Right before the kick off of the Countdown Cup tournament, the Overwatch League announced the ten finalists for the 2020 MVP award. While some of the names were a given, there were some welcome additions and questionable snubs for the list. Overall, though, these are the some of the top players in the league with each and every one having making a case all season for the coveted award.
There are six teams with at least one finalist for the MVP award; the San Francisco Shock, Florida Mayhem, Paris Eternal, Philadelphia Fusion, Guangzhou Charge and Shanghai Dragons. These also represent the top six teams in the league, an understandable position given the talented individuals on their respective rosters. Philly, San Francisco, Shanghai and Guangzhou were able to secure two players each while Florida and Paris each had one player make the list.
Some players on the list looked like favorites early in the season including Jae-hyeok "Carpe" Lee as the used-to-be front runner as well as Jun-woo "Void" Kang from Shanghai and Minki "Viol2t" Park from San Francisco. Some pleasant surprises include Fusion's Kyung-bo "Alarm" Kim who has arguably been not only the best player on his team but the best flex support in the entire league. You love to see Byung-sun "Fleta" Kim get a finalist nod after playing for lackluster teams throughout most of his professional career. Ki-cheol "Cr0ng" Nam also gets some much needed recognition for his outstanding play for the Charge all season.
It's interesting to note that no main support or main tank are represented in the ten finalists. Being delegated to Orisa and Brigitte jail isn't as flashy as some of the other positions that dominate the list, but it is what it is.
Surprisingly, Paris Eternal's Ki-hyo "Xzi" Jung leads the popular vote despite missing a large portion on the season. Fleta and Carpe round out the top three. Carpe looked like the favorite heading into the Countdown Cup tournament, but his almost completely absent showing doesn't bode well for his prospects. It really feels like it's anyone's for the taking. It's gonna be fun to see who ends up hoisting that MVP trophy when it is all said and done.