10 5 5 0.50 24 23 0 +1
8 PAC Seoul Dynasty 10 5 5 0.50 22 21 1 +1
9 ATL Houston Outlaws 10 4 6 0.40 20 24 1 −4
10 ATL Florida Mayhem 10 2 8 0.20 11 28 2 −17
11 PAC Dallas Fuel 10 1 9 0.10 9 30 2 −21
12 PAC Shanghai Dragons 10 0 10 0.00 9 32 0 −23
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

Playoffs

Following the conclusion of Stage 3, the top seeded Boston Uprising became the first team in Overwatch League history to go undefeated in a stage. As the top seed, they earned the right to choose their first round opponent for the stage playoffs. They chose the fourth seed Los Angeles Gladiators, achieving a 3–0 match win. The second seed New York Excelsior also defeated the Los Angeles Valiant with a 3–0 win. The Excelsior won the final match over the Uprising in a 3–0 victory, marking their second stage championship win.

Stage Semifinals
Sunday, May 6, 2018 		Stage Finals
Sunday, May 6, 2018
      
1 Boston Uprising 3
4 Los Angeles Gladiators 0
1 Boston Uprising 0
2 New York Excelsior 3
2 New York Excelsior 3
3 Los Angeles Valiant 0

Stage 4

Stage 4 ran from May 16 to June 16, with the Stage playoffs occurring on June 17. Teams competed using the version of Overwatch which first introduced the support hero Brigitte, but prior to a patch that adjusted her strength and which introduced a revamped skill kit for Hanzo. The decision to play on the former patch was made due to a bug in the later patch that could not be fixed before the start of Stage 4.[18]

Standings
Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 10 9 1 0.90 30 11 1 +19 Advance to stage playoffs
2 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 10 9 1 0.90 28 13 2 +15
3 ATL New York Excelsior 10 7 3 0.70 28 13 2 +15
4 PAC Dallas Fuel 10 6 4 0.60 22 17 1 +5
5 ATL Houston Outlaws 10 6 4 0.60 22 18 1 +4
6 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 10 6 4 0.60 22 18 1 +4
7 PAC San Francisco Shock 10 5 5 0.50 23 16 2 +7
8 ATL Boston Uprising 10 4 6 0.40 20 19 2 +1
9 ATL London Spitfire 10 4 6 0.40 18 23 2 −5
10 PAC Seoul Dynasty 10 3 7 0.30 19 25 0 −6
11 ATL Florida Mayhem 10 1 9 0.10 7 34 1 −27
12 PAC Shanghai Dragons 10 0 10 0.00 4 36 1 −32
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

Playoffs

After the group stage, the Los Angeles Gladiators finished atop the league via a map differential tiebreaker. They earned the right to choose their opponent for the first round of the playoffs. For the first time in this selection process, the team with the best record did not choose the lowest ranked team. They choose their crosstown rivals, the second-seeded Los Angeles Valiant. The Valiant won the series in 5 maps. In the next series, the two-time stage champion New York Excelsior defeated the Dallas Fuel, 3–2. The Excelsior were unable to win their third consecutive stage championship, losing to the Valiant, 3–1.

Stage Semifinals
Sunday, June 17, 2018 		Stage Finals
Sunday, June 17, 2018
      
1 Los Angeles Gladiators 2
2 Los Angeles Valiant 3
2 Los Angeles Valiant 3
3 New York Excelsior 1
3 New York Excelsior 3
4 Dallas Fuel 2

Playoffs
Main article: 2018 Overwatch League playoffs

After the regular season, the New York Excelsior and the Los Angeles Valiant finished atop their respective divisions, earning first-round byes. The next four remaining teams, Boston Uprising, Los Angeles Gladiators, London Spitfire, and Philadelphia Fusion, were seeded according to regular season record, regardless of division. The third-seeded Uprising played the sixth-seeded Fusion, while the fourth-seeded Gladiators played the fifth-seeded Spitfire. Each series was a best of 3 matches (each match was best of 5 maps). The winners of the two semifinal matches advanced to the Grand Finals, which took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York from July 27–28.[19][20]

Bracket
Quarterfinals
July 11–14, 2018 		Semifinals
July 18–21, 2018 		Grand Finals
July 27–28, 2018
1 New York Excelsior 0
3 Boston Uprising 1 6 Philadelphia Fusion 2
6 Philadelphia Fusion 2 5 London Spitfire 2
6 Philadelphia Fusion 0
2 Los Angeles Valiant 0
4 Los Angeles Gladiators 1 5 London Spitfire 2
5 London Spitfire 2

Grand Finals
Main article: 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals
Team Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match Wins
(6) Philadelphia Fusion 1 0 – 0
(5) London Spitfire 3 3 – 2

Awards
Pongphop "Mickie" Rattanasangchod was awarded the Dennis Hawelka Award
2018 OWL Awards
AwardRecipientRunners-up
Most Valuable Player (MVP)Bang "JJonak" Seong-hyun (New York Excelsior)Baek "Fissure" Chan-hyung (Los Angeles Gladiators)
Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok (Philadelphia Fusion)
Dennis Hawelka AwardPongphop "Mickie" Rattanasangchod (Dallas Fuel)–
Grand Finals MVPPark "Profit" Joon-yeong (London Spitfire)–

From JJonak's MVP award, Blizzard created a special cosmetic skin for Zenyatta, the character that JJonak most frequently played, which was offered to viewers and players during the 2019 season.[21]

All-Star Game
Main article: 2018 Overwatch League All-Star Game

The 2018 Overwatch League All-Star Game was the Overwatch League's first edition of an all-star game that involved the All-Star players of the league. The game was played on August 26, 2018, and was the culmination of the league's All-Star Weekend, a two-day event that consisted of Lúcioball, Mystery Heroes, a Widowmaker 1v1 tournament, Talent Takedown, and Lockout Elimination. All of the events were played at Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California. The game was televised by Disney XD and ESPN3 and streamed live on Twitch.[22][23]

Team Map 1 Map 2 Map 3 Map 4 Map 5 Map Wins
Atlantic Division 2 3 4 2 3 4
Pacific Division 3 2 3 1 2 1

Winnings

Teams in the first season competed for a total prize pool of US$3.5 million across regular season play, stage finals, and playoffs.[2] By league rules, at least 50% of these winnings were split among the team's members, the remaining going to the team's owner.

References
  1. "The Overwatch League Preseason Results Are In". IGN. December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  2. "Overwatch League Season 1 – everything you need to know". ESPN. December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  3. Carpenter, Nicole (January 26, 2018). "Overwatch League's midseason signing window is now open". Dot Esports. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  4. "Blizzard wants to 'help usher in a new era of competitive entertainment' with the Blizzard Arena". ESPN. September 7, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  5. Maese, Rick (July 28, 2018). "Overwatch League looks to future of esports, as London Spitfire makes history". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  6. Bailey, Dustin (December 5, 2017). "Philadelphia Fusion will miss the Overwatch League preseason". PCGamesN. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  7. "Overwatch League viewership: how does it compare to major sports leagues?". www.verdict.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  8. "Overwatch League comes to ESPN, Disney and ABC". ESPN. July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  9. Grayson, Nathan (July 30, 2018). "Overwatch League's TV Ratings Were Low, But It Doesn't Matter". Kotaku. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  10. Feldman, Jacob (August 1, 2018). "What is the Future of the Overwatch League as a Media Property?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  11. Goslin, Austen (August 8, 2018). "Blizzard reports 10.8 million viewers for the Overwatch League Finals". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  12. "London Spitfire beats Houston, New York to win Overwatch League Stage 1 playoffs". ESPN. February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  13. Fillari, Alessandro (February 13, 2018). "With Overwatch Updates Rolling Out, The League Prepares For Some Shake Ups". GameSpot. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  14. Devore, Jordan (February 14, 2018). "The Overwatch League is getting a more reasonable schedule". Destructoid. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  15. Bailey, Dustin (February 14, 2018). "Trades, Mercy nerfs, and new schedules – what to expect from stage two of Overwatch League". PCGamesN. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  16. Mejia, Ozzie (April 2, 2018). "Overwatch League Adding Fourth Team to Stage Finals". Shacknews. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  17. Alonzo, Damian (April 17, 2018). "Expect to see a lot of Sombra in Overwatch League stage 3". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  18. Grayson, Nathan (May 15, 2018). "Why Overwatch League's Regular Season Will End On A Wacky, Short-Lived Patch". Kotaku. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  19. Duggan, James (May 9, 2018). "Overwatch League Grand Finals To Be Held At New York's Barclays Center". IGN. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  20. Goslin, Austin (May 9, 2018). "The first Overwatch League Grand Finals will be held in New York". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  21. Castello, Jay (June 22, 2019). "Overwatch League's first MVP skin is pretty, lucky". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  22. McClusty, Kevin (August 25, 2018). "Overwatch's All Star weekend starts soon, here's how to watch it". Destructoid. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  23. Wright, Steve (August 28, 2018). "Overwatch League All-Star Game results detailed here". Stevivor. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
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