packetcat – Ultonomy

The Overwatch League 2021 Playoffs

As the end of the 2021 OWL season crept ever closer, I felt a sense of fatigue coming on. This feeling has been especially present over the last two years of the league as it went entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I would describe the feeling as a sense of excitement exhaustion. I have without fail watched every OWL game since 2019, either live or in VOD format. It is not that I didn’t enjoy Overwatch esports anymore, I do and I will continue to enjoy this game but with the external stresses of the last two years, I am starting to feel like a lithium-ion battery that just can’t hold as much of a charge anymore.

With all that in mind, I decided to take two weeks off from work so I could feel properly rested for the playoffs and enjoy them to the fullest extent possible. After all these were going to be the last matches played on Overwatch 1 and that is something special. We get the last hurrah for the much despised 2CP map type and these were the last matches played in the 6v6 format. Overwatch 2 is going to be 5v5 and the 2CP map type will be removed.

Let’s get into it.

Continue reading The Overwatch League 2021 Playoffs

Thoughts on week 19 of Overwatch League 2021

Here we are the final week of the 2021 regular season for Overwatch League. This week the Countdown Cup tournament wrapped up in the usual double bracket format. Let’s get into it.

Thoughts on week 18 of Overwatch League 2021

This week the Countdown Cup qualifiers and knockouts have wrapped up. As usual we have a set of four teams who will be playing in the double bracket tournament next week. Let’s get into them.

Thoughts on week 17 of Overwatch League 2021

It is the second week of the Countdown Cup, mid tier teams vying for the last few spots in to the postseason play-ins and we have a team getting their first win of the season. Let’s get into it.

The Games

The week started off with a shaky victory for the Toronto Defiant against the London Spitfire and that defined most of the week. With only three 3-2 series, the rest of the week filled with a sea of 3-1s and/or otherwise uninteresting series.

The Washington Justice fell flat so hard that people had Vancouver winning their series against them 3-0 but thankfully they were saved from that particular disgrace this week. They still look mostly mediocre however and continue to be the most disappointing team this season.

Speaking of disappointing, the Florida Mayhem were unable to close out their series against the Atlanta Reign in the final map. Their later victory against the downward trending Boston Uprising wasn’t particularly satisfying either, an unconvincing 3-1.

The most interesting match this week is a 3-0 series. In the best performance they’ve had this season the Vancouver Titans achieved their first match victory season against the Boston Uprising. With the power of Dalton’s Tracer and Teru’s Pharah, the team ended it all on Hanamura. Need I mention that we had achieved breadsticks by the first map of the series? It was meant to me.

For those of us familiar with the second season of the league will remember the Boston Uprising also gave the Shanghai Dragons their first win in the league. One of those is a fluke, with a second one, it feels like the legacy of the Uprising is they are a team that gives other teams their first victories.

That is all from me this week. I’ll see y’all next week as the Countdown Cup qualifiers come to an end.

Thoughts on week 16 of Overwatch League 2021

Here we are again, the start of another tournament cycle, the Countdown Cup qualifiers. This one is going to be the last of these tournaments for the season before the season playoffs begin. This also means that we have two teams that have qualified for the season playoffs already, the Dallas Fuel and the Shanghai Dragons.

The first week of tournament cycles always means a great degree of uncertainty when it comes to match results and this one was no different.

Let’s get into it.

Thoughts on week 14 of Overwatch League 2021

We are here at the end of yet another tournament. The 2021 Summer Showdown has wrapped up in a manner that was unexpected by basically everyone. Let’s get into it.

Thoughts on week 13 of Overwatch League 2021

Week 13 brings to us the final week of qualifiers and knockouts before the Summer Showdown tournament bracket begins next week. As such, there are close heartbreaking series to talk about. Let’s get into it.

Thoughts on week 12 of Overwatch League 2021

Week 2 of the Summer Showdown qualifiers have wrapped up and that means things have settled a bit. Not completely, we still have some upsets especially in the West region but for the most part we have clear patterns emerging as we head into the knockouts next week.

Let’s get into it.

Thoughts on week 11 of Overwatch League 2021

We are back with another tournament cycle folks! This one is the Summer Showdown and like the last two we are starting off with the qualifier matches. The first week of these tournament cycles is always interesting as teams feel each other out and try to figure out what the meta is.

Let’s get into it.

Thoughts on week 9 of Overwatch League 2021

The second tournament cycle of the 2021 season has wrapped up and this last week delivered some of the best Overwatch I could hope for right at the very end. Let’s get right into it.