Overwatch League Playoffs & Finals + Overwatch 2 Updates

Esports News
September 21, 2021
Jordan Ashley

The Overwatch League 2021 season has been a little turbulent. There have been major sponsorship dropouts, a mix of online and offline play, and a big upset to the standings of teams. Going into the Overwatch League 2021 finals, things are looking more open in terms of who is going to win.

However, outside of even the winner, the Overwatch League is continuing its strange year. We’re due to get our first real Overwatch 2 updates in a long time during the League Playoffs. On top of this, we can expect some weird gameplay with one team having to split their team between locations for the matches.

This is everything you need to watch out for at the OWL Playoffs 2021, and the upcoming week of Overwatch action.

Fleta OWL Finals

Fleta: 2021 OWL Lead Role Character

Overwatch League Playoffs Preparation Checklist

We already covered the initial Playoffs expectations and OWL match predictions and pick’ems. Now lets just list all the things you need to do ahead of the Playoffs.

  • Set your pick’em and go for the perfect bracket at pickem.overwatchleague.com
  • Sign-up for watch parties with your favorite team and earn free loot
  • Ask all the Playoffs questions on the official OWL Twitter Page
  • Tune in to Overwatch YT Channel tonight (Sept 21st, 20:30 ET)

Overwatch 2 Updates – League Preview and Grand Final Reveals

Overwatch 2 has been pretty widely anticipated for quite a while now. The game is expected to liven things up for Overwatch, which is great since so many have been asking is Overwatch dying lately. Up until recently, we didn’t know too much about whether the game was expected anytime soon or not. However, we’ve just gotten our first Overwatch 2 update that points towards a solid release date, and we know now what’s going to happen with the League.

Overwatch 2 is due to release in 2022. However, the Overwatch League is going to get it early. The League is going to be playing on an early version of Overwatch 2, officially moving into the next phase of the game.

In the 2021 Overwatch Grand Finals, we’re getting some first details about the actual content of the game. The finals will include reveals for reworks of a number of heroes, like Bastion and Sombra. There will also be wider details of how the game’s new competitive system works, and just what the overhaul has actually means for the game. This news comes at a good time for the game, where various outside factors have led to both financial pressures on the league and a loss of interest. Hopefully, the switch to the new game can revitalize the game.

Atlanta Reign in a bit of a pickle

While the OWL has largely moved to in-person events once again for big finals, one team isn’t going to have a full squad all in one place. Atlanta Reign has one player who isn’t going to be able to make his way to the finals in Hawaii. Due to recent surgery, he’s physically unable to fly. This might point to him being dropped from the team at this vital stage. Although, that’s not the approach they’re taking.

Pelican has become one of the most important players to this team, being pretty central to their performance. Playing online compared with in-person is quite a big step-down. However, management has made it clear that the player is going to be part of the squad. So, Pelican is going to be relocating to the closest possible spot to Hawaii that he can reach without flying, most likely the ATL FaZe offices in Los Angeles. How much of an effect this has on their performance remains to be seen at the moment. Although, it is a weird way to solve the problem.

The Overwatch League finals in 2021 look set to be unpredictable, given how the seasons has gone so far. However, the announcement of some Overwatch 2 updates to come along with the finals definitely make things a bit more interesting. Whether you’re looking at Overwatch betting or if you’ve dropped off with the league, it looks like this year’s finals might be the last chance for you to watch Overwatch League in its original form.