Friday Feature: Overwatch League Grand Finals

The Overwatch League Grand Finals are about to begin, with the first match on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT. As with the rest of the Overwatch League Playoffs, the Grand Finals will consist of a best of three of best of five matches. After Friday, the other matches will occur on Saturday, with the second match beginning at 4 p.m. EDT, and the third and final match following immediately after, if necessary. But before we talk about the Grand Finals, allow me to summarize the events of the first two weeks of the Overwatch League Playoffs.

In the Quarterfinals, the Philadelphia Fusion faced the Boston Uprising. Although the Boston Uprising won the second match, the Philadelphia Fusion came back, winning the first and third matches to secure their place in the Semifinals. On the other side, London lost their first match to the Los Angeles Gladiators on the first day, but on the second day swept matches two and three back-to-back, winning six maps in a row to move on to the Semifinals.

The Semifinals were the first Playoff games played by the New York Excelsior and the Los Angeles Valiant, the first and second seed in the Regular Season. On the first day of the Semifinals, both first matches were played. London defeated the Valiant, losing only one map in the match, while the Philadelphia Fusion swept the New York Excelsior, putting both the London Spitfire and the New York Excelsior in a great position to win the Semifinals and move on to the Grand Finals. When the Los Angeles Valiant and the London Spitfire met again, the London Spitfire won three maps in a row to secure their place as a finalist. And although the New York Excelsior had a better showing in their second match versus the Philadelphia Fusion, the Philadelphia Fusion won the match on the fifth map, winning the Series and moving on. This means that the Grand Finals will be the Philadelphia Fusion versus the London Spitfire.

When comparing the commonly played heroes of the Regular Season and the Playoffs, there were both obvious hero roster changes and yet very similar compositions at the same time. For example, the London Spitfire and the Philadelphia Fusion still had a strong Mercy presence in nearly every map. D.Va similarly maintained a strong presence, though her playtime has decreased with the newest patch. Widowmaker is also a strong presence, though not as assured as Mercy or D.Va, she maintains the most played hero for the hitscan DPS players of both the Philadelphia Fusion and the London Spitfire. Hanzo is the most played for the projectile DPS players, however a majority of playtime is spent playing other heroes. Zenyatta is still the usual flex-support, but compositions of solo-healing and having the flex support play Roadhog are being seen more now in the Playoffs compared to the Regular Season, and the main tank players have more time on Orisa and Reinhardt in the Playoffs than they had in the Regular Season. However, Winston is still the most-used main tank, and Gesture, the main tank of the London Spitfire, has over half of his playtime spent on Winston.

Along with the common compositions we are used to, mainly two tanks, two DPS, and two supports, the Playoffs brought along a lot of experimental and successful “off-meta” compositions from all of the Playoff teams. Although eliminated in the Quarterfinals, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how the Los Angeles Gladiators tricked the London Spitfire on King’s Row, where Surefour remained in spawn as the Gladiators forced the Spitfire to move into the line of sight of the attacker’s spawn, and then Surefour swapped to Widowmaker and killed two before London could react. Later, in the Semifinals, the London Spitfire used an off-meta comp to win Oasis versus the Los Angeles Valiant, where they had Lucio and Brigitte as healers, and three DPS heroes to rush the point, and out damage the healing the Valiant had before the Los Angeles Valiant could take advantage of the low healing the Spitfire had. And against the Boston Uprising, the Philadelphia Fusion substituted in HOTBA for Boombox, and played Tracer on Volskaya, resulting in two tanks, three DPS, and one support. With all the creativity and experimentation going on in the first weeks of the Playoffs, it’s hard to know what to expect composition and strategy-wise going into the Grand Finals.

As for the map pool, between the two, and likely three, best of five matches we will see in the Grand Finals, the entire Playoffs map pool will be played, with some maps played multiple times. The first match’s maps will be, in order, Dorado, Oasis, Eichenwalde, Volskaya, and Junkertown. The second’s will be Junkertown, Lijiang, King’s Row, Hanamura, and Dorado. The third map works differently, however. To start, the Philadelphia Fusion, the lower-seeded team, would pick the first map under the Escort category, with the London Spitfire choosing whether to attack or defend first. The loser of that map would pick the next map, a Control map, and the loser of that map would pick the third map, Hybrid, and the winner would decide whether to attack or defend first. After these three maps, the pattern would continue for a fourth, Assault map, and the fifth map would be the remaining Escort map. If a sixth tiebreaker map is needed after five maps, it would be Nepal.

The stage is set in the Barclays Center in New York. The finalists have fought their way to the end, all the way through the Quarterfinals and Semifinals to make it to the Grand Finals. And now they’re going to face each other to determine once and for the best team in the world, winning the title of the Overwatch League World Champion. Who will it be? We’ll have to watch and see for ourselves.

Blossoms Thoughts: Overwatch’s Looking for Group and Endorsements

Overwatch players received a long-awaited update on June 28 this year when the development team released Patch 1.25.0.1: new social features! These features are Looking for Group, which allows players to find others to play with across all game modes, and Endorsements, which allows players to compliment their teammates and even their enemies in exchange for small rewards.

They’re relatively small changes, and they’re not new concepts in online gaming. That said, both Looking for Group and Endorsements are changes that, hopefully, are just the start of improving the quality of gameplay for everyone, by reducing toxicity, rewarding positivity and productivity, and allowing for better matches through the creation of more organized teams.

The features have been out for two weeks now, and I for one think they’ve been a hit, but I thought it would be fun to hear what the members of Death Blossoms themselves thought about the experience. We have members from all regions, in all skill tiers, who main all heroes, and they certainly had quite a bit to say when I opened the floor up to them.

By and large, respondents feel that both features have been a plus. I ran a small survey to go along with this, and every single respondent agreed the new features improved the state of the game.

Graph showing that of 23 respondents to the survey, 23 said yes, Endorsements and LFG have improved the state of Overwatch.

Summing up what a welcome change Endorsements in particular has been, Demi has seen how it benefits a game’s player base before, and is glad to see it come to Overwatch.

From the days when I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox 360, to playing LoL years ago, you encounter the same type of behavior. When LoL added their endorsement system, I noticed an immediate change in the community, and since Overwatch came out I always hoped they would implement the same system. Unfortunately people need an incentive to behave when they can hide behind being anonymous, and I believe this simple solution is enough to do that.

Nuka had a similar sentiment.

While part of me is bitter that it takes a reward system like this to make people act like decent human beings, I am largely relieved that we don’t have to put up with the things we used to.

A running theme among the responses was that while people may not be nicer, they are less toxic, and the net benefit is the same to the average player. Nubz puts it like this:

I don’t think that toxic people are necessarily being nicer, but the larger, quieter majority of non-toxic people seem to feel more comfortable participating in text/voice chat. Heck, this is the first season in a while that I have defaulted to team chat, and I think that’s true for a lot of people. I also think the larger presence of chill people in comms is making toxic people feel less free to be abusive.

Others agreed, believing that drowning out the toxic vocal minority of the playerbase, intimidating them into keeping their vitriol to a minimum if it comes up at all, has been the biggest noticeable change since Endorsements was implemented. According to eternaforest:

I feel like the endorsement system has incentivized players to be better teammates, knowing that a number and ranking is on the line. Although it is not much in the grand scheme of things, I do think it’s making players take the game a bit more seriously.

Being rewarded for not being toxic may even sway some of those people to stop being toxic entirely, a possibility Cascadia noted:

There is some psychology that indicates that the more you do of something, the more genuine it becomes. So, when people are being rewarded for being nice, eventually they become nice. My personal example is that I always felt I’m not a good streamer. Very defeatist attitude. But then I tell myself repeatedly that it’s more about me being able to be me, and that the more I do it, the better I will get. Eventually I’ve internalized that. It’s all about retraining the brain.

Some in the larger community have decried the system for encouraging “fake positivity,” claiming that people will only act nice to get endorsements. Many of our members mentioned this, and while they don’t necessarily think that’s wrong, they also think it’s kind of a non-issue. Somecatfish put it pretty succinctly:

It feels like people are more nice, and even though they might just be “fake” nice to get endorsements, I think it’s definitely better than genuine toxicity!

Ph03nix agreed.

Even if people are faking their positivity, they are willing to work together, whether it’s to win or rise in the endorsement ranks.

rainmonkey thinks positive reinforcement is more effective than punishment:

A lot of people have noted and even made fun of the fake-niceness. However, I feel like it’s still a better change towards positivity instead of trolls running rampant and putting people down for no reason, other than the fact that they might get banned, but most likely not.

Stardust adds:

Some people still don’t care and will act however they choose, but in general communication has been better and more constructive. I do feel like a lot of people are probably putting on an act simply for the endorsements, but as long as my games are less… crappy… attitude wise, I don’t mind the fake positivity.

And Nana sees true potential for change:

There’s a saying that you “fake it till you make it” – if all these people are just being “fake nice” for the endorsement, it doesn’t matter. Chances are, if they’re “fake” nice long enough, they’re going to be actually nice. They’ll see how much better their games go if they’re not an asshole.

On a more personal note, AJHoney felt that the endorsements made her a better player:

I have felt that being noticed for shot calling is helping me realize that even if no one is talking, it is still a good habit to get into!

Overall, the community is very positive on Endorsements. Akra summed it up well by saying:

My hope is people will be more likely to communicate and cooperate overall, as a community expectation and standard.

Our members had less experience with Looking for Group (LFG), many simply feeling intimidated to try for a number of reasons. To start with those who’ve tried it, the results have mostly involved rock-solid teams and good old-fashioned fun. Kristen shared that she used it to make a team of nothing but healers and pointed out how great it is for new players:

I had a lot of fun and managed to make a few friends! I’ve also spoken to people before that want to try out the game, but don’t want to do so without having a team to play with. I think this is a great step towards that, especially with the role system!

The role system certainly is great, allowing people to guarantee at least a chance at the heroes that they’re most comfortable filling, which makes everyone happier. Hera agreed and said:

Since we can set the roles, there’s a designated healer, tank, DPS in almost every game. It really makes our roles easier. If I tank, I know that the healers and DPS would have my back, especially if there are comms. If I DPS, I know that I have tanks who can create space. If I heal, there’s just enough coordination to be able to stay alive. There’s no frustration as well: I no longer think, “Ugh, I want to DPS, but I can’t because we don’t need 6 DPS,” because I get to choose.

SubLein thinks the combination of both Endorsements and LFG could be greater than the sum of its parts:

Like-minded people look for groups to get away from some of the toxic nature of Overwatch, plus it increases callouts as well. The endorsement levels can be a factor when creating a group, say your group wants level 2 and up, while people who have been reported for being toxic go down to zero. So endorsements help to heighten the quality of groups. Plus, who doesn’t like colors and leveling up?!

Despite the overwhelmingly positive response toward the new features, some members expressed concerns. For starters, Amna found a bug that indicates LFG isn’t fully integrated as yet, as it can’t handle changes to the group composition well.

One time in a 5-stack, someone sent a group invite to a friend to make it 6, but that person never accepted the invite, so there was a pending 6th person forever. We tried to kick the person, change leaders then kick, nothing worked. We had to disband the whole group, and unfortunately I was the last person to hit “leave group,” so I was stuck with the pending person and had to restart my client in order to get them removed.

A few of our members also noted that LFG and Endorsements, while not inherently problematic, would create or bubble up other issues in the community. pinja found a good example of why we can’t have nice things:

Some people use the green Sportsmanship endorsement to BM, like when the enemy feeds a lot, your team will give them the green one.

While many of our members were happy that they now felt they could talk without bearing the brunt of toxicity in return, Akra noted that some might feel more discouraged now, knowing that they can’t as readily benefit from the new system:

I wonder if an unintended consequence of the endorsement change particularly is that folks not able to participate in voice chat for whatever reason (computer limitations, discomfort and/or shyness with speaking in front of strangers, and so on) might be negatively impacted by the changes. For me personally it’s been a 100% positive change to have endorsements, but not sure how others who aren’t comfortable in voice chat feel about it.

Allie shared that there are instances where it’s best to just go it alone and avoid LFG, out of fear that LFG might invite more toxicity rather than mitigate it:

As a trans woman with a feminine username I actually feel slightly more uncomfortable using LFG than I do without it. If I’m tired and my voice isn’t on point or I don’t care and I get clocked in a game, it’s one thing and over and done quickly, if they even paid enough attention to notice the two things. In a group I’m stuck with, those people while they have nothing else to look at between games. It feels a little more vulnerable to more personal harassment in a weird way, as opposed to something super easy to blow off in a one off game.

Roxy had a similar feeling.

Being trans in Overwatch is just as awkward as it’s always been, and people I don’t know won’t necessarily kick group members for making rude comments towards me (which has already happened). Additionally, blocking, or avoiding a player actually doesn’t stop them from joining your LFG group, which I think is a massive oversight.

On the whole, the Death Blossoms community is very positive toward both Looking for Group and Endorsements. In the week that the two features have been available, they have noticeably improved the state of the game, and our members are in agreement that could be the start of mending Overwatch’s reputation for having a toxic player base. The devs have indicated as well that they’re not done improving the social aspect of the game, either, and given what a hit these two features have been, we can’t wait to see what comes next.

If you would like to hear more from our members, you can visit Demi, Nubz, eternaforest, Cascadia, Ph03nix, SubLein, pinja, and Allie by clicking their names!

Friday Feature: Death Blossoms

Greetings! Our Friday Feature today is the official DB Twitch channel! In the last few months, DB has been making a big push to keep our channel active and exciting with new content every week. From streaming our monthly tournaments and charity events, to covering weekly PUGs and team practices, we’ve kept a regular schedule that has recently awarded us with Twitch Affiliate. Thanks to all the supportive members and teams within DB (and our lovely friends!), we are continuing to work towards a goal of providing more resources for our community.

One of the many long-term missions we have at Death Blossoms is to help our streamers gain exposure. Solidifying our own DB Twitch channel takes us a step closer to achieving that goal. We are incredibly thankful for the awesome ladies that have been streaming for us, and as we continue to grow that channel, we hope to return that appreciation in the future! – DB Admins

Our stream schedule is always posted on our website’s calendar, but our current weekly schedule for our teams and weekly events is below (all times in EST).

We also want to celebrate our Twitch Affiliate with an Affiliate party! We are hosting a 24-hour stream next week, starting on Saturday, July 7th @ 12pm EST. If you’re a DB member and you’d like to stream for a block, we’re still taking sign ups (if you’re a current member in our Discord, check out #events-info). Otherwise, definitely stop by and cheer on our girls! If you haven’t already, throw us a follow. And remember, if you have Twitch Prime, you can use your free sub to support DB! All of the money earned on our Twitch channel goes directly back into the community.

Friday Feature: Bunny

Welcome back to our Friday Feature! This week we will meet Bunny, a member of Team Pigeonwings here at Death Blossoms. Here is what Bunny wanted to share about herself:

Hi! I’m Bunny. I’m an aspiring Twitch streamer and I stream almost daily playing all sorts of games! I mostly play Overwatch but sometimes I enjoy PUBG, Fortnite, Gang Beasts and lots of others! I also occasionally stream my art, but that’s not as often!

These are my stream hours (all times are EST):

Monday: 1pm-5pm and 7pm-11pm (Team Practice 7-9)
Tuesday: 1pm-5pm and 7pm-11pm (Team Practice 7-9)
Wednesday: 12pm-2pm and 6pm-12am
Thursday: 3pm-5pm and 7pm-11pm (Team Practice 7-9)
Friday: 10am-3:30pm and from 6pm-12am
Saturday: 11am-5pm
Sunday: Off usually, but I might stream if bored!

You can find Bunny streaming on Twitch, sharing photos on Instagram, and giving updates on her day and streams over at Twitter!

Friday Feature: Tsukitenshi

This week’s Friday Feature is another cosplayer that goes by the name, Tsukitenshi.

My name is Tsukitenshi but you can also call me Tsookie, I’m a happy member of the death blossoms and have been happily cosplay for 2 years long. I enjoyed this hobby ever since it started and am currently a lot of Anime cosplays even though i’m planning to broaden my options. I cosplay both male and female characters, Pleasure meetin’ ya!

Don’t forget to like her Facebook page to see some of her other creations and future ones too.

Friday Feature: Elizabeth (Miss Rez)

This week’s Friday Feature is Elizabeth aka Miss Rez! Miss Rez is a variety streamer on Twitch that does both gaming and creative streams. Here’s a little bit more about her and what she does:

I’m a variety streamer who provides both creative and gaming streams, my favorite game being Overwatch (I’m a support main but Roadhog and Widow also hold a special place in my heart!). My creative streams feature my technique in creating realism portraits. I offer a free portrait every month for one of my followers and even take commissions for my work! I also hold a monthly subscriber-only giveaway where one of my subscribers will win “Rez’s Health Pack!” I’m shamelessly powered by sass and all things cat related!

And coincidentally, this Saturday I will be hosting an 8-Hour Birthday Stream and all are invited! During this stream I’ll be doing both the portrait and Health Pack giveaways for the month of May!

Stream Schedule:

Monday – I will be the stream caster for a Team Lotus scrimmage or practice on the DB Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/deathblossomsgg) from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PST

Tuesday – streaming a Team Lotus scrimmage or practice here on my channel from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PST

Thursday – Creative stream, start and end time varies

Saturday – This is a “surprise” day where I basically stream whatever I’m in the mood for. Could be Overwatch, a different game, or creative – whatever strikes my fancy that day. Whatever it is, it’ll be streamed from 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PST

Sunday – Overwatch from 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PST

Here is just a sample of some of her amazing artwork:

Don’t forget to follow her on Twitch and other social media accounts: Twitter, Instagram, and maybe join her Discord server.

Friday Feature: Miranda (Ironicgodtier)

This week’s Friday Feature is Miranda aka Ironicgodtier! Ironicgodtier creates art, some of which features some familiar Overwatch heroes. Here’s what she has to say about her art:

My name is Miranda, recently turned 21 and have been drawing since I was 9 years old. I am a fully self taught artist and have been working hard to where I am today. Drawing for so long though had come with consequences of a weak dominant arm and possible carpel tunnel , so this year I started physical therapy to help with that. I draw mainly in a cartoonish style just because it’s more what I grew up with and is fun to draw more than anything. The odd thing I do I think unlike most artists, is I draw traditionally (pen and paper) before I put it to digital, it’s odd but it’s something I have always done.

Be sure to follow Ironicgodtier on social media to find more of her art: Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook.

Feature Friday: Law

This week’s Feature Friday is a member that cosplays, including some of our favorite heroes straight out of Overwatch! Here’s what they had to say about it:

Hi Im Law! Im a cosplayer who makes their own costumes, props and sometimes acts in them as well. Currently my best cosplays are Ana, Sombra, D.Va, Lady Phantomhive (Black Butler) and Kaori Miyazono (Your Lie in April). I’m also working on Princess Peach for a convention in mid-April as well. I sew lots of my costumes as well as I do the makeup for all of them. I have three years of stage/fx makeup in theatre. On my Instagram there are currently only photo of my D.Va from a retro games con I went to in November but soon I will have more of both Sombra and Princess Peach.

Be sure to check out Law’s Twitch and Instagram for more!

Friday Feature: Molly (Goon)

This week’s Friday Feature is a member that streams weekly and also uploads videos to YouTube, it’s none other than Goon! Here’s some info about Goon and what she does online:

Hey nerds. I’m Molly, aka Goon, 21 and from Wales. I joined Death Blossoms in September 2017.

Active Overwatch player since release. Master rank since season 3. I main Ana, Junkrat and Zenyatta, although my experience has made me a pretty flexible player. I participate in scrims three times a week and and go to local tournaments too.

I stream daily and post YouTube videos weekly; my channel is mostly Overwatch gameplay and voice impressions. I’ve had a blast bring the Overwatch community together through my content over YouTube, Twitch and Discord for the past year or so.

I do a pretty good Tracer impression. I’ve been mingling with the Overwatch fandubbing community for just over a year, they’re a good bunch.

The Death Blossoms have been super welcoming, the events are always a delight to attend. I’m eager to put my experience into an Overwatch community as supportive as DB, for women as enthusiastic as I am.

Don’t forget to follow Goon on Twitter @GiddyGoons

Friday Feature: Kelsey (Eterna Forest)

Welcome to our first Friday Feature! Every other Friday we will be featuring different members in the Death Blossoms community. Our first Friday Feature is Kelsey, aka Eterna Forest. Eterna runs an Etsy shop called GG Vinyls, here’s what she has to say:

I am a 20 year old full time student, part time employee, and part time Etsy shop owner. I make goods based on my favorite interests: video games, anime, and k-pop! I focus mainly on decals and apparel. My shop allows me to express my creativity and scratch my crafting itch. I also accept custom orders, including a custom jacket I designed for Death Blossoms! I spend a lot of time on my shop and am incredibly thankful for all of my supporters.

Eterna even made some AMAZING Death Blossoms jackets for everyone in the community that wanted one and has a variety of Overwatch related items on her shop, like this adorable light up D. Va phone case.

Learn more about GG Vinyls by following the shop on Twitter and Instagram. You can also learn more about Eterna by following her on Twitch and Twitter.