When the news came out that the Overwatch League’s owners would be voting to decide if they would keep the competition alive after the end of the 2023 season, fans were hit by the reality that the league as we know will likely cease to exist.
Overwatch esports will move on, likely returning to what it was before the OWL, third-party tournaments on a much smaller scale. Whether it will be for better or worse, I know I had a ton of amazing experiences with this league, and this final weekend in Toronto was the end-of-the-world party that many saw coming.
I’ve been to almost every live grand final weekend; I went as a fan to Brooklyn to see the London Spitfire win their first championship and attended both Philadelphia and Toronto as a reporter. It’s not hyperbole to say the Overwatch League spurred me into esports, which led to many new friendships and a career.
Similarly to some of the players who fought in this tournament, I still remember how amazing it was to see arenas filled with fans witnessing the best Overwatch teams duke it out. From the infamous DJ Khaled set to the San Francisco Shock starting their dynasty and Lee “Fearless” Eui-Seok completing his ultimate redemption arc from his first season, there are too many unbelievable moments to count.
Some included players hitting near-impossible shots, others were big-brain moves that treated Overwatch like chess. Thankfully, former XL2 and British Hurricane coach Jonathan “Jon” Tran spoke to me about how unique plays always stood out no matter in which season they happened.
“Some of my favorite memories are the ones where the team clearly went outside of the box to try and make a strategy work,” Jon told Dot Esports in Toronto. “Some examples include the Surefour Widowmaker on King’s Row, Architect’s Bastion chandelier play on Eichenwalde, and SOMEONE’s Roadhog on Gibraltar.”
Avid fans will instantly know which exact plays he spoke of, but even ones who don’t will look at these strategies with a raised eyebrow—and for good reason. Sometimes, no matter where you play and what the stakes are, you need to pull out some wacky plans to beat some of the best-prepped Overwatch teams in the world. And, if successful, they will lead to some of the best crowd moments of all time as Jon knows from experience.
In Toronto, we had fans loud as could be, sporting their favorite team’s gear regardless of whether they were in the competition. I noticed two fans rocking the Chengdu Hunters jerseys from last year and plenty of locals still sporting their hometown Defiant merch as they cheered on teams like the Hangzhou Spark, London Spitfire, and Florida Mayhem. Those who attended the previous Grand Finals in 2022 told Dot how loud the Mattamy Athletic Centre was when packed to the brim, especially for teams like the Spark and Spitfire.
I asked more than 40 fans across the venue about the future of the Overwatch League, and they all summed up the event in one emotion: bittersweet. Plenty of locals were ecstatic the league brought the 2023 playoffs to Canada, but they also knew this probably would be the last OWL event in the country and potentially ever.
Maybe that’s why many traveled from across the world to get there, cheering for great Overwatch more than any specific team. They wanted the event to be fun above all else—a last hurrah. Nothing said that more than fans putting on suits, emulating if they would go to a funeral, on the final day of the event.
Thankfully, the meta shift from Winston allowed for more hero choices, leading to plenty of entertaining matches. Hangzhou Spark’s back-to-back reverse sweeps, London’s roll over the Atlanta Reign, and the satisfying sweep from the Florida Mayhem to win the grand final were all engaging series that deserve a couple rewatches, albeit each for different reasons. For some, it was the visually distinct pink teams leading big upsets. For others, it was the culmination of storylines they’d seen from the beginning.
“Honestly, this tournament might be my favorite memory of OWL,” caster and Chinese Overwatch expert Eren “Kenobi” Erkey said. “Seeing Spark, a team full of Chinese Overwatch players I’ve been covering since 2018, was really special. They reverse swept two of the best teams at the tournament, and the crowd was so much on their side.”
That story wasn’t missed by the players themselves. Leave cried on stage after their second reverse sweep, stating how they’re representing Chinese Overwatch and succeeding despite the lack of Overwatch 2 in their home country. It’s almost like the Spark and Chinese fans got an earlier taste of the league ending and decided to make Toronto the best ending they could, getting a podium finish at third place.
Even then, the players had some of that same bittersweet feeling the crowd emanated, even if they still have futures in esports. They live and breathe the game, having spent up to six years or more competing all with the goal to be not only one of the best but marking it in history with the league championship. That doesn’t even include all the people involved in the league itself—from casters and analysts to observers and staff.
At the end of it all, recent champion Baek “Checkmate” Seung-hun spoke up on what the future holds for the OWL in an understanding but positive tone at the final post-match press conference.
“We’ll always be here and always be ready to play more games. Just give us the call,” Checkmate said.
This is coming from a player who came into the league with low expectations, moved to tank mid-season, and ended up getting dropped and picked up again by the same team.
He went through that chaos, hit his prime, and won it all, and now is just waiting for the text, call, or tweet from the league to tell him what he does next. No matter what happens, he’s ready—and so am I.
