King's Row map repeat breaks rules in Dragons' OWL playoff win

Olivia Richman Published 31/08/2019

The Shanghai Dragons’ match against Philadelphia Fusion in the Overwatch League Stage 4 playoffs sparked some controversy before the series even concluded. 

Map 6 saw the two teams play on King’s Row, a map that the Dragons had already beat Fusion on earlier in the match. Multiple Twitter user pointed out that repeating a map within the same match is actually against the Overwatch League rules. 

The screenshot shows the Play-in Tournament rules for the Season 2 playoffs. In a section outlining the structure of the Play-in Tournament, the official rules state that “no map may be played twice in any match.” 

Playing on King’s Row again clearly breaks those rules. 

While Fusion fans were excited that the Fusion redeemed themselves by defeating the Dragons on the map the second time around, the repeated stage carries a lot of controversial stipulations. If the Dragons would have won this map, Fusion’s chance to win the match would have ended. It would have seemed quite unfair that Shanghai were able to select King’s Row again when they had already won on it before. 

Blizzard addresses OWL map rule breaking

Caster Mitch Leslie addressed the glaring issue after the round concluded. He stated that another hybrid map, Numbani, was not working. This issue made it fair, in Blizzard’s opinion, to allow a repeat map. 

Leslie said the team was working hard to address this problem. 

“IS EICHENWALDE NOT A VIABLE MAP PICK??? YOU LITERALLY PLAYED IT LAST MATCH,” a Twitter user continued, referencing the other hybrid map that was played in the match between Chengdu Hunters and the Guangzhou Charge. 

No further comments have been made concerning the issue so far. The Dragons went on to win the series over the Fusion by a 4-2 score.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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