Here you can read about Blizzards big esports IP, Overwatch, and how and what to think about when betting on Overwatch. Along with betting tips, odds comparison as well as which betting sites are the best for Overwatch betting.

About the game

Overwatch was released mid-2016, developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It’s a class based first person shooter where two teams of six players each fight to win more maps than the enemy team.

From day one Blizzard were adamant about Overwatch’s competitive capabilities, and that’s been proven by them organizing Overwatch League. Currently, it’s the biggest tournament in the Overwatch esports scene and so far has consistently brought over 100,000 concurrent viewers each play day. And with that a rise of good Overwatch betting opportunities!

Esport rules

The current rulesets vary between tournaments. Overwatch League ruleset makes teams play one map from each game mode in every match, which guarantees at least four maps per match, with a possibility of a fifth one in case of a map score draw. The tiebreaker is always a control map, due to them being impossible to draw.

Other tournaments use either round-robin system, randomized brackets or group systems. The map choices also varies between tournaments. Where some tournaments have a pre-set map pool and some allow teams to pick and ban maps.

Overwatch as an esport consists of four game modes:

Assault (2CP)

– Each map has two points that Team A (attackers) need to capture and Team B (defenders) need to defend. At the beginning attackers have four minutes to capture the first point. If they manage to do that, they get additional four minutes to capture the second point. After the timer runs out or the attacking team captures both points the roles are reversed so that team A defends and team B attacks. If both teams finish the map with time left over, they get more chances to attack using their remaining time, starting with the team with less time left.

Maps: Temple of Anubis, Hanamura, Horizon Lunar Colony, Volskaya Industries

Hybrid

– Rules are very similar to assault, however instead of two points that need to be captured/defended there is one point, which enables a payload that the attacking team needs to push to the end of the map. Attackers have four minutes to capture the first point, if they do so successfully they get another two and a half minutes to push the payload to a checkpoint which grants yet another one and a half minutes for a total of eight minutes to finish the map, granted that the attackers can capture all the checkpoints.

Maps: Blizzard World, Eichenwalde, Hollywood, King’s Row, Numbani

Escort (payload)

– Similar to hybrid. With the exception that attackers instantly have access to the payload. They start with four minutes, the first checkpoint grants additional two and a half minutes and the second checkpoint adds one and a half minute to the timer.

Maps: Dorado, Junkertown, Route 66, Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Control (king of the hill)

– Each map from this game mode has three separate stages. Each stage is a mirrored arena; sides are symmetrical so there are no attackers or defenders. The teams spawn on the opposite sides of the stage, with a control point in the middle. The control point is unlocked after 30 seconds after teams being let out of their spawn. This is when the point opens for either team to capture. After capture, the team in control will be earning percentage at the rate of 1% every 1.2 seconds. Once a team reaches 100% they are the winners of the stage. Each control map is played in the best-of-three format, where a team has to win two stages to win the map.

Maps: Ilios, Lijiang Tower, Nepal, Oasis

Betting difficulties

Because of how punishing Overwatch can be in terms of mistakes and misplays, games can be decided by very small factors. One play can turn the tides of an entire series. Due to that Overwatch results have a higher than usual volatility, however, in most cases the favourites are still the ones to win a series. Upsets are still possible though, because of the reasons presented before. Especially so in Overwatch league due to the big rosters of the teams.

Another difficulty is actually finding betting sites that offer Overwatch betting. But we are here to help you find those who do!