The Overwatch League is waving goodbye to fun in the sun with the season’s third tournament, the Summer Showdown. While East Region teams are still stuck playing online, West Region teams will be traveling to the Great North for this year’s second LAN event, held in Toronto, Canada. With a few familiar faces missing from the bracket, the tournament is wide open for all the teams heading across the border.
Every tournament is important, but the Summer Showdown holds more weight considering the impending reality of postseason math. This will be the last full tournament of the 2022 season. Though the next cycle is the Countdown Cup, those qualifier matches will act as a setup to the playoffs rather than as a standalone bracket.
This means that teams have to fight harder than they ever have before to get into the top echelon of each region. With League Points and possible postseason success on the line, the Summer Showdown is guaranteed to be as cutthroat as it is entertaining.
Tournament format
Like the Kickoff Clash tournament held in June, the Summer Showdown consists of two entirely separate, regional double-elimination brackets. In a double-elimination bracket, teams are allowed one loss, which drops them into the lower bracket, before they’re fully eliminated from the tournament.
Matches will look a lot like they have in the Summer Showdown qualifiers, with the tournament running on the same Overwatch League-specific patch of Overwatch 2 and with the same map pool. The only difference comes in the selection of maps and, for some matches, the number of wins required to take the trophy.
For each series, the higher seed will select the first map. After that, the losing team selects the next map in the series, giving them a slight advantage if they play their cards right. All matches will be the usual Overwatch League first-to-three setup, but the grand finals on Sept. 11 in each region will be a first-to-four series.
The Summer Showdown champion in the West Region will take home $75,000 and, possibly more importantly, a whopping three League Points. With the postseason quickly approaching, these League Points can affect qualification and seeding heading into the playoffs. The East Region’s champion will earn $50,000 and three League Points. The full prize pool can be found on the tournament’s home page.
Participating teams
East Region
Though they’ve had a rougher season than they intended, the Shanghai Dragons are finally resembling their 2021 championship-winning form. As the first seed in the East Region with a flawless 6-0 record in qualifiers, they’re looking to get that glory back. They’ve opted to face the Guangzhou Charge, who are heading into the tournament with a 4-2 record, in the first round.
On the other end of the bracket is the Seoul Dynasty, who won the Kickoff Clash back in June and will be looking to add another star to their wall of fame. They underperformed in the Midseason Madness tournament but rallied back with a 5-1 record in Summer Showdown qualifiers. They’ll be taking on the Philadelphia Fusion, who barely scraped into the tournament on a 2-4 record thanks to map differential. It’s impossible to tell which Fusion will show up for game day, though, so anything could happen.
West Region
For the West Region, the big story isn’t about which teams made it to Toronto, but about which team didn’t. The Los Angeles Gladiators won the Kickoff Clash and the global trophy in the Midseason Madness tournament, but they won’t be showing up to the Summer Showdown. The addition of Junker Queen and a rare failure to adapt led to a disappointing 2-4 qualifier record. For other teams, however, this means the path to victory is wide open.
The top two teams in the Summer Showdown are the Dallas Fuel and the San Francisco Shock; both have been battling for dominance throughout the qualifiers. Dallas recently ended the Shock’s 21-game regular season win streak and snagged the first seed in the West Region. Reeling from a defeat by the Gladiators in the Midseason Madness grand finals, San Francisco are hoping to prove that they can perform when the pressure is on, not only during low-stress qualifier matches.
With matching 4-2 records, the Houston Outlaws and the home team, the Toronto Defiant, took the next two highest seeds. The Outlaws have soared thanks to clutch plays from the team’s DPS and Toronto, motivated by the idea of a cheering home crowd at the Summer Showdown, surprised many by taking down teams above their usual weight class.
The rest of the teams in the Summer Showdown are all coming in with dead even 3-3 qualifier records. Of these, the London Spitfire and Vancouver Titans are the biggest wild cards and largest threats to their higher-seed opponents. With a head coach and mindset change, Vancouver have evolved from a meme team to a real contender. London were dominant at the start of the season, but their results have faltered thanks to a change in meta. Both teams could pull out surprises at the last minute, though.
Florida Mayhem made waves in the Summer Showdown qualifiers thanks to the team’s wild hero picks that force changes from the current “JOATS” meta, based around Junker Queen. In a similar, baffling manner, the Washington Justice have actually performed better after losing several players and handing its sixth roster slot to a staff member. It may take a miracle for these teams to upset the status quo, but they clearly have the talent to take a crack at it.
Summer Showdown schedule
The West Region kicks off the tournament when the first-seeded Dallas Fuel take on the Washington Justice at 1pm CT on Sept. 8. That’s an hour earlier than matches normally begin, so plan your day accordingly.
East Region games begin at 5am CT on Sept. 9 with the Shanghai Dragons facing off against the Guangzhou Charge. The Seoul Dynasty and Philadelphia Fusion will battle immediately after.
East Region schedule
Sept. 9
- 5am CT: Shanghai Dragons vs. Guangzhou Charge
- 6:30am CT: Seoul Dynasty vs. Philadelphia Fusion
Sept. 10
- 5am CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket, elimination match)
- 6:30am CT: TBD vs. TBD (Upper bracket semifinals)
Sept. 11
- 5am CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket finals)
- 6:30am CT: Grand Finals
West Region schedule
Sept. 8
- 1pm CT: Dallas Fuel vs. Washington Justice
- 2:30pm CT: London Spitfire vs. Toronto Defiant
- 4pm CT: San Francisco Shock vs. Vancouver Titans
- 5:30pm CT: Houston Outlaws vs. Florida Mayhem
Sept. 9
- 1pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Upper bracket)
- 2:30 pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Upper bracket)
- 4pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket, elimination match)
- 5:30pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket, elimination match)
Sept. 10
- 1pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket, elimination match)
- 2:30pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket, elimination match)
- 4pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Upper bracket semifinals)
- 5:30 pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket, elimination match)
Sept. 11
- 1pm CT: TBD vs. TBD (Lower bracket semifinals)
- 2:30pm CT: Grand finals
