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Details surrounding the Overwatch Contenders 2021 season have finally been revealed, and it’s about time too. Now, we do at least know that the format for 2021 will continue to focus on regions around the world just as it did for 2020. But what else has been revealed? Read on to find out.
The Global Prize Pool is Impressive
First up, there’s a global prize pool of $1.3 million, and that’s a cool amount of money being made available. Teams from North America, Europe, South Korea, China, and Australia will all compete in their own tournaments to then have the opportunity to go for the main prize. Once again, this is identical to what happened in 2020.
The aim here is to make the tournament enticing enough for people to want to take part even with the various restrictions still in place around the world. Blizzard loved the regional format from last year so much that they are planning on running the same kind of concept in 2021. However, there are a few subtle changes, which we will cover below.
Regional Formats
The regional formats will not be the same across the globe. Checking out both North America and Europe, they will run a double-elimination bracket tournament consisting of eight teams. Also, the teams will be playing in at least two tournaments without having to contend with potential relegation in Trials, so that does give them some breathing space.
The tournament in South Korea is different. They will run the 10 team league like last year with it then ending in a playoff situation along with seedings. They will then have a special round between the league and playoffs where the seedings will be determined by their regular season form. However, one single loss leads to elimination in the playoffs, so it really is up for anybody to win.
China is also following the same format as 2020 but with a reduction in the number of teams. The number of Trials will also be dropped by 50%, but this is something that’s happening across the global competition.
Finally, Australia sees yet another drop in the number of teams from eight down to six. This is on top of a drop in numbers back in 2020. This is a disappointing development, even though it’s to be expected, in light of the strict measures in place in Australia for dealing with COVID.
The Potential Contenders?
As news has just broke as to the make up of the competition across the globe, we are still short of details on who will be participating in the different regions. However, the one thing that we can expect is the top teams in Overwatch to be invited along simply because of the prize money on offer.
As more information comes out, keep on checking back to see the latest news on teams and those that are being lined up as the favorites in each respective region. Details will then emerge on BetOnline.ag to help you determine the best bet for each match.