February 12, 2026
Overwatch esports has come a long way in including women and marginalized genders at a scale never seen before. The clearest example in 2025 was the Calling All Heroes Circuit, which identified talent across five competitive stages before culminating in a flagship Championship with a $28,000 prize pool.
Calling All Heroes has always existed for a purpose bigger than just crowning winners. It was founded to give women and marginalized genders a space to compete at a high level in Overwatch esports, and 2025 was the year that mission found its most complete expression yet.
Rather than a single sprint, the season unfolded as a layered path: Spring and Summer splits, Academy brackets, a Last Chance Qualifier, and finally the Championship, each offering teams chances to grow, adapt, and prove they belonged.
That layered structure didn’t just make the season longer; it made it meaningful.
A look back at the CAH 2025 circuit
Looking back now, the story of CAH 2025 isn’t in a single highlight reel moment so much as in the steady arcs. The season’s story really began below the spotlight, with CAH Academy. Academy events weren’t designed to crown stars overnight; they existed to sharpen fundamentals, build team structure, and give newer rosters meaningful match experience without immediate championship pressure.
By the time Academy teams graduated into Challenger-level play, the difference was visible. Rotations were cleaner. Ult tracking was tighter.
The Spring Stage Finals kicked things off with Avidity CAH taking first place, sweeping ExO: Sakura 3-0 and punching their ticket to the Championship early. Behind them, DhillDucks rounded out the top three, showing just how deep the field had become.
That was the first real glimpse of how CAH 2025 allowed B-tier teams to display the kind of discipline and coordination usually associated with S-tier events. That level didn’t appear overnight. Many of the players on those rosters have been grinding since Calling All Heroes first launched in 2022, and the payoff is finally being seen on the server.
Summer didn’t shift the narrative entirely, but it reinforced it. Teams that learned from Spring came back sharper, and the competition tightened. It didn’t end there. Teams who tried their best, but couldn’t make the cut, were given yet another chance at The Last Chance Qualifier in October of 2025.
The Last Chance Qualifier later in the year gave squads one final shot to knock on the big door, forcing contenders into high-pressure matches that felt like previews of the Championship itself. This was the stage that showed just how popular CAH 2026 had become in the last four years. OW_Esports broadcasts averaged roughly 6,000–8,000 concurrent viewers during early LCQ rounds, with peaks surpassing 10,000 concurrent viewers during elimination and qualification-deciding matches.
By the time the eight-team Championship rolled around in December, this wasn’t just a tournament; it was a proving ground. And NMTR Eclipse emerged as the team that’d turned that development into victory, carrying through consistent play and clutch decision-making to lift the season’s biggest prize.
Events across the 2025 CAH season
- CAH Academy
- Served as the primary development layer, visibly closing the skill gap between new rosters and established Challenger teams by the time Spring began.
- Calling All Heroes Spring 2025
- Featured an $8,000 prize pool and produced the season’s first major statement win, with Avidity CAH sweeping ExO: Sakura 3–0 to secure early Championship qualification.
- Calling All Heroes Summer 2025
- Raised competitive pressure with another prize-backed split, forcing Spring frontrunners to adapt as the field tightened and consistency became non-negotiable.
- Calling All Heroes Last Chance Qualifier
- Delivered the circuit’s most-watched non-Championship phase, with OW_Esports broadcasts averaging 6,000–8,000 concurrent viewers and peaks surpassing 10,000 during elimination matches.
- Calling All Heroes 2025 Championship
- The season finale featured a $28,000 prize pool and capped the year with NMTR Eclipse winning the title, validating a roster shaped across the full circuit rather than a single breakout run.
Beyond the trophies and titles, what sticks is how many stories were woven into the season. Teams didn’t just show up once and disappear; they learned, adjusted, and grew. Community favorites made breakthroughs. Dark horses popped up in the playoffs. GC’s Academy events offered teams a place to refine without pressure.
When the final map was played and the trophy raised, CAH 2025 didn’t feel like an endpoint; it felt like proof. Proof that this circuit can sustain competitive growth year after year, and proof that giving space, structure, and chance to underrepresented players isn’t just good in principle, it makes better competition.
People will remember this season not because of a single match, but because it joined all the matches together into something that mattered.