Overwatch League Predictions: Stage Winners, Champions & MVP

The time is now.

Blizzard’s big run at Esports is finally here, as Overwatch League kicks off its inaugural season starting Wednesday. Each of the 12 teams will play two games each week, with a season broken into four stages. The season will run through June, where playoff qualifiers will compete for a top prize of $1 million.

With a brand-new arena, massive franchise fees and guaranteed contracts, Overwatch is taking a major swing. The best thing for the league early would be parity, with all 12 teams competing at an equal level. But that’s never the case in sports, and before the season even starts we have our favorites for the season.

Here are Heavy’s predictions for the first season of Overwatch League, with additional comments by colleague Collin MacGregor.

Stage One Winner

The opening stage of Overwatch League will reward the teams that entered with the most cohesion. It makes Seoul Dynasty the obvious choice, as their skill and familiarity with each other will put them in an elite tier from the first match. Dynasty are originally comprised of a team called Lunatic Hai, which was very successful in Korea. Lunatic Hai was known for not having the best DPS players, so entering the league Seoul added some of the best attack players in Korea. Putting a player like Fleta within the teamwork of Lunactic Hai isn’t really fair, and it makes Seoul the obvious favorites to kick off the season.

Pick: Seoul Dynasty

Overwatch League MVP

When it comes to choosing a most valuable player, the brain drifts towards professional sports. We’re so used to having our quarterbacks and goal scorers win this award, that it makes sense a DPS player would earn the title at the end of the season. Most Overwatch metrics would agree with that sentiment, but my colleague thinks a different player is more valuable than anyone.

Collin MacGregor: For a seasonal MVP I’m going to have to go with Miro of Seoul Dynasty. He’s been the backbone of Lunatic Hai and his tank plays can easily make or break entire matches. Winston’s still a powerhouse pick and there’s no question that he will absolutely dominate this season.

I can stand by that statement. I don’t know how to prove it, but Lunatic Hai would be dramatically worse without Miro.

Pick: Miro (Seoul Dynasty)

Overwatch League Champions

There’s a decent chance Seoul run through the league and win this thing. I can accept that fact. But this is our post, and we can do what we want with it.

Seoul is going to flex their muscles early in the season, but I think the familiarity between teams will grow as the season develops. So when we get late into the season, one team might make a change to their roster that shakes up the league.

Enter Fl0w3r.

Possibly the best DPS in the world, the underage Fl0w3r won’t make his debut for NYXL until later in the season. NYXL is a well-rounded squad that can take games off of Seoul, and Fl0w3r is good enough to provide the difference in a tight matchup.

It’s a homer pick. Get at me.

Overwatch League Winner: New York Excelsior

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