Another big name in eSports production is entering the fray of competitive Overwatch as Beyond the Summit touch down with a $10,000 prize pool for the best teams in North American to fight over. BTS are best known as a pillar of the Dota 2 eSports scene, but have been expanding their horizons in 2016 with tournament offerings for Super Smash Bros. Melee and now Overwatch.

They teased us on Twitter three days ago, but their announcement today was the proverbial Full Monty with invited teams, coverage, tournament structure and the all-important cash prize revealed.

Overwatch Cup by Beyond the Summit

"We hope you enjoy our first step into FPS esports because we’ve got a lot more in store!"

Two double elimination feeder cups featuring eight invited teams will run on the weekends of July 9th-10th and 23rd-24th. Top two teams from each cup will progress to the main event; a third and final four team cash money cup on the weekend of August 6th-7th where the $10,000 purse will be contested for your entertainment.

Invited Teams

  • EnVyUs
  • Cloud9
  • Luminosity Gaming
  • Splyce
  • Northern Gaming Red
  • Team Liquid
  • Code 7
  • 1SHOT

With two more spots opening up for the second weekend cup, nubris seem like obvious candidates, but who deserves that second spot? The big brand power of FaZe or the team that knocked them out of the first Atlantic Showdown Qualifier Selfless Gaming, or maybe even a top European team? Time will tell.

Coverage

Things are kicking off in a mere matter of hours later today, Saturday 9th July, with Josh "AskJoshy" Sutherland, James "JetSetJamerson" Lee and Tom "Tsquared" Taylor taking you on an eight hour broadcast journey on twitch.tv/beyondthesummit from 11AM PDT / 2PM EDT / 8PM CEST.

Ruleset

Although the official announcement is light on some of the crucial details, our friends at Liquipedia have you covered for the specifics:

  • All games will be played using the “Competitive” ruleset with no sudden death.
  • Heroes will be restricted to one of each per team.
  • Stopwatch will determine the result of successful escorts/assaults on mirrored maps. The Competitive distance tracker will determine the result of failed escorts on mirrored maps.
  • For assault (and hybrid before payload unlocks), the winner will be determined first by points unlocked, then by point ticks. If teams end on the same tick, a Bo1 KotH map will be used to determine the result.
  • Control maps will be Bo5.
  • The cups will feature a double elimination bracket with Bo3 map mirrors until the finals (WB and LB final will be Bo5). The top two teams from the first two cups will advance to a third 4-team cup to compete for the $10,000 prize pool.