How will changes to the next Overwatch League event affect bettors?
Overwatch has just concluded their most recent esports event, the May Melee. Following hot on the heels of the event is the announcement of the Overwatch leagues next event, the June Joust. This event will be similar to the May Melee but there will be some changes to both the format and the meta. If you are interested in Overwatch sports betting, you should take a look at the changes.
The format changes coming to June Joust a pretty significant. We are going to see a shift in the hero pool rotations, new settings for each match, and the impact of the casual patch. Teams aren't going to have a lot of time to adapt to the changes, the event is starting later this month. It will be played from the 21st of May until the 12th of June.
As I mentioned earlier, the league will be following the basic structure of the May Melee, but there are some changes to the structure that could affect sports betting odds for those interested in outright on round winners. . The Overwatch league is interested in reducing the need to play any more tie breakers than they need to.
Here are the changes according to the Overwatch League website:
- the difference in maps
- They will be changing the head to head records for qualifying matches. This will be used to deal with issues that arise from ties between three or more teams.
- They are making some small changes to the league points system within the tournament cycle. They team that has the most opponent league points will qualify
- We will see a change in differential map for all opponents in the tournament cycle. This means that the team with the highest opponent map differential will qualify.
- Finally, the tiebreaker issue. If there is still a tie between two or more teams at the end of the event, they will move on to applying post season tiebreakers.
the new hero pools
One of the changes that could have an oversized effect on the sports betting odds for the event are the changes made to the hero pool. The hero pool is the roster of playable characters that each team can draw from before a match starts. The league decided to choose four heroes that were played regularly with at least a 10% or more pick rate.
The heroes chosen were:
- Damage: Tracer, Shadow
- Tank: Reinhardt
- Support: Zenyatta
This should have some serious impact on the sports betting sites and the odds they offer. Dallas Fuel, the winner of the May Melee, used Shadow and Tracer as DPS in that event. Both of those heroes are no longer part of the June Joust. They are going to have to adapt pretty quickly to keep up with the rest of the pack who may have been using heroes for a lot longer.
Also read our article on Overwatch bets!
The new map pool
They have also changed the rotation of the map pool for the June Joust. The following maps will be in rotation for the upcoming June Joust:
- Control: Busan, Ilios, Lijiang Tower, Nepal, Oasis
- Escort: Dorado, Junkertown, Rialto
- Assault: Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya Industries
- Hybrid: Eichenwalde, Hollywood, Numbani
The event starts on the 21st of May and will run until the middle of June. The first match is between Paris Eternal and the Toronto Defiant and it is sure to be exciting.
