The London Spitfire is the first Overwatch League champion, winning the crown in front of a sold-out crowd in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The London Spitfire had an up-and-down season, winning the first stage of the Overwatch eSports league but then failing to place in the top 3 in stages 3 and 4 to end the regular season in fifth place. The team, however, got it all together in the Overwatch League playoffs all the way to the championship.
London Spitfire Defeat Philadelphia Fusion In 1st Overwatch League Championship
The London Spitfire emerged as the first-ever Overwatch League champions, beating the sixth-place Philadelphia Fusion in two sets.
The Spitfire took the first set with a score of 3-1 on July 27 and, in the press conference after it, looked calm, confident, and even cocky. The Fusion, meanwhile, already looked defeated.
On July 28, the Spitfire once against controlled the game, demolishing the Fusion with a 3-0 score despite spectacular plays from popular Fusion players Josue "Eqo" Corona and Jae-Hyeok "Carpe" Lee.
For the grand prize, the Spitfire take home the Overwatch League championship trophy and a cool $1 million. Spitfire DPS player Jun-Young "Profit" Park was awarded the Overwatch League Finals MVP award.
Where Is The New York Excelsior?
In addition to London Spitfire and Philadelphia Fusion fans, the Barclays Center hosted fans of the home team, the New York Excelsior.
The New York Excelsior were the favorites to become the first Overwatch League champions for most of the season, ending the qualifying round in first place. However, they were nowhere to be found in the finals, after being swept 2-0 by the Philadelphia Fusion in the semifinals.
The downfall of the Excelsior was weeks in the making. The Excelsior were masters of the "dive-tank" strategy, which utilized quick characters such as Tracer and Winston to "dive" behind enemy lines and gang up on isolated support players while the opposing slow-moving "tanks" were still in other places in the map.
A May update, however, brought the 27th Overwatch hero, Brigitte, into competitive play, and her unique skillset made her the perfect antidote to the dive meta, eventually leading to the Excelsior's demise.
Overwatch League Goes Mainstream
The Overwatch League playoffs and championship were broadcast on ESPN and Disney XD, with the matches also streamed through the ESPN and DisneyNOW apps. ABC also aired a recap show of the Overwatch Grand Finals.
The exclusive multi-year agreements with these networks have brought the Overwatch League to the mainstream, and fans are surely already looking forward to season 2.
