Overwatch League: Summer Showdown Details, Map Pool, And Start Date

The Overwatch League unveiled all the details of its Summer Showdown tournament.


Shanghai Dragons just won the June Joust tournament, after their second place in the May Melee tournament. Following the end of this tournament, the Overwatch League unveils the details of the third competition of its 2021 season: the Summer Showdown tournament.

No more hero pools

The hero pools were always a polarizing matter in the Overwatch League. On one hand, it forced teams to change their composition, as four heroes were banned from the entire tournament. On the other hand, these hero pools forced new metas, recreating the problem they were supposed to solve.

The Overwatch League took a measure for the Summer Showdown 2021 tournament: they entirely remove hero pools from the competition. All heroes will be available during the Summer Showdown tournament.

Unlike the June Joust tournament, the Summer Showdown will take into consideration the changes brought by Patch 1.60.1. The main changes affected Baptiste, Echo, McCree, Moira, Reaper, and Zarya.

Trade deadline

During the Overwatch League season, teams can trade players to form the best crew possible. The 2021 season trade will close on July 29 at 6 p.m. PT, just before the start of the Countdown Cup tournament. After this date, teams will no longer be able to make any trades for the rest of the season.

This deadline is only for players’ trades and does not affect the capacity of teams to sign new players throughout the season.

Summer Showdown Map Pool

The map pool for the Summer Showdown tournament qualifiers and finals is as follows:

  • Control: Busan, Ilios, Lijiang Tower, Nepal, Oasis
  • Escort: Junkertown, Route 66, Watchpoint: Gibraltar
  • Assault: Hanamura, Temple of Anubis, Volskaya Industries
  • Hybrid: Eichenwalde, Hollywood, King’s Row

Summer Showdown Qualifier Start Date

The Summer Showdown tournament will begin on June 25 at noon PT and 3 p.m. ET. The first match of these qualifiers will see London Spitfire face Paris Eternal.