The 2019 Esports Shanghai Masters hosted by the Shanghai Esports Association has announced the Overwatch Shanghai Masters Invitational on Weibo. Held at the Shanghai Jing'an Sports Center, the Overwatch invitational runs alongside matches for other esports titles such as League of Legends, Warcraft 3 and Dungeon Fighter Online.
The invitational has welcomed four Overwatch League teams -- the Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #5 Izayaki Kim Min-chul (김민철) flex support Void Kang Jun-woo (강준우) off tank Fleta Kim Byung-sun (김병선) dps LIP Lee Jae-won (이재원) dps Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support , Hangzhou Spark Hangzhou Spark OWL Rank #6 BERNAR Shin Se-won (신세원) off tank irony Kim Hyeong-woo (김형우) flex support Shy Zheng Yangjie (郑杨杰) dps AlphaYi Kim Joon (김준) dps guxue Xu Qiulin (徐秋林) tank superich Wu Gengtuo (吴梗拓) support , Chengdu Hunters Chengdu Hunters OWL Rank #13 Mmonk Zhou Xiang (周翔) flex support Daizi Ni Yuandong (倪远东) off tank Jinmu Yi Hu (易虎) dps Leave Huang Xin (黄馨) dps GA9A Qiu Jiaxin (仇佳鑫) tank Nisha Tan Li (谭力) support and Guangzhou Charge Guangzhou Charge OWL Rank #9 Cr0ng Nam Ki-cheol (남기철) off tank Farway1987 Cao Jiale (曹家乐) flex support choisehwan Choi Se-Hwan (최세환) dps Develop Chae Rak-hoon (채락훈) dps Rio Oh Seung-pyo (오승표) tank Unique Yoo Dong-hyun support -- to participate, giving fans an opportunity to watch the teams' retooled rosters play ahead of the 2020 Overwatch League season. The four teams will compete in a single elimination bracket to crown "the best team in China".
The semifinals will be played in a best-of-five format, while the grand finals will be a best-of-seven. Fans will also get the chance to vote for the semifinals matchups on Weibo.
While an overall prize pool for the entire event has been announced to be 5 million RMB, a prize pool specifically for the Overwatch invitational has yet to be announced.
The 2019 Esports Shanghai Masters will begin on the 28th of November, with the Overwatch invitational happening on the final day of the event on the 1st of December.