Recently there has been a lot of exciting news being released about the 2020 season of the Overwatch League. In the biggest news coming out of Blizzard, the OWL will become truly international next season. Teams will have the opportunity to host games at local venues in the same form as the 2019 home stands. In addition to this change there will be a bunch of schedule changes. The league will no longer have stage playoffs for logistical reasons and there will be changes to league divisions.
The Overwatch League will again be split into two divisions, the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Atlantic Division will consist of the following teams: Atlanta Reign, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, Philadelphia Fusion, Washington Justice, Boston Uprising, New York Excelsior, Toronto Defiant, London Spitfire and Paris Eternal. And the Pacific Division contains the Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Seoul Dynasty, Shanghai Dragons, Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock and Vancouver Titans.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
However, in 2020, both the Atlantic and Pacific divisions will be split further into conferences. The Mayhem will be competing in the South Atlantic Division in Season 3. This will be alongside Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington. There will still be 28 games played across the 2020 season, the same number that was played in the 2019 season. The season will span from February until August. The Florida Mayhem will play each of the Atlantic division teams twice, and the Pacific teams once.
For a more detailed look at the changes being implemented for the 2020 Season, click here.
It may seem that this article is well ahead of itself, as there is more than five weeks worth of matches still to be played in the regular season of the Overwatch League. But for teams already out of the running for the playoffs, this upcoming stage is shaping up to be more of a proving ground for their players. One such team is the Florida Mayhem. The Mayhem has just two wins next to their name this season, and have cycled through multiple iterations of their starting six. With new players and staff recently having joined, there is even less of an expectation that this team will turn around their poor form anytime soon. Quite interestingly, the Mayhem have quite the easy schedule next stage. Whether or not this will net the Mayhem any more wins is debatable. Fans of this team are already casting their minds forward to next year, with hopes that an easy division and schedule may allow for a more successful season.
The Atlantic Division’s best team in Stage 3 of the OWL was the Houston Outlaws. And seven of the eight worst teams in the overall standings are also on the Atlantic side. The level of play is so much greater in the Pacific Division, that it would almost seem an issue of competitive integrity. Barring any further changes made to the divisions for next year, the Mayhem find themselves in a promising position. If the roster remains as it is, there should be no synergy issues going into next season with several months to bond.
This season, it seems that the magical number of wins needed to secure a playoffs berth is 17/18. And seeing as Florida plays the six worst teams of this season twice, and have beaten another Atlantic team in the Philadelphia Fusion this season, it isn’t far fetched to believe that an improved Florida team could challenge for a top 12 spot in 2020.
The Mayhem has – as of yet – not confirmed how many home stand weeks they will host next season. It is important to remember that they have also not stated where in Florida these games will be played. Florida is the only team to be localised around a state rather than a city. The Mayhem may end up travelling more than other any team, as they could have to share home games between Miami and Orlando.
There is still much to be unveiled about the format of Season 3 of the Overwatch League so follow TGH on Twitter to stay up to date!
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