CAUTION: The following thread may contain traces/discussion of OWCS and it’s now-defunct predecessor, OWL. It is therefore advised that those sensitive to such topics, or to constructive discussion about Overwatch as a whole, close this window (or otherwise leave this page) and go try French Opera instead.
Hello, forumgoers, I’m Arena25, resident Overwatch Esports fan and humble (and much-hated) servant of these forums. As we pour one out for the Toronto Defiant and NRG Shock, the former having stepped back from Overwatch after single-handedly reorganizing the Overwatch Esports scene and the latter moving on to enjoy NetEase’s shiny new toy…the time has come to begin OWCS2025. With Opening Weekend for OWCS2025 just a few short days away for NA and EMEA, and with Stage 1 regular season drops now live, I would like to provide some information, and warnings, to keep in mind as the new OWCS season gets underway. This thread will also double as a place for folks to report any issues with drops progress - so feel free to shout it out here. And remember - just because I don’t respond to your post about a drops issue personally (be it here or elsewhere) doesn’t mean I don’t see it, and rest assured I am ready and willing to raise an alarm at a moment’s notice when it comes to drops.
OWCS ASIA COMPETITION FORMAT
The Stage 1 regular season for OWCS Asia is already underway - as a matter of fact, it’s been live since January 24. HOWEVER, if you are concerned about missing out on drops, I assure you: The current drops campaign didn’t go live until today, and it will remain live through February 23, so aside from a chance to verify your Battlenet and Twitch/YouTube accounts were connected properly before they went live, you didn’t miss anything.
Competition starts out in OWCS Asia’ subregions (Japan, Korea, and Pacific), and matches are broadcast almost every day for the next few weeks - Friday-Sunday for Korea, Monday-Wednesday for Japan, and Thursday for Pacific. Though if you’re looking to watch these matches, be advised, match broadcast times for OWCS Asia are at 2am/3am Eastern (11pm/12am Pacific) - so if you end up missing an important meeting after your 2 hour sleep period led directly to an unintended 4 hour midmorning nap as a result of watching these matches, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Some matches may be online, and some matches may be broadcast from the WDG Studio Hongdae in Seoul, South Korea.
OWCS ASIA BROADCAST
A warning for those watching the OWCS Pacific broadcasts - While there is still no official English-speaking broadcast, OWCS Pacific has released a statement saying they will utilize co-streamers to fill in the gap. OWCS Pacific is also working to provide broadcasts in additional languages, including in Thai. The full statement can be found below (curse my trust levels):
https://x.com/OW_Esports_Asia/status/1881983035064959202/photo/1
OWCS CHINA FORMAT
Unfortunately, at the time I went to publish, I have minimal information on the Stage 1 competition format for OWCS China, only that OWCS China will be sending it’s top 2 teams to Stage 1’s live event, which will be taking place at the Hangzhou Esports Center in Hangzhou, China. On top of this severe lack of info on competition format, there is no info on OWCS China broadcasts - official or co-stream. This section will be updated if/when I hear any further info.
NOTES ABOUT DROPS
The following drops are available for Stage 1 Regular Season, at their associated watch progress milestones:
2 hours watched: OWCS2025 Profile Icon
4 hours watched: OWCS2025 Spray
6 hours watched: OWCS2025 Name Card
8 hours watched: OWCS2025 Weapon Charm
10 hours watched: OWCS Home (Black/Orange) Baptiste Skin
12 hours watched: OWCS Away (White/Orange) Baptiste Skin
Reminder - Watch progress can only be accrued on YouTube/Twitch, and only via an official broadcast or an official co-stream.
INFO REGARDING HERO BANS, PATCH, SERVER SELECTION
In NA, teams will compete on the US Central server, while EMEA teams will compete on the Netherlands server.
Stage 1 regular season will start out on the Season 14 launch patch, meaning Hazard is playable.
With hero bans now in effect, and in the interest of combating misinformation when it comes to whether or not hero bans should be introduced to the wider Overwatch game (which I have seen several recent or semi-recent threads discussing this), I am tracking heroes banned - across all regions/roles - and will publish that data at minimum after every stage, and hopefully more frequently if/when tournament servers are updated to a new patch.
By way of example, if tournament servers were updated to Season 14 midseason patch before the Stage 1 regional playoffs and promotion/relegation matches, I will publish the data for the regular season shortly after all regions have been updated to Season 14 midseason patch. And if the tournament servers were subsequently updated to Season 15 launch patch prior to Stage 1 live event, I will publish another data drop at that point as well. If there are no updates to tournament servers between now and the conclusion of Stage 1’s live event in Hangzhou, however, I will publish the hero ban data at the conclusion of the Stage 1 live event. If hero bans return for Stages 2 and 3, I will track hero bans for those stages as well following the same cadence, so ideally, there would be a minimum of 3 data drop threads (assuming hero bans are a thing for all 3 stages), and hopefully more.
INFO REGARDING DISCUSSION THREADS
At minimum, I will have match discussion threads for the global live events for all 3 stages. I cannot promise additional match discussion threads for any regional play, though you are welcome to set up your own. Reminder - please do not hesitate to speak up, here or in your own thread, if you are having issues with drops. I cannot promise individual responses, but every report will be read, and alarms raised as/when required. And while I understand recent events - both in and out of Overwatch’s universe - have given Sunday’s finest plenty of material to work with, and while OWCS and myself have a reputation here on these forums that is…lukewarm…at best, any and all attempts to hijack my threads to troll, bash, spam, etc. - especially if it has nothing to do with Overwatch - will still be flagged for moderator review, so don’t be that guy who ends up on a 2-week forum vacation.
A FINAL NOTE REGARDING MAP POOLS
It has recently come to my attention that the map pool that was previously announced would be in force for all regions for Stage 1 has seen some…quiet…changes. In OWCS Asia, for example, the map pool consists only of Hybrid, Push, Flashpoint, Control, and Escort maps (i.e. no Clash maps), and with some maps that are exclusively played in OWCS Asia. And in OWCS NA/EMEA, a handful of maps appear to be exclusive to them.
At the time I went to publish this thread, it is unclear as to why the different regions are operating with different map pools - and why OWCS Asia has a distinct lack of Clash maps, and if that distinct lack of Clash continues when NA/EMEA opens play this weekend. If more info comes out as to why Clash maps are noticeably absent, I will update accordingly.
Anyway, that’s enough rambling from me. We now return to your regularly scheduled programming…
