It was stunning to see such a thing with so many talented Players. A Support Player winning the MVP?  Is this for real?  The answer to those questions is a resounding ‘Yes’!  Of course we’re talking about Overwatch League.  An eSports League dominated by flashy DPS Players.  Not many can say that Jjonak isn’t the best Zenyatta Player.  In point of fact he is the best at that Hero.   But I think the bigger surprise was that he was chosen out of a stacked New York Team.  New York Excelsior had at least 3 Players in for the running.  I mean they’ve got Saebyeolbe and Big Boss Pine both of whom can carry the Team on any given night.  But if it was going to be a toss up between the entire Team, I’m happy that it was Jjonak getting the well deserved Award.

Now there were plenty of other contenders from other Teams.  There was Striker for Boston Uprising, who is probably the best ‘Dive’ Tracer Player.  Then there was Carpe for Philadelphia Fusion, who is one of the best Widowmaker Players.  Now you can’t forget about Profit on the London Spitfire Squad, who also is a big time DPSer.  Also I liked Surefour an awful lot as a solid Pick from the Los Angeles Gladiators, he is a nice DPS Player. Agilities at Widowmaker for the Los Angeles Valiant.

There was also other types of Players besides just Standard DPS, like Bischu also from the LA Gladiators.  Seagull who played multiple Heroes for the Dallas Fuel.  Gamsu at Tank for Boston Uprising.  There were so many Talented Players who could have been picked, that carried their Team to Victory.  So many that worked tirelessly for the chance at the Title.  But you know Jjonak proved time and time again why he is so vital.

Now this is a guy who can swat a Mercy or Pharah outta the sky.  This is the guy who can go on a “Kill Streak” while also doing massive Game Saving Healing for his Team.  No he doesn’t have the flashiness of most DPSers.  Nor does he have the “Shot Calling” of most Tanks.  But what he does have is a real surprising sense of Awareness in game.  As well as a strong raw talent at Support.  This guy is just plain lethal on Zenyatta!  I’d just call him OP!  But it is because of the fact that he is a natural at Healing which makes him, in my opinion, worthy of the OWL MVP!  If it had to be a New York Player, I’m glad it’s you.  Congratz Jjonak on a great Season!  And I’m pretty sure that you are going to have one heck of a run in the Playoffs…

Now just because an MVP was crowned doesn’t mean that the accolades are over.  There is still a Million Bucks to crown OWL Title and there is also a little, well big actually, Title of Grand Finals MVP.  Yup, and voting works the same way as with the Season MVP.  Use a hash tag during the Grand Finals with your Player on Twitter and T-Mobile will count your vote with the rest of the voting.  Pretty neat huh?  Yeah I can’t wait to see the Finals. I also can’t wait to see Jjonak again in action…  Good Luck Everyone!  Have Fun!  Cheers!

The Overwatch League Playoffs continue tonight at 8pm EST, Philadelphia Fusion vs Boston Uprising…

The crowd was cheering and it was as loud as a Rock Concert in the Blizzard Arena.  It was the first night of the Inaugural OWL Playoffs.  And man oh man, was I pumped!  Last night [Wednesday] we got to see Boston Uprising vs Philadelphia Fusion.  It was a real close one, much closer than the LA Gladiators vs London Spitfire Match (where the Gladiators just dominated each Map to Win].  Nope, this one on paper looked to be tight.  Boston had the Stats to take the Match, because of the Map Pool.

There was Dorado where both Teams were Tied with a 60% win rate.  But then there was Oasis and Eichenwalde where Boston had the Win percentage advantage.  And then there was Volskaya where Boston was undefeated with a 91% Win Rate, with the only blemish being a Draw.  Finally there was Junkertown where Boston also had the Statistical Advantage.

Now I’m a Boston Fan and I’m not going to lie about that, but instead I’m going to be brutally honest.  Boston came out slow… I mean real slow.  It looked like they needed to ‘get their feet wet before getting in the pool’.  And what we got was a Team that would give up an early Map to their Opponents.  Let’s just jump right into the action to see what I’m talking about, (we’ll get to the other big stories of the night in another Blog):

Philadelphia Fusion vs Boston Uprising: Dorado

Right here is where the Fusion came out with some of their best Strategies.  I mean we saw quite a bit new Strats and Comps on the night, but this one set the Stage for what would come later.  The Fusion went for a Flex/Triple Tank.  It wasn’t the most unusual but it sure was effective.  You see normally a Team will have maybe two Healing Supports.  But with 3 Tanks they went ‘Rambo’ Style on Boston.  Basically very aggressive.  They had a Zarya and they used her Gravaton “ULT” to break down Boston’s Defenses.  I mean it just was so good and well coordinated, Boston was out cold ‘asleep at the wheel’.  The rest of the Map Boston couldn’t find a way to properly set up Defense because they kept getting staggered.  And that was pretty much how the Fusion took 3 Map Points and the Map Win 3-1.

Philadelphia Fusion vs Boston Uprising: Oasis

We got to see a lot of Tracer on this Map, which was great!  It was Carpe and EQO against Boston’s Striker and Mistakes.  They traded “Kills” back and forth, equally matched.  But this was a Control Map, so the focus was more on the Team and capturing the Point.  Boston took the Control Points early and they held their ground, grinding out 100% for the Map Points.  It was Strategic, it was Clean, it was what we expected from a very good Team.  Boston woke up during this Map and you know that you never want to “wake up a sleeping Dragon”.  Boston sure has the Talent to go deep into the Playoffs.  This Map was Text Book efficiency and they took the Map Win 2-1.

Philadelphia Fusion vs Boston Uprising: Eichenwalde

This was probably the best Map on the night.  I mean it had everything!  Genji defying leaps, D.Va Self Destructs, gravity defying Tracer Recalls, Sombra Stealth Spying, and yes even good ol’ fashion “Dive”.  It was great, just what we wanted to see in the Playoffs!  It even went into OverTime for both Teams.  Also it was high scoring, definitely a VOD to watch especially if you missed it.  I believe this was the Map that Boston needed to Win.  They were so close to winning it too!  So at the start of the Map the Fusion pushed the “Payload” all the way to Map Point Zone C, with little resistance.  Then on Boston’s turn they got the “Payload” through the Arch around the Bridge and into the Castle for 3 Map Points.

They didn’t have much on the clock for the next Turn so they did something very sneaky… They sent out Sombra to scout the Heroes for the opposing, then “Translocated” back to spawn and then they executed one of the Best “Dives” I have ever seen on Eichenwalde.  It was something magical!  Plus they did all this with 90 Seconds in the Time Bank, which meant they had to execute a very long OverTime.  They nearly got 2 Map Points out of it.  Then on the Fusion side of things they had 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds on the Clock.  Boston Held them into OT and looked to have things wrapped up at the Archway but then the Fusion took the “Cart” right from under them!  No way!  They had it in the bag!  By now I was standing on my feet watching in disbelief as Philadelphia scored the final Point of the Map by escorting the “Cart” all the way to the Castle Doors.  Umph!  Whoa, talk about a close Map!  The Map Win went to the Fusion with a Map Score of 5-4.

Philadelphia Fusion vs Boston Uprising: Volskaya

And then we saw one of the trickiest plays of the night, (well not so much as the Gladiators “Flank and Spawn”) it was a Substitution of Hotba in as a Flex/DMG Role.  Boston had never seen this line up before, in fact no one had!  Hotba was on Tracer!  And not just that but he got into Boston’s back lines and “Assassinated” Striker, who was on Widow.  Hotba played great and was moving quickly around the Map.  Boston just didn’t know how to adapt to him.  And with over 5 Minutes in the Time Bank Philly Fusion took both Map Points, in the quickest way possible.  Whoa, no way!  Did that really just happen?!  Apparently it did, and I was stunned right along with the Boston Players.

The Uprising tried to make a comeback on their Turn on Assault but it just was not to be.  Hotba played equally well on Defense and kept Boston off the Point Zone.  This was one Strategy that had finally handed Boston their first loss of the Season on Volskaya.  Philly Fusion took the Map 2-0 and they took the Match [3-1].  GG!  Man this game is brutal!

Not to worry though folks Boston still has a chance to Win the Quarter Finals, they just need to Win 6 Maps out of 10 on Friday.  Yes it’s a tall order… But we have seen them play exceptionally well in the past, even beating New York Twice.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they came roaring back with some “Tricks” of their own.  If nothing else I’m hoping for a Tiebreaker Match.  The OWL Playoffs continue on Friday at 8pm EST.  You can stream it Live on Twitch.tv, MLG.com, OWL Mobile App, Blizzard Battle.net App or even on *select TV Channels*.  GL Everyone!  Have Fun!  Congratz Jjonak!  Cheers!

So while I was chatting it up with a friend on Discord.  I noticed their new redesigned Overlay.  On the news feed section they listed things like HearthStone will be headlining the Asia Pacific Games… this was a real bombshell because it now meant that eSports is now being recognized by the International Olympic Committee… and HearthStone, a fan favorite of mine will be there for Medaling.  Awesome, right?!  Well it gets better… last week was the beginning of a new Season of Overwatch Ranked Ladder Play.  Cool Beans, right?!  Well let me tell you what really got me excited was the announced Schedule of the Season End Overwatch League Playoffs!  All this talk of eSports really has me thinkin’, yeah that’s right there are still 3 more Weeks of OWL!  And besides the obvious of making OW an Olympic eSport, there are still more reasons to watch OWL!

How about the best Team on the Planet, New York Excelsior trying to run away with this year’s Winnings!  How about 2 LA Teams and a London Team trying to out play the best and take the crown!  How about Boston Uprising, my personal favorite to win it all, going up against the Philadelphia Fusion on Wednesday?!  Yeah, the hype is real and on Wednesday Night we will see the 1st of a “Best of 3 Series”.  Which means that Boston Uprising will be playing the Philadelphia Fusion 3 Times this Week, depending on the Tiebreaker.  The Winner of 2 Matches moves on to the Semifinals.  Each Match consists of a “Best of 5 Maps”.  So you can tell already that these Matches will be long and very exciting!  Here is the complete breakdown of the Schedule:

Quarter Finals - First Week

Wednesday, July 11th - 8pm EST #6 Philadelphia vs #3 Boston   10pm EST #5 London vs #4 LA Gladitors

Friday, July 13th  - 8pm EST #6 Philadelphia vs #3 Boston   10pm EST #6 Philadelphia vs #3 Boston

Saturday, July 14th - 4pm EST #5 London vs #4 LA Gladiators   6pm EST #5 London vs #4 LA Gladiators

Semi Finals - Second Week

Wednesday, July 18th - 8pm EST [Lowest Seed] vs #1 New York   10pm EST [Highest Seed] vs #2 LA Valiant

Friday, July 20th - 8pm EST [Highest Seed] vs #2 LA Valiant    10pm EST [Highest Seed] vs #2 LA Valiant

Saturday, July 21st - 8pm EST [Lowest Seed] vs #1 New York   10pm EST [Lowest Seed] vs #1 New York

Grand Finals - Third Week

Friday, July 27th - Saturday, July 28th

Now the Winner of the Grand Finals gets a bonus $1,000,000 for the year!  It’ll be pretty spectacular!  I believe there is a Trophy and everything, as well as bragging rights at beating the best of the best.  This format is unlike anything that we have seen before on OWL.  It’ll be interesting to see how everyone and every Team plays it.  With Teams being pretty close to each other, skill wise, we are bound to see something special.  Me personally, I’d like to see some Tiebreaker Matches!  Also it will be cool to watch everyone adapting to the Game at the same time!  Not to mention the fact that it’ll be cool to check out the different Substitutions for each Map…  You can catch all the action on Twitch.tv, MLG.com, and the Overwatch League Mobile App, as well as the Battle.net Desktop App.  Whoa, I just got Goosebumps, can’t wait!  GL Everyone! Have Fun!  Rise Up!  Cheers!