Episode 27 - Stage 4 predictions
Mon, May 21, 2018
Read in 3 minutes
The break after last week's stage title matches is over, and we're looking forward to the first week of the final stage of the season. Since the top teams from each division will be playing in the playoffs following Stage 4, every game really feels like it counts now.
The break after last week’s stage title matches is over, and we’re looking forward to the first week of the final stage of the season. Since the top teams from each division will be playing in the playoffs following Stage 4, every game really feels like it counts now.
Before we discuss our predictions for this week’s games, we talk first about a surprising Supreme Court ruling that could have a dramatic impact on the esports community. Blizzard continues to make some baffling decisions regarding censorship on Twitch and for the contender’s league. And we still don’t know what patch the OWL will actually be playing on next week.
We also discuss Effect’s planned absence in the following week(s) in light of his recent, troubling comments on Twitter and Twitch. We wish him the best as he takes the time he needs to recover and hopefully get the help he needs, and we’d like to remind our listeners to seek professional help if they, too, are experiencing thoughts of worthlessness and suicide.
This episode was produced by Eric Saupe and Ashton Herrmann, and audio editing and mixing were performed by Ashton. You can find us at mekacast.com for show notes, blog posts, and links to our social media channels and Discord.
Show Notes
Introduction
News
- Supreme court dispels ban on sports betting - Slasher, Twitter
- Florida Mayhem analyst Albert Yeh on OWL patches, “The League should be run on the current patch” - Astute Overwatch, YouTube
- Also suggests that breaks between stages should be longer (a month???)
- Confusion abounds about which patch will be live for stage 4 - Reddit
- Slasher - “Blizzard continues to misunderstand Twitch chat culture, gamer culture… and their own fans - Twitter
- Effect continues to struggle “I’ve done all the bragging but accomplished nothing, I really should just die.” - Twitter
- Effect will not play in Stage 4 - Overwatch Wire
- Shanghai loses their second head coach of the season - Shanghai Dragons, Twitter
- Happy birthday, Flow3r! - Twitter
Patch Notes and Balance Changes
- Unlock Pink Mercy (and other cool cosmetics) and support Breast Cancer Research - Blizzard
- Pine’s thoughts about Pink Mercy, “This is not good” - Twitter
- Free weekend on May 25-28 - Blizzard
- Overwatch is turning 2, and Blizz is celebrating with a special event - Official Twitter
- Sounds like it will include all-new cosmetics and a rotating playlist of past brawls - Variety
- 35 million players?!
- Everything we know about the event - Reddit
- New DM map!
- Legendary lootbox, which will include one non-duplicate legendary item
- New Overwatch Legendary Edition will launch on May 22, includes 15 skins
- Sounds like it will include all-new cosmetics and a rotating playlist of past brawls - Variety
Feature
- Current Overwatch League standings
- Expectations for next week’s schedule
- Shanghai’s gonna nab their first win this week!
Concluding Remarks