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She's a Zenyatta main who'd rather be playing D.Va.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/nicole-carpenter\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Support for Overwatch Contenders Trials is important in the \u201cPath to Pro\u2019s\u201d growth","description":"The Overwatch community wants to see more exposure for semi-professional players.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/support-for-overwatch-contenders-trials-is-important-in-the-path-to-pros-growth","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Support for Overwatch Contenders Trials is important in the \u201cPath to Pro\u2019s\u201d growth","og_description":"The Overwatch community wants to see more exposure for semi-professional 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Carpenter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/8dda26510ee02bcf0e7853a5742c7950","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d490de021a98c4e1aa409a5b67164e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d490de021a98c4e1aa409a5b67164e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","caption":"Nicole Carpenter"},"description":"Nicole Carpenter is a reporter for Dot Esports. She lives in Massachusetts with her cat, Puppy, and dog, Major. She's a Zenyatta main who'd rather be playing D.Va.","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/nicole-carpenter"}]}},"raw_content":"After Overwatch\u2019s Open Division has concluded but before Contenders begins for a new season, eight Overwatch teams are plucked from other divisions\u2014four relegated from Contenders and four promoted from the open tournament for each region\u2014to compete for a spot in the Overwatch minor leagues. Overwatch Contenders Trials is a purgatory between professional and amateur play, an essential step in the Overwatch League\u2019s \u201cPath to Pro.\u201d Marketing for the Overwatch League, all the way back to its announcement in November 2016, is aspirational. Anyone can get in, even you. The Overwatch \u201cPath to Pro,\u201d unveiled in 2017 before the Overwatch League\u2019s 2018 start, supported that idea. Aspiring players and young talent need a way to break into the top, and that\u2019s where the Open Division and Trials come in. As big as the League is, the semi-professional and amateur divisions have scarce resources. Players are struggling to be seen. Trials is a proving grounds\u2014but for players looking to get noticed, there\u2019s no one to prove themselves to, since the event isn't livestreamed consistently in all regions, and hasn't been for the past few seasons. A number of community figures want to change that. An\u00a0Overwatch \"Path to Pro\" spokesperson confirmed to Dot Esports that Blizzard will not broadcast Trials matches, but will \"continue to work with\u00a0Overwatch community partners to host Contenders Trials streams where feasible.\" As of now, Blizzard third-party information for Trials streams is not available, but a European stream is reportedly \"pending.\" Trials events kick off across eight regions this week and continue throughout the month as a lead-in to\u00a0Overwatch Contenders season three, which begins in November, Blizzard announced in September.\u00a0Overwatch community members are rallying around the Trials event to highlight its importance in the overall\u00a0Overwatch ecosystem. Related: LFT OWL: Inside\u00a0Overwatch League's off-season \u201cOverwatch Path to Pro is a wonderful concept that I believe, in a way, could set Overwatch apart from all other esports depending on how it\u2019s executed,\u201d esports advisor and Twitch founding member Ben Goldhaber told Dot Esports. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019d love to see coverage and exposure of pro play even at the amateur [and] semi-pro level.\u201d Blizzard\u2019s 2017 marketing materials promise this dream: ensuring that players of all levels will be able to grow with the Overwatch esports scene, as long as they put in the effort. It would provide the ecosystem for players to thrive. \u201cBlizzard\u2019s top-down approach makes it very difficult for up-and-coming community figures to make a splash on the pro scene,\u201d Goldhaber said. \u201cAt least at the semi-pro level, I\u2019d love to see things democratized a bit more so that folks like me could get involved.\u201d The Overwatch League\u2019s size\u2014it\u2019s a multi-million dollar endeavor\u2014garners a lot of attention, some of which has been pulled away from the smaller scenes where next-generation professional players struggle to make an impact. With eight new expansion teams for Overwatch League\u2019s second season, players are desperate to get their names and skill in front of top coaches and analysts. They want to be seen, whether it\u2019s in Overwatch Contenders, which just concluded over the summer, or in the Overwatch World Cup, scheduled for November. Trials could be another way for players to be seen, part of a smaller pool of talent. For teams like Osh-Tekk Warriors, a Saudi Arabian roster in the European region, it\u2019s a rare chance to get noticed on an international stage. Abdulmalek \u201cKssarPlayz\u201d Mohammed Aldwaireg told Dot Esports that there are good, up-and-coming players that would fit into professional teams. \u201cI feel kind of bad that Blizzard doesn\u2019t stream Trials,\u201d KssarPlayz said. Beyond being noticed on a large scale, KssarPlayz said Osk-Tekk Warriors faces another challenge, just like Overwatch Contenders South America champions Brazil Gaming House: ping. \u201cWe are one of the biggest underdogs in the scene because we\u2019re all playing on 130 average ping,\u201d KssrPlayz said. Like Africa, the Middle East doesn\u2019t have its own supported Overwatch servers, so players in the region most lock onto servers in other areas of the world. High ping is a problem in Saudi Arabia because of that, with players being forced to European servers. There are major gaps in professional player demographics due to the server lapses\u2014so for a team to get this far even with that disadvantage is impressive. The team wants to prove themselves on an international stage. Broadcast.gg, a community of esports broadcasters, intends to work with Blizzard in 2019 to broadcast events beyond Open Division and Contenders, but was unable to work something out for the upcoming 2018 Trials event, according to shoutcaster Alex Chan. Broadcast.gg caster and product manager Evie Feng added that Trials is played on a version of the Overwatch client that the company doesn\u2019t have access to. \u201cWe are working to see if we can re-stream player\u2019s POV to provide coverage,\u201d Feng said. Broadcast.gg is a third-party broadcasting company and community-driven organization that's produced\u00a0Overwatch Contenders' English broadcasts in South America and China and European Trials in season two. It's work on Open Division is unaffiliated with Blizzard, but the company must work within official streaming rules through each team to broadcast matches. \"My vision for esports is in the future is where people can be fans of any level of the game, just as they are with traditional sports,\" Chan told Dot Esports. \"Without a broadcast experience, it's hard to be a fan. People just need more opportunities to become fans, to help grow the scene where it needs to be.\" Phase 2 player Xander \"Hawk\" Deomecq, a contender in the Trials tournament, is hoping that changes to the Contenders and Trials ecosystem in 2019 will be significant for Overwatch\u2019s tier two scene. After all, Overwatch League\u2019s success hinges on a thriving pool of young players to draw from\u2014a pool that\u2019s at risk of drying up if players don\u2019t have the opportunity to be seen. Players outside of the Overwatch League don\u2019t have the ability to really play Overwatch full-time, with smaller organizations unable to offer salaries to Contenders players. More support means less players struggling to make a living as semi-professional or professional players, and for\u00a0Overwatch esports, it means a larger pool of qualified players to pull from. \u201cThere may be a time where the monetary reward for playing is greater in our region,\u201d former Overwatch pro player Jake \"termo\" Hickman said of the Australian Overwatch scene in a retirement announcement posted to TwitLonger last month. \u201cI hope that this comes to fruition because there are many talented, hard working players that deserve more than what is currently being offered.\u201d Related: Overwatch Contenders season three to kick off in November Players aren\u2019t getting paid in money or exposure, and some, like termo, no longer see an incentive to professional play. \u201cWith Blizzard not streaming Open Division or Trials, it means that players have much less exposure unless they actively stream, which sadly a lot of players can\u2019t do,\u201d Liam \u201cCalyoon\u201d Murray, of relegated Contenders team Bye Week, said. A quick rise to the top and a major injection of cash saw the Overwatch scene grow unnaturally fast, and the lower-tiered scenes haven\u2019t had a chance to catch up. But Overwatch esports, especially with Blizzard\u2019s Overwatch League involvement, \u00a0is relatively young compared to other titles, and Blizzard is iterating as it goes. Changes are likely for the 2019 season of Overwatch\u2019s Path to Pro as infrastructure is developed to support larger network of players, ranging from professionals to semi-pros.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/03184500\/20180921-190542-Robert_Paul-17135.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=49354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

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She lives in Massachusetts with her cat, Puppy, and dog, Major. She's a Zenyatta main who'd rather be playing D.Va.","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/nicole-carpenter"}]}},"raw_content":"After Overwatch\u2019s Open Division has concluded but before Contenders begins for a new season, eight Overwatch teams are plucked from other divisions\u2014four relegated from Contenders and four promoted from the open tournament for each region\u2014to compete for a spot in the Overwatch minor leagues. Overwatch Contenders Trials is a purgatory between professional and amateur play, an essential step in the Overwatch League\u2019s \u201cPath to Pro.\u201d Marketing for the Overwatch League, all the way back to its announcement in November 2016, is aspirational. Anyone can get in, even you. The Overwatch \u201cPath to Pro,\u201d unveiled in 2017 before the Overwatch League\u2019s 2018 start, supported that idea. Aspiring players and young talent need a way to break into the top, and that\u2019s where the Open Division and Trials come in. As big as the League is, the semi-professional and amateur divisions have scarce resources. Players are struggling to be seen. Trials is a proving grounds\u2014but for players looking to get noticed, there\u2019s no one to prove themselves to, since the event isn't livestreamed consistently in all regions, and hasn't been for the past few seasons. A number of community figures want to change that. An\u00a0Overwatch \"Path to Pro\" spokesperson confirmed to Dot Esports that Blizzard will not broadcast Trials matches, but will \"continue to work with\u00a0Overwatch community partners to host Contenders Trials streams where feasible.\" As of now, Blizzard third-party information for Trials streams is not available, but a European stream is reportedly \"pending.\" Trials events kick off across eight regions this week and continue throughout the month as a lead-in to\u00a0Overwatch Contenders season three, which begins in November, Blizzard announced in September.\u00a0Overwatch community members are rallying around the Trials event to highlight its importance in the overall\u00a0Overwatch ecosystem. Related: LFT OWL: Inside\u00a0Overwatch League's off-season \u201cOverwatch Path to Pro is a wonderful concept that I believe, in a way, could set Overwatch apart from all other esports depending on how it\u2019s executed,\u201d esports advisor and Twitch founding member Ben Goldhaber told Dot Esports. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019d love to see coverage and exposure of pro play even at the amateur [and] semi-pro level.\u201d Blizzard\u2019s 2017 marketing materials promise this dream: ensuring that players of all levels will be able to grow with the Overwatch esports scene, as long as they put in the effort. It would provide the ecosystem for players to thrive. \u201cBlizzard\u2019s top-down approach makes it very difficult for up-and-coming community figures to make a splash on the pro scene,\u201d Goldhaber said. \u201cAt least at the semi-pro level, I\u2019d love to see things democratized a bit more so that folks like me could get involved.\u201d The Overwatch League\u2019s size\u2014it\u2019s a multi-million dollar endeavor\u2014garners a lot of attention, some of which has been pulled away from the smaller scenes where next-generation professional players struggle to make an impact. With eight new expansion teams for Overwatch League\u2019s second season, players are desperate to get their names and skill in front of top coaches and analysts. They want to be seen, whether it\u2019s in Overwatch Contenders, which just concluded over the summer, or in the Overwatch World Cup, scheduled for November. Trials could be another way for players to be seen, part of a smaller pool of talent. For teams like Osh-Tekk Warriors, a Saudi Arabian roster in the European region, it\u2019s a rare chance to get noticed on an international stage. Abdulmalek \u201cKssarPlayz\u201d Mohammed Aldwaireg told Dot Esports that there are good, up-and-coming players that would fit into professional teams. \u201cI feel kind of bad that Blizzard doesn\u2019t stream Trials,\u201d KssarPlayz said. Beyond being noticed on a large scale, KssarPlayz said Osk-Tekk Warriors faces another challenge, just like Overwatch Contenders South America champions Brazil Gaming House: ping. \u201cWe are one of the biggest underdogs in the scene because we\u2019re all playing on 130 average ping,\u201d KssrPlayz said. Like Africa, the Middle East doesn\u2019t have its own supported Overwatch servers, so players in the region most lock onto servers in other areas of the world. High ping is a problem in Saudi Arabia because of that, with players being forced to European servers. There are major gaps in professional player demographics due to the server lapses\u2014so for a team to get this far even with that disadvantage is impressive. The team wants to prove themselves on an international stage. Broadcast.gg, a community of esports broadcasters, intends to work with Blizzard in 2019 to broadcast events beyond Open Division and Contenders, but was unable to work something out for the upcoming 2018 Trials event, according to shoutcaster Alex Chan. Broadcast.gg caster and product manager Evie Feng added that Trials is played on a version of the Overwatch client that the company doesn\u2019t have access to. \u201cWe are working to see if we can re-stream player\u2019s POV to provide coverage,\u201d Feng said. Broadcast.gg is a third-party broadcasting company and community-driven organization that's produced\u00a0Overwatch Contenders' English broadcasts in South America and China and European Trials in season two. It's work on Open Division is unaffiliated with Blizzard, but the company must work within official streaming rules through each team to broadcast matches. \"My vision for esports is in the future is where people can be fans of any level of the game, just as they are with traditional sports,\" Chan told Dot Esports. \"Without a broadcast experience, it's hard to be a fan. People just need more opportunities to become fans, to help grow the scene where it needs to be.\" Phase 2 player Xander \"Hawk\" Deomecq, a contender in the Trials tournament, is hoping that changes to the Contenders and Trials ecosystem in 2019 will be significant for Overwatch\u2019s tier two scene. After all, Overwatch League\u2019s success hinges on a thriving pool of young players to draw from\u2014a pool that\u2019s at risk of drying up if players don\u2019t have the opportunity to be seen. Players outside of the Overwatch League don\u2019t have the ability to really play Overwatch full-time, with smaller organizations unable to offer salaries to Contenders players. More support means less players struggling to make a living as semi-professional or professional players, and for\u00a0Overwatch esports, it means a larger pool of qualified players to pull from. \u201cThere may be a time where the monetary reward for playing is greater in our region,\u201d former Overwatch pro player Jake \"termo\" Hickman said of the Australian Overwatch scene in a retirement announcement posted to TwitLonger last month. \u201cI hope that this comes to fruition because there are many talented, hard working players that deserve more than what is currently being offered.\u201d Related: Overwatch Contenders season three to kick off in November Players aren\u2019t getting paid in money or exposure, and some, like termo, no longer see an incentive to professional play. \u201cWith Blizzard not streaming Open Division or Trials, it means that players have much less exposure unless they actively stream, which sadly a lot of players can\u2019t do,\u201d Liam \u201cCalyoon\u201d Murray, of relegated Contenders team Bye Week, said. A quick rise to the top and a major injection of cash saw the Overwatch scene grow unnaturally fast, and the lower-tiered scenes haven\u2019t had a chance to catch up. But Overwatch esports, especially with Blizzard\u2019s Overwatch League involvement, \u00a0is relatively young compared to other titles, and Blizzard is iterating as it goes. Changes are likely for the 2019 season of Overwatch\u2019s Path to Pro as infrastructure is developed to support larger network of players, ranging from professionals to semi-pros.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/03184500\/20180921-190542-Robert_Paul-17135.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=49354"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=49354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Rokurou

{"id":49354,"date":"2018-10-03T14:33:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T20:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?p=49354"},"modified":"2018-10-03T20:58:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T20:58:53","slug":"support-for-overwatch-contenders-trials-is-important-in-the-path-to-pros-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/support-for-overwatch-contenders-trials-is-important-in-the-path-to-pros-growth","title":{"rendered":"Support for Overwatch Contenders Trials is important in the \u201cPath to Pro\u2019s\u201d growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Overwatch\u2019s <\/em>Open Division has concluded but before Contenders begins for a new season, eight Overwatch<\/em> teams are plucked from other divisions\u2014four relegated from Contenders and four promoted from the open tournament for each region\u2014to compete for a spot in the Overwatch<\/em> minor leagues. Overwatch<\/em> Contenders Trials is a purgatory between professional and amateur play, an essential step in the Overwatch<\/em> League\u2019s \u201cPath to Pro.\u201d
<\/p>

Marketing for the Overwatch<\/em> League, all the way back to its announcement in November 2016, is aspirational. Anyone can get in, even you<\/em>. The Overwatch<\/em> \u201cPath to Pro,\u201d unveiled in 2017 before the Overwatch <\/em>League\u2019s 2018 start, supported that idea. Aspiring players and young talent need a way to break into the top, and that\u2019s where the Open Division and Trials come in. As big as the League is, the semi-professional and amateur divisions have scarce resources. Players are struggling to be seen. <\/p>

Trials is a proving grounds\u2014but for players looking to get noticed, there\u2019s no one to prove themselves to, since the event isn’t livestreamed consistently in all regions, and hasn’t been for the past few seasons. A number of community figures want to change that.<\/p>

An\u00a0Overwatch<\/em> “Path to Pro” spokesperson confirmed to Dot Esports that Blizzard will not broadcast Trials matches, but will “continue to work with\u00a0Overwatch<\/em> community partners to host Contenders Trials streams where feasible.” As of now, Blizzard third-party information for Trials streams is not available, but a European stream is reportedly “pending.”<\/p>

Trials events kick off across eight regions this week and continue throughout the month as a lead-in to\u00a0Overwatch<\/em> Contenders season three, which begins in November, Blizzard announced<\/a> in September.\u00a0Overwatch<\/em> community members are rallying around the Trials event to highlight its importance in the overall\u00a0Overwatch<\/em> ecosystem.<\/p>

\u201cOverwatch<\/em> Path to Pro is a wonderful concept that I believe, in a way, could set Overwatch<\/em> apart from all other esports depending on how it\u2019s executed,\u201d esports advisor and Twitch founding member Ben Goldhaber told Dot Esports. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019d love to see coverage and exposure of pro play even at the amateur [and] semi-pro level.\u201d
<\/p>

Blizzard\u2019s 2017 marketing materials promise this dream: ensuring that players of all levels will be able to grow with the Overwatch<\/em> esports scene, as long as they put in the effort. It would provide the ecosystem for players to thrive.
<\/p>

\u201cBlizzard\u2019s top-down approach makes it very difficult for up-and-coming community figures to make a splash on the pro scene,\u201d Goldhaber said. \u201cAt least at the semi-pro level, I\u2019d love to see things democratized a bit more so that folks like me could get involved.\u201d
<\/p>

The Overwatch<\/em> League\u2019s size\u2014it\u2019s a multi-million dollar endeavor\u2014garners a lot of attention, some of which has been pulled away from the smaller scenes where next-generation professional players struggle to make an impact. With eight new expansion teams for Overwatch<\/em> League\u2019s second season, players are desperate to get their names and skill in front of top coaches and analysts. They want to be seen<\/a>, whether it\u2019s in Overwatch<\/em> Contenders, which just concluded over the summer, or in the Overwatch<\/em> World Cup, scheduled for November. Trials could be another way for players to be seen, part of a smaller pool of talent.<\/p>

For teams like Osh-Tekk Warriors, a Saudi Arabian roster in the European region, it\u2019s a rare chance to get noticed on an international stage. Abdulmalek \u201cKssarPlayz\u201d Mohammed Aldwaireg told Dot Esports that there are good, up-and-coming players that would fit into professional teams. \u201cI feel kind of bad that Blizzard doesn\u2019t stream Trials,\u201d KssarPlayz said. Beyond being noticed on a large scale, KssarPlayz said Osk-Tekk Warriors faces another challenge, just like Overwatch<\/em> Contenders South America champions Brazil Gaming House: ping. \u201cWe are one of the biggest underdogs in the scene because we\u2019re all playing on 130 average ping,\u201d KssrPlayz said.<\/p>

Like Africa, the Middle East doesn\u2019t have its own supported Overwatch<\/em> servers, so players in the region most lock onto servers in other areas of the world. High ping is a problem in Saudi Arabia because of that, with players being forced to European servers. There are major gaps in professional player demographics due to the server lapses\u2014so for a team to get this far even with that disadvantage is impressive. The team wants to prove themselves on an international stage.
<\/p>