Overwatch League Delays Matches by 24 Hours

The Overwatch League delays this weekend’s games by 24 hours, as China issues a national observance on April 4.

As the Overwatch League got back on tracks following its interruption due to the COVID-19 outbreak, fans will have to wait a little longer for this weekend’s matches. China will observe April 4 as a mourning day for coronavirus victims, and therefore cancels all entertainment shows.

With China issuing a national observance on April 4, we are delaying this week's Chinese matches 24 hours. Matches in China will now take place on April 5-6.

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— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) April 3, 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak started in China, more specifically in the Hubei area. As the country slowly recovers from the health crisis, the Chinese government decided to issue a national observance day on April 4. From 10 am, people are asked to observe three minutes of silence, while national and foreign ambassies will lower half their flags.

Public entertainment and TV shows are canceled for this day, to grieve for the 3,322 victims of the coronavirus. To respect this decision, the Overwatch League decided to postpone all games featuring Chinese teams, to let them grieve for the deceased.

Updated Week 9 Schedule

owl changed schedule

The games featuring Shanghai Dragons, Hangzhou Spark and Chengdu Hunters have been rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday. Overwatch League matches in North America remain unchanged.

Week 9 Hero Ban

owl hero pool w9

At the end of Week 8, the Watchpoint team randomly picked four heroes to ban for Week 9. The add more spice to this event – and, hopefully, pick Mei – the team asked a special someone to pick the hero pool. This time, it was not a guest, player, or even a human. Soe Gschwind’s cat, Nori, was the hero of the day and picked which hero to ban for this week.

The heroes banned for Week 9 are: