The Overwatch League 2020 Asia Playoffs Preview

The 3^rd edition of The Overwatch League is drawing near its end. Just the Playoffs Stage remains and like the Group Stage, it will be played in separate regions. However, after these individual tournaments are over, there will be one unified Playoffs Stage featuring the best of the best: 4 teams from both regions, which will compete for more than $3 million in prizes.

The Overwatch League 2020 Asia Playoffs Participants

The Playoffs Stage of The Overwatch League 2020 Asia features 7 participants. Practically, every single team from the Group Stage will have a chance to compete in the Playoffs as well. Only the 3^rd and 4^th place teams will receive prizes ($250,000 and $75,000 respectively). That’s because the last 3 teams don’t receive anything anyway, while the first two will have their chance in the Top 4 tournament, or the unified Playoffs tournament that follows the regional Playoffs.

The participants of The Overwatch League 2020 Asia Playoffs are the following:

• Shanghai Dragons
• Guangzhou Charge
• New York Excelsior
• Hangzhou Spark
• Seoul Dynasty
• Chengdu Hunters
• London Spitfire

Competitive Structure

Shanghai Dragons and Guangzhou Charge are already waiting in the Playoffs, thanks to their Group Stage results. Shanghai Dragons finished 1^st with 27 wins and 2 losses while Guangzhou Charge finished 2^nd with 18 wins and 7 losses. Notice the huge difference between the 1^st and 2^nd competitors. SD had a +44 map score while GC had a +5 map score. This speaks volumes before the tournament even starts.

These two teams will compete against the two winners of the Play-In Stage. This stage features the other 5 participants. And only two of them will make it through. Chengdu Hungers plays in the first round against London Spitfire, while New York Excelsior and Hangzhou Spark are waiting in the 2^nd round. The 5^th team will also start in the 2^nd round, although it’s not yet clear against who.

Team Analysis

One doesn’t have to look at the Asia standings table for more than 10 seconds to understand that Shanghai Dragons is almost guaranteed to qualify for the Final 4 tournament. Apart from this certainty, it’s not clear at all who else will make the cut. Guangzhou Charge seems very strong, but New York Excelsior has a lot more experience at this competitive level. So I wouldn’t be surprised if NYE surprises everyone and actually ends up in 2^nd place.

As for the bottom 4 teams, they stand little to no chance of winning. All of them have negative map scores and performed poorly throughout the season. So you shouldn’t expect much from them, except to participate and win matches against themselves. But when the big teams get involved, in almost every case they will lose.