Can We Stress the Impact?

On Episode 19, Ramses and Lobosco cover this week’s important headlines, including the disappearance of some players and the reemergence of others. We cover the week’s important League announcements, including MVP Candidates, the introduction of Player Impact Rating and League Picks, and the structure for Season Playoffs. We also tackle Stage 4’s freshly developing meta, which heroes to watch for, and which teams could benefit the most.

Follow Up: Munchkin Leaves Seoul Dynasty

The recently inactive DPS player has mutually agreed with the Seoul Dynasty to leave the team for personal reasons. He plans to compete in the 2020 season.

Krystal and the Hangzhou Spark’s Visa Issues

The Hangzhou Spark have publicly brought attention to recent visa and leave issues with their DPS player Krystal, who was granted a 10 day leave for a family illness. The team had not heard any update from the player as to the status of his leave or his coming return, and chose to publicly announce the issue over social media, prompting a statement from Krystal and accusations of intentional reputational damage.

Chengdu Hunters Announce Semi – Signing of DPS player Leave

The Chengdu Hunters have publicly announced their relationship with Leave, an underage Chinese DPS phenom likely to enter OWL for Season 3. Though he is not eligible to be signed to a full OWL contract, the team has announced their contractual relationship with plans to sign him in the coming year.

Overwatch League Announces Their Five MVP Candidates

The League has announced the five official candidates for this season’s MVP award, Sinatraa (SF Shock), Super (SF Shock), Twilight (Vancouver Titans), Jjanu (Vancouver Titans), and Guxue (Hangzhou Spark). Ramses and Lobosco break down the league’s selection and voting process, and discuss the award’s notable snubs and potential process issues.

Introduction of Player Impact Rating

Overwatch League’s Stat Producer Ben “Captain Planet” Trautman has introduced a new “hero agnostic” statistics system that attempts to objectively rate players based on the impact they have on each team fight. The system attempts to provide a method of interpreting a player’s value, is an important step in the statistical expansion of the league, and serves a potential step into Blizzard official Overwatch Fantasy play.

Introduction of League Picks

The new League Picks Beta gives viewers the opportunity to earn extra League tokens by making predictions based on the outcomes of certain maps and matches. This game allows players to dip their toe into fantasy esports and serves as a great first step into developing an Official Fantasy Overwatch client.

Season 2 Playoffs Preview

As the Season playoffs approach, OWL has announced the definitive details of the season playoffs’ structure and patch information. Ramses and Lobosco discuss the game by game format, potentially powerful heroes, and how this will affect the tournament as a whole.

Stage 4 Week 1: Meta Breakdown

Ramses and Lobosco discuss the emerging Stage 4 meta, highlighting trending heroes and compositions. We look at major swings in hero usage rates, as well as the reemergence of previously dormant players and heroes. We also discuss which teams stand to benefit the most from these meta changes, with possible playoff implications.

Hosts

Julian Quezada

Julian is an Overwatch podcaster and host of Push the Point. He's an avid fan of Disney movies, Star Wars, and losing SR points. You can typically find him watching/playing Overwatch, or watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

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Chris Lobosco

LoBosco is an esports broadcaster who has wandered his way over to podcasting. As if casting every chance he can wasn't enough, now he wants to talk about Overwatch League as much as he casts. You can hear him with Ramses on Push the Point.

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