This year theOverwatch League presents itself in a new light; the teams are no longer made up of 6 players, but now of 5. After training done upstream on the Overwatch 2 alpha, the players are now ready for the competition which begins this evening. As a result, don’t worry, the different teams have already taken Sojourn and the new maps (Circuit Royal, Midtown, New Queen Street and Colosseo) into their own hands, created new compositions with 5v5 and above all the players have been able to develop strategies for the new game mode: Push.
Clearly, there are a lot of new things for this season of the Overwatch League and this one is likely to be rich in twists and turns. See you tonight at 9 p.m. on the competition’s YouTube channel to follow classic matches.
The results of the inaugural weekend
At this stage of the competition, SF Shock are reigning supreme as they rise to the top of the leaderboard. Right behind we have the Atlanta Reign as well as the Los Angeles Gladiators. Nothing is decided yet, but it will take the Los Angeles Gladiators to win the midnight game to try to take a place in the standings.
For this Saturday evening’s matches, keep in mind that the 9 p.m. match, which will pit Toronto Defiant against Washington Justice, will allow you to have double league tokens!
New York Excelsior | 1 – 3 |  Los Angeles Gladiators |
 San Francisco Shock | 3 – 0 |  Paris Eternal |
 Florida Mayhem | 1 – 3 |  Atlanta Reign |
Friday, May 6 | ||
 London Spitfire | 0 – 3 |  San Francisco Shock |
 Boston Uprising | 3 – 2 |  Vancouver Titans |
 Dallas Fuel | 0 – 3 |  Houston Outlaws |
Saturday May 7 | ||
 Toronto Defiant | 1 – 3 |  washington justice |
 Atlanta Reign | 3 – 0 |  New York Excelsior |
 Boston Uprising | 1 – 3 |  Los Angeles Gladiators |
Sunday May 8 | ||
 London Spitfire | 9 p.m. |  Vancouver Titans |
 Paris Eternal | 10:30 p.m. |  Florida Mayhem |
 washington justice | midnight |  Dallas Fuel |
 Toronto Defiant | 1h30 |  Houston Outlaws |
The format of the competition throughout the year
The 2022 Overwatch League season won’t be much different from other years; it will consist of four phases (Kickoff Clash, Midseason Madness, Summer Showdown and Countdown Cup) to then give way to the Playoffs. Teams will have to play six games in each phase, so players will have to prove themselves through 24 games for the full season. Each cycle, teams will play six placement matches to determine seeding for the tournament proper. The Kickoff Clash and Summer Showdown will be regional tournaments, Midseason Madness will be a global venue event, and the Countdown Cup, which will serve as the post-season play-off tournament, is also set to be a global venue event.
League Points are also making a comeback, meaning qualifying matches and wins in each tournament can be a deciding factor in the knockout stages. Regarding the elimination stages, the play-ins of the Countdown Cup will allow to finish the teams which will qualify for the championships through these league points.
Clearly, qualifying for the tournaments, as well as the 2022 playoffs, will be based on each team’s total league points. Teams can earn league points through their results in placement matches and tournaments. Each win in placement matches is worth 1 league point, as is each tournament appearance. But, the latter can obtain additional points:
- The second-placed team in each regional tournament gets 2 league points, and the tournament champion team gets 3 league points.
- In the Midseason Madness Global Tournament, the third-placed team will get 2 league points, the second-placed team 3 league points, and the champion 4 league points.
The competition schedule
During this season, 20 international teams from two competing regions will tackle 21 weeks of competition to win the title of champions. Below, you can find the schedules of the various matches for this Inaugural Weekend of the Overwatch League. The opening of the ball will be done by the teams of the West region and you will be able to find the broadcast at this address.
 New York Excelsior | 9 p.m. |  Los Angeles Gladiators |
 San Francisco Shock | 10:30 p.m. |  Paris Eternal |
 Florida Mayhem | midnight |  Atlanta Reign |
Friday, May 6 | ||
 London Spitfire | 9 p.m. |  San Francisco Shock |
 Boston Uprising | 10:30 p.m. |  Vancouver Titans |
 Dallas Fuel | midnight |  Houston Outlaws |
Saturday May 7 | ||
 Toronto Defiant | 9 p.m. |  washington justice |
 Atlanta Reign | 10:30 p.m. |  New York Excelsior |
 Boston Uprising | midnight |  Los Angeles Gladiators |
Sunday May 8 | ||
 London Spitfire | 9 p.m. |  Vancouver Titans |
 Paris Eternal | 10:30 p.m. |  Florida Mayhem |
 washington justice | midnight |  Dallas Fuel |
 Toronto Defiant | 1h30 |  Houston Outlaws |
do not forget to link your Battle.net account to Youtube, because you can receive a beta key just by watching the inaugural event. Every day almost 1500 keys will be given out every hour, so you will definitely have your chance to have a beta key. However, there is a prerequisite to be eligible for this offer: watch at least one hour of competition. Fans with linked accounts enjoying Overwatch League Opening Weekend matches from May 5-8 will receive 5 tokens per hour for all matches and double tokens for select matches that are notified (in orange) on the schedule.
Did you miss the April 27 Twitch Drop and are sure you won’t have a chance in the draw to get an invite to the Overwatch 2 Closed Beta? Don’t panic, a second wave of key drops is planned for Overwatch players, but this time on YouTube with the OWL.