The Overwatch League 2021 live events begin with the Grand Finals at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 25! That’s when two of the best and most capable Overwatch teams in the world will collide for all the marbles — and a sizable sack of cash.

However, to get there, they’ll first need to fight through the playoffs, which take place from Sept. 16-19 at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Dallas. If you’re interested in attending, you’ll be able to purchase your tickets once they go on sale in August. 

Hopefully, we’ll witness a series of spectacular clashes — ones that’ll entice people to tune in as OWL’s viewership numbers haven’t been all that stellar lately.

At its core, the playoff format is rather simple — nothing we haven’t seen before. Still, we’ll let Blizzard do the explaining as they’ve done a much better job at it than we ever could!

Once the eight playoff teams are locked, they’ll be seeded into a double-elimination bracket based on their overall League Point tally earned within their region, along with a sequence of tiebreakers should the need arise. Higher seeds from each region will enjoy “significant advantages” throughout the entire postseason, including playoff byes, the choice of an opponent (only for the first round of the bracket), and even opening map selection! So, there’s quite a lot on the line! 

The winning team will take home $1.5 million (along with a very shiny championship trophy), with the runner-up getting a much more modest (albeit still impressive) $700,000.

Regardless, the playoffs are still a ways off. There’s a lot more Overwatch League action slated to happen before we reach the postseason! There’s one more tournament left (the Countdown Cup scheduled to begin on July 30), after which the playoff schedule will finally take shape.

In any case, there’s quite a lot to look forward to with these Overwatch League 2021 live events. With teams like Shanghai and Dallas playing some of their best Overwatch yet, and other dark horses being far more capable than expected, we’re bound to witness a photo finish for the ages.