One game which has quickly risen the esports ranks to establish itself as a pro gaming juggernaut is Blizzard’s critically acclaimed team shooter, Overwatch. Taking Korea and the United States by storm, it’s set to overtake Dota 2 and League of Legends as the most played and viewed video game, both casually and professionally, around the world in 2024.

The Overwatch Champions Series is big news for the game, for Blizzard, and for esports, because the first-person shooter genre is normally not one to grab much of a foothold in Asian markets. The fact it is set to kickstart a new eSports era and challenge other genre heavyweights of the Halo and Call Of Duty variety, suggests it is time to sit up and take notice of the heroes from Overwatch.

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Overwatch Champions Series Key Dates

• May 31 – June 2 – OWCS Major 1

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Overwatch Betting Odds

The odds for the Overwatch Champions Series are not available at this time.

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What is the Overwatch Champions Series?

The Overwatch League ceased after the 2023 season, allowing the Overwatch Champions Series to take over as the premier Overwatch esports league.

In 2024, Blizzard unveiled its comprehensive esports initiative, starting with the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS).

This cutting-edge international competitive circuit is open to players from across North America (NA), Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (EMEA), as well as Asia.

The 2024 season promises a dynamic array of competitive stages.

Each region will host its own Open Qualifiers, providing players with the opportunity to assemble their teams and vie for a coveted spot in the Main Event.

These stages will build up to two electrifying live international tournaments, uniting regions for the ultimate showcase of Overwatch skill on an unprecedented scale in esports history.

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Overwatch Champions Series betting guides and tips

So you want to bet on the Overwatch Champions Series, huh? First thing’s first: Overwatch is the type of game that can appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers and esports fans, but it pays to brush up on your basic gameplay knowledge so you can keep up with the fast-paced nature of the extremely high-level of play apparent in the OWCS.

Top-level teams like Seoul Dynasty and Dallas Fuel have demonstrated a whole other level of skill on the battlefield, and when it comes to professional players and their speed and tactics, and you may be surprised at how much obscure jargon and unexpected strategies are thrown around that aren’t immediately recognisable to even to major OW fans (our editorial team included!). There is also a completely unique user interface and spectator camera implemented solely for OWCS play, which you must also familiarise yourself with to properly keep up with the action.

Before putting down your hard-earned cash for bets on Overwatch Champions Series, we have compiled a handy list of guides and walkthroughs for inexperienced and experienced esports bettors to go to for quick help and reference.

• Overwatch esports general betting guide
  For more information on how Overwatch Champions Series is played competitive as an esport, we advise checking out our Overwatch esports and betting guide for more information. We extensively cover gameplay, heroes, maps, strategies, terminology, and how to spot a good team or a good player worth backing with a (winning) real money bet. We have team and player profiles available to get a better idea of which groups, based on performance, roster quality and other factors, will make the best and most valuable bets in Season 1.
• Newbie’s guide to betting on OWCS and esports
  It’s highly essential you’re familiar with online sports betting, including understanding how odds and betting markets work, before you even place a wager down on a team. We highly advise you check out our beginner’s guide to betting on esports to understand the OWCS odds and options available to you at this time. We also go over how bonuses and promotions work, and the types of bets you can place on esports.
• Top Overwatch Champions Series betting sites guide
  For Overwatch esports fans who are already experienced sports bettors or have placed a wager on other esports in the past, the process to bet on an Overwatch Champions Series match is very similar, and because the OWCS is this year’s big thing, you can expect to be able to wager on your favourite teams at practically every betting site we recommend on this domain. We’ve taken the time to write up an Overwatch esports betting sites guide so you can find the very best sportsbooks (or bookmakers, depending on where you live in the world) that are legally licensed, regulated and cater to customers from your country. Our handy tables and content are geo-targeted, meaning it will only show you the best current options for users from your region, so you’re never stuck signing up somewhere you can’t even legally bet on OWCS with.
• Types of bets on the Overwatch Champions Series and how to place them
  In this article, we go over the types of bets you can place on the typical Overwatch Champions Series match, based on the betting markets currently available at traditional sportsbooks and esports specialist betting sites – Match Winner/Moneyline, Handicap, Outright Winner, and so on. You can’t exactly expect to win some cash on your favourite team if you don’t understand what outcome you’re wagering on, so this guide is essential for both newbies and experienced punters.
• Weekly Overwatch Champions Series betting tips and power rankings
  Keep an eye out on our news and tips feed for regular match-to-match betting previews, odds, value tips, predictions and any news related to the Overwatch Champions Series by bookmarking www.grivaschess.com or our news section.

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What is Overwatch – for dummies

Overwatch is unlike any game you would have seen from developer Blizzard. This is the studio and video game publisher that has made the likes of World of Warcraft and StarCraft, so a first-person game from that studio seemed incredibly left-field when it was first revealed. Once the betas hit, however, it was clear the game was drowning in Blizzard’s video game DNA.

This is also probably unlike any first-person shooter you have played before. Sure, it takes obvious inspiration from the likes of Team Fortress 2 and a number of other team-based, class-based shooters, but we have never really seen something along those lines with the scope and scale of Overwatch. This is a huge game, and there is no surprise that it has taken off the way it has.

Firstly, the sheer diversity and variation on offer with the characters is unparalleled. Whether you’re watching it casually or checking out the pros, one thing you’ll notice is that players often change characters back and forth during a match, simply to change things up and try to turn a match back in their favour. In one instance they can be controlling a defensive player, and in the next instance they will switch back over to an attack or big, heavy tank character.

Matches play out like your standard multiplayer match: Two teams battle it out for control of an objective. In some matches, one player needs to guide a payload towards an objective, while the other has to stop the payload before it gets to checkpoints scattered throughout the map. With a constant timer and score ticker keeping the action fast, fresh and exciting, Overwatch is a unique sort of first-person shooter that gives the genre an energy shot in the arm (and boy did it need one).

You could easily argue that the game’s popularity in Korea has helped kickstart Overwatch’s push into the eSports scene. There are a few other factors, however. The game is among the most talked about video games on the internet – only the PlayStation 4 was talked about and reported on more in 2016 than Overwatch – and it is also among the most popular on YouTube and Twitch. Throw in a player count of 25 million and, well, you get the jist: Overwatch is a very popular game.

Rarely does a multiplayer game as popular as this not make its way into the competitive scene, but Blizzard would have gone down this route eventually anyway, regardless of whether people were playing it or not. That’s because the game is so staunchly competitive, strategic and tactical that it suits the pro scene perfectly.

That also explains why Overwatch has become so popular in Korea, which many within in the industry consider to be a region that makes or breaks a strategy game’s success in the eSports scene. Overwatch is a shooter first and foremost, but its gameplay depth, character variation and excitement has helped feed into an eSports obsession in Korea that has been crying out for a StarCraft replacement for years.

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How to bet on the Overwatch Champions Series right now?

The official season for the Overwatch Champions Series has started, and many of the world’s most highly-reviewed betting sites such as GG Bet have opened betting markets to take real money bets on the Overwatch Champions Series match winners. It’s safe to say we will be seeing some more competitive betting markets and prop bets open when the season furthers along, especially now that standout teams have had time to shine. Keep this page bookmarked to find the best esports betting sites and markets to place your wagers on your favourite Overwatch Champions Series teams, players and matches, along with more information on the types of bets that will become available.

Helpful esports betting guides and links:

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