Ten days ago, the London Spitfire walked off the Overwatch<\/em> League stage $100,000 richer as the Stage One champions. But that wasn\u2019t the end of the OWL season\u2014just the end to the beginning. This week, Spitfire will take that stage again, looking to improve on their 7-3 record and catch the 9-1 New York Excelsior they beat for that cash prize.<\/p>
The OWL mimics professional sports with the longest regular season in esports, a whopping 40-game schedule covering six months of the year. But like many things in esports, it has an added twist: The season is split into four separate stages, each with its own playoffs. And at the end of the season, only your season-long record matters.<\/p>
The stage structure may look odd compared to your typical sports league, but for a game that\u2019s constantly changing throughout the year, it provides some needed structure.<\/p>
Tomorrow, stage two of the OWL kicks off, and it\u2019s a whole different ball game.<\/p>
Balance patches, a new map list, and big free agent signings promise to make Stage Two look entirely different than the four weeks we just watched. Here\u2019s some of the big storylines before the games begin.<\/p>
