About
Hey so it looks like you've taken interest into the Overwatch League! As exciting as that may be, it's still very important that you are all caught up with the functions and community aspect of the league, so you can jump right into the action! Think of this website as a guide for your viewing experience!
Rule Book
Below is the offical league rulebook for the league, this will also include an explaination for those more unfamiliar with the game.
General Rules
The general rules for the league are as follows:
- Regular competive ruleset
(This is to say that the matches will be played in the same competitive format as the regular Overwatch competitive that you play)
- First to three map wins
- Games must be played in a 1-2-2 format
- Pauses must be used for technical issues or emergencies only, and must not conatain any talk of stratedgy during the pause
(First team to hit three map victories wins the match, this can often lead to a three map, four map, or five map series)
(This means that the games must be played in 122, one tank player, two damage players, two support players)
(There are often times where players must pause the game due to a variety of issues they may face. To keep the competetive integredy in the match, there must be no talking during pauses that may lead to advantage.)
League format, Points, Tournaments, and Playoffs
This section will cover the overall league format, including midseason tournaments and play off brackets
There are two regions that play seperatly in the league, that being the Eastern and Western Conference, with the eastern conference hosting seven different teams, and the west hosting thirteen teams.
Each season of the league will host three tournaments, and then playoffs. The first and third tournament will be seperated by region, with the second tournament, Midseason Madness, inviting the top teams from each region together in one tournament, and playoffs aswell.
The Midseason Madness will comprise of six teams-four from the West, two from the East-in a double-elimination bracket.
Throughout the season, League Points will be assigned to teams based on overall performance, map wins, match wins, ect. These league points will be used to qualify the top teams for the tournaments and play offs, with the top four teams having first pick in their tournaments.
Each tournament will have the same double-elimination bracket, with a cash prize to the winning tournament.
The play-off finals will crown the winner of the overwatch league season
Terminology
For some of you, you may have noticed in youtube chat and in the league, that there is a lot of unfamiliar terms and phrases made by other viewers and castors within the league. Here we have a few of the biggest and most popular terms used by our community!
C9
A "C9" is when a team has won the team fight, but has forgotten to complete the objective, leaving the opposing team with the point. It's orgin comes from an old proffesional team,Cloud 9, winning multiple fights in the game, but continue to forget the objective throughout the whole series, hence calling it a "C9". This is the most commonly used term within the league.
Ajax
An "Ajax" is when a lucio dies while casting his ultimate, effectivly losing the ultimate and his life. Ajax was a main support player, who early in his career, had multiple ultimates lost while casting it to the point where whenever it happens now, it's called an Ajax
Reverse Sweep
A Reverse Sweep is when a team has lost the first two maps in a series, and then pulls it back together in the second half, winning the last three maps, winning the series
Backcap
A "backcap" is when a player is able to sneak behind the enemy, and capture the objective without them knowing. Many would also call this play a C9, and though it technically is a c9, the proper term for it would be a back cap
Toilet-Bowl
This refers the matches between the bottom teams of the league, which usually results in overall wacky gameplay.