Hello, everyone, and welcome to Day 1 of the 2022 OVERWATCH LEAGUE PLAYOFFS, LIVE FROM THE ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER, HOME OF BLIZZCON, in Anaheim, California. Today, 12 teams begin their 6-day quest to be crowned 2022 Overwatch League Champions.
Today, we have the first round of matches between the bottom 8 seeds in the playoffs. First up, we have the 9 seed PHILADELPHIA FUSION facing off against the 8 seed LONDON SPITFIRE, in a rematch of the 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals. After that, we have the 12 seed HANGZHOU SPARK taking on the defending League champions themselves, the 5 seed SHANGHAI DRAGONS. Then, we have the 10 seed FLORIDA MAYHEM playing against the 7 seed ATLANTA REIGN. And to close out your Sunday evening, we have the 11 seed TORONTO DEFIANT going up against the 6 seed HOUSTON OUTLAWS. The winners of these matchups advance to the second round, where the Top 4 seeds awaits. The losers drop down to the Lower Bracket and will be fighting to stay in the tournament on Day 3. And donât forget to stick around after todayâs matches conclude for the Top 3 seeds to select their opponents from the Day 1 winners.
12 teams, all vying for the same thing: To be crowned the first ever Overwatch League champions of the Overwatch 2 era. Who will rise above the noise and become Kings of Overwatch 2 Mountain? Weâre about to find out, so grab some throwable popcorn and prepare for the final act of the 2022 season to start. The show startsâŠNOW!
ENCORE REMINDER: All playoff matches will have encore replay matches being broadcast at much more EU-friendly times the following morning (usually at 6:30am Pacific/9:30am Eastern). These encore replays will be the exact same matches as the live broadcasts from the previous day, with some possible light edits for length. Since the content of both live and encore broadcasts are the same, the only real benefit to watching both is to pad your time watched for the 3 for 3 deal and/or pad your stash of OWL tokens. As such, if you value your sleep schedule or your job, donât ruin your circadian rhythm and/or burn bridges with your coworkers just to view OWL matches!
OWL PERKS HEADS UP: As a reminder, all broadcasts, whether live/encore, count as time watched for the 3 for 3 deal going on during the playoffs/Grand Finals. As always, do not hesitate to raise an alarm in either YT chat or here in the forums if you are having issues earning rewardsâŠI am monitoring both channels and will speed dial (aka Twitter DM) the appropriate parties if issues with OWL Perks are widespread enough.
KIRIKO AND PORTUGAL REMINDER: Remember, all 12 playoff teams will have access to Kiriko as well as the new Portugal-based Push map. So if youâre wondering how top-level players will play everyoneâs favorite support hero, as well as what strategies the pros use in the new mapâŠwell, youâve come to the right place!
A FINAL NOTE: We have had minimal issues with folks hijacking my threads this seasonâŠI would like to keep it that way, especially since Iâd rather hand out candy rather than forum flags this Halloween. Rest assured, the season will be over before you know it! As always, thank you in advance and ENJOY THE PLAYOFFS!
