2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals
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Date | September 29, 2019 | ||||||
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Venue | Choi "ChoiHyoBin" Hyo-bin | ||||||
Live Broadcast | |||||||
Broadcast(s) | Global United States Canada China
France Germany Russia
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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.
Vancouver qualified for the season playoffs as the top seed and defeated the Seoul Dynasty, Los Angeles Gladiators, and New York Excelsior all in the upper bracket of the playoffs. San Francisco qualified as the third seed and was defeated in the first round by the Atlanta Reign but went on to defeat the defending champions London Spitfire, Los Angeles Gladiators, Hangzhou Spark, and New York Excelsior in the lower bracket.
The Shock swept the Titans, 4–0, in the Grand Finals to win their first OWL championship.
Road to the Grand Finals
The Grand Finals are the post-season championship series of the Overwatch League (OWL), a professional international esports league; the teams of the Grand Finals compete for a $1.7 million prize pool, where the winners receive $1.1 million. The 2019 season was the second in OWL history and consisted of twenty teams in two divisions. Each team played 28 matches throughout the regular season. The playoffs were contested by eight teams – the two teams with the best regular season record in each division, the following four teams with the best regular season record, regardless of division, and the top two teams from the play-in tournament.[2]
The finalists, Vancouver and San Francisco, had the top two 2019 regular season records at 25–3 and 23–5, respectively. The Titans claimed the top seed of the season playoffs as the Pacific Division champions, while the Shock were awarded the third seed, behind the Atlantic Division champions
Vancouver Titans
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Haksal.jpg/170px-Haksal.jpg)
The Titans entered the 2019 season as one of eight expansion teams with a roster consisting primarily of the members of Korean Contenders team RunAway.[7]
Vancouver started the season with a 4–0 sweep over the
Vancouver faced the eighth-seeded Seoul Dynasty in the first round of the playoffs, winning 4–2 after claiming three straight map victories.[16] Advancing to the first round of the winners bracket, the team took down the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators by a 4–2 score.[17] In the Winners' Finals, Vancouver faced the New York Excelsior; the match went to seven maps, as the two teams traded map wins throughout. The Titans came out on top with a 4–3 victory to advance to the Grand Finals.[18]
San Francisco Shock
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Sinatraa_at_OWWC_2018_-_cropped.jpg/170px-Sinatraa_at_OWWC_2018_-_cropped.jpg)
San Francisco entered the league in 2018 as one of the twelve founding franchises. Looking to qualify for their first stage or season playoffs, the team made several roster additions in the preceding offseason of the 2019 season, including acquiring main tank Yoo "Smurf" Myeong-hwan from the
The Shock's first match of the 2019 regular season resulted in a 4–0 sweep over the
San Francisco faced the sixth-seeded Atlanta Reign in the first round of the season playoffs, but the team fell in a heartbreaking 3–4 loss to drop to the losers bracket.[28] The Shock responded to the loss by pulling off a dominant run in losers bracket; the team swept the London Spitfire in the first round, the Los Angeles Gladiators in the second round, the Hangzhou Spark in the third round, and the New York Excelsior in the losers finals to secure a spot in the Grand Finals.[29]
Summary of results
Seed | Team | Division | Record | MR | MD |
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1 | Vancouver Titans | PAC | 25–3 | 89–28–0 | +61 |
2 | New York Excelsior | ATL | 22–6 | 78–38–3 | +40 |
3 | San Francisco Shock | PAC | 23–5 | 92–26–0 | +66 |
4 | Hangzhou Spark | PAC | 18–10 | 64–52–4 | +12 |
5 | Los Angeles Gladiators | PAC | 17–11 | 67–48–3 | +19 |
6 | Atlanta Reign | ATL | 16–12 | 69–50–1 | +19 |
7 | London Spitfire | ATL | 16–12 | 58–52–6 | +6 |
8 | Seoul Dynasty | PAC | 15–13 | 64–50–3 | +14 |
Round | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|
First Round | (6) Atlanta Reign | 3–4 |
Lower Round 1 | (7) London Spitfire | 4–0 |
Lower Round 2 | (5) Los Angeles Gladiators | 4–0 |
Lower Round 3 | (4) Hangzhou Spark | 4–0 |
Lower Round 4 | (2) New York Excelsior | 4–0 |
Round | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|
First Round | (8) Seoul Dynasty | 4–2 |
Upper Round 1 | (5) Los Angeles Gladiators | 4–2 |
Upper Round 2 | (2) New York Excelsior | 4–3 |
Venue and ticketing
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Wells_Fargo_Center_-_2019_OWL_Grand_Finals.jpg/220px-Wells_Fargo_Center_-_2019_OWL_Grand_Finals.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/2019_OWL_Grand_Finals_stage_-_4.jpg/220px-2019_OWL_Grand_Finals_stage_-_4.jpg)
The
Ticket sales for the finals, including upgrade packages which feature early entry, Overwatch League merchandise, free parking, and access to an Overwatch meet-and-greet available to additional cost, began on June 7, 2019.[34] The approximately 12,000-seat venue was sold out for the final event.[35][36]
Broadcast and viewership
The Grand Finals were live-streamed on Twitch in 190 countries, and were also available to stream on the ESPN app and the Overwatch League's website and app. The match was broadcast in the United States on ABC; the finals were also available in the following countries via the following platforms:[37]
- Canada – TSN
- China – Zhanqi, NetEase CC, Bilibili, Huya
- France – Mediawan
- Germany – Sport1
- Russia – Eterra TV
The estimated viewership across television and streaming drew about 1.12 million viewers per minute, a 16% increase over the 2018 Grand Finals.[38]
Entertainment
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Zedd_at_2019_OWL_Grand_Finals_-_1.jpg/220px-Zedd_at_2019_OWL_Grand_Finals_-_1.jpg)
Several artists and DJs performed prior or during the Grand Finals match. EDM artist Martin Garrix, with guests Matt Ox and PAZ, headlined an outdoor concert at the Wells Fargo Center complex the day prior to the finals.[39] DJ Ghost performed in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Center the morning of the Finals.[40] Musician, music journalist, and Philadelphia native Questlove performed during tournament breaks.[41]
Opening ceremony
On September 12, the OWL announced that record producer, DJ, and songwriter Zedd would perform during the Grand Finals Opening Ceremony.[42] A short clip of a new unreleased pink and blue Widowmaker skin featuring the Zedd logo was aired at the beginning of the performance.[43][44] The show featured mixes of "Stay The Night", "Clarity", "Stay", "The Middle", and a special guest performance by R&B singer Kehlani performing "Good Thing".[45] The show was well received by fans – a stark contrast to the 2018 Opening Ceremony performance by DJ Khaled during the 2018 Grand Finals.[46]
Match summary
The Grand Finals were to be played as a first-to-four series of matches. Vancouver, as the higher seed entering the match, had the selection of which specific map was to be played from the available pool in the first round. Each subsequent map choice was given to the losing team from the previous map, while the winning team from the previous match chose whether they would like to attack or defend first, if applicable.[2]
Grand Finals | September 29 | San Francisco Shock | 4 | – | 0 | Vancouver Titans | Philadelphia, PA
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3:00 pm EDT
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Details | Wells Fargo Center | ||||||
2 | Lijiang Tower
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0 | ||||||
4 | Eichenwalde
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3 | ||||||
4 | Temple of Anubis
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3 | ||||||
3 | Watchpoint: Gibraltar
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2 |
Map 1: Lijiang Tower
SFS | ![]() |
VAN |
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100% | Round 1 | 31% |
100% | Round 2 | 97% |
Lineup | ||
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Striker | ![]() |
SeoMinSoo |
sinatraa | ![]() |
Haksal |
smurf | ![]() |
TiZi |
ChoiHyoBin | ![]() |
JJANU |
Viol2t | ![]() |
Twilight |
Moth | ![]() |
SLIME |
As the higher seed in the matchup, the Titans selected control map
In round two, the Titans came out on top of the first team fight and took first control. Vancouver held the point throughout multiple team fights, highlighted by an effective ultimate combination between Choi "JJANU" Hyeon-woo on
Map 2: Eichenwalde
SFS | ![]() |
VAN |
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3 | Checkpoints | 3 |
55.5% | Capture progress | 55.4% |
0:00 | Time remaining | 0:00 |
Lineup | ||
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Rascal | ![]() |
SeoMinSoo |
Architect | ![]() |
Haksal |
smurf | ![]() |
TiZi |
ChoiHyoBin | ![]() |
JJANU |
Viol2t | ![]() |
Twilight |
Moth | ![]() |
SLIME |
For the hybrid map, Vancouver selected
For their defense, the Shock opted to defend with Rascal on
As both teams completed the map, the map went to overtime rounds; Vancouver attacked first. The Titans were unable to capture any progress on the point after a sloppy first team fight, but a much stronger second attack nearly secured them the first point. However, a well-timed Rocket Barrage by Rascal's Pharah ended the Titans attack with 55.4% of progress on the first point. On San Francisco's attack, they were held up under the choke point for an extended amount of time, but the team was able to touch the capture area as time ran out to force an overtime timer; a clutch ultimate from Choi "ChoiHyoBin" Hyo-bin on Sigma led to the Shock closing out the map with a win.[48]
Map 3: Temple of Anubis
SFS | ![]() |
VAN |
---|---|---|
3 | Checkpoints | 3 |
33.3% | Capture progress | 0.0% |
0:20 | Time remaining | 0:00 |
Lineup | ||
---|---|---|
Striker | ![]() |
SeoMinSoo |
sinatraa | ![]() |
Haksal |
smurf | ![]() |
TiZi |
ChoiHyoBin | ![]() |
JJANU |
Viol2t | ![]() |
Twilight |
Moth | ![]() |
SLIME |
Coming out of halftime, the Titan's chose assault map
On defense, the Titans focused on shutting down sinatraa's Doomfist,[47] and found some success, as they were able to hold of the Shock's first and second attacks. However, the Shock finally broke through the Titan defense as the timer ran out and captured the first point in overtime. San Francisco carried that momentum into the second point and won the first team fight to finish the map with 2:12 in their time bank.[48]
The Titans had the first attack in overtime rounds; after getting shut down multiple times, Haksal's Doomfist created an opening for the Titans to take the first point with less than 15 second remaining. With only time for one more attack, the Titan's failed to capture the second point. The Shock responded on their attack by taking the first point on their first attempt. Striker found an early pick as the Shock attacked the second point, but Vancouver was able to recover and held back the Shock. San Francisco responded by taking down Vancouver in the next team fight and took their third map win.[48]
Map 4: Watchpoint: Gibraltar
SFS | ![]() |
VAN |
---|---|---|
3 | Checkpoints | 2 |
0.00 m | Distance pushed | 76.53 m |
1:52 | Time remaining | 0:00 |
Lineup | ||
---|---|---|
Architect | ![]() |
SeoMinSoo |
Rascal | ![]() |
Haksal |
smurf | ![]() |
TiZi |
ChoiHyoBin | ![]() |
JJANU |
Viol2t | ![]() |
Twilight |
Moth | ![]() |
SLIME |
With the Shock at match point, Vancouver chose to take the match to escort map
Vancouver struggled to push the payload to the first checkpoint on their attack, largely due to Rascal's strong Pharah performance. With under 30 second left in the map, JJANU found a couple of eliminations that propelled the Titans to the first checkpoint. Vancouver found an easier, albeit still difficult, time pushing the payload to the second checkpoint.[48] Beginning with JJANU getting picked by being out of position, the Titans could not find a footing in the final phase of the map.[49] With Architect as Bastion on the high ground defending the final checkpoint of the map, the Shock held the Titans from completing the map and claimed a 4–0 sweep.[47]
Rosters
San Francisco Shock
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Legend:
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Latest roster transaction: April 19, 2019. |
Vancouver Titans
2019 Vancouver Titans roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend:
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Latest roster transaction: August 16, 2019. |
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External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)