Overwatch League team rosters, points, news and how to watch it on Twitch

The first season of Overwatch League has begun, which also means the much-anticipated Overwatch League skins (and the subsequent Overwatch League Tokens) are now live.

Overwatch League is the first eSports competition developed directly by Overwatch publisher and developer Activision Blizzard. Its aim is to bring the template of traditional sports to the messy world of eSports by creating locally based professional teams all competing for a slice of a prize pot and pride.

READ NEXT: How to get Overwatch League Tokens and skins

The opening week of Overwatch League season runs from 10-13 January. A total of twelve teams from around the world are going up against each other over a season of play in LA. Overwatch League bucks the trend of other eSports tournaments because, instead of private teams with names such as Fnatic, Team Dignitas and Evil Genius, Overwatch League roots them in physical locations like football teams.

READ NEXT: Guide to UK eSports teams

Ahead of the launch, Overwatch League and Twitch announced that every match will be available for fans online through the social video streaming site. The first match of the Overwatch League’s inaugural season went live on Twitch at 4pm PST (midnight GMT) at Overwatch League.com on 10 January. Twitch will also be rebroadcasting the matches following each event for those in different time zones, for example, who didn’t stay up to watch it. Videos of the matches are also available from the video tab. 

Additionally, if you sign into Twitch and follow the Overwatch League, you will be notified when broadcasts, and rebroadcasts, are about to begin. 

Twitch and Overwatch League signed a two-year deal to cover the first two seasons of Overwatch League and, with the exception of China, Twitch will be the exclusive third-party provider for Overwatch League regular-season, playoffs, and championship matches, with streams in English, Korean, and French. Overwatch League and Twitch have also teased a series of rewards and “other programs” for fans, and more details will be unveiled as they’re announced. 

JUMP STRAIGHT TO TEAM LINEUP AND ROSTERS

Blizzard goes into more detail about each team in their team announcements, but you can find out everything you need to know about all the teams and an overall view of the Overwatch League in our hub below.

Overwatch League points

Once the matches begin we will update this article with the Overwatch League points. 

Overwatch League: What is it?

Overwatch creator Activision Blizzard sees Overwatch League as a pro-level Overwatch tournament that plays out on the same scale as other popular sports like the NFL.

Essentially, location-based teams vie for a place at the top of an Overwatch season via competitive matches. It’s not been disclosed how many teams are participating, nor how Blizzard plans to organise the league structure. We could see something akin to a “winner stays in” tournament, but it’s most likely going to be a points-based system with league leaderboards to determine the final winners.

READ NEXT: How to watch eSports in the UK

Overwatch League: Where is it?

Because Overwatch League is an eSport, it can actually be viewed absolutely anywhere in the world thanks to games streaming. However, Activision-Blizzard is holding the competition at a physical venue in the new Blizzard Arena Los Angeles in Burbank, California. Blizzard announced that this will be the location for its inaugural season, but it may move for future seasons – ideally jumping around the world to play in host cities.

Overwatch League: When is it?

Overwatch League had its first Contenders Season One Playoff from 7 October and a preseason tussle in December. Now those have wrapped up, the first season of Overwatch League begins on 10 January 2018. 

This first season of the Overwatch League will run until June, with playoffs and finals scheduled for July.  

“With the first 12 teams in place, we’re now just a few short months away from the inaugural season of the Overwatch League,” said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. “This is a huge milestone for the league. We can’t wait for the action to get underway and to see some of the top competitive Overwatch players in the world facing off to become the first-ever Overwatch League champions.”

Overwatch League: How to buy tickets?

You can watch the Overwatch League for free on Twitch, or, if you live in LA or nearby, you can buy tickets for matches being played each Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The full schedule is on Overwatch League.com and you can get Overwatch League tickets here. 

Overwatch League: How do teams work?

Activision Blizzard recently revealed how it plans to make teams in Overwatch work. They outlined their decisions around localising teams to specific cities, along with plans around housing regulations and pay. Essentially, each team owner pays in $20 million to sign their team up for Overwatch League. You may think that a crazy amount but to sign up for Major League Soccer it costs $200 million a team – so this is a relative steal.

Revenue from advertising, ticketing and broadcasting rights is then shared between the competing Overwatch League teams and all locally generated revenue goes right back to the club. The focus on regional teams is a deliberate move to open up Overwatch’s appeal beyond your core gamer or eSports fan. It’s an opportunity to have someone rally behind a local team, instead of one with an obtuse name populated by people using bizarre online aliases. However, an Overwatch League team isn’t restricted by region for recruiting, meaning that it won’t necessarily be the local talent you’re supporting as part of your local team.

Overwatch League teams are comprised of a minimum of six players, but no more than 12.

Overwatch League: How much do players make?

Playing eSports is a lucrative career opportunity but the money you can make is clearly only driven by the success of your team. If you want to make a living wage, you’ll need to win a lot of tournaments.

In Overwatch League, however, all players will receive a base salary – a first for an eSport team. Players will earn $50,000 (£38,000) for simply participating in an Overwatch League team – win or lose. They can then look forward to sharing a prize pot of $1 million for winning Season 1 alongside $3.5 million per year in bonuses. At least 50% of all team performance bonuses have to be distributed back to players and, if that wasn’t enough, all players receive health insurance and a retirement savings plan for participating in Overwatch League.

While this is still chump change to some of the pros in premier league football and NFL, it’s approaching pro-athlete levels of income for simply playing Overwatch. In fact, star Overwatch player Jay “sinatraa” Won has just joined the ranks of Overwatch League players around the world in a record signing that sees him earning $100,000 more than the League minimum.

Sinatraa joins the NRG eSports-lead San Francisco team with a yearly salary of a whopping $150,000 before benefits. Once you factor in Overwatch League’s revenue-sharing options and potential $3.5 million prize pool for League winners, sinatraa is easily the highest-paid player in eSports – and he’s only 17-years-old.

Overwatch League: Do they provide team housing?

Activision Blizzard has stated that all teams will be required to provide housing and practice facilities for players during an Overwatch League season. These houses all have to adhere to a strict set of standards set by the League – presumably in a direct response to the squats some teams have been living and working in.

Overwatch League: How do you sign up for a team?

To stop just everyone applying to join their local team, Blizzard has put in place an excellent method to help team owners and coaches spot the best Overwatch talent around. Using a scouting report built from analysing the world’s top Overwatch players, Blizzard has set a benchmark for what team owners should be capable of recruiting. This should mean we’ll see unknown Overwatch players rising to prominence and, in theory, should open the doors to anyone who wants to devote time to becoming a pro-level Overwatch player.

Interestingly, Blizzard says this method of recruitment is only set for Season 1 of Overwatch League and will be reviewed on a season-by-season basis. The official signing window for those wanting to get involved closed on 30 October.

Overwatch League: What is Overwatch?

I’m surprised you read this far without knowing what Overwatch is but, for those that haven’t heard of it, Overwatch is easily the most popular competitive shooter on the market right now – a quick visit to the Overwatch hashtag on Twitter or /r/overwatch will show you just how avid its fan base is. In the competitive scene, it pits two teams against one another in fast-paced, arena-based skirmishes where teams work to clear objectives or take down opponents while also bolstering their own teammates in the process.

Launched little over a year ago, Overwatch has gained impressive traction. In April this year Blizzard announced it had hit 30 million registered players – jumping up from 20 million in January 2017. Overwatch League aims to expand its reach to those who may have never even touched the game before.

Overwatch League skins: How to get them 

Now that Overwatch League has begun, a special set of Overwatch League skins are going live, in-game, for people playing at home. They are likely to go live once the tournament starts, but the exact time was not revealed. Find out how to get Overwatch League tokens and more about Overwatch League skins.

Overwatch League: Who are the teams?

Activision Blizzard has finally announced all 12 teams taking part in Overwatch League. 

The current Overwatch League teams are:

• Boston Uprising
• Los Angeles Valiant
• Florida Mayhem
• Los Angeles Gladiators
• New York Excelsior (NYXL)
• San Francisco Shock
• Seoul Dynasty
• Shanghai Dragons
• London Spitfire
• Philadelphia Fusion
• Dallas Fuel
• Houston Outlaws

These teams aren’t your usual eSport fare either, both Boston and New York City are owned by New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft and MLB New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon respectively. The second Los Angeles team is fronted by Stan and Josh Kroenke, leaders in international sports teams, owning NBA, NHL MLS, NLL and NFL teams and stadiums. London’s team is owned by CEO and founder of Cloud9, Jack Etienne, who will be entering the Cloud9 team as London’s official Overwatch League team.

Boston Uprising

Boston Uprising takes its name from the city’s spirit of revolution and challenging the norm. Tapping into its home’s spirit of the Boston Tea Party and sparking the American Revolution, the team hopes its name evokes a sense of “resilience and determination”. Its team colours of blue and yellow are a nod to the Boston flag. Interestingly, it’s also backed by the Kraft group, so it’s going to have very deep pockets.

Colours: Blue, Black, Yellow

Hero: Soldier 76

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram

Los Angeles Valiant

The first of two LA-based teams, Los Angeles Valiant has a golden helmet logo to represent “aggressiveness and protectiveness”. They’re also comprised of some of the strongest US players from League of Legends, CS:GO and Dota 2. Not bad.

Colours: Green, Black, Light Green

Hero: Mercy

Social channels: Twitter

Florida Mayhem

This Miami-Orlando collaboration team has taken up the mantle of “Florida” to show state unification. Its choice of yellow for a team colour is supposed to signify the “Sunshine State” nickname Florida has and the red shows its ties to team owners Misfits Gaming. The name “Mayhem” and the team’s bomb logo are a nod to its “explosive” play style.

Colours: Yellow, Red, Black

Hero: Junkrat

Social channels: Twitter

Los Angeles Gladiators

Taking their name from the fighters of ancient Rome, LA Gladiators’ lion and shield logo is intended to symbolise the qualities of “ferocity and power” that the team will be known for. Their team colours of purple and white are meant to symbolise the colours of Roman emperors. The team is owned by brothers Stan and Josh Kroenke who also own the LA Rams.

Colours: Purple, White, Black

Hero: Reinhardt

Social channels: Twitter, YouTube

New York Excelsior

Also known as NYXL, New York’s Overwatch League team represents one of the US’ biggest cities and is owned by the New York Mets baseball team owner Jeff Wilpon. Their name comes from the Latin for “ever upward” and is meant to represent the “everyday heroism of New York”.

Colours: Black, Blue, Red

Hero: Lucio

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Website

San Francisco Shock

Taking its name from the region’s reputation for earthquakes, San Francisco Shock’s entire logo is a homage to the city. The orange is intended to represent the orange of the Golden Gate Bridge, the seismograph wave is a nod to the quakes and the gold to the region’s history for the Californian gold rush of the 1800s. 

Colours: Orange, Grey, Gold

Hero: Doomfist

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram

Seoul Dynasty

Seoul is the home of eSports and, arguably, the place that kick-started the world’s fascination with eSports. Seoul Dynasty takes its name from the association for long-term success and plans to rule the battlefield. It’s an aspirational name more than anything. Interestingly, the team is formed from some of the strongest players in the APEX series.

Colours: Black, Gold, White

Hero: D.Va

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram

Shanghai Dragons

The China-based team uses the colours of Red and Black, along with the team name and logo, are all a nod to Chinese culture where “the dragon symbolises the spirit of that which is sacred, powerful and supreme.” The smooth line design of the dragon in the shape of an “S” is supposed to represent “the strategic skill and flexibility of the team.”

Colours: Red, Black, Yellow

Hero: Mei

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

London Spitfire

Despite the fact that the Spitfire wasn’t even manufactured anywhere near London, the UK’s only team is named after the iconic warplane because it “imbues the team’s identity” with “the spirit of bravery”. The light blue team colour is the same team colour as its owner Cloud 9’s eSports teams and the orange is a nod to Overwatch‘s British character Tracer.

Colours: Light blue, Orange, Black

Hero: Tracer

Social channels: Twitter

Philadelphia Fusion

Philadelphia Fusion’s atom logo is designed to reflect the “velocity, dynamism and creative energy that is generated by bringing its distinct parts together to produce something new”. The orange and black team colours also a nod to Philadelphia’s hockey team, the Philadelphia Flyers who, coincidently, own the team.

Colours: Orange, Black, White

Hero: Winston

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube

Dallas Fuel

Taking its name for the region’s reputation in energy production, Dallas Fuel takes its team colours from team owners Team Envy – who are also known as “the boys in blue”.

Colours: Navy Blue, Royal Blue, Grey

Hero: Genji

Social channels: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

Houston Outlaws

Houston Outlaws have gone whole-hog with the cowboy theme and, being based in Texas, it’s a little easy to see why. The team logo of a lone-star and bullhorns is nicely rounded off by being made entirely from duelling pistols.

Colours: Green, Black, White

Hero: McCree

Social channels:  Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube

Overwatch League: Team rosters

Overwatch League teams have been slowly announcing their rosters since the signing window closed on 30 October. We’ll be adding more to this list as and when they’re announced. For now, though, here’s every known team roster.

London Spitfire roster

Just like that of New York Excelsior, the UK’s only team is rather, unfortunately, purely South Korean. Clearly, there was no talent in the UK worthwhile playing in Overwatch League – a mistake if Blizzard wants to win over more UK viewers.

• Ji-kyuk ‘birdring’ Kim, South Korea, DPS
• Dong-jun ‘Rascal’ Kim, South Korea, DPS
• Joon-yeong ‘Profit’ Park, South Korea, DPS
• Dong-eun ‘Hooreg’ Lee, South Korea, DPS
• Jun-ho ‘Fury’ Kim, South Korea, Flex
• Seung-hyun ‘WOOHYAL’ Sung, South Korea, Flex
• Chan-hyung ‘Fissure’ Baek, South Korea, Tank
• Jae-hee ‘Gesture’ Hong, South Korea, Tank
• Hyeon-woo ‘HaGoPeun’ Jo, South Korea, Support
• Won-sik ‘Closer’ Jung, South Korea, Support
• Choi-tae ‘Bdosin’ Seung, South Korea, Support
• Jong-seok ‘NUS’ Kim, South Korea, Support

Seoul Dynasty roster

As South Korea’s only team, Seoul Dynasty is comprised entirely of South Korean players. Seeing as it’s made up of players from the Lunatic-Hai pro team, it’s possible this could be the best team in the league.

• Kim ‘EscA’ In-Jae, South Korea, DPS
• Byun ‘Munchkin’ Sang-Beom, South Korea, DPS
• Kim ‘Fleta’ Byung-Sun, South Korea, DPS
• Moon ‘Gido’ Gi-Do, South Korea, DPS/Flex
• Kim ‘Zunba’ Joon-Hyuk, South Korea, Flex
• Koo ‘xepheR’ Jae-Mo, South Korea, Flex
• Ryu ‘ryujehong’ Je-Hong, South Korea, Support/Flex
• Yang ‘Tobi’ Jin-Mo, South Korea, Support
• Gong ‘Miro’ Jin-Hyuk, South Korea, Tank
• Baek Kwang-Jin, South Korea, co-head coach
• Chae Ho-Jung, South Korea, co-head coach

San Francisco Shock roster

The NRG-run SF Shock team is comprised of various talented players instead of simply a rehash of their old team.

• André ‘IDDQD’ Dahlström, Sweden, DPS
• Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won, United States, DPS
• Dante ‘Danteh’ Cruz, USA, DPS/Flex
• Andrej ‘Babybay’ Francisty, USA, Flex/DPS
• Matthew ‘Super’ DeLisi, USA, Flex
• Nikola ‘Sleepy’ Andrews, USA, Support
• Daniel ‘dhaK’ Martinez Paz, Spain, Support
• David ‘Nomy’ Ramirez, Mexico, Tank

Dallas Fuel roster

Unsurprisingly, the Team Envy-owned Dallas Fuel roster is basically the Envy roster with a couple of new faces.

• Kim ‘EFFECT’ Hyeon, South Korea, DPS
• Timo ‘Taimou’ Kettunen, Finland, DPS/Flex
• Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larned, USA, DPS/Flex
• Pongphop ‘Mickie’ Rattanasangchod, Thailand, Flex
• Sebastian ‘chipshajen’ Widlund, Sweden, Support/Flex
• Christian ‘cocco’ Jonsson, Sweden, Tank
• Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel, Canada, Tank
• Jonathan ‘HarryHook’ Tejedor Rua, Spain, Support/Flex and Captain
• Scott ‘Custa’ Kennedy, Australia, Support

Boston Uprising roster

Boston Uprising has gone for an eclectic mix of players from Europe, East Asia and North America. At its core is a tough South Korean team, but made up of the globe’s best.

• Kwon ‘Striker’ Nam-joo, South Korea, DPS
• Stanislav ‘Mistakes’ Danilov, Russia, DPS
• Jonathan ‘DreamKazper’ Sanchez, USA, DPS
• Lucas ‘NotE’ Meissner, Canada, Flex
• Shin ‘Kalios’ Woo-yeol, South Korea, Flex
• Noh ‘Gamsu’ Yeong-jin, South Korea, Tank
• Mikias ‘Snow’ Yohannes, USA, Support
• Kristian ‘Kellex’ Keller, Denmark, Support

New York Excelsior roster

Interestingly for a US team, NYEX is made entirely from South Korean players.

• Park ‘Saebyeolbe’ Jong Yeol, South Korea, DPS
• Kim ‘Libero’ Hye Sung, South Korea, DPS
• Kim ‘Pine’ Do Hyeon, South Korea, Flex
• Joong ‘Janus’ Hwa, South Korea, Tank
• Dong-gyu ‘Mano’ Kim, South Korea, Tank
• Kim ‘Mek0’ Tae Hong, South Korea, Off-Tank
• Hong ‘ArK’ Yeon Joon, South Korea, Support
• Bang ‘JJoNak’ Sung-Hyeon, South Korea, Support

Shanghai Dragons roster

Shanghai Dragons are China’s only Overwatch League team so, as is expected, it’s primarily made of Chinese players.

• Lu ‘Diya’ Weida, China, DPS
• Fang ‘Undead’ Chao, China, DPS
• Liu ‘Xushu’ Junjie, China, Tank / Flex
• Jing ‘Roshan’ Wenhao, China, Tank
• Wu ‘MG’ Dongjian, China, Tank
• Cheng ‘Altering’ Yage, China, Support
• Chen ‘Fiveking’ Zhaoyu, China, Support
• Xu ‘Freefeel’ Peixuan, China, Support

Houston Outlaws roster

https://youtube.com/watch?v=p69Xql_uWpw

Houston’s team is primarily US-based with a couple of Europeans to mix things up.

• Matt ‘Clockwork’ Dias, USA, DPS
• Jiri ‘LiNkzr’ Masalin, Finland, DPS
• Jake ‘JAKE’ Lyon, USA, DPS
• Lucas ‘Mendokusaii’ Håkansson, Sweden, DPS
• Matt ‘coolmatt69’ Iorio, USA, Flex
• Alexandre ‘SPREE’ Vanhomwegen, Belgium, Flex
• Austin ‘Muma’ Wilmot, USA, Tank
• Daniel ‘Boink’ Pence, USA, Support
• Christopher ‘Bani’ Benell, Canada, Support/Flex
• Shane ‘Rawkus’ Flaherty, USA, Support

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