| |||||||
Date | October 10, 2020 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Online | ||||||
Purse | $2.25 million | ||||||
MVP | Kwon "Striker" Nam-joo | ||||||
Live Broadcast | |||||||
Broadcast(s) | YouTube Bilibili NetEase CC Huya | ||||||
The 2020 Overwatch League Grand Finals was the third championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), which took place on October 10, 2020. The series was the conclusion of the 2020 Overwatch League playoffs and was played between the San Francisco Shock and Seoul Dynasty.
San Francisco qualified for the season playoffs as the second seed in the North America region, while Seoul qualified as the fourth seed in the Asia Region. After claiming the top North America seed in the Grand Finals Bracket, San Francisco defeated the Seoul Dynasty and Shanghai Dragons to reach the Grand Finals match. Seoul claimed the second Asia seed in the Grand Finals Bracket, and after losing to San Francisco in the first round, they defeated the Philadelphia Fusion and Shanghai Dragons to reach the Grand Finals match.
In the Grand Finals match, the Shock defeated the Dynasty by a score of 4–2 to win their second OWL championship.
The Grand Finals are the post-season championship series of the Overwatch League (OWL), a professional international esports league; the teams in the Grand Finals match will compete for a $2.25 million prize pool, where the winners will receive $1.5 million. [1] The 2020 season was the third season in OWL history and consisted of twenty teams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many changes to the season were made, including switching to online matches, reworking the teams' distributions into two regions – North America and Asia, cancelling certain mid-season events, and introducing mid-season tournaments. [2] [3] The playoffs were contested by twelve teams – eight from the North America region and four from the Asia region. [4] The top two teams from each region's respective playoff bracket qualified for the Grand Finals bracket, where the final two teams in the Grand Finals bracket will play in the Grand Finals match. [5]
The finalists, San Francisco and Seoul, finished the 2020 regular season with records of 25–3 and 12–12, respectively. [6] The Shock claimed the second seed of the North America season playoffs, while the Dynasty were awarded the fourth seed of the Asia season playoffs. The two teams faced each other one time in 2020 season – in the first round of the Grand Finals bracket; the Shock won the match 3–2. [7] The Shock are the defending OWL champions, while the 2019 runners-up Vancouver Titans failed to qualify for the 2020 playoffs after being eliminated in the play-in tournament. [8]
The Dynasty entered the league in 2018 as one of the twelve founding franchises. In the offseason preceding the 2020 season, the team made many organization changes, including parting ways with head coach Kim "KDG" Dong-gun and promoting assistant coach Park "changoon" Chang-geun to head coach. [9] [10] Seoul made many roster changes as well. Additions to the team included tank Hong "Gesture" Jae-hee, DPS Park "Profit" Joon-yeong, [11] support Kim "Creative" Young-wan, [12] and support Choi "Bdosin" Seung-tae, [13] while departures included support Lee "Jecse" Seung-soo, [14] support Lee "Highly" Sung-hyeok, [15] support Ryu "ryujehong" Je-hong, [16] and off-tank Kim "zunba" Joon-hyeok. [17]
Seoul started their season on March 28 with a 3–0 sweep over the Los Angeles Valiant. [18] The team was handed their first loss on April 26 to bring their record to 3–1 prior to the May Melee. [19] On May 14, the team signed former Vancouver Titans main support Kim "SLIME" Seong-joon. [20] The Dynasty struggled to find wins in the regular season portion of the May Melee, finishing last in the Asia seeding with a 1–3 record for May; [21] however, they made it to the finals but were defeated by the Shanghai Dragons. [22] Despite their strong performance in the tournament, Seoul again struggled to win regular season games, losing three straight until a 3–0 sweep over the Chengdu Hunters, giving them the fifth seed in the Summer Showdown tournament. [23] Seoul reached the semifinals of the tournament but were, again, eliminated by the Dragons. [24] Seoul's struggles continued, finishing last in the Countdown Cup seeding with an 0–4 record. [25] On August 6, two days prior to the Countdown Cup tournament, Seoul signed off-tank Lim "Toyou" Hyun-woo to a two-way contract. [26] The team fell to the Hangzhou Spark in the first round of the Countdown Cup. [27] The Dynasty finished the season strong, winning four of their last five final matches to finish the season with 9 wins, 3 bonus wins from midseason tournaments, and 12 losses, giving them an effective regular season record of 12–12 and the fifth seed in the Asia region postseason. [28] After qualifying for a first-round bye in the Asia region play-in tournament, Seoul defeated the Spark in the play-in tournament to claim the fourth seed in the Asia playoffs bracket. [29]
The Dynasty swept the second-seeded Guangzhou Charge, 3–0, on September 6 in the first round of Asia playoffs bracket. [30] The win advanced Seoul to the upper bracket finals, where they fell by a 2–3 score to the top-seeded Dragons, sending them to the lower bracket finals. [31] The team rebounded from the loss by handing the third-seeded New York Excelsior a 3–0 sweep in the lower bracket finals and claiming the second Asia seed in the Grand Finals bracket.
Seoul faced the North America's top-seeded San Francisco Shock bracket's first round on October 8. After falling to a quick 0–2 deficit, the Dynasty evened up the score, winning the following two maps; however, they were unable to win the final map and fell by a score of 2–3. [7] Falling to the lower bracket, the Dynasty responded to the loss by claiming a 3–0 sweep over North America's second-seeded Philadelphia Fusion. [32] The win advanced the team to the lower bracket finals, where they took on Asia's top-seeded Shanghai Dragons. Despite having not won against the Dragons in any of their previous playoff matches of the season, Seoul won the match by a score of 3–2 to advance to the Grand Finals match. [32]
San Francisco entered the league in 2018 as one of the twelve founding franchises. After winning the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals, the Shock elected not to re-sign off-tank Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson and picked up sniper specialist Lee "ANS" Seon-chang in the offseason. [33] [34]
The Shock's first match of the 2020 regular season resulted in a 3–1 win over the Dallas Fuel. [35] After starting the season with a 5–2 record, 2019 Most Valuable Player Jay "sinatraa" Won retired from competitive Overwatch to compete in Valorant . [36] [37] Three weeks later, the Shock transferred DPS Park "Architect" Min-ho to the Hangzhou Spark and signed former Vancouver Titans flex support Lee "Twilight" Jooseok. [38] After going undefeated in the regular season for the month of May, the Shock claimed the top seed in the May Melee, where they ultimately defeated the Florida Mayhem in the finals to win the tournament title. [22] [39] Having lost not a match since March, the Shock won all of their regular season matches in June to claim the top seed in the Summer Showdown; however, the team fell to the Paris Eternal in the finals. [24] After the loss, the Shock signed DPS Sean Taiyo "Ta1yo" Henderson from Overwatch Contenders team Third Impact. [40] The Shock continued their regular season win streak throughout July and claimed the top seed in the Countdown Cup, where they won their second midseason tournament title after defeating the Philadelphia Fusion. [41] In their first match after the title win, the Shock again faced the Fusion and were swept 3–0, ending their regular season win streak and locking them into the second seed of the North America playoffs bracket. [42] The team finished the regular season with 18 wins, 7 bonus wins from midseason tournaments, and 3 losses, giving them an effective regular season record of 25–3. [43] Lee "Ans" Seon-Chang, Choi "Choihyobin" Hyo-Bin, and Park "Viol2t" Min-Ki were awarded the Role Star commendation for DPS, and support, respectively. [44] Choihyobin and Viol2t were also nominated for the league's most valuable player award. [45]
San Francisco faced the eighth-seeded Washington Justice on September 5 in the first round of the North America playoffs bracket, and after falling 0–2 in the match, the Shock won three straight maps to move on to the second round of the upper bracket. [46] The team next defeated the seventh-seeded Atlanta Reign by a score of 3–1. [30] Moving on to the upper bracket finals, the Shock faced the top-seeded Philadelphia Fusion. Despite keeping the maps close, the Shock came out with a 3–1 victory and advanced to the Grand Finals bracket. [31]
As the top North America seed in the Grand Finals bracket, the Shock faced Asia's second-seeded Seoul Dynasty in the bracket's first round on October 8. After the Shock came out with a quick 2–0 lead, the Dynasty evened up the score, winning the following two maps; however, San Francisco won the final map of the match and moved on to the Upper Bracket finals. [7] The team faced Asia's top-seeded Shanghai Dragons in the upper finals, where, again, the Shock started the match with a 2–0 lead, but the Dragons tied up the series after four maps. The Shock won the final map of the match to advance to the Grand Finals match. [32]
|
|
|
|
For the first time, the Grand Finals were not broadcast on linear TV. The match was live-streamed on the digital platforms YouTube, Bilibili, Huya, and NetEase CC. Viewership on YouTube peaked at 180 thousand concurrent viewers, while the average minute audience in China was 1.39 million. Globally, the match saw an average viewership of 1.55 million, a 38% increase over the 2019 Grand Finals, making it the most watched match in OWL history. [47] [48]
Grand Finals | October 10 | Seoul Dynasty | 2 | – | 4 | San Francisco Shock | Online | |
9:00 am EDT (13:00 UTC) | Details | |||||||
0 | Oasis | 2 | ||||||
2 | King's Row | 3 | ||||||
2 | Hanamura | 1 | ||||||
3 | Watchpoint: Gibraltar | 0 | ||||||
0 | Busan | 2 | ||||||
1 | Hollywood | 2 |
Seoul Dynasty
| San Francisco Shock
|
The Shanghai Dragons are a professional Overwatch esports team based in Shanghai, China. The Dragons compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2017, Shanghai Dragons are one of the league's twelve founding members and are one of four professional Overwatch teams based in China. The team is owned by Chinese internet technology company NetEase, who also own Team CC, an academy team for the Dragons that compete in Overwatch Contenders.
The Los Angeles Gladiators are an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Los Angeles, California. The Gladiators compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the Los Angeles Gladiators are one of twelve founding members of the OWL and are one of two professional Overwatch teams based in Los Angeles. The team is owned by Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, who also owns Gladiators Legion, an academy team for Los Angeles that competed in Overwatch Contenders.
The San Francisco Shock are an American professional Overwatch esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the San Francisco Shock is one of the twelve founding members of the OWL and is one of three professional Overwatch teams in California. The team is owned by Andy Miller, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings and NRG Esports. The Shock have won three midseason tournament titles, qualified for three season playoffs, and won back-to-back OWL Grand Finals, making them one of the most accomplished franchises in OWL history.
Seoul Dynasty is a South Korean professional Overwatch esports team based in Seoul, South Korea. The Dynasty compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2017, Seoul Dynasty is one of the league's twelve founding members and one of two professional Overwatch teams based in South Korea. The team is owned by Kevin Chou of Generation Gaming, who also own and operate an academy team for the Dynasty that compete in Overwatch Contenders (OWC) under the moniker Gen.G Esports.
Seoul Infernal is a professional Overwatch esports team based in Seoul, South Korea. The Infernal compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2017 as the Philadelphia Fusion, it is one of the league's twelve founding members and was the first professional esports team based in Pennsylvania. The team is owned by Comcast Spectacor, who also own the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). It also manages Fusion University and T1, academy teams for the Infernal that compete in Overwatch Contenders.
The 2019 London Spitfire season was the second season of the London Spitfire's existence in the Overwatch League. The Spitfire entered the season as the defending Overwatch League champions after winning the 2018 Grand Finals.
The 2019 Philadelphia Fusion season was the second season of the Philadelphia Fusion's existence in the Overwatch League and their first under co-head coaches Go Se-hwi and Elliot Hayes. They entered the season looking to bounce back after their 2018 Grand Finals loss to the London Spitfire.
The 2019 Seoul Dynasty season was the second season of the Seoul Dynasty's existence in the Overwatch League and is the team's first under head coach Kim "KDG" Dong-gun. The team looked to improve on their 2018 season, when they posted a 22–18 record and missed out on the season playoffs.
The 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals was the second championship series of the Overwatch League (OWL), which took place on September 29, 2019. The series was the conclusion of the 2019 Overwatch League playoffs and was played between the Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The 2020 Philadelphia Fusion season was the third season of the Philadelphia Fusion's existence in the Overwatch League and their first under head coach Kim "KDG" Dong-gun. The Fusion planned to host three homestand weekends in the 2020 season, with the first two taking place at The Met in Philadelphia and the third at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. While their first homestand weekend took place, all following homestand events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 San Francisco Shock season was the third season of the San Francisco Shock's existence in the Overwatch League and their second under head coach Park "Crusty" Dae-hee. The team entered the season as the defending Overwatch League champions, after winning the 2019 Grand Finals. The Shock planned to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley and the San Jose Civic in downtown San Jose, but both were cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Park Joon-yeong, better known by his online alias Profit, is a professional South Korean Overwatch player for the Seoul Dynasty of the Overwatch League (OWL). Prior to the OWL's inception, he played for GC Busan, winning OGN APEX Season 4 was named the APEX Finals most valuable player. In the Overwatch League, Park signed with the London Spitfire of the OWL in its inaugural season. He won the league's first Grand Finals with the Spitfire, after they defeated the Philadelphia Fusion, and was named the Grand Finals most valuable player.
The 2020 Overwatch League playoffs was the postseason tournament of the 2020 Overwatch League regular season, which began on September 3 and concluded with the 2020 Grand Finals, the third championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), on October 10.
The 2021 Atlanta Reign season was the Atlanta Reign's third season in the Overwatch League and the team's third under head coach Brad "Sephy" Rajani. The team qualified for three of the four midseason tournaments but fell short of reaching the finals each time. For the third consecutive season, the team qualified for the season playoffs. The Reign appeared in the 2021 Grand Finals, the franchise's first Grand Finals appearance, but lost to the Shanghai Dragons, 0–4. Rookie damage player Oh "Pelican" Se-hyun was named the league's Rookie of the Year.
The 2021 Shanghai Dragons season was the fourth season of the Shanghai Dragons's existence in the Overwatch League and their second under head coach Moon Byung-chul.
Kim Byung-sun, better known by his online alias Fleta, is a South Korean former professional Overwatch player. He began his esports career with Flash Lux and had a brief stint playing for Lunatic-Hai. Kim signed with the Seoul Dynasty of the Overwatch League (OWL) in its inaugural season. After two years with the Dynasty, he signed with the Shanghai Dragons. In the middle of the 2023, Kim transitioned to a coaching role.
Matthew DeLisi, better known as super or supertf, is a former professional Overwatch player from the United States. He competed in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the San Francisco Shock. Prior to his time in OWL, DeLisi played for teams such as Bird Noises, Hammer Esports, and Luminosity Gaming Evil (LGE).
The 2021 Overwatch League Grand Finals was the fourth championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), taking place on September 25, 2021. The series was the conclusion of the 2021 Overwatch League playoffs and was played between the Shanghai Dragons and the Atlanta Reign. The final was originally planned to be played at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California; however, due to increasing threat of COVID-19 and the delta variant, the match was shifted to be played online.
The 2022 Overwatch League playoffs was the postseason tournament of the 2022 Overwatch League regular season. The tournament began on October 30 and concluded with the 2022 Grand Finals, the fifth championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), on November 4. Twelve teams contested the OWL playoffs, a double-elimination tournament, with the final two teams remaining in the tournament advancing to the Grand Finals. All playoff matches will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
The 2022 Overwatch League Grand Finals was the fifth championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), taking place on November 4, 2022. The series was the conclusion of the 2022 Overwatch League playoffs and was played between the Dallas Fuel and the San Francisco Shock at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.