2020 Overwatch League season

The 2020 Overwatch League season is the third season of the Overwatch League (OWL), a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch. The regular season began on February 8, 2020 and concluded on August 23. It was the first season that the league implemented a city-based, home-and-away format, with teams traveling between the global home venues to play regular season matches, making the OWL the first major esports league to feature such a format. However, this format was abandoned on Match 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and all matches were thereafter played online, with the league introducing three midseason tournaments.

2020 Overwatch League season
LeagueOverwatch League
SportOverwatch
DurationFebruary 8 – August 23
September 3 – October 10 (Playoffs)
Number of matches21
Number of teams20
TV partner(s)
Regular season
Top seedShanghai Dragons (A)
Philadelphia Fusion (NA)
Season MVPKim "Fleta" Byung-sun
Midseason tournament champions
May MeleeShanghai Dragons (A)
San Francisco Shock (NA)
Summer ShowdownGuangzhou Charge (A)
Paris Eternal (NA)
Countdown CupShanghai Dragons (A)
San Francisco Shock (NA)
Grand Finals
VenueOnline
ChampionsSan Francisco Shock
  Runners-upSeoul Dynasty
Finals MVPKwon "Striker" Nam-joo

An expanded 20-team postseason began on September 3. The Grand Finals bracket began on October 8, with the Grand Finals occurring on October 10. The San Francisco Shock won the Grand Finals over the Seoul Dynasty to win their second straight OWL championship.

League changes announced prior to season

Schedule

Prior to the 2020 season, the majority of all OWL matches took place at Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California. In the 2019 season, three homestand weekends took place – the Dallas Fuel Homestand Weekend hosted by the Dallas Fuel, the Atlanta Reign Homestand Weekend hosted by the Atlanta Reign, and the Kit Kat Rivalry Weekend hosted by the Los Angeles Valiant – in efforts to test how a completely localized match schedule would work. For the 2020 season, the league adopted a "homestand" model. Every team was to host two to five homestands throughout the season. Each team would still play 28 matches and would be responsible for the selection and operation of their respective home venues.[1] In addition to homestands, every team would have been required to host at least three team events for the community in their respective home cities.[2] The season marked the first time that a major esports league featured a city-based, home-and-away format.[3]

In the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Overwatch League equally divided teams into two divisions – the Atlantic and Pacific. With the large amount of travelling that was to take place in the homestand model, the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions were renamed to the Atlantic and Pacific Conferences, and each conference was equally subdivided into two divisions, the Pacific East and West Divisions and the Atlantic North and South Divisions. The smaller divisions were implemented in efforts to reduce the amount of time and money spent on travel.[4]

With the large amount of localized play and travel, the season was no longer split into four stages. Instead, a midseason tournament was to be held at the same time as the All-Star Weekend. The tournament would have featured the Atlantic and Pacific Conference leaders as well as the next best two teams, regardless of conference, based on the regular season standings through Week 10.[5]

Rules

In the prior seasons, the winner of each match was determined by a best-of-four map series, with a fifth tiebreaker map, if necessary. The league announced at BlizzCon that match winners would be determined by a first-to-three map series, similar to that of the 2019 playoffs. Activision Blizzard senior director of product strategy and business operations Jon Spector noted that due to the elimination of Stage Playoffs, map differential would be less important, as it is not very likely that many teams would have the same regular season record heading into the playoffs. Every match still begins with a control map followed by a rotation between assault, escort, and hybrid maps. Similar to previous seasons, should a match still be tied after four maps, a fifth tiebreaker map will be played on a control map.[5]

After the announcement of hero pools in Overwatch for the competitive season starting in February 2020, the league announced that it would adopt the hero pool system beginning in the fourth week of play in March in effort to prevent stagnant metas. Each week, the league randomly selects one tank, two damage, and one support hero from a list of the most played heroes in the OWL from the previous two weeks of play; these heroes are then considered "banned" and cannot be selected during that week. Banned heroes cannot be banned in the immediately-following week.[6][7] The hero pool system is only used in the regular season, and will not be enforced during the midseason tournament, the play-in tournament, and the playoffs.[8]

Prize pool

The total prize pool remained unchanged at US$5,000,000, although the allocation changed due to the discontinuation of Stage Playoffs. The Midseason Tournament champions will win $500,000, the runners-up will win $250,000, and the third and fourth place teams will earn $150,000. The All-Star event will have a prize pool for the first time, with a total pool of $250,000. For the postseason earnings, the Grand Champion team will earn $1.5 million (up from $1.1 million), second place will earn $800,000 (up from $600,000), third place will earn $500,000 (up from $450,000), fourth place will earn $300,000 (down from $350,000), fifth and sixth place will earn $200,000 (down from $300,000), and seventh and eighth place will earn $100,000 (down from $200,000).[9]

Broadcasting
Shoutcasters Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles and Erik "DoA" Lonnquist and hosts Malik Forte and Chris Puckett (left to right) left the broadcast team prior to the season.

Prior to the start of the season, several of the shoutcasters for the League, including Malik Forté, Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat, Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles, Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, and Chris Puckett, left for various reasons ranging from dissatisfaction with their salaries to concerns over the new management of the league following Nate Nanzer's departure as league commissioner in 2019.[10]

YouTube has replaced Twitch as exclusive broadcaster of the league, as part of a deal covering all Activision Blizzard esports events. The company also announced a deal to make Google Cloud Platform the preferred infrastructure provider for its game servers.[11]

Rule and schedule changes due to COVID-19

Homestand events

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Blizzard cancelled all four homestand events planned in China in February and March 2020. Four of the teams in the league are based in China, where travel restrictions and quarantines from the outbreak were enacted; the restrictions affected teams that were traveling to China to play matches there. Two of the Chinese teams, Guangzhou Charge and Shanghai Dragons, announced the relocation of their teams to South Korea, while the Chengdu Hunters remained in China.[12][13] The cancelled matches were originally planned to be rescheduled in Seoul, South Korea during two weekends in March, with some matches being played during Seoul Dynasty's homestand event the same month.[14] However, Blizzard later cancelled all South Korean events in March 2020, including the Dynasty homestand, over concerns of the outbreak.[15] In March, French Health Minister Olivier Véran announced that all public gatherings of more than 1,000 people were banned in the country until April 15; the ban effectively cancelled the Paris Eternal homestand event that was scheduled to be held April 11–12.[16] After the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 virus a global pandemic on March 11, the Overwatch League announced that it would be cancelling all remaining scheduled live events in March and April.[17]

Regions

For the March and April matches, the league abandoned the Atlantic and Pacific conferences and instead divided teams into three groups based on geography – Atlantic, Pacific, and China – where teams would only play intra-regionally in an effort to reduce latency.[18] Due to the inequity of the number of games played by each team, the All-Star Weekend was moved to the postseason, while the Midseason Tournament was canceled altogether.[19] On March 31, the Overwatch League announced that they were abandoning the Homestand model entirely in favor of moving matches for the remainder of the season online.[20]

Midseason tournaments

On April 26, the league introduced the league announced a new tournament structure for the month of May called the May Melee. The league divided the 20 teams into two geographical regions, 13 in North America and 7 in Asia, where teams would only play interregionally. After three weeks of play, the top teams from each region played in their respective regional tournament. Teams earned $5000 for each win in the tournaments (with receiving a bye counting as a win) and earned a bonus win towards their regular season standings for each win after, and including, the quarterfinals. There were no hero pools for the tournaments, and winners were determined by which team won three maps, except for the finals, which were determined by which team won four maps.[21] Following the conclusion of the May Melee, the league announced two more tournaments with the same ruleset for the months of June and July – the Summer Showdown and the Countdown Cup, respectively.[22]

Season playoffs

On July 15, the league announced its playoff format for the season. All 20 teams played in the postseason, with teams divided by the same two regions as the three midseason tournaments. The lowest seeds played in regional play-in tournaments. Twelve total teams qualified for the season playoffs split into two regional brackets. In the North America region, eight teams qualified for the North America Bracket, and in the Asia region, four teams qualified for the Asia Bracket.[23] Each playoff bracket is a double-elimination tournament. However, the winners of the upper and lower finals in each respective bracket did not face each other. Instead, they qualified for the Grand Finals bracket – another double-elimination tournament. The winners of the upper and lower bracket in the Grand Finals bracket will play in the Grand Finals match.[24]

Regular season

Overall standings
2020 Overwatch League North America standings
# Team Conference W BW L PCT P MR MD STK
Playoffs
1 Philadelphia Fusion ATL 19 5 2 .905 21 59–19–0 +40
2 San Francisco Shock PAC 18 7 3 .857 21 56–17–2 +39
3 Paris Eternal ATL 15 4 6 .714 21 50–31–0 +19
4 Florida Mayhem ATL 14 3 7 .667 21 48–30–0 +18
5 Los Angeles Valiant PAC 11 1 10 .524 21 41–41–0 ±0
Play-ins
6 Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 11 0 10 .524 21 43–39–5 +4
7 Atlanta Reign ATL 10 0 11 .476 21 43–35–0 +8
8 Dallas Fuel PAC 9 0 12 .429 21 35–44–0 -9
9 Toronto Defiant ATL 7 1 14 .333 21 32–48–0 -16
10[lower-alpha 1] Houston Outlaws ATL 6 0 15 .286 21 32–50–3 -18
11[lower-alpha 1] Vancouver Titans PAC 6 0 15 .286 21 23–48–0 -25
12 Washington Justice ATL 4 0 17 .190 21 21–54–1 -33
13 Boston Uprising ATL 2 0 19 .095 21 14–61–4 -47
Tiebreakers

  1. Houston placed ahead of Vancouver based on map differential.
2020 Overwatch League Asia standings
# Team Conference W BW L PCT P MR MD STK
Playoffs
1 Shanghai Dragons PAC 19 8 2 .905 21 59–15–1 +44
2 Guangzhou Charge PAC 14 4 7 .667 21 44–39–1 +5
Play-ins
3 New York Excelsior ATL 13 3 8 .619 21 50–30–2 +20
4 Hangzhou Spark PAC 10 2 11 .476 21 36–40–2 -4
5 Seoul Dynasty PAC 9 3 12 .429 21 33–40–2 -7
6 Chengdu Hunters PAC 7 1 14 .333 21 33–47–1 -14
7 London Spitfire ATL 6 0 15 .286 21 27–51–0 -24

North America Region
2020 Overwatch League North America May Melee standings
# Team Conference W L PCT P MR MD STK
Advance to quarterfinals
1[lower-alpha 1] San Francisco Shock PAC 3 0 1.000 3 9–1–1 +8 W3
2[lower-alpha 1] Florida Mayhem ATL 3 0 1.000 3 9–1–0 +8 W3
3[lower-alpha 1] Philadelphia Fusion ATL 3 0 1.000 3 9–3–0 +6 W3
4[lower-alpha 1] Los Angeles Valiant PAC 3 0 1.000 3 9–4–0 +5 W3
Advance to knockouts
5 Paris Eternal ATL 2 1 .667 3 8–4–0 +4 W2
6[lower-alpha 2] Atlanta Reign ATL 1 2 .333 3 5–6–0 -1 L1
7[lower-alpha 2] Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 1 2 .333 3 6–7–1 -1 L2
8[lower-alpha 2] Dallas Fuel PAC 1 2 .333 3 4–6–0 -2 L2
9[lower-alpha 2] Houston Outlaws ATL 1 2 .333 3 3–6–1 -3 W1
10[lower-alpha 2] Washington Justice ATL 1 2 .333 3 4–7–0 -3 W1
11[lower-alpha 2] Boston Uprising ATL 1 2 .333 3 3–8–1 -5 W1
Advance to qualifying match
12[lower-alpha 3] Toronto Defiant ATL 0 3 .000 3 4–9–0 -5 L3
13[lower-alpha 3] Vancouver Titans PAC 0 3 .000 3 1–9–0 -8 L3
Tiebreakers

  1. San Francisco placed ahead of Florida based on regular season record.
    Florida placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential.
    Philadelphia placed ahead of Los Angeles based on map differential.

  2. Atlanta placed ahead of Los Angeles based on regular season record.
    Los Angeles placed ahead of Dallas based on map differential.
    Dallas placed ahead of Houston based on map differential.
    Houston placed ahead of Washing based on regular season record.
    Washington placed ahead of Boston based on map differential.

  3. Toronto placed ahead of Vancouver based on map differential.
  Knockouts   Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Final
                                                           
  5 Paris Eternal 3   1 San Francisco Shock 3  
  11 Boston Uprising 2   8 Dallas Fuel 1    
      1 San Francisco Shock 3  
      4 Los Angeles Valiant 0    
  6 Atlanta Reign 3   4 Los Angeles Valiant 3          
  12 Toronto Defiant 0   5 Paris Eternal 2        
      1 San Francisco Shock 4
      2 Florida Mayhem 2
  7 Los Angeles Gladiators 3   3 Philadelphia Fusion 3          
  10 Washington Justice 0   7 Los Angeles Gladiators 1            
      3 Philadelphia Fusion 1      
      2 Florida Mayhem 3    
  8 Dallas Fuel 3   2 Florida Mayhem 3      
  9 Houston Outlaws 1   6 Atlanta Reign 1    

Asia Region
2020 Overwatch League Asia May Melee standings
# Team Conference W L PCT P MR MD STK
Advance to semifinals
1 Guangzhou Charge PAC 4 0 1.000 4 12–4–0 +8 W4
Advance to quarterfinals
2 Shanghai Dragons PAC 3 1 .750 4 11–5–0 +6 W2
3[lower-alpha 1] New York Excelsior ATL 2 2 .500 4 9–8–1 +1 W1
4[lower-alpha 1] Hangzhou Spark PAC 2 2 .500 4 7–6–0 +1 W1
5[lower-alpha 2] Chengdu Hunters PAC 1 3 .250 4 6–9–1 -3 L1
6[lower-alpha 2] London Spitfire ATL 1 3 .250 4 4–9–0 -5 L3
7[lower-alpha 2] Seoul Dynasty PAC 1 3 .250 4 3–11–0 -8 L1
Tiebreakers

  1. New York placed ahead of Hangzhou based on head-to-head matches.

  2. Chengdu placed ahead of London based on map differential.
    London placed ahead of Seoul based on map differential.
  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Finals
                           
  4 Hangzhou Spark 0    
  7 Seoul Dynasty 3    
        1 Guangzhou Charge 2  
            7 Seoul Dynasty 3    
               
      7 Seoul Dynasty 3
  3 New York Excelsior 3               2 Shanghai Dragons 4
  5 Chengdu Hunters 2              
        3 New York Excelsior 0    
        2 Shanghai Dragons 3  
  2 Shanghai Dragons 3    
  6 London Spitfire 2  

North America Region
2020 Overwatch League North America Summer Showdown standings
# Team Conference W L PCT P MR MD STK
Advance to quarterfinals
1 San Francisco Shock PAC 3 0 1.000 3 9–0–0 +9 W3
2[lower-alpha 1] Atlanta Reign ATL 2 1 .667 3 7–3–0 +4 W2
3[lower-alpha 1] Philadelphia Fusion ATL 2 1 .667 3 6–3–0 +3 L1
4[lower-alpha 1] Vancouver Titans PAC 2 1 .667 3 6–3–0 +3 W2
Advance to knockouts
5[lower-alpha 1] Los Angeles Valiant PAC 2 1 .667 3 7–4–0 +3 L1
6[lower-alpha 1] Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 2 1 .667 3 7–5–1 +2 W1
7[lower-alpha 1] Florida Mayhem ATL 2 1 .667 3 7–6–0 +1 W1
8[lower-alpha 1] Paris Eternal ATL 2 1 .667 3 6–6–0 ±0 W1
9[lower-alpha 2] Dallas Fuel PAC 1 2 .333 3 4–6–0 -2 W1
10[lower-alpha 2] Houston Outlaws ATL 1 2 .333 3 5–7–0 -2 L1
11[lower-alpha 2] Toronto Defiant ATL 1 2 .333 3 3–6–0 -3 L2
Advance to qualifying match
12[lower-alpha 3] Boston Uprising ATL 0 3 .000 3 2–9–0 -7 L3
13[lower-alpha 3] Washington Justice ATL 0 3 .000 3 1–9–1 -8 L3
Tiebreakers

  1. Atlanta placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential.
    Philadelphia placed ahead of Vancouver based on head-to-head matches.
    Vancouver placed ahead of Los Angeles based on head-to-head matches.
    Los Angeles placed ahead of Los Angeles based on map differential.
    Los Angeles placed ahead of Florida based on map differential.
    Florida placed ahead of Paris based on map differential.

  2. Dallas placed ahead of Houston based on head-to-head matches.
    Houston placed ahead of Toronto based on map differential.

  3. Boston placed ahead of Washington based on map differential.
  Knockouts   Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Final
                                                           
  5 Los Angeles Valiant 1   1 San Francisco Shock 3  
  11 Toronto Defiant 3   13 Washington Justice 0    
      1 San Francisco Shock 2  
      8 Paris Eternal 3    
  6 Los Angeles Gladiators 1   4 Vancouver Titans 1          
  13 Washington Justice 3   8 Paris Eternal 3        
      3 Paris Eternal 4
      8 Philadelphia Fusion 3
  7 Florida Mayhem 1   3 Philadelphia Fusion 3          
  10 Houston Outlaws 3   10 Houston Outlaws 0            
      3 Philadelphia Fusion 3      
      11 Toronto Defiant 0    
  8 Paris Eternal 3   2 Atlanta Reign 2      
  9 Dallas Fuel 1   11 Toronto Defiant 3    

Asia Region
2020 Overwatch League Asia Summer Showdown standings
# Team Conference W L PCT P MR MD STK
Advance to semifinals
1[lower-alpha 1] Shanghai Dragons PAC 4 0 1.000 4 12–3–0 +9 W4
Advance to quarterfinals
2[lower-alpha 1] Guangzhou Charge PAC 4 0 1.000 4 12–7–0 +5 W4
3[lower-alpha 2] New York Excelsior ATL 2 2 .500 4 10–7–1 +3 L1
4[lower-alpha 2] London Spitfire ATL 2 2 .500 4 7–6–0 +1 W1
5[lower-alpha 3] Seoul Dynasty PAC 1 3 .250 4 6–9–0 -3 W1
6[lower-alpha 3] Hangzhou Spark PAC 1 3 .250 4 5–12–1 -7 L3
7 Chengdu Hunters PAC 0 4 .000 4 3–12–0 -9 L4
Tiebreakers

  1. Shanghai placed ahead of Guangzhou based on map differential.

  2. New York placed ahead of London based on map differential.

  3. Seoul placed ahead of Hangzhou based on map differential.
  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Finals
                           
  4 London Spitfire 1    
  5 Seoul Dynasty 3    
        1 Shanghai Dragons 3  
            5 Seoul Dynasty 0    
               
      1 Shanghai Dragons 2
  2 Guangzhou Charge 3               2 Guangzhou Charge 4
  7 Chengdu Hunters 0              
        2 Guangzhou Charge 3    
        3 New York Excelsior 0  
  3 New York Excelsior 3    
  6 Hangzhou Spark 0  

North America Region
2020 Overwatch League North America Countdown Cup standings
# Team Conference W L PCT P MR MD STK
Advance to quarterfinals
1[lower-alpha 1] San Francisco Shock PAC 4 0 1.000 4 12–1–0 +11 W4
2[lower-alpha 1] Paris Eternal ATL 4 0 1.000 4 12–1–0 +11 W4
3[lower-alpha 1] Philadelphia Fusion ATL 4 0 1.000 4 12–2–0 +10 W4
4[lower-alpha 2] Florida Mayhem ATL 3 1 .750 4 10–5–0 +5 W2
Advance to knockouts
5[lower-alpha 2] Atlanta Reign ATL 3 1 .750 4 10–5–0 +5 W2
6[lower-alpha 3] Los Angeles Valiant PAC 2 2 .500 4 6–8–0 -2 L1
7[lower-alpha 3] Dallas Fuel PAC 2 2 .500 4 7–9–0 -2 L2
8[lower-alpha 3] Toronto Defiant ATL 2 2 .500 4 6–8–0 -2 W1
9[lower-alpha 4] Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 1 3 .250 4 6–9–0 -3 L3
10[lower-alpha 4] Washington Justice ATL 1 3 .250 4 4–10–0 -6 L1
11[lower-alpha 5] Houston Outlaws ATL 0 4 .000 4 5–12–0 -7 L4
Advance to qualifying match
12[lower-alpha 5] Vancouver Titans PAC 0 4 .000 4 2–12–0 -10 L4
13[lower-alpha 5] Boston Uprising ATL 0 4 .000 4 2–12–1 -10 W1
Tiebreakers

  1. San Francisco placed ahead of Paris based on regular season head-to-head match differential.
    Paris placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential.

  2. Florida placed ahead of Atlanta based on head-to-head match differential.

  3. Los Angeles Valiant placed ahead of Dallas based on regular season head-to-head map differential.
    Dallas placed ahead of Toronto based on regular season head-to-head match differential.

  4. Los Angeles Gladiators placed ahead of Washington based on map differential.

  5. Houston placed ahead of Vancouver based on map differential.
    Vancouver placed ahead of Boston based on regular season head-to-head match differential.
  Knockouts   Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Final
                                                           
  5 Atlanta Reign 3   1 San Francisco Shock 3  
  12 Vancouver Titans 0   7 Dallas Fuel 0    
      1 San Francisco Shock 3  
      4 Florida Mayhem 1    
  6 Los Angeles Valiant 3   4 Florida Mayhem 3          
  11 Houston Outlaws 0   5 Atlanta Reign 0        
      1 San Francisco Shock 4
      3 Philadelphia Fusion 2
  7 Dallas Fuel 3   2 Paris Eternal 3          
  10 Washington Justice 2   6 Los Angeles Valiant 1            
      2 Paris Eternal 1      
      3 Philadelphia Fusion 3    
  8 Toronto Defiant 2   3 Philadelphia Fusion 3      
  9 Los Angeles Gladiators 3   9 Los Angeles Gladiators 0    

Asia Region
2020 Overwatch League Asia Countdown Cup standings
# Team Conference W L PCT P MR MD STK
Advance to semifinals
1[lower-alpha 1] Shanghai Dragons PAC 3 0 1.000 3 9–3–0 +6 W3
Advance to quarterfinals
2[lower-alpha 1] Chengdu Hunters PAC 3 0 1.000 3 9–4–0 +5 W3
3[lower-alpha 2] Hangzhou Spark PAC 2 1 .667 3 6–3–0 +3 W1
4[lower-alpha 2] Guangzhou Charge PAC 2 1 .667 3 6–5–1 +1 W1
5 New York Excelsior ATL 1 2 .333 3 6–6–0 ±0 L1
6[lower-alpha 3] London Spitfire ATL 0 3 .000 3 3–9–0 -6 L3
7[lower-alpha 3] Seoul Dynasty PAC 0 3 .000 3 2–9–1 -7 L3
Tiebreakers

  1. Shanghai placed ahead of Chengdu based on map differential.

  2. Hangzhou placed ahead of Guangzhou based on map differential.

  3. London placed ahead of Seoul based on map differential.
  Quarterfinals     Semifinals     Finals
                           
  4 Guangzhou Charge 2    
  5 New York Excelsior 3    
        1 Shanghai Dragons 3  
            5 New York Excelsior 0    
               
      1 Shanghai Dragons 4
  3 Hangzhou Spark 3               3 Hangzhou Spark 0
  7 Seoul Dynasty 2              
        3 Hangzhou Spark 3    
        2 Chengdu Hunters 1  
  2 Chengdu Hunters 3    
  6 London Spitfire 0  

Postseason

Play-in tournaments

The play-in tournaments were two regional single-elimination tournaments that took place September 3–5. All match winners were determined by which team wins three maps.[25] The winners of each first round match advanced to the second round. The teams that qualified for a bye into the second round each selected which opponent the would face between the winners of the first round (or the Toronto Defiant or Seoul Dynasty in the North America and Asia region, respectively). The winners of the second round advanced to the playoffs.[26]

North America bracket
  Round 1
September 3		   Round 2
September 4		   Qualified
                           
10 Houston Outlaws 1   6 Los Angeles Gladiators 3    
6 Los Angeles Gladiators
13 Boston Uprising 3   9 Toronto Defiant 2    
12 Washington Justice 3   7 Atlanta Reign 3    
7 Atlanta Reign
11 Vancouver Titans 0   13 Boston Uprising 1    
  8 Dallas Fuel 0    
12 Washington Justice
  12 Washington Justice 3    

Asia bracket
  Round 1
September 4		   Round 2
September 5		   Qualified
                           
6 Chengdu Hunters 3   3 New York Excelsior 3    
3 New York Excelsior
7 London Spitfire 1   6 Chengdu Hunters 2    
  4 Hangzhou Spark 0    
5 Seoul Dynasty
  5 Seoul Dynasty 3    

Playoffs
Main article: 2020 Overwatch League playoffs

The playoffs will be contested by twelve teams – eight from the North America region and four from the Asia region.[27] The top two teams from each region's respective playoff bracket will qualify for the Grand Finals bracket, where the final two teams in the Grand Finals bracket will play in the Grand Finals match.[28]

North America bracket
  Upper Round 1
September 5		   Upper Round 2
September 6		   Upper Final
September 12
                                                 
  1 Philadelphia Fusion 3  
  6 Los Angeles Gladiators 0    
      1 Philadelphia Fusion 3  
      5 Los Angeles Valiant 0    
  4 Florida Mayhem 2          
  5 Los Angeles Valiant 3        
      1 Philadelphia Fusion 1
      2 San Francisco Shock 3
  2 San Francisco Shock 3          
  8 Washington Justice 2            
      2 San Francisco Shock 3      
      7 Atlanta Reign 1    
  3 Paris Eternal 2      
  7 Atlanta Reign 3    
 
   
  Lower Round 1
September 6		     Lower Round 2
September 11		     Lower Round 3
September 12		     Lower Final
September 13
   
  4 Florida Mayhem 3    
  6 Los Angeles Gladiators 0     7 Atlanta Reign 0    
    4 Florida Mayhem 3      
      4 Florida Mayhem 0    
  3 Paris Eternal 0         8 Washington Justice 3     1 Philadelphia Fusion 3
  8 Washington Justice 3     5 Los Angeles Valiant 1         8 Washington Justice 0
    8 Washington Justice 3  

Asia bracket
  Upper Round 1
September 6		   Upper Final
September 12
                   
  1 Shanghai Dragons 3  
  3 New York Excelsior 1    
      1 Shanghai Dragons 3
      4 Seoul Dynasty 2
  2 Guangzhou Charge 0      
  4 Seoul Dynasty 3    
   
  Lower Round 1
September 12		     Lower Final
September 13
   
  2 Guangzhou Charge 0    
  3 New York Excelsior 3     4 Seoul Dynasty 3
    3 New York Excelsior 0

Grand Finals bracket
  Upper Round 1
October 8		   Upper Final
October 9		   Grand Finals
October 10
                             
  A2 Seoul Dynasty 2  
  NA1 San Francisco Shock 3    
      NA1 San Francisco Shock 3  
      A1 Shanghai Dragons 2    
  NA2 Philadelphia Fusion 0          
  A1 Shanghai Dragons 3        
      NA1 San Francisco Shock 4
        A2 Seoul Dynasty 2
  Lower Round 1
October 9		     Lower Final
October 9		    
       
  A2 Seoul Dynasty 3        
  NA2 Philadelphia Fusion 0     A1 Shanghai Dragons 2    
    A2 Seoul Dynasty 3  

Awards

Individual awards
AwardRecipient
Most Valuable Player (MVP)Byung-sun "Fleta" Kim (Shanghai Dragons)[29]
Dennis Hawelka AwardCaleb "McGravy" McGarvey (Los Angeles Valiant)[30]
Rookie of the YearKyeong-bo "Alarm" Kim (Philadelphia Fusion)[31]
Coach of the YearByung-chul Moon (Shanghai Dragons)[32]
Grand Finals MVPNam-joo "Striker" Kwon (San Francisco Shock)

Role Stars
Damage Tank Support
Byung-Sun "Fleta" Kim (Shanghai Dragons) Eui-Seok "Fearless" Lee (Shanghai Dragons) Kyeong-Bo "Alarm" Kim (Philadelphia Fusion)
Yeong-Han "Sp9rk1e" Kim (Paris Eternal) Jun-Woo "Void" Kang (Shanghai Dragons) Jae-Gon "Leejaegon" Lee (Shanghai Dragons)
Jae-Hyeok "Carpe" Lee (Philadelphia Fusion) Hyo-Bin "Choihyobin" Choi (San Francisco Shock) Min-Ki "Viol2t" Park (San Francisco Shock)
Seon-Chang "Ans" Lee (San Francisco Shock) Gi-Cheol "Cr0ng" Nam (Guangzhou Charge) Brice "FDGod" Monsçavoir (Paris Eternal)
Jae-Won "Lip" Lee (Shanghai Dragons) – –

Source:[33]

All-Star Games
Main article: 2020 Overwatch League All-Star Game

The 2020 Overwatch League All-Star Games will be the Overwatch League's third edition of an all-star game that involves the All-Star players of the league. For the first time, the All-Stars will be split into two regions – Asia and North America. The Asia All-Star Game will be played on September 26, while the North America All-Star Game will be played on October 3. Both games will be the culmination of their respective All-Star Weekend, an event that consists of the Talent Takedown, a Widowmaker 1v1 tournament, as well as other various skills challenges.[34]

Winnings

Teams in the 2020 season competed for a total prize pool of US$4,775,000 across midseason tournaments and playoffs. By League rules, at least 50% of these winnings are split among the team's members, the remaining going to the team's owner.

Team May Melee Summer Showdown Countdown Cup Season playoffs Total
Atlanta Reign$5,000–$5,000$75,000$85,000
Boston Uprising––––$0
Chengdu Hunters––$15,000–$15,000
Dallas Fuel$5,000–$5,000–$10,000
Florida Mayhem$30,000–$15,000$75,000$120,000
Guangzhou Charge$5,000$65,000–$75,000$145,000
Hangzhou Spark––$35,000–$35,000
Houston Outlaws–$5,000––$5,000
London Spitfire––––$0
Los Angeles Gladiators$5,000–$5,000$75,000$85,000
Los Angeles Valiant$10,000–$5,000$75,000$90,000
New York Excelsior$10,000$15,000$15,000$250,000$290,000
Paris Eternal$5,000$70,000$15,000$75,000$165,000
Philadelphia Fusion$10,000$35,000$35,000$350,000$430,000
San Francisco Shock$55,000$15,000$65,000$1,500,000$2,850,000
Seoul Dynasty$30,000$15,000–$750,000$795,000
Shanghai Dragons$55,000$30,000$60,000$450,000$595,000
Toronto Defiant–$20,000––$20,000
Vancouver Titans––––$0
Washington Justice–$5,000–$250,000$255,000
Total$225,000$275,000$275,000$4,000,000$4,775,000

References
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