The Overwatch League is not yet ready to move to its city-based structure, but three teams will host “home” games in the 2019 season: Atlanta Reign, Dallas Fuel, and Los Angeles Valiant.
A full schedule for the Overwatch League’s 2019 season was announced this morning. Tickets for the regular season are available now, with tickets for the “home” games on sale by individual teams “at a later date,” according to the press release. The Overwatch League will also debut a new playoff structure and “end-of-season format.”
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Dallas’ “home” games will be played April 27 to 28 at the Allen Event Center in North Texas, with matches featuring Chengdu Hunters, Hangzhou Spark, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, Paris Eternal, Los Angeles Valiant, and Seoul Dynasty. Atlanta’s matches will be held July 6 to 7 with Florida Mayhem, Guangzhou Charge, New York Excelsior, Philadelphia Fusion, Shanghai Dragons, Toronto Defiant, and Washington Justice. Matches will be held in Los Angeles’ The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live from Aug. 24 to 25 with Atlanta Reign, Boston Uprising, Dallas Fuel, Hangzhou Spark, Los Angeles Gladiators, New York Excelsior, Vancouver Titans, San Francisco Shock, and Shanghai Dragons.
Six teams will qualify for the league’s post-season games, with the top team from the Atlantic and Pacific divisions each receiving top seeds. A play-in tournament will determine the two final playoff spots, to be held in August. Teams that placed seventh through 12th will be able participate in the play-in tournament, which will replace the stage four finals.
The Overwatch League has also increased its prize pool for the 2019 season, bumping the total up to $5 million from $3.5 million last year. Here’s the breakdown:
- Stage playoffs
- First place — $200,000
- Second place — $100,000
- Third and fourth place — $50,000 each
- Fifth through eighth place — $25,000 each
- Season playoffs
- Grand champion — $1.1 million
- Second place — $600,000
- Third place — $450,000
- Fourth place — $350,000
- Fifth and sixth place — $300,000 each
- Seventh and eighth — $200,000 each
In preparation for the 2019 season’s first stage, the map pool has also been revealed. Map pools for each stage have been bumped up to 12 maps from eight plus a tiebreaker map. The map pool is as follows:
- Control: Busan, Ilios, Nepal
- Hybrid: Hollywood, King’s Row, Numbani
- Assault: Temple of Anubis, Horizon: Lunar Colony, Volskaya Industries
- Escort: Rialto, Dorado, Route 66
- Tiebreaker: One of the two controls maps not already played in a series
The Overwatch League’s 2019 season begins on Feb. 14 at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. The full schedule is now available online.
Published: Dec 12, 2018 10:00 am