More Than A Preseason

We’re less than a week from the start of the Overwatch League regular season.  I don’t know about you, but for me that February 14th start date can’t come fast enough. Just knowing that I’ll be seeing the best Overwatch players in the world soon has me excited.  Fortunately, there’s plenty of top-tier Overwatch action to take us up to the start of the grand finals rematch. 

 First announced back in January during Dallas Fuel assistant coach Jayne’s stream at Blizzard HQ by the League Commissioner Nate Nanzer himself, the Community Countdown will star not only the new teams in the league but some of the talent and community as well.  Let’s break it down by day.  

Practice Scrimmages, Saturday And Sunday

Scrim bucks are worthless, I know, but consider for a moment.  This is the first chance we will have to see many of these squads in action.  Conversely, if you are a member of the Paris Eternal, Chengdu Hunters, Washington Justice, Atlanta Reign, Hangzhou Spark, or Toronto Defiant then this is your first time on stage as a squad.  You NEED to make a good impression on the fans and your competition.  You only get to make one first impression, and this is it.  

Th action starts today, February 9th at 12 PM PST with the Paris Eternal facing the New York Excelsior.  All matches will be first to two wins, loser picks next map.  

1v1 Matches, Monday

Props to Jayne, we’re getting Ana paintball.  Some really great match ups are scheduled for this Monday.  Ten different teams will be represented in the Ana Paintball games with world-class supports like Rawkas from the Outlaws taking on Closer from the Fuel and Snillo from Philly facing off against Twilight from the Titans.  Of course you need to save the best for last so Monday’s festivities will start off with another game mode.  Ashe 1v1’s

What has me personally most excited in the Community Countdown is the Ashe 1v1 fights.  The newest Overwatch hero has been a blast to play, but since she was released in the off-season there has been precious little of her played at the top level.  With a powerful ultimate she has the potential to reshape the meta.  These fights should give us some tips on how to play the new hero and if they’re anything like the Windowmaker contest last summer, expect them all to be close.  

Capture the Flag, Tuesday

Something special for the new teams only.  The eight expansion teams will feature in an evening of CTF action.  Like in the Ashe matchups, this is a good opportunity to see how the pros tackle a game mode that is much different to the typical Overwatch game.  As anyone how has been experiencing the Lunar New Year special game mode will tell you, CTF is nothing like the rest of Overwatch, so we might get to see what a goo team comp for this game mode looks like.  Standard CTF rules, the first team to take two rounds wins.  The action starts with Atlanta taking on Chengdu at 6 PM PST.  You know you want to see Dafran in action.  

Talent Showmatch, Wednsday

On the last day before the regular season the players will get to rest and a whole different group will take to the stage.  Once again we have a talent showmatch, but this time the broadcast talent is being joined by some of the top streamers in Overwatch.  If it’s anything like the Talent Take Down during the All-Star Weekend we can expect this to be a lot of fun.  Standard competitive rules apply, the first to take three maps wins.  

Where To Watch

You might expect to watch all of this action on the Overwatch League Twitch channel.  You might be surprised then as it’s the community in Community Countdown that will be streaming the action.  Several popular streamers will be broadcasting these events, and will be able to give us their take on all the action.  For today the streamers are Jayne for North America,  YBT for Korea, One Amongst Many in the United Kingdom, and Noserino for Germany.  YBT, One Amongst Many, and Noserino will also host streams for their regions on Sunday the 10th.  Other streamers include fan favorites ZP who will take the NA slot on the 10th & 12th and Chanmanv who will have the 11th all to himself. Miro rounds out the streamers with the Korean broadcast on the 12th  Then it all comes back to the league for the final day.  

This is a lot of Overwatch to take in and I just can’t wait for it all to start.  The Community Countdown begins at high noon today with Paris Eternal against the New York Excelsior.  Don’t miss it, and get ready for the regular season starting Thursday, February 14th.