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It’s been a long sophomore season for the Overwatch League. Twenty teams entered into the fray in February and dozens of games have been played over four stages of competition. On Aug. 30, the postseason battle for the second season championship begins.
Last year, the London Spitfire won the league’s first championship at a sold-out Barclays Center in New York City. This year, 12 teams remain to fight for a spot in the Overwatch League grand finals, which will be held on Sept. 29 in Philadelphia. The winning team will bring home $1.1 million.
Here’s how you can catch all the action.
Stream
Overwatch League fans have a lot of streaming choices for the postseason. All games will be streamed on OverwatchLeague.com and the Overwatch League’s Twitch channel. These two venues allow fans to participate in League Picks and earn bonus in-game tokens.
Most postseason games will also be aired on ESPN News and Disney XD—check your local listings to make sure. The Overwatch League grand finals will be aired on ABC.
Teams
The six highest-ranked teams in the league have been automatically entered into the final playoff bracket.
- First seed (Pacific Division leader): Vancouver Titans
- Second seed (Atlantic Division leader): New York Excelsior
- Third seed: San Francisco Shock
- Fourth seed: Hangzhou Spark
- Fifth seed: Los Angeles Gladiators
- Sixth seed: Atlanta Reign
The next six highest-ranked teams qualify for a play-in tournament. They’ll compete for the two spots remaining in the final eight-team playoff bracket.
- Seventh seed: London Spitfire
- Eighth seed: Seoul Dynasty
- Ninth seed: Guangzhou Charge
- 10th seed: Philadelphia Fusion
- 11th seed: Shanghai Dragons
- 12th seed: Chengdu Hunters
Format
The postseason begins with a play-in tournament to decide the fate of six teams vying for a spot within the full playoff bracket. The play-in tournament bracket is single elimination—one loss and you’re out of playoff contention. The ninth through 12th-ranked teams face off on Aug. 30. Two winning teams then move on to face the seventh and eighth-seeded teams on Aug. 31. After those games, two teams will advance to the full playoff bracket.
The season playoffs begin on Sept. 5. The season playoff bracket is double elimination, meaning teams must lose twice to be fully out of the competition. Eight teams will start in the bracket, but only two will move on to the grand finals.
Every playoff game, including those in the play-in tournament, will be a first-to-four series. The higher-seeded team gains an advantage by picking the first map of the match. After that, the loser of each map will pick the next proceeding map until the series is completed.
Here are the full dates and times for each playoff bracket match.
Thursday, Sept. 5
- Match one: Vancouver Titans vs. Eighth seed (play-in winner): 6pm CT
- Match two: Hangzhou Spark vs. Los Angeles Gladiators: 9pm CT
Friday, Sept. 6
- Match three: New York Excelsior vs. Seventh seed (play-in winner): 6pm CT
- Match four: San Francisco Shock vs. Atlanta Reign: 9pm CT
Saturday, Sept. 7 (Losers bracket)
- Loser of match one vs. loser of match two: 8pm CT
- Loser of match three vs. loser of match four: 11pm CT
Sunday, Sept. 8 (Winners bracket)
- Match seven: Winner of match one vs. winner of match two: 2pm CT
- Match eight: Winner of match three vs. winner of match four: 5pm CT
Thursday, Sept. 12 (Losers bracket)
- Match nine: Loser of match eight vs. winner of match five: 6pm CT
- Match 10: Loser of match seven vs. winner of match six: 9pm CT
Friday, Sept. 13 (Winners semifinals)
- Match 11: Winner of match seven vs. winner of match eight: 6pm CT
Saturday, Sept. 14 (Losers bracket)
- Match 12: Winner of match nine vs. winner of match 10: 2pm CT
Sunday, Sept. 15 (Losers semifinals)
- Match 13: Loser of match 12 vs. winner of match 11: 2pm CT
After the playoff bracket is completed on Sept. 15, the two remaining teams will move on to compete in the Overwatch League season two grand finals on Sept. 29. Be sure to watch all the action and find out which team will be crowned the champion of the 2020 season.
