Yesterday, the first round of Overwatch League play concluded in 2023 with the league’s first-ever Pro Championship. Seven amateur teams from the North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions have qualified for the right to play against the professional Overwatch West teams.
Most racer teams are sorely short of resources. They usually consist of teenagers and young adults who exercise and play along with their homework and work. It is nearly impossible for opposing players to maintain the skill level needed to compete against paid pros, access to better equipment and training, and in some cases, even housing. The competitors are the backbone of Overwatch league. Esports has a significantly high attrition rate, and for Overwatch League, Contenders is where professional teams source the next generation of talent and staff. However, for a while, Blizzard almost completely neglected the scene. If you don’t follow the competition Overwatch Society so closely that, for the first few years of the League’s existence, it did not know there were rivals.
Over the past two years or so, Blizzard seems to have gotten the message, promoting Contenders matches on social media and Overwatch Game player. A pro tournament, then, seems like the logical next step for those small successes. Teams of contestants were given the opportunity to play in front of an audience they may not be familiar with OverwatchIn the Level 2 scene, teams were able to hone their skills against the pros, and they were showcasing their talents to any team managers and coaches who were watching.
Yes, sure, none of these teams managed to make it to the final stage of the tournament, and most matches between the challenger team and the pro one ended in a quick and brutal lockout (with some pro teams pouring loads of salt into the wound by running superstructures). But we did get a few nice moments when Trick Room, Saints, and Twisted Minds upset their professional opponents, one of whom was twice Overwatch Champion San Francisco Shock. talent He is There, he was finally given the big stage he needed to shine. Oh, and the Florida mime won the whole thing, but whatever, it’s not important.
The catch is that once the League gets underway in earnest on April 27th and the Eastern teams finally get a chance to play, we’ll see more Contender teams join the fray, and this time, League teams will really get to watch their backs. Eastern teams are more likely to have formal organizational support that puts their resources on an equal footing Overwatch League franchise teams. I’m not saying Eastern Contenders teams won’t get kicked out of them on a regular basis, but it’s going to be a lot less likely than you think, and I, for one, look forward to the kinds of upsets and knockout fights that make the competition Overwatch Very interesting to watch.