Cape Town
St. Petersburg
Copenhagen
Rio de Janeiro
Sydney
Tokyo
Busan
New Jersey for the memes

You will come to know Poi. Italian spider, leak whisperer, crumbs gatherer. Knows orgs' squads before they're even thinking of building a team.

The insigna is the lion symbol on his right arm that spawns the shield. There has been a bug with it for a very long time where projectiles could get through and do damage to him when holding shield.
They made it so it's no longer sticking out of his barrier to be more consistent tanking damage.

How can you possibly say that Blizzard fucked NA by allowing that many Academy teams to compete in it ? Would you rather have unsponsored teams replace them ? Because that's what's going on in EU (7/12 teams).
Considering how many orgs left Overwatch just because Blizzard didn't take care of the T2 scene, that would be selfish if we're thinking about the players/coaches/staff in general.

And Korean players fill those spots rather than Western players because they are guaranteed a good pay day and simply offer more. And I'm not talking about raw mechanical skill here. They have more LAN experience, most if not all have worked in a structured org prior, among other things.

'If the outlaws had nearly as easy a regular season as philly' ???
And that's a very big if, I could also argue that if Mayhem made it through there would have been even more of a gap between the 2 regions, but that doesn't get us anywhere does it ?

Finally, there are 13 EU (15%), 18 KR (20%) and 56 NA players in Contenders S2, I don't understand what's the big deal. 2 thirds of it is populated by local talent.
I feel like I'm being as objective as I can, I don't see what I would be biased towards here.

The Korean scene might not need as much help as the others but I believe it does still. Esports being what it is in SK culture helps make it a viable career choice. It's unfortunately not the same in EU for example which heavily lacks in investment and support (both social and financial).

What do you think makes KR and EU players so much more prevalent in the professional sphere as opposed to NA players ? That's the real question for me.

I don't know if we can talk about fairness to NA players. First and foremost, teams want a return on their investment, considering how dry the T2 scene has been for a long time, and they're gonna pick the best options they can put their hands on.

From where I'm standing, and I'm trying to be as objective as one could be, the Korean and European scenes, in that order, offer the largest number of top tier players as of now. Also we don't know that the NA players you're mentioning aren't getting opportunities to showcase themselves. From an outsider point of view, it looks like KR and EU players just offer what teams need (only 6 NA players fielded during the entire playoffs).

There also are a bunch of young NA talent on the rise so maybe in the next couple of years the number representing the region in OWL will balance out with the other 2 main ones.

Most OWL teams have a certain diversity in terms of where their players come from. I see what you mean by locking regions in Contenders but I doubt it's a viable solution moving forward.

Contenders, which in time will be the main resource for OWL scouting staff (for players and on air talent alike), needs serious care as to player contracts, LAN experience, infrastructure, support staffing and way better exposure and advertisement. League is the fetus with Contenders being the umbilical cord, in a metaphoric way.
The amount of unsponsored teams in Contenders is just ridiculous.

Without Fury you mean. Also Player of the Match is not a one map thing, yes Profit, and the entire Spitfire by extension, played really well the entire series, but Gesture was stellar.

Half the names you listed are already committed to an OWL team tho. They're 1 year contracts but teams still get priority over renewing them.

The candlest of all candles.

They have Knellery as well. As for broadcast, Coluge has been streaming the games so if no xqc, you can watch them there.

That's what almost everybody said about Boston. They're pretty much locked in 3rd now.

Could be an interesting location to add, the crowd in Sydney last year was sick. Definitely a lot of talent and some amazing players in OCE but would an all Australian roster be OWL level ? On one hand, I'd like to believe that with proper roster, coaching and practice they could be. On the other, I can't help but think that they'd be a Mayhem 2.0.
I prefer mixed rosters regardless, but if it were to be an all aussie roster, I'd say:
Trill and Knellery for MT
Kiki and Hoowoo offtankers
Aetar, Ieatuup and Tails on DPS
Rqt, Frogger for pre-match spawn dance sessions and Kura (don't really know any other AU supports apart from Gunba who's coaching for Valiant right now)
Based only on previous WCs and a few OCE games watched here and there.

Also kind of a cliché name, but I like Melbourne Venom.

https://www.twitch.tv/hidantf2

You are right, forgot we were talking about Saturday only.

Shouldn't it be at least 6 maps and at most 15 (not including potential draws) ?

The nature of Overwatch being so complex with different abilities/ults for each hero and varied comps, it would be hard for one person to keep tabs on everything going on and relay the information to his team.

I have never personally been in a professional setting so this is my take on how the general calling structure would be.

1. First would be ult checking (allies) and tracking (enemies), which historically would fall under the main support role (so the Lucio, and recently Mercy player). Calling for an ult check helps everyone in the team know where they stand in ult economy, preparing for combos, getting position if need be.
   Tracking enemies ults allows for better preparation going into fights, expecting combos and getting ready for a team wipe (if dry fight) or a disengage+reengage (Fusion and XL are very good at this) for example. This is a very tricky one and in my opinion makes or breaks a main support at a professional level.

   • Supports ults are usually mirrored, but you can see exceptions here and there (i.e. winning a team fight and getting to heal everyone as lucio, but in the long run it normalises across teams).
   • Tanks' damage is pretty easy to keep an eye on, them being on the frontline, I'd say Roadhog would be the toughest to keep track of, but Wholehog is hardly impactful so not a big deal.
   • Trickiest one would be the DPS ults and their usage imo.

2. Second is scouting. In most cases made by the Tracer player. This is for getting a better image of the enemy's position before engaging. The better you are prepared for a fight, the better are your chances at winning it.
   I'd imagine Sombra players would easily be able to do this as well, but she's not as omnipresent as Tracer has been in the game. Also high ground allows for Genji, Widow, Winston and Dva to do the same in specific situations (Volskaya, Anubis, Hanamura 2nd, King's Row 3rd etc).

3. Then is target dive/focus. This is Winston's job in the dive meta. Where to go and who to go on. Bubble is a great ability to spread a team apart and for the DPS and Dva to deal damage 'safely' for a short amount of time. There is also the issue of Winston not having any range so you need him to be the one making the call. Seeing the good leap, bubble usage and decision making are massive parts of Winston's no brain no aim job.

4. Last point would englobe every small thing that happens in the midst of fights (no reflect, no recall, low matrix/shield, hook's up, Ana/Zen dropped from x position, peeling etc), that would help make engages more calculated and effective. And this is easier for frontliners to spot and call. I'd call it counterplay.

Also keep in mind that calling affects mechanical play as it takes focus away, which is why DPS players don't call as much in general.
So all in all, I'd say everyone is involved in calls. Some less than others depending on the team's calling structure.

Point 4 is not about Fuel's management team. It's about when he was doing tryouts pre OWL, I have an idea about who he's talking about but not sure.

MINE Moon2A

Yes I can explain, the KGB forced EQO to do it, just Putin looking out for his boy.

You win the garbage comment of 2018, congrats.

The name is Brigitte not Bridget or Bridgette lol

Lateks Benbest
Train Snizzlenose
Mangachu Tseini Dids
Veinless Tomzey Evokje

Honestly it's tough to put together, a ton of players got picked up, now make Contenders great :pray:

I really don't like that teams don't play one game, fairest ranking should include every match-up. Most of these games wouldn't heavily impact the ranking per se, but Outlaws v Valiant and Fusion v Dynasty would've been tight games, and quite possibly deciders for playoffs.

Some teams dodging strong games, while other dodging really easy/tough games doesn't feel fair to me. Then again, always hated RNG.

It's not so much default to, but rather see more play time. Dive will still be played, it will just not be the best comp for every point.
Also, triple tank doesn't necessarily mean static, Winston Dva Hog works well too.

Also OWL's stage 2 maps will be KR, Hollywood, Lijiang, Nepal, Hanamura, Volskaya, Gibraltar and Route 66. All of which are Rein friendly if not across the map, on specific points.
Tank heavy comps have always been Ana's strong suit, and now are Moira's as well. Zen works too cause of discord, Lucio will be main support in the majority of situations because speed is too good.

As for Mercy, she's being hunted enough as is in a dive heavy meta where she usually has vertical and horizontal outs. Playing Mercy in a static comp means Mercy doesn't move around as much, which should be an easy kill for enemy flanker(s). The other supports are all LoS healers and all have either counter-flanker or escape abilities. Zen is an exception, cause with good peels, he becomes a punish hero, plus transcendence is imo the best support ult. Whereas Mercy is just a sitting duck.

All in all, the no more Mercy insta pick allows for more support and tank variation. Only thing I'm afraid of is tank heavy meta got stale very fast when it came around the first time. But we've seen some niche comps come out here and there already so I have faith.

FunnyAstro will be their main support imo. Crusade will more likely be their offtank.

It's been said on Knoxxx's stream a month or so ago that Nico was only practicing hitscans.
Only issue is they don't have a strong Dva player, I mean Nico can play it but not anything outstanding. Will prob be a triple dps dive team unless they need Zarya or Hog (which I think Leaf will play).

It really depends on how they wanna approach their games. Playstyles are different basically. xQc is more agressive, whereas Cocco is more on the defensive side.
It's a good option to have both at this level, will make for different strats and prepare better against the teams they'll have to face.

2-1 VAL

Dynasty 4-0 Dragons

Valiant 4-0 Shock

Mayhem 3-1 Shock

Or to me!

Their tank and support lines are one of the sickest in the League for me. SBB is a monster, and Libero is the most versatile Korean player, perhaps no Flower, but he is up there too. I just got a feeling about them.

1. NYXL
2. Fuel
3. Spitfire
4. Valiant
5. Dynasty
6. Gladiators
7. Fusion
8. Outlaws
9. Mayhem
10. Uprising
11. Shock
12. Dragons

Agilities and Silkthread are not top tier projectile players tho. Top tier Genji (Agilities that is) yes, not projectile.

Rooting for XL this season, the big dogs' underdog. Also wanna see Boston do well this season for all the shit they've gotten tbh.

Doubt this game will be close given how young the Uprising roster is, but hope they do well down the line.

He's aware of what he did and promised he'll show a better side of him. Everyone makes mistakes, his is certainly not fine but is not deserving of a lifetime perception sentence.
Fully deserves a second chance imo, never saw him play but I hope he proves his worthiness on the field, only way you can turn it around in sports/esports.

He tweeted a couple weeks ago that he proceeded with the name change and removed the 'w'.

Ye these preseason games will just serve to test the waters with teams in an offline environment and such, results shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Poko is a pretty sick Dva, never seen Hotba play so can't really talk about him, but Poko is nuts.

Convivial, affable and warm environment for deepest talks about professional Overwatch. No memes or trolls everyone is welcome.

Only saving grace for this squad are CoolMatt and LiNkzr in my eyes. Rawkus is a great support too but idk if they'll split Bani and Boink right from the start.
I mean this is pre-season so I was bantering mostly, I do firmly believe that there is no comparing these 2 teams though.

Some Outlaws bouta get smoked.

Only heroes that are really hard on high ping are Roadhog and Doomfist, Rein would be in that list too if I was in higher ranks. And I'm a trashmouse main now btw, shit's too broken not to play.

Besides esports not being big at all in Africa, I think it's mostly due to Blizzard servers not being installed there. So SA gets 190-220 to EU (from the forums) and North Africa (NA #2 btw) I'm guessing must get 80 (or perhaps more) ping to EU. People in some other countries where Internet isn't as developed would probably be unable to even play the game sadly.

Africa could be a huge market for the future but right now it doesn't look like it's in Blizzard's priorities whatsoever.

I live in EU and play on NA with no problem, just have to get used to ping (~130 from Switzerland).
Hitscans feel oh so damn good on EU servers but just can't stand nobody talking.

Why doesn't it surprise me that you were a Dva main Remiska LuL

You'd be surprised how OW can run on low end PCs (best game in that regard imo). I use a laptop that isn't meant for gaming, and I played OW for the longest time on xbox thinking it wouldn't run it.
I play on garbage settings (50 render, low-ish res) but it is still playable (~50 fps). Unless you want good graphics quality and performance, don't necessarily need much $ to play on PC tbh.

There's a whole world of difference between playing on console and PC, so my advice would be to get a cheap PC and in the meantime save for an upgrade later.

Will be surprised if Poko isn’t a starter. Guy’s a monster beast at every off tank besides Hog (never played it at pro level so can’t say really). Leaves Hotba as a viable option since Sado’s past isn’t the cleanest but I’ve never seen him play.