| 2019 Overwatch League Playoffs | |
| Game: | Overwatch |
| Start Date: | September 5 |
| End Date: | 29 |
| Administrator: | Activision-Blizzard |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Matches: | 14 |
| Venue: | Blizzard Arena, Burbank, California |
| Event1: | Grand Finals |
| Event1 Venue: | Wells Fargo Center |
| Event1 Location: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Event1 Champion: | San Francisco Shock |
| Event1 Runner-Up: | Vancouver Titans |
| Mvp Label: | Finals MVP |
| Event1 Mvp: | Choi "ChoiHyoBin" Hyo-bin |
| Previous: | 2018 |
| Next: | 2020 |
The 2019 Overwatch League playoffs were the postseason tournament of the 2019 Overwatch League regular season, beginning on September 5, and concluded with the 2019 Grand Finals, the second championship match of the Overwatch League (OWL), on September 29.
Eight teams competed in the OWL Playoffs – a double-elimination tournament. The winner of each round of the Playoffs were determined by a single-match, where each match winner was determined by which team wins four maps. The final two teams remaining in the tournament advanced to the Grand Finals, which took place at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] [2]
The defending OWL champions were the London Spitfire, who won the title against the Philadelphia Fusion in the 2018 OWL Grand Finals, but they fell in the first round of the lower bracket. The San Francisco Shock defeated the Vancouver Titans in the finals to claim their first OWL Championship.
The postseason map pool consisted of twelve maps evenly distributed across the four map types.[3]
| Control | Assault | Hybrid | Escort | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pool | Lijiang Tower | Horizon Lunar Colony | Numbani | Dorado |
| Ilios | Temple of Anubis | Eichenwalde | Watchpoint: Gibraltar | |
| Busan | Hanamura | King's Row | Rialto |
Eight teams qualified for the Season Playoffs. The two division leaders from the regular season were awarded the top two seeds, the following top four teams, based on regular season standings, were awarded seeds three through six, and the top two teams from the Play-In Tournament were awarded seeds seven and eight.[4]
| Seed | Team | Division | Record | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
See main article: 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals.
Teams in the Season Playoffs competed for a total prize pool of, with the payout division detailed below.
| Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco Shock | $1,100,000 | |
| 2 | Vancouver Titans | $600,000 | |
| 3 | New York Excelsior | $450,000 | |
| 4 | Hangzhou Spark | $350,000 | |
| 5 | Los Angeles Gladiators | $300,000 | |
| 6 | Atlanta Reign | $300,000 | |
| 7 | London Spitfire | $200,000 | |
| 8 | Seoul Dynasty | $200,000 |
All matches of the playoffs were live-streamed on Twitch, the Overwatch League website, and the ESPN app.[5]
| Match # | Game | Date | Matchup | Network(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Round | Seoul Dynasty | 2–4 | Vancouver Titans | Disney XD/ESPNews | ||
| 2 | First Round | Thu, September 5, 7:00 p.m. PDT | Los Angeles Gladiators | 4–3 | Hangzhou Spark | ESPNews | |
| 3 | First Round | Fri, September 6, 4:00 p.m. PDT | London Spitfire | 1–4 | New York Excelsior | ESPNews | |
| 4 | First Round | Fri, September 6, 7:00 p.m. PDT | Atlanta Reign | 4–3 | San Francisco Shock | ESPNews | |
| 5 | Losers Round 1 | Sat, September 7, 6:00 p.m. PDT | Seoul Dynasty | 1–4 | Hangzhou Spark | Disney XD | |
| 6 | Losers Round 1 | Sat, September 7, 9:00 p.m. PDT | London Spitfire | 0–4 | San Francisco Shock | ESPNews | |
| 7 | Winners Round 1 | Sun, September 8, 12:00 p.m. PDT | Los Angeles Gladiators | 2–4 | Vancouver Titans | Disney XD | |
| 8 | Winners Round 1 | Sun, September 8, 3:00 p.m. PDT | Atlanta Reign | 2–4 | New York Excelsior | ESPNews | |
| 9 | Losers Round 2 | Thu, September 12, 4:00 p.m. PDT | Atlanta Reign | 0–4 | Hangzhou Spark | Disney XD | |
| 10 | Losers Round 2 | Thu, September 12, 7:00 p.m. PDT | Los Angeles Gladiators | 0–4 | San Francisco Shock | Disney XD | |
| 11 | Winners Round 2 | Fri, September 13, 4:00 p.m. PDT | New York Excelsior | 3–4 | Vancouver Titans | Disney XD/ESPNews | |
| 12 | Losers Round 3 | Sat, September 14, 12:00 p.m. PDT | Hangzhou Spark | 0–4 | San Francisco Shock | Disney XD | |
| 13 | Losers Round 4 | Sun, September 15, 12:00 p.m. PDT | San Francisco Shock | 4–0 | New York Excelsior | Disney XD | |
| 14 | Sun, September 29, 12:00 p.m. PDT | San Francisco Shock | 4–0 | Vancouver Titans | ABC | ||