Yesterday, July 25, there was an announcement that revealed a host of details concerning the 2019 OWL Season Playoffs. One of the headlining details is that Sigma, Overwatch’s newest hero, will be playable in the season playoffs. For the league, the meta and the players, the implications of this decision are massive, to say the least.
#OWL2019 playoffs primer: Sigma, play-ins, double elimination brackets, and more. Come join the best of us for the postseason!
Learn more about how it’s all going down: https://t.co/CuolJlawCd pic.twitter.com/GJKd3oEcpi
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) July 25, 2019
Along with Sigma making his entry into league play, the patch will also be changing for the playoffs. Currently, players are on patch 1.38 which most notably gave McCree a higher rate of fire and nerfed D.Va’s Defense Matrix slightly. However, in the season playoffs, the OWL will be moving to patch 1.39 which is currently on the PTR. This patch, which should go live soon, has a lot of changes.
There is a lot to break down in patch 1.39. For more on what exactly is coming, check out the following articles on the whole of the patch changes, Reinhardt’s new passive ability and Brigitte’s backline buff/rework. Pending any developer tweaks, these will be the changes that the playoffs are played on.
This question will be one that continues to play out and develop over the course of Stage 4. Several teams have already shown to be adaptable to the new role locked meta, including the Vancouver Titans. Teams will need to be both adaptive and innovative in order to best utilize the reworks listed above as well as the complex kit of Sigma. All of these changing variables could certainly make for some unpredictable playoffs, not too unlike the playoffs of the Inaugural Season.
INSANE 4K flex from @Hooreg!! 😵
🔴 https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/oUHTqoQCki
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) July 26, 2019
In addition to the exciting news that Sigma will be made available during the season playoffs, it was also revealed that there would be $3 million in total prizes given out to the top eight teams. With so many changes and so much on the line, who will adapt the quickest when it counts the most? Find out, when the postseason action picks up on August 30.
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