In the 2020 Overwatch League season, things have been changing frequently. This is to nobody’s surprise, as this year has changed almost everyone’s plans to an extent. However, with this season coming to a close starting September 3, the League has introduced a new way for players on every team to have a chance to win prizes. In this case, the prizes are brand new shoes courtesy of popular seller Bait. All that is necessary from players is unlocking some achievements.
The Overwatch League has announced so-called “sneaker bonuses,” a checklist of achievements that any player can attempt to do first (or just fastest) to win said sneakers. While hard to accomplish, these goals aren’t necessary on the way to a championship. This means players of all teams have equal opportunity to win some new kicks to end the season if they can’t win it all.
Achievement unlocked
But what exactly are these accomplishments? Well, as it states on the official website, it varies mostly on which role you play. For example, there are some obvious achievements, such as the infamous “Fleta Deadlift,” the insane accomplishment of having half or more of your team’s final blows in a map you win. This one, much like most of these achievements, only applies to the first two players who complete it. Another obvious one is the damage role bonuses for accomplishing the best final blows per 10 minutes or the best eliminations per 10 minutes.
But then, it leads to more rare bonuses. One bonus that is very interesting is the support bonus of leading your entire team in damage for a map. Another is the extremely rare tank bonus of landing a Reinhardt ultimate on at least five opponents. Either way, these bonuses make the playoffs a little more fun as well as interesting.
Lose for shoes?
While this idea might seem silly from a competition perspective, the ideas are out there. As this new addition to the postseason was announced, many players reacted to it on Twitter in their own ways. For example, here is Houston Outlaws DPS player Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang mentioning what some of us thought.
who tryna to bait the entire team for least deaths and a pair of sneakers
— Jeffrey Tsang (@blaseOW) September 2, 2020
There is a very small chance that if a team realizes that they can’t win a game, they might just try to get an achievement done and at least get some nice shoes on their way out. Toronto Defiant main tank Seb “Numlocked” Barton also mentioned this idea.
i will lose a map if it means getting an achievement https://t.co/WXimuMhOzT
— Seb Barton (@numlocked) September 2, 2020
Now, there is almost no chance this actually happens in these final playoffs, as every team that has a shot to the finals will try their best to get there. As we learned in the first season of the Overwatch League, sometimes the season doesn’t matter as much as your form and knowledge of the meta. Look up London Spitfire’s season one performance for that proof. But, some comedic or just pure shock moments could arrive this postseason out of one small change. And for all we know, maybe one team is looking to be a completionist. A team might try to get all these achievements before any other team does. We’ll have to wait and see if any sneaky sneaker shenanigans occur this postseason.
