Best Overwatch Players in 2023: Who Are The Top Overwatch Players?

The Overwatch League is home to the best Overwatch players, and for the past few years, they’ve competed to become the very best. With the OWL 2023 season ongoing, we’ve gathered our picks for the top 10 best Overwatch players below.

Typically, the discussion regarding ‘who is the best Overwatch player‘ is always a subjective one. While skill and context definitely come into play, there is one metric which remains constant at every event – prize pool.

Moreover, the best players in Overwatch will likely attend more prestigious tournaments where the prize pools will be higher. Therefore, more wins at more important events yield better overall esports earnings.

The Best Overwatch Players in 2023

Especially considering how different Overwatch 2 has been, these rankings are only a suggestion of what these Overwatch pro players are capable of. For this list we’ve used the publically available database at Esports Earnings tracking earnings at Overwatch tournaments.

Also worth noting is that we’re only taking a look at active Overwatch Players – later in this discussion we’ll also be taking a look at the best Overwatch Player of All-Time!

Rank	Name	Overall Earnings
1	Myeong "smurf" Yoo	$355,350
2	Kim "Rascal" Dong Jun	$344,275
3	Park "Viol2t" Min Ki	$342,067
4	Kwon "Striker" Nam Joo	$335,590
5	Kang "Void" Jun Woo	$316,851
6	Lee "Twilight" Joo Seok	$300,558
7	Park "Profit" Joon-yeong	$295,300
8	Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun	$292,694
9	Kim "IZaYaKI" Min-chul	$289,046
10	Lee "LeeJaeGon" Jae-gon	$280,592

1. Yoo “smurf” Myeong-hwan (Boston Uprising)

Kicking off our list is one of the best players in Overwatch whose achievements will set a common theme in this top 10 list of best Overwatch Players.

Thanks to his successful time at San Francisco Shock, he has been crowned a World Champion twice.

In addition, what helped propel him to his number one spot, has been his performance on Seoul Dynasty in the past two years too. Currently signed on Boston Uprising, this legendary Tank still seems hungry to win more and continue being one of the top Overwatch players of all-time and now one of the best Overwatch 2 players.

• Earnings: $355,350
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2019 Playoffs, OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Finals, OWL 2022 Kickoff Clash

2. Kim “rascal” Dong-jun (Dallas Fuel Coach)

Although coming in at fifth place on our list of the best Overwatch players, Kim “rascal” Dong-jun has achieved what no other player has.

Yes, apart from his contributions to helping San Francisco Shock dominate the Overwatch League for two years, his retirement led to a coaching opportunity like no other.

Helping Dallas Fuel achieve a World Championship last season, he’s the only individual to win the World Championship three times – twice as a player, once as a coach. Undoubtedly, one of the best players in Overwatch and a contender to be one of the best players in Overwatch 2.

• Earnings: $344,275
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Finals, OWL 2019 Playoffs. (As coach – 1st at OWL 2022 Playoffs)

3. Park “Viol2t” Min-Ki (Houston Outlaws)

While Tanks were considered the essential role back in the original Overwatch, Overwatch 2 places more of an importance on Support.

As one of the best Support players in Overwatch, Park “Viol2t” Min-Ki is a star-studded veteran whose claim to fame is once again, thanks to success found at San Francisco Shock.

Departing last month, his new role on Houston Outlaws will be a great test to see if this player can perform in a new organization.

• Earnings: $342,067
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Finals, OWL 2019 Playoffs, OWL 2020 Countdown Cup

4. Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo (Boston Uprising)

This is the last San Francisco Shock player on this list – we promise.

In seventh place on our best Overwatch players list, Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo is a two-time World Championship who has his own individual accomplishments up his sleeve.

Namely, his first season in 2017 on Boston Uprising was one which featured an MVP performance, allowing the organization to go a full stage with zero defeats. Since 2022, the veteran returned to Boston Uprising, hungry to win again.

• Earnings: $335,590
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Finals, OWL 2019 Playoffs, OWL 2020 Countdown Cup

5. Kang “Void” Jun-woo (Seoul Dynasty)

Another top Overwatch organization with a decorated legacy is Shanghai Dragons. Crowned as World Champions back in 2021, one key player enabling this success was none other than Kang “Void” Jun-woo.

Despite officially retiring in 2022, Seoul Dynasty announced the signing of the veteran earlier this month ahead of the 2023 season – we can’t wait to witness his return to the limelight and perhaps rise to being one of the best Overwatch 2 players.

• Earnings: $316,851
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2021 Playoffs, OWL 2021 June Joust, OWL 2022 Summer Showdown

6. Lee “Twilight” Joo-seok (Boston Uprising)

Playing for a number of OWL franchises across his interesting career, Lee “Twilight” Joo-seok has proven to be a truly flexible player.

Winning a World Championship with San Francisco Shock, achievements also streamed in thanks to his time at Vancouver Titans and Toronto Defiant.

Heading into 2023, he’ll be joining a few other veterans on Boston Uprising, rumoured to be the best players in Overwatch 2.

• Earnings: $300,558
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2020 Playoffs Grand Final, OWL 2019 Stage 1 Playoffs

7. Park “Profit” Joon-yeong (Seoul Dynasty)

In 2023, very few players are those who have been present since the very beginning of the Overwatch League. 

One such example is Park “Profit” Joon-yeong, who is known for multiple achievements in his career. Apart from being the first player to ever reach 10,000 total eliminations in the Overwatch League, he’s known for partnering with Gesture, who’s now retired.

Since winning the Inaugural Season Playoffs with London Spitfire, he has stayed loyal to Seoul Dynasty, win as recently as 2022 – earning his spot as one of the best Overwatch players. 

• Earnings: $295,300
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2022 Kickoff Clash, Inaugural Season Playoffs, APAC Premier 2017

8. Kim “Fleta” Byung-sun (Shanghai Dragons)

A player who also spent a considerably amount of time at Seoul Dynasty is Kim “Fletya” Byung-sun. However, he’s much better known for his impressive streak with Shanghai Dragons as they cruised through the 2020 and 2021 seasons. 

As a World Champion from 2021, he remains on the team of Shanghai Dragons, continuing to breath fire into his career.

• Earnings:$292,694
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2021 Playoffs, OWL 2022 Summer Showdown, OWL 2020 Countdown Cup

9. Kim “IZaYaKI” Min-chul (Boston Uprising)

Competing under Shanghai Dragons and forming part of their impressive run since 2019, Kim “IZaYaKI” Min-Chul’s career is taking a turn with Boston Uprising, being one of the best players in Overwatch. 

Besides a number of veterans on Boston Uprising this season, he looks to replicate the success he found on Shanghai Dragons, where he was crowned the 2021 World Champion, as a Role Star Support player. 

Notably, many of the best Overwatch streamers have highlighted how deadly Boston Uprising look this year.

• Earnings:$289,046
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2022 Summer Showdown, OWL 2021 Playoffs, OWL 2021 June Joust

10. Lee “LeeJaeGon” Jae-gon (Boston Uprising)

Rounding off our list, we have a veteran with a similar story to the previous entry.

Also competing with Shanghai Dragons, one of the best Overwatch teams between 2019 and 2022, Lee “LeeJaeGon” Jae-gon shared in the effort and the glory of such an impressive run.

In addition, to this day, this veteran is respected for being one of the few to climb through Overwatch Contenders before securing himself a spot in the Overwatch League – we can’t wait to see what the future holds for this player.

• Earnings:$280,592
• Best Achievements: 1st at OWL 2022 Summer Showdown, OWL 2021 Playoffs, OWL 2021 Summer Showdown

Who is the best Overwatch Player of All Time?

A classic question for any esports scene – who is the best Overwatch player of all-time?

Naturally, such an open-ended and subjective question yields quite a number of answers from the community. For such questions, there are varying criteria for what it takes to be the ‘best’ – perhaps the number of event wins, total prize earnings or simply their effect on the community.

Regardless, there are a number of names which always crop up when discussing this topic, let’s take a look at the usual suspects:

• Jehong “ryujehong” Ryu – respecting for his wins in the early APEX Championships, his support role also earned him a total of two back-to-back Overwatch World Cup wins. Retiring a few seasons ago, he remains active in the community as a content creator and a contender for the best there ever was.
• Joon-yeong “Profit” Park – apart from being one of the best Tracer players of all-time with record-breaking DPS performances, he is one of the most popular faces in the scene thanks to his incredible performances both before and in the inaugural year of the Overwatch League. He competes alongside other players such as Gesture respected as the best Overwatch players of all-time.
• Jong-ryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park – is another notable name associated with both his time on OGN, weird hero picks and dominating the first season of the Overwatch League until retiring in 2021. As one of the early investors in competitive Overwatch, Saebyeolbe is respected as one of the best to ever do it in the community.

Those are just three examples of players respected to be the best Overwatch Players of All-Time. Of course, there are many other contenders, all with different roles both in-game and outside the game to help bring competitive Overwatch to its current state.

Who is the best female Overwatch Player?

With the Overwatch League being open to female Overwatch Players, only a handful have left an impact on the scene.

If we were to offer our pick for the best female Overwatch Player, it would have to be none other than Gabriela “Win98” Vieira.

In her short career of two years, the talented player showed up in a big way in Tier 2 Overwatch, being the first ever female player to win Overwatch Contenders and prove that female players can compete with the rest.

In addition, she was nominated for the 2019 Brazil Esports Award for Best Overwatch Player to celebrate this achievement. Although retiring since then, her achievements resulted in steps forward for female Overwatch esports.

What percentage of players are Masters in Overwatch?

Do you think you have what it takes to compete with the best of the best?

One way to figure this out is by taking a look at your rank and whether or not you fall in the top 2 ranks – Master or Grandmaster. Here’s how the percentage of players are split into these rankings:

• Master – 3% of players
• Grandmasters – 1% of players

Only 4% of players are at least Masters in Overwatch 2. If you’re ranked that high, it might be time to compete.

Conclusion

Now with Overwatch 2 being the new title, we’ll be curious to see which players rise to become the best Overwatch 2 players.

So, would we say that Overwatch is dying? Well, with a brand new title, a new season format and a list of the best Overwatch 2 players which is constantly changing, we have high hopes for 2023.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment