The Overwatch League grand finals were a storybook sendoff ahead of Overwatch 2

The Shanghai Dragons’ very first Overwatch match was an 0-4 shellacking delivered by the Los Angeles Gladiators in 2018. The team would go on to lose the next 41 straight games — encompassing the entire first season of the league and the first two games of the second season — earning them the dubious honor of having the longest losing streak in esports history. The Shanghai Dragons’ very last Overwatch match of 2021 — and the last professional Overwatch match ahead of the sequel’s launch next year — was a 4-0 beatdown they themselves visited upon the Atlanta Reign to win the 2021 Grand Finals.

It is a long-time fan in-joke to call the Overwatch League “scripted.” Like a TV show, teams are given story arcs, villains and heroes are cast,...

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