Fansided

Overwatch League reveals how it plans to scout for talent

By Christine Wang Dickson

Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment /
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To have a league, you first have to have the players.

While the news isn’t much, Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer released a statement on Tuesday revealing how the league plans on culling their first wave of players. More generally, the statement also serves to remind all of us that the Overwatch League wasn’t just a hoax and is still going to happen. We just still have to wait a while longer.

According to the announcement, the Overwatch League sent out an email on Tuesday to a select number of top Overwatch players, asking whether or not they would like to be included on a scouting report that the league is putting together.

Only players that fit the following criteria were sent the survey:

  • Finished top 500 in Competitive Play in Season 3 or 4 in any region
  • Played in the playoffs of any recent “high-caliber” tournament, or received an invitation to compete in the first season of Pacific Championship 2017
  • Posses any other quality that distinguishes them as a top talent, such as current membership in a professional Overwatch team

Nanzer was quick to mention that all players also had to be in good standing with Blizzard to be included. He also stated that this list of players will be just one resource for teams to use when building their rosters.

“We are not saying that this information should override other important factors,” Nanzer said in the announcement. “Statistics, as we know, are only one piece of the puzzle in determining what makes an Overwatch player great.”

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This news is the Overwatch League showing that it’s taking initiative to make sure some of the best players it its community are getting a chance to be represented.

When the Overwatch League was initially announced, Blizzard also mentioned that top Overwatch players would participate in a combine where they would show off their prowess in hopes of attracting teams’ interest. There is still no word yet on when that will occur.