Contenders Season One schedule surfaces

Reliable sources have furnished over.gg with a copy of the Contenders Season One Briefing Document issued to competitors. The document outlines the complete event schedule and further specifics regarding to roster and match format.

The introductory paragraph reminds readers that "this document is not final and is subject to change", so you can assume the same disclaimer applies to the content of this article.

Rosters and Spots

The tournament administrators continue by reminding competitors that:

"Week 1 rosters will need to be provided no later than Tuesday, August 15th, at 12:00 PM PDT [21:00 CEST]"

It is not entirely clear if the above deadline is "Roster Lock deadline" also referred to in the same section or if it is only for the purposes of the Week 1 broadcast. However, we do see confirmation that there is a maximum roster size of nine with "six starters and up to three substitutes".

With regards to the hot topic of spot ownership, the document states that:

"Questions or inquiries regarding Overwatch Contenders Season One spot ownership should be brought to the attention of Tournament Administration as soon as possible. Information, processes, and resolutions will be discussed and provided as necessary"

Currently Movistar Riders and Team Liquid are both in possession of spots but lacking Overwatch rosters to fill them. The document provides no indication of who may be taking their places (or how much they might pay for the privilege), but it has been consistently rumoured that GamersOrigin will take the place of Riders. Meanwhile the North American spot has been linked with everyone from NRG to EnVision.

Format

The regular season fixtures will be played out as 4 Game Sets featuring one Control, Hybrid, Assault and Escort map. The opening Control map of each fixture has been predetermined by Blizzard.

Map Pool

Pool 1 - Control: Oasis, Nepal, Lijiang Tower

Pool 2 - Hybrid: King’s Row, Eichenwalde, Numbani

Pool 3 - Assault: Hanamura, Volskaya Industries

Pool 4 - Escort: Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Dorado

Tiebreaker, if needed: Ilios

Horizon Lunar Colony, Temple of Anubis, Route 66 and Hollywood are conspicuous by their absence from the pools.

Schedule

The regular season will take the form of a round robin where each team will play every other team in their region once over a six week period.

Week 1 – August 19th-20th

Week 2 – August 26th-27th

Week 3 – September 1st-3rd

Week 4 – September 8th-10th

Week 5 – September 15th-17th

Week 6 – September 22nd-24th

Week 7 – October 7th-8th

Saturdays and Sundays will play host to two European matches followed two North American matches each day during an eight hour broadcast window.

EU matches from 10:00 PDT / 19:00 CEST / 02:00 KST

NA matches from 14:15 PDT / 23:15 CEST / 06:15 KST

From Week 3 onward Friday broadcasts will alternate between Europe and North America week by week, with two fixtures in a four hour broadcast.

EU matches from 09:00 PDT / 18:00 CEST / 01:00 KST

NA matches from 17:00 PDT / 02:15 CEST / 09:00 KST

The LAN playoffs will be held in Week 7 from October 7th-8th, with more specific details being provided following the conclusion of Week 6.

Once again, all details are subject to change, but we have added the Week 1 fixtures to our Europe and North America event pages to give you a feel for the schedule until the official announcement comes.

Expect to see a flurry of roster changes between now and Tuesday...