The Overwatch League’s regular season concluded nearly a month ago on June 17, but there hasn’t been much of a break for the six teams participating in the inaugural season’s playoffs.
After four stages, new heroes, and a ton of patch updates, the Overwatch League playoffs are almost here. A lot has changed since June 17. The Overwatch League has once again moved on to a new patch—one that finally brings in Hanzo’s long-awaited rework, but disables Symmetra’s. Only six teams remain in contention for the championship title. Only two slots remain in the Overwatch League’s semifinals; New York Excelsior and Los Angeles Valiant already qualified for the second round of playoffs.
Related: The Overwatch League grand finals will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Four teams—Boston Uprising, Philadelphia Fusion, London Spitfire, and Los Angeles Gladiators —will be whittled down to two before the semifinals begin.
Up first, Boston will face Philadelphia on July 11. The series will be played as a best-of-three series, with each match set as a best-of-five maps. The first team to win two matches will move on to the semis.
The matchup
Boston Uprising vs. Philadelphia Fusion
Boston’s had the better season overall, though struggled in the Brigitte-heavy meta of stage four. But the Overwatch League’s patch has changed again. Brigitte received a slight nerf since stage four’s patch—but more importantly, Hanzo has been updated with his major rework. And that means anything can happen in the playoffs. We haven’t seen any Overwatch League teams use the Hanzo patch in major competition yet.
On paper, these teams are pretty evenly matched. Both have snipers that’ll have to step up for the playoffs. On Boston, that’s Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov and Gwon “STRIKER” Nam-Ju, But Philadelphia has one of the best DPS players in the Overwatch League in Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok.
The team that can adjust to the new meta quickest and put forth their most formidable snipers will have the edge in this matchup. Boston struggled in stage four after losing Park “Crusty” Dae-hee to San Francisco Shock; Coach Park has been widely heralded for implementing the Boston team’s structured “next man up” program.
The playoffs map pool skews heavily in favor of Boston, too; Philadelphia’s comfort picks are nowhere to be found. But Philadelphia has always been a wildcard, a team that surprises. They’re volatile, and that chaos has the potential to throw a wrench in Boston’s structured plan.
Players to watch
Striker has consistently been the star of Boston Uprising on Tracer, but Brigitte’s introduction into the meta has made her less useful overall. Striker took over Widowmaker duties from Mistakes for stage four, and the team struggled. We’re going to want to keep and eye on Striker and Mistakes, as both will likely have a chance to prove themselves as a sniper duo. Noh “Gamsu” Young-Jin will also be able to shine once again; we’re likely to see less Reinhardt and more of his supreme Winston play.
For Philadelphia, Carpe is key. Snipers are way too important in the Overwatch League’s current patch—and Carpe is the best of the best there. Boston is going to be watching out for Carpe, and so should we.
How to watch
Games are played live at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles in Burbank, California. Boston vs. Philadelphia kicks off the playoffs on July 11 at 7pm CT. For those unable to attend live, games will be streamed on the Overwatch League Twitch channel.
The stakes
Boston vs. Philadelphia are up against a best-of-three series; the first team to two wins will move on to the semifinals. The quarterfinals winners will take on either New York Excelsior or Los Angeles Valiant on July 18. Should they make it out of the semis, the winning team will move on to the Overwatch League grand finals event on July 27 and 28 in Brooklyn, New York.
There’s not just the championship title on the line, but money, too. The Overwatch League’s world champion will get $1 million, with the second-place team taking home $400,000. Third and fourth place get $100,000, while fifth and sixth gets $50,000.
