ATL Academy

ATL Academy was an American esports team for the video game Overwatch competing in Overwatch Contenders (OWC) and an academy team for the Atlanta Reign of the Overwatch League (OWL). The franchise played its first two seasons as Last Night's Leftovers before becoming an OWL affiliate team. The team is based in Atlanta, Georgia and plays in the North America East region of OWC. Atlanta won their first Contenders regional title in Season 2 of 2019 in a 4–1 victory over Gladiators Legion. In March 2020, ATL Academy was disbanded.

ATL Academy
Founded2018
Disbanded2020
LeagueOverwatch Contenders
DivisionAtlantic
RegionNorth America East
Team historyLast Night's Leftovers
2018
ATL Academy
2018–2020
Based inAtlanta, Georgia, U.S.
ColorsRed, charcoal, light gray
     
OwnerAtlanta Esports Ventures
Head coachDillain Odeneal
Affiliation(s)Atlanta Reign
Regional titles
  • 1
  • 2019 Season 2
Interregional titles
  • 0

Franchise history

2018: Last Night's Leftovers

The franchise began in 2018 as Last Night's Leftovers (LNL), an unsponsored Overwatch Open Division team.[1] In 2018 Season 1, the team was promoted from the Open Division to North America Contenders Trials, where they claimed the top seed and moved to North America Overwatch Contenders 2018 Season 1. In Season 2 of 2018, LNL became the first unsponsored team in North America to beat an academy team.[2] The team went on to qualify for the playoffs, marking the first time that a team promoted from the Open Division had made it to the Contenders playoffs.[3]

2018–present: ATL Academy

On November 23, 2018, the Atlanta Reign announced that Last Night's Leftovers would be competing as Atlanta's Overwatch League academy team under the name ATL Academy.[4] The team has made it to the regional finals in 2018 Season 3, but they fell to Fusion University.[5]

In 2019 Season 1, ATL Academy again made it to the regional finals and again, the team lost; this time it was to Team Envy.[6] Following the regional finals, the team defeated Gladiators Legion in a qualifier match for the Atlantic Showdown,[7] an interregional double-elimination tournament, where in the tournament, team took fourth place.[8] In 2019 Season 2, ATL posted a perfect 7–0 win–loss record and 28–0 map record in the regular season to claim the top seed in the regional playoffs.[9] Atlanta went on to roll through the playoffs, dropping only one map throughout its entirety, and defeated Gladiators Legion in the finals to claim their first Contenders title.[10] Due to their regional title, the team qualified as the top seed in The Gauntlet, an interregional, Contenders tournament.[11] Bypassing the group stages due to their seed, ATL first fell to Element Mystic, 2–3, in the upper-bracket semifinals of the double-elimination tournament.[12] The team ran through the lower bracket, sweeping XL2 Academy, Gen.G, and RunAway to make it to the Grand Finals, where they again faced Element Mystic.[13][14] ATL were unable to take down Element Mystic, losing by a 1–4 scoreline to finish second in the tournament.[14]

After qualifying for the second week of the 2020 season, ATL Academy announced that they would withdraw from Contenders and go on an indefinite hiatus.[15]

Seasons overview
Year Season Region OWC regular season Regional playoffs Interregional events
Finish[lower-alpha 1] Wins Losses Win %
Last Night's Leftovers
20181North America6th14.200
2North America3rd32.600QuarterfinalsNone held
ATL Academy
20183North America2nd41.800Runners-upNone held
20191North America West3rd52.667Runners-upAtlantic Showdown – Lower Round 2
2North America East1st701.000WinnersThe Gauntlet – Runners-up
2020 1 North America DNF[lower-alpha 2] 0 1 .000
Regular season record208.714
Playoff record63.667
  1. Placements in 2019 reflect standings in the team's respective group and not the entire region.
  2. ATL Academy withdrew from Contenders after the first week.

OWL buyouts and promotions

All Overwatch Contenders players are eligible to be promoted by their affiliated Overwatch League team or signed to any other Overwatch League during specified non-blackout periods.[16]

2018
  • DPS Ilya "NLaaeR" Koppalov was promoted to Atlanta Reign on October 29.[17]

2019
  • Support Dusttin "Dogman" Bowerman was promoted to Atlanta Reign on February 11.[18]
  • Tank Xander "Hawk" Domecq was promoted to Atlanta Reign on October 31.[19]

References
  1. Mary-Justice, Amelia (November 23, 2018). "Atlanta Reign Sign Remaining "Last Night's Leftovers" Players to Academy Team". Inven Global. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  2. Parrish, Ashley (August 30, 2018). "Your complete primer to Overwatch Contenders - and why you should be watching it". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  3. Asarch, Steven (September 19, 2019). "Youtuber myKL Claims 'Overwatch' League D.C. Team Poaching Players". Newsweek. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  4. Rodriguez, Veronika (November 23, 2018). "Atlanta Reign Announces Overwatch League Academy Team". DBLTAP. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  5. August, Charlotte (January 14, 2019). "Overwatch Esports: Contenders Playoffs Recap". ESTNN. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  6. Knudsen, Connor (June 15, 2019). "NA Contenders: 2019 Season 2 Preseason Power Rankings". The Game Haus. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019.
  7. Weil, Katrina (May 31, 2019). "Contenders casters from around the world weigh in on Atlantic Showdown". Upcomer. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  8. Samples, Rachel (June 10, 2019). "Kodak steps down from Atlanta Reign, joins ATL Academy". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  9. Gwilliam, Michael (August 7, 2019). "Atlanta Reign coach says over half of Overwatch League teams are losing to their Contenders team". Dexerto. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  10. Amos, Andrew (August 18, 2019). "Who has qualified for the 2019 Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet?". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  11. Howard, Brandon (October 8, 2019). "Overwatch Contenders – The Gauntlet 2019 Preview". Hotspawn. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  12. O'Dwyer, Samuel (October 11, 2019). "Top-6 teams determined at the Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  13. O'Dwyer, Samuel (October 12, 2019). "Element Mystic are the first team in the Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet grand final". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  14. O'Dwyer, Samuel (October 13, 2019). "Element Mystic crowned Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet champions". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  15. Alford, Aaron (2020-03-22). "ATL Academy opts out of current 2020 Overwatch Contenders season". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  16. Olmstead, Sydney (June 14, 2018). "Blizzard Reveals Information About Overwatch League Offseason". VGR. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  17. "dafran rounds out Atlanta Reign's OWL roster". ESPN. Field Level Media. October 29, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  18. Genova, Vincent (February 11, 2019). "OWL: Atlanta Reign troll fans with roster signing announcement". Dexerto. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  19. Scrubasaurus (October 31, 2019). "Gator and Hawk promoted to Reign". over.gg. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
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