The San Francisco Shock and Vancouver Titans clashed at the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday in front of a sold out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. The Shock's 2019 OWL MVP Jay "Sinatraa" Won took matters into his own hands with a dominant Doomfist. Vancouver's own 2019 Rookie of the Year, Hyojong "Haksal" Kim, had some impressive plays as well, but it wasn't enough.

The biggest change to hit Overwatch in quite some time came recently in the form of role locks. Long-desired by many, this new system has made it so that there must be two tanks, two damage dealers, and two supports on the field at all times in competitive and quick play—Overwatch's two most common game types.

The second season of Overwatch League started last Thursday. Viewership was decent, there wasn't an empty seat in the house, and Blizzard once again attracted the attention of huge sponsors in State Farm and Coca-Cola. The OWL product seems to be in a healthy state in all areas except one—the game itself.

As esports grows into a billion-dollar industry, the only threat to its potential lies within gaming culture’s toxic lack of inclusivity. With the stakes growing ever higher, we hear from the pros determined to blaze a new trail. tepping into the Blizzard Arena can be a surreal experience. Converted from the original studio for The Tonight Show in Burbank, California, it’s now a state-of-the-art sports stadium for a new kind of athlete: professional video game players.

“It’s really cool to see ladies playing,” Street Fighter commentator Let Blood Run said during a Third Strike match at Cooperation Cup just a few days ago. A decent enough statement, though the sentiment didn’t last long. “You know what? I mean, I respect it, but it also pisses me off when girls, like, just want to play Chun Li.

Overwatch's Team USA were heavily favored coming into the BlizzCon finals, the annual capstone to Blizzard's Overwatch World Cup. Even the South Korean team, made up of some of the League's strongest players, expressed their concerns about the American roster coming into this weekend. Turns out, Team South Korea has a different foe to worry about: Team UK.

The current Overwatch meta is in one of the healthiest places it’s been in awhile. Following the release of the game’s newest tank, Wrecking Ball, a series of changes were introduced that made every support hero viable. In turn, this opened Overwatch up to many different compositions that actually worked.

With the inaugural Overwatch League year coming to a close, ace tank Muma closes out 2018 with the World Cup alongside his countrymen - and an old friend. Over the course of the inaugural season of Overwatch League, main tank players rose out of obscurity and made names for themselves. The Houston Outlaws' own Austin "Muma" Wilmot started attracting attention last year during his days with the free agent team FNRGFE.

The New York Excelsior forced a map five against a seemingly unstoppable Philadelphia Fusion at the Overwatch League semifinals. Tied at two points apiece, the NYXL needed just a little more distance on the Dorado payload to keep their post-season alive. As overtime burned away, Philadelphia’s hold proved to be unbreakable.

The signing of Seyeon “Geguri” Kim by the Shanghai Dragons was met with plenty of controversy back in February. It followed a misunderstood social issue that dominated conversations at the time: why weren’t there any female players in Overwatch League? Now there suddenly was one, and she was playing for the worst team in the league.

After a week of groups, show matches, and brackets, the Heroes of the Storm HGC Mid-Season Brawl finally came to a close on June 18. Tempo Storm, Tempest, Team Dignitas, and Gen.G made up the top four for this tournament, with the grand finals being the highly-anticipated rematch between Gen.G and Team Dignitas.