Putting this under a read more bc I think this might be ramble-ey (like all my writing lmao)
I'm posting this as is so if uhh there's a lot of run on sentences, grammar issues, or just bad wording, I'm sorry, I am not much of a writer if I'm being completely honest.
God it really has been 5 years since overwatch league started huh.
Despite all the ups and downs (and all the bullshit that comes with liking an esport bc of gamers™, weirdo entrepreneurs that think esports print money, and Blizzard itself) I don't think I regret getting into watching OWL.
It's weird to think all those years ago how this was the first esport I ever actively watched and followed (unless you count following who was currently in the lead in World of Warcraft for the World First races for each new raid tier. Though I followed it mostly before it became the norm to stream these. oh my god im old.) This was mostly because Overwatch was really the only competitive game I actively played. I hated playing most pvp games, but I loved playing a few rounds of OW with friends after work and stuff. I have many fond memories from this time!
I didn't really watch or hear much about Apex at the time (not Apex Legends, but Apex/OGN, one the previous overwatch competitive tournament series) so the announcement of the Overwatch League was my first real step into properly following this sort of esport circuit.
I don't know if it was really the best way to get into esports but I was fully hooked. Learning from friends who did follow the Apex series and getting caught up on the story lines brought in from previous teams or players from different teams had me excited for almost each match.
I actually got to go to the Overwatch League Grand Finals when they were held in Philidelphia! Admittedly grand finals for OWL have been kind of stomps, despite the two best teams making it all the way to the end (except for last year. Last year was So. Good.) but it was still so much fun! I know a lot of people didn't feel the same way about it but it was legitimately so much fun to experience!
Even after the inevitable decline in hype/interest, cancelled homestands due to the pandemic (oh my god me and my bff were making plans to go to them q_q I have Geguri and Guxue jerseys bc I wanted to get them signed. MAN.) and well, that shit that went down with Blizzard, I still liked following what was going on in OWL. It kind of became a yearly thing I looked forward to, even after I didn't have as many friends watching it with me, the few that did stick around were so much fun to talk to while watching matches.
So many things happened in the League that have left good memories or memories that have had such emotional impact that I don't think I could ever forget them.
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Getting to watch Shanghai Dragon's first win. I was out and about with my roommate and twin and when i checked the score I told them we needed to go home RIGHT. NOW. because SHD was about to win. I got to watch that entire horizon lunar colony match and I was Sobbing when they won. I sometimes still look for the crowd and behind the scenes reactions and cry.
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Experiencing the OWL grand finals in philly! It was my first time traveling to the east coast and even tho it was a bit of a rocky trip for many reasons, It was such a fun experience all the same ;;
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Watching SHD finally win the Overwatch League grand finals after following the team from season 1 (obviously it wasn't the same team at all by the time that happened, players came and went, but the sentiment was still the same.) I remember choosing them to be My Team soley because of the dragon motif, but the more I researched the more I was like "please, just one win" and eventually that one win after a 0-40 losing streak turned into a Championship team.
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While not necessarily what I would call a "happy" memory, another emotional memory from OWL is Alarm's sudden death. Alarm was a player on Philadelphia Fusion and Fusion University (back when OWL teams tended to have Contenders academy teams) He had only recently come into the league as a rookie after being on the championship winning academy team for a while. It was so exciting seeing him come in and just generally be a positive and nice person in the sea of gamers™. However, in 2021 it was announced that he suddenly had passed away during the off-season. It felt like it was only the other day he had won the Rookie of the Year award and then suddenly he's gone. I'm not really one to get attached to players or anything like that but I remember crying when the news broke because I thought "what the fuck. This guy was so young. He just got his chance to show off to the rest of the world and now he's gone.
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Happier memory again, watching OWL co-streams and watching and chatting with my friends in the seasons following the pandemic. It wasn't perfect and sometimes i'd stay up longer than I probably should have for the APAC region, but I don't regret it. This was the time OWL really started falling off due to, well, many reasons, but It was nice having my own small group of friends to watch games with who I knew wouldn't judge me for continuing to enjoy what many considered to be a dying esport scene.
I know Overwatch esports aren't truly going away. There are individual tournaments that pop up occasionally, the collegiate scene is active (albeit somewhat confusing? Def not as confusing as this last playoffs bracket though.) , and a possible revival of an overwatch tournament circuit much like how the old apex tournaments were run. The OWL twitter put out some sort of hint about it but we won't really know how it will shape up to be until after the owner's vote later on.
But OWL as I knew it is over.
Whatever form it takes in the future, I hope the players that want to continue get opportunities and get their chance at a spotlight.