This weekend, hundreds of teams across four regions will be competing in a community tournament based around a wild Experimental Card created by Overwatch League pros and top streamers. With more than 45 hero changes included in the card, chaos is inevitable. Welcome to the Flash Ops: Experimental Card Tournament.
Games officially begin on March 26 for all regions. Europe kicked off at 9am CT and North American games start at 5pm CT. There will also be competitions in Korea and China. Select games will be broadcast on the Overwatch League YouTube channel on March 27 and 28 and viewers can earn tokens for watching.
Overwatch League participation
Unlike previous Flash Ops tournaments, which had a hard limit of two Overwatch League players per team, this tournament is actively encouraging pro participation. Each team was required to field at least three players for the tournament, but many teams have put forth more talent to make a winning roster.
While the bulk of the Experimental Card Tournament is made up of regular players and grassroots teams, they’ll have to go through Overwatch League players for a shot at the $10,000 prize pool in each region. Here’s where you can catch your favorite league players this weekend.
Atlanta Reign
The Experimental Card Tournament might last all weekend, but the Atlanta Reign is only here for Reaper Friday. Six of the team’s players, including Los Angeles Valiant refugee Kai Collins and new addition Oh “Pelican” Se-hyun, will be taking on the stacked tournament. At least one of them will probably play Reaper.
Boston Uprising
Sure, most Overwatch League teams may be required to field at least three players, but the Boston Uprising has created three different teams for the tournament. All of the team’s stateside players will be participating as team JOOKGA, while those stranded in or around Europe will play in the EU bracket as Good Gamers. Boston’s staff members are also fielding a team named Staff “R” Us.
Players will also be flexing onto different roles within their specific teams, according to the Uprising’s Twitter account. European fans might get to see the fabled Terence “SoOn” Tarlier Reinhardt at this rate.
Dallas Fuel
Not to be outdone by the Boston Uprising, the Dallas Fuel will also be fielding multiple teams with coordinating themes. Team Tazmuyaho includes the team’s coaching staff and, of course, manager Mat “Tazmo” Taylor.
DPS Kim “Doha” Dong-ha and support Kwon “Fielder” Joon have taken the side of the coaches, but their fellow players have developed an antagonist team. Team Tazmo Without Tazmuyaho is exactly what it sounds like and includes the rest of the Dallas Fuel roster.
Florida Mayhem
Mu Ya Ho might be a big trend in this tournament, but the Florida Mayhem did it first. Most of the team will be competing in the tournament alongside general manager and infamous DPS ladder god Albert “yeHHH” Yeh.
Houston Outlaws and Vancouver Titans
The two green teams are joining forces to create Team Wheats, led by Titans head coach Steven “Flubby” Coronel. Vancouver veterans Randal “Roolf” Stark and Abtin “ShRedLock” Shirvani bring newcomer Kim “Teru” Min-ki to the tournament. Meanwhile, Houston Outlaws support Enrique “Joobi” Triana has dragged unretired player coach Jake Lyon and tank Cho “JJANGU” Myung-heum into the Overwatch Contenders reunion madness.
Los Angeles Gladiators
Some of the current Gladiators are inviting a few old friends to compete under the CHADIATORS banner. Former Los Angeles support Nolan “Paintbrush” Edwards and retired Gladiator Ted “Silkthread” Wang will be teaming up with members of the current roster, like Grant “moth” Espe and Chris “MirroR” Trinh, to get those shields up one last time.
New York Excelsior
The New York Excelsior is straight-up just competing in the Korean tournament bracket as NYXL. Keep it simple.
Paris Eternal
General manager Molly “AVALLA” Kim has assembled her players to throw down in the European tournament bracket as Best Nightcore Mix 2021. AVALLA is a top-ranked support player in her own right, but she’ll be aided by Paris support Emir “Kaan” Okumus. Veteran support Alberto “NeptuNo” Gonzalez will be jumping onto DPS to keep things spicy.
Philadelphia Fusion
The Fusion will be playing out of South Korea for the 2021 Overwatch League season. But due to COVID-19 shutdowns, many players and staff are still stuck in the EU. They’ve decided to put that energy toward taking down the North American bracket as the aptly-named Travel Banned, which includes off-tank Gael “Poko” Gouzerch and support Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway.
San Francisco Shock
Most Shock players are probably busy planning that three-peat Grand Finals performance they keep promising, but a few are taking time out to cause chaos. Main tank Matthew “super” DeLisi and DPS Sean “ta1yo” Henderson are a part of WHV: We Hate VALORANT alongside Contenders staples. Main support Brice “FDGod” Monscavoir will be playing with Boston’s EU team, Good Gamers.
Washington Justice
In what’s probably the funniest total theme of the entire tournament, the Washington Justice roster will be competing as Jerry Always Hungry. As if the photo of DPS Min “Jerry” Tae-hee brandishing tongs wasn’t enough, all of the Justice’s players added “Sexy” in front of their names to sign up for the tournament.
Overwatch League players might be a big draw, but popular streamers and top Overwatch Contenders teams like American Tornado and Obey Alliance will also be participating in the Experimental Card Tournament.
No official broadcast will be provided on March 26, so check out player streams to keep up with the games. Three matches per day will be officially broadcast on March 27 and final, top-tier matches will be broadcast on March 28 as the tournament closes out. All broadcast games will be shown on the Overwatch League YouTube channel.
