The first week of the ESL UK Overwatch Premiership has kicked off, with some strong viewer numbers.
The night had 1,200 concurrent viewers on the ESL Overwatch stream, with a constant 1,000 watching the stream – among ESL UK’s highest for a seasonal first broadcast. With that in mind, lets check back on who progressed through the night’s winners and losers bracket.
Team EndPoint vs Moped Driveby kicked off the Premiership, with The Last Resort vs aMEIzing taking the second series of the night.
ESL UK Premiership Matches
To no surprise, Team EndPoint hastily defeated Moped Driveby 2-0 with very strong statements made in every map they played.
Moped Driveby were the clear underdogs in this series as it was a battle of first vs eighth seed. As a result, EndPoint advanced to play the winner of the other half of the group, whilst Moped would wait for the loser of that series.
The series between TLR and aMEIzing went as expected. TLR showed off their prowess with strong players. AMEIzing put up some resistance that series against TLR but sadly were not able to make anything out of it.
The winners bracket final now consisted of TEP vs TLR whilst the losers were MD vs AMEIzing.
The next game to be played was the upper bracket final. The series was entertaining and promising. Last Resort took the first map against EndPoint with a quicker attack time and held well on defense. Although, there was a disconnected player from EndPoint which may have made a difference – who knows?
However, EndPoint came back strong the next two games and took the series 2-1 to show them who’s the top dog of the group!
The next game was the lower bracket elimination round. This was a tense round for Moped Driveby and aMEIzing, as either of these teams would miss out on a chance to go to playoffs.
Moped Driveby were to be eliminated by aMEIzing, after they showed their tactical awareness.
aMEIzing advance to the next round where they wait for their rematch against TLR in the coming days.
Changes in the wind
Earlier this month, Luke “iuKeEe” Dainton (team captain of EndPoint’s Overwatch team) announced that the EU roster was disbanding due to Cwoosh and Phantasy receiving offers from Mousesports. However, we understand Phantasy’s move to that org has fallen through.
However, it was later decided that EndPoint would still competing in the UK Premiership and are using new players. With the new additions to the UK roster, they showed they are still a UK Overwatch powerhouse.
Update: I have put together a roster for the ESL UK Prem so we’ll still be competing to give what @teamendpoint deserve 🙂
— Luke Dainton (@OWiuKeEe) September 14, 2016
It was also revealed after the night’s games that Team Last Resort were rebuilding their full team, with Jamie “Wing” Duell leading the rebuild for The Last Resort.
Will they be ready to play and get to the playoffs at MCM London Comic Con? We will only find out from their next games in the Premiership.
So i’ve been given the opportunity to create a UK Project under @TheLastResort DM for details if interested. (Overwatch)
— Jamie Duell (@_WingUK) September 20, 2016
With all these issues and changes to the scene, the Premiership looks like it could be anyone’s game in group A. It will be exciting to see what can be done and who will head to MCM London Comic Con from group A.
You can check back every Tuesday on the the ESL UK Twitter profile to see where the ESL UK Premiership Overwatch scene will be streamed.
Caster opinions
“It’s been an incredible start to the UK Premiership’s first ever Overwatch tournament.
“Endpoint vs The Last Resort was a lot closer than some may have expected and it really wets the palate of thought leading to next week’s matches.
“I was impressed at how up to date the teams were with the current state of the game and I think we are leading to a very exciting final.
“The main thing to take from this week’s action is that EndPoint can bleed. The Last Resort surprised them and perhaps with a little more aggression and not fearing to take the initiative, they could have even taken the series.
“We are due for at least one rematch in The Last Resort versus aMEIzing team, in which the latter will want to seek revenge after their frustrating loss. We are fully expecting the second replay though and The Last Resort will be looking at what they need to do differently to defeat EndPoint second time round.”
