Overwatch is an objective based game similar in style to that of Team Fortress 2. In a classic game of Overwatch one team of six characters chosen from the ever increasing and diverse pool of twenty-seven unique characters will play for the objective on either an: Escort, Point Capture, King of the hill or Hybrid map and play as either Attack or Defence and thusly play a mirror match (The same match but on defence instead of attack and vice versa) to decide the victor.

Then enter the ESports revolution. ESports has finally given a way for pro players to show off their talent to the big crowds. ESports big breakthrough was definitely through games like Call Of Duty, Gears of War, League of Legends, CS:GO and even Halo but never before like this.

Before the ESports experience for all but hardened fans consisted of watching a load of teenagers you didn't know, get mad 360 no scope headshots and basically just waiting to see who wins. Overwatch broke that boundary by starting the Overwatch World Cup. For the first world cup players of overwatch from all around the world nominated two captains for each country who then went on to choose two more players each to form a team of six to represent their countries. Suddenly people were invested, really invested. Now you had chosen the player for your country, you had time to watch the teams play, get to know them, get to support them and watch them grow. The Overwatch Esports commentator style presentation of the events also focused a lot more on individual players and had commentators constantly talking through the actions and consequences both teams were making and creating. This combined with Overwatch's team fight play style and fast paced action made this a very good and exciting thing to be a part of.

This bring us nicely to the Overwatch League, a tournament in the same style of presentation and gameplay as the World cup except between teams of pro-players not bound by country of origin (funnily enough a lot of the teams are now solely South Korean after the World Cup team spear-headed by Miro won the tournament without a single loss or even conceding a single point.)

As of the writing of this post Stage 1 has just finished and we wait for the current season to start up again in late February. The layout of the season is as follows:

The preseason kicks off with a series of livestreamed exhibition matches featuring all 12 teams at the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles on December 6–9. After that, teams will have until Opening Day on January 10 to prepare themselves for competition.

Matches in the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions will play out live from the Blizzard Arena each Wednesday through Saturday. Though the season is divided into four stages, wins and losses will count towards teams' full-season records and all-important seeding for the postseason. On the last Saturday of each stage, the top teams will compete for hefty bonuses and the title of stage winner.

After Stage 4 finishes, top finishers in each division will prepare for the championship playoffs, which run from July 11–22. The grand final on July 26–28 will determine which team will be crowned the first Overwatch League champions, claiming glory, the Overwatch League trophy, and a USD $1 million bonus.

After the rush of the inaugural season championship, the Overwatch League will kick back for a weekend of festivities as the community’s favorite players face off in unexpected challenges.

Thanks for taking the time to read my article and I hope you're more up to speed with the layout and teams of Overwatch League. If you enjoyed the post please leave and upvote and follow my blog for more on gaming and much more!