The Toronto Defiant and Boston Uprising closed out qualifying for the Overwatch League’s Countdown Cup with victories Sunday.
The Defiant beat the Houston Outlaws 3-1 and the Uprising took down last-place Paris Eternal by the same score.
The three teams in the East that finished the regular season with the most league points — Seoul Dynasty, Shanghai Dragons and Philadelphia Fusion — already qualified for the playoffs, while the top six finishers in the West will qualify.
The play-ins in the West will take place from Oct. 21-22, with two more teams advancing to the playoffs.
Though Boston finished qualifying 4-2, it has not yet clinched a playoff berth. The Uprising finished 10th in the overall regular-season standings and will face the seventh-place Florida Mayhem in a play-in on Friday. The other play-in will pit the Defiant and Washington Justice.
The double-elimination playoffs will begin Oct. 30. The playoff bracket will culminate in the first in-person Grand Finals in three years at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center on Nov. 4. The grand prize is $1 million, while the runner-up team will earn $500,000.
The Defiant dropped their first map to Houston, 2-0 on Ilios, before rallying. They won 3-2 on King’s Row, 1-0 on Dorado and 1-0 again on Colosseo.
Likewise, the Uprising started with a 2-0 loss to Paris on Busan-UAT. The Uprising tied the match with a 2-1 win on King’s Row, moved in front with a 3-0 victory on Junkertown and clinched the match with a 1-0 triumph on New Queen Street. The Eternal (0-6) were the only team to finish winless in qualifiers.
Overwatch League — Countdown Cup standings, with points, match record and map differential (*clinched playoff berth):
West
1. *Los Angeles Gladiators, 6 points, 6-0, +13
2. *Dallas Fuel, 5 points, 5-1, +11
3. Boston Uprising, 4 points, 4-2, +6
4. *Atlanta Reign, 4 points, 4-2, +5
5. *Houston Outlaws, 3 points, 3-3, +1
T6. *London Spitfire, 3 points, 3-3, even
T6. *San Francisco Shock, 3 points, 3-3, even
T6. Florida Mayhem, 3 points, 3-3, even
9. Washington Justice, 3 points, 3-3, -3
10. Toronto Defiant, 2 points, 2-4, -3
11. Vancouver Titans, 2 points, 2-4, -6
12. New York Excelsior, 1 point, 1-5, -10
13. Paris Eternal, 0 points, 0-6, -14
East
1. *Seoul Dynasty, 5 points, 5-1, +11
2. Guangzhou Charge, 4 points, 4-2, +3
3. *Philadelphia Fusion, 3 points, 3-3, +3
4. *Shanghai Dragons, 3 points, 3-3, +1
5. Los Angeles Valiant, 3 points, 3-3, -5
6. Chengdu Hunters, 2 points, 2-4, -5
7. Hangzhou Spark, 1 point, 1-5, -8
–Field Level Media
