Mr X keeps asking for Joemeister, but he ain't flat out better than Neptuno (for sure not with lack of team practice), is just that some of these NA casters don't know a thing about EU players.

Huston meanwhile thinking they had this in the bag and brought in the subs, sorry but Clockwork ain't at this level (yet?).

What can I say?
This is probably the roster I prefer, a nice mix of styles and cultures, which probably will make it harder for them to properly gel, but once (if?) they do... I can easily see them in teh playoffs and if things go the right way, also top 4 as Hayes hopes.

Out of the best Chinese team they only pick the coach, as much as I think coaches are important, it's the players that win the matches...
Btw:
https://twitter.com/LAGladiators/status/951295382788628480

Nope they didn't, if you want they are brodcasting this match right now:
https://www.twitch.tv/overwatchleague

Look I'm usually one of the negative/pessimist ones, but just right now they are streaming the re-broadcast and it says 40k, for a non-live event.

I'd say that they could settle at aorund 100k once the novelty goes away with probable peaks for important/trendy matches, and I'd say it might be good.

Here from the "future", you are going to be right! :D

Yeh it was just the constant spam for gifts/whatever, with 1/2 of them even spelled incorrectly. :D

Got mine 'cause... dreams are always to be supported. :)

Being biased is what makes conversations spicy and worth having! :)

That's very true, thou what matters at the end are numbers (of people who watched the ads, sponsors, etc...) that, together with what they get out of merchandise, defines if somehting is succesful or not.

Numbers can't be debated (if public of course) they are facts, everything else is of course debatable and prone to personal interpretation, which is what we can do on a forum without the risk of making mistakes we have to pay for, it's "just words". :)

I agree with robokun87 thou, a drastic decline after 1-2 weeks, slow but steady delcine over months and not being "on par" with other major esports (in the long term) wil be considered negative, why should investors buy new slots for OWL if they can get more money (so to speak) by financing a CS or PUBG (should it take flight) organization?

But I still believe that's not the real reason, people downfrags my post and I guess it's about the "you can do something else than being a pro at OW" part, but that's the brutal truth.

Not every job/work can "be good" for you, even if you are good at it, adults end up realising it sooner or later, so you either choose to go on, ingoring the fact it doesn't pay much and maybe try to change it "from the inside" (which means, do these guys have someone to represent them? If not they should, do they speak to eahcother? Ever thought of planning actual strikes?), or if you really need money you find another occupation.

Cheating (whatever form it might take) is never the good answer, can bring you much more money, but should also go along with very strict punishments, even more so for jobs that exist ONLY 'cause of viewership, else you pass along to the audience the message:
"look this job is fun, pays like shit, but ehi you can also make money cheating and you'll get a pass even when caught".

P.S. suggestion is if you really find a job you like, instead of ingoring the fact it pays like shit and find shady ways to make more money, fight to change it, with your collegues, they should be your mates in this, not someone you try to outsmart, 'cause in this case there's someone else who's outsmarting you all, the company/team/whatever you work for, as the money is there, it just doesn't arrive to you.

I honestly think averaging at around 60k for each match would be a bit disappointing tbh, they should aim at something closer to the 100k, of course this also taking other platforms into consideration (MLG, Chinese stuff, etc...).

I don't agree, when you play at your limits you are prone to commit more "mistakes" and if you still don't manage to win, it might look like you underperformed, when in reality is just that you were the weaker team.

Don't get me wrong Dallas is a strong team, and possibly still the best non-Korean one, but the gap with other western teams is closing, up until OWL they really only had 1 contender in the west and it was Rogue.

On the bright side (for non Koreans supporters) what should be arguably THE best team on OWL "barely" managed to win 2 of their matches, both this one Vs Dallas and the one Vs Huston, this looks promising for the league.

Yep, ok they were young but the fact none of them was picked up... meh

Which is really worrying for the Chinese guys looking forward, as I don't see LAG as on of the top 5-6 teams of this season.

I know I should be sleeping myself, but fear we aren't sleeping on the Dragons. :(

Damn that Dorado match was fast...

Nice summary/overview Scrubasaurus!
Let the games begin! Hopefullly I won't fall asleep before the end of the first match.. damn hate the time slot. :(

Well guys don't know what to say except, thank you! :)

Tad expensive, but eh at least we all get one for free! \o/
Do you happen to know where the money for their sales go? Is it all Blizzard, part Blizzard part the teams, or just to the teams?

And changed nationality? :O

It would have been suicidial not reaching this deal, good news! :)

Totaly agree, but maybe that's one of the reasons why the Koreans are better at OW than NA/EU guys?

Nobody forces anyone to play Overwatch, if someone wants more money and can't get them from playing Overwatch, well the world is full of other jobs/works.

The example fits with my premise Kuroi, and it's that doesn't matter how much one gets paid, you'll always find dishonest guys trying to get more money using illecit ways.

Again is not about wages is about YARG (in this case), else every player in Korea except for LH ones will be doing it and it won't probably be considered "illegal".

EDIT: just to make it clear low wages are not to be accepted without questions, but there are other ways to fix the issue, "cheating" is just selfish you fix the issue for yourself (by breaking rules), who the f cares of the others.

Broke my keyboard on season 2, to realize I'm 40 and this is just a game. :D

So yes perseverance is the word here, he got what he was looking for in the end, gratz!
A pity Lazer Kittenz/ EU C9's guys didn't end so well.

I don't think wages are the issue, the point is, there have always been plenty of guys who go for the easy way to get more money, and there will always be.

As a loosely related example, the betting scandal we had in Italy Serie A (football), people getting paid millions and still betting on their own matches.

I know it sounds harsh, but pros who cheat/boost/bet should get banned from pro-competitive games for life, couple fo games or months bans won't fix it.

Nah c'mon some are nice, generally speaking Orisa ones are the best for every team, but agree Seoul's one are probably the best overall.
I picked the Outlaws D.va and on my son's account NYXL's Orisa.

The issue I have with both is that, they are not OW casters, they might be entertainers (but that's a matter of taste), but how many matches of OW have they played? How many have they casted before?

I know OWL is more a show than an actual league (no relegation, no promotion, owned by a single company, etc...) and so has to point on marketability above anything else, and it's fine, but I personally don't give 2 cents about it, I wanna watch good macthes commented by casters who actually know what they are casting and not just doing "general entertainment".

Then again more than happy to eat my words if they actually turn out to be good, but from my personal fan point of view they had plenty of ready to go experienced talent, they went for the "flashy" ones that MIGHT bring more viewers form other esports, but will be able to analyze a match like me if not worse (and I'm low gold/silver).

Hehe yes don't remember which weekly (or other tournament) I saw him once, his cam very dark and these glasses standing out of the darkness. :)

I know right? I reallly hope I'm wrong tbh, but the OWL is about marketability, and I can't honestly see any other reason 'cause they would pick anyone above ZP if we speak of "just" competence.

Oh well let's hope for him it's gonna change, for me personally is even better if he's gonna cast Contenders, since most of the OWL matches are outisde of my time-zone, while Contenders ones might be more easy to watch.

One can always hope right? :)

Per il resto, quel che mi piace degli esports sono le comunità, sì sono un po' in hype per OWL, ma nulla sostituisce il senso di interazione che si ha a livelli più "bassi", grazie a gente come te. ;)
(sorry for the Italian guys btw)

A win's still a win thou, gl Hafficool!

As usual an amazing update mate!
Grazie mille! :)

p.s. Go Black Phoenix/Samsung Morning! :P

I don't want to sound salty (and I do I know hehe), but:

• ZP lives in the US he's from there, Unlike the 2 Brits (I'm happy they are both in btw!) or Soe.
• What do you call being recognized? Casting a lot of League 2 matches or casting some League 1? Just to make a football analogy.

My point is that ZP is arguably the most knowledgeable caster around, been casting the game since its infancy, what he lacks is KO knowledge, and for that they brought in the fancy duo (Monte+Doa).

What else does he lack? He's not a dandy dude, and I honestly believe that's the reason they didn't call him in, he "doesn't look good enough for the role", I might very well be wrong, but eh that's my idea.

I guess so, apparently for Blizzard they aren't good enough to cast the main event (and get the actual money and recognition), a shame honestly.

So yes the best caster (imo) for this esport, for sure one of the most dedicated ones, relegated to cast 2nd tier events, I'm sorry but I twist my knickers.

Let Semmler and Crumbz cast contenders and bring in who actually casted the game from day 0.

Very happy for Sideshow, Hex and Bren, but really can't understand why they didn't include ZP...

"I get it", they sort of needed to include Monte and Doa, even thou I still think ZP+Hex were way better (if we just talk of OW casting), due to OW being dominated by our KO overlords, but Crumbz and Semmler? This isn't LOL or CS:GO.

Wooo!! Nice job mate. :)

For junkrat imo would have been enough to reduce the mines to 1 again, ulti and damage were fine, what was a pain was the "constant" spam of mines.

Totally agree with Pixelfish, if in good shape he's still up there with the top western DPS guys (let's say hitscan).

Thanks mate, gonna watch them or at least some of them!

That's a lot of French guys!
Fly high guys!

Ok we can consider 2018 over, he's won already!

As much as I like the idea of account sharing/boostin/various crap, being punished, hell if that's a steep fine!

I'm not so sure this helps his clients (the players I mean), but gotta admire the spirit. :)

As for Luddee, I guess the terms of the contract had something really wrong, as the team didn't look bad at all, GL to the guy he's young and will find something else, also better not to be bound for years to a poor contract.

Always believe in our EU mates!! But then you have Linkzr and Mendo.... oh well more EU better than less! :D

That said, I agree Huston has for sure the advantage, I'd say that skillwise, individually, they are more or less on the same level, but Huston should have better synergy and more practice/scrimming time.

I don't think lan experience/choking should be a huge difference I mean all the guys on Phillie have it, SDB, Boombox, Carpe, Fragi, etc...

Agree is not really about our opinion, in the end it's their game, and is not such a big issue, but I bet to disagree with you, it is about treating customers differently.

If you want to test something, you test it on PTR, if you implement a feature to one of your (Blizzard's) game modes, you do it for every customer who has acces to it.

There's an alternative, you decide that low ranks and high ranks are 2 different game modes (which considering the gap in skills is almost true), then proceed accordingly, let's say by making impossible for a Plat player to rank up to Diamond "in-season" and viceversa, then yes implementing your change only to one of the 2 populations would not mean "treating them differently".

p.s. I just like to debate, if you are tired of it, I'll simply quit, but sales/clients/videogames are my actual job, so I like to speak about this kind of stuff. :P

Hehe wish I could, but me casting anything would be worse than watching something in Russian, you would probably understand the words, but not sure how much sense they would make. :D

Let's see. :)

I put it here, but for the EU finals, we could maybe run some sort of crowdfunding to convince someone to cast them this time around?

I know it sounds crazy, and I'm not speaking of huge sums, but let's say 3-5 EU/USD each and you get a nice gift for a willing caster...

I know, I know, but is just such a shame we can't see these teams fight!!!!