Five burning questions for the Overwatch World Cup finals

It’s been a long, but highly entertaining, third edition of the Overwatch World Cup. After months of practice and scintillating play, just eight teams are left as the knockout stage takes place this weekend at BlizzCon.

We started off in Incheon, South Korea, where the Group A hosts and reigning back-to-back champions bled for the first time but, as always, emerged from the chaos with first place in their clutches.

Finland also came out of that group with a BlizzCon ticket and, having taken two maps off the all-conquerors, will have all eyes on them in the quarter-finals.

The USA and Canada breezed through the Group B qualifiers in Los Angeles – but will that walk in the park serve as a much-needed confidence boost, or will the lack of a true test be their undoing?

There are plenty of questions to be asked of Group C’s qualifiers too. China topped the group undefeated, but had to use the fifth map in three of those wins – how good are they, really?

Australia may caused an upset to punch their ticket – but are they really giant-killers, or is that all they had in them?

Lastly, it will be France the UK looking to shake off suggestions they came through a ‘soft’ group with a big statement at the Blizzard Arena.

We’ll be in for a thrilling ride no matter what, let’s have a look at how the finals will shape up.

Overwatch World Cup – Knockout Stage

Knockout Stage schedule

All dates and times AEDT

Five burning questions

1) Can anyone beat South Korea?
Unlike previous years, the answer to this one is actually a yes.

For context, to call South Korea the All Blacks of the Overwatch world would be an insult – they have simply been untouchable over the journey.

They won the first world cup without dropping a single map and, despite a strong challenge from the USA, breezed through much of 2017’s tourney too.

But this year, things are different. Whether it’s Overwatch League allowing a higher number of players to practice against Korean teams more regularly, or just the rest of the world catching up, the double-champions look vulnerable for the first time ever.

In Group A, they were pushed to a fifth and final map for the first time by Finland who, while definitely being one of the strongest nations, aren’t someone many people expected to be serious challenger this year.

But, such is the depth of the Korean squad, they’re bringing a host of different players to BlizzCon – with new strategies to boot, no doubt.

So while South Korea can be beaten, whether they will be beaten is another story…

2) How well will Australia do?
Australia have already surpassed expectations by qualifying for BlizzCon, after their incredible efforts in Thailand saw them knock off Sweden to sneak past both them and Denmark as Group C runners-up.

Their strong performance in a losing effort against China is probably a sign they’re capable of taking down some of the other teams here but, unfortunately, they’ve been drawn to play South Korea in their quarter-final.

The Koreans do look vulnerable this year, but not that vulnerable. Taking just the one map off their opponents would be a monumental achievement for an Australian team who, at the time of writing, still only boast the one Overwatch League player on their list.

If they can do that, they will have achieved far more than anyone expects of them.

If they win? Well, anything would be possible from there.

3) Who’s the weakest group winner?
We had our fair share of surprises throughout the group stages, although it has to be said the four group winners were as expected.

So, who out of the USA, South Korea, France or China is the most likely to trip up against a runner-up?

Well, it’s certainly not the first two.

France’s form throughout Group D was sublime, with the hosts winning all five of their matches with a map score of 19-2 – equal-best with Korea.

But, it’s undeniable that group was the weakest of the four and, while I’m not suggesting France aren’t good or don’t deserve their spot in the playoffs, you’d comfortably pick any of the other three in a match against them.

I actually think they’ll have a tough time against last year’s runners-up Canada, while China are also a very good chance of getting upset by Finland.

4) What are the tastiest potential finals?
Unfortunately, the nature of random brackets means we won’t get the USA-South Korea grand final we’ve always dreamed of, with those sides set to face off in a semi-final presuming they both get through.

Should the USA get past the Koreans in the semi, however, they could be set to tackle Canada in what would be one of the most spirited esports finals ever contested. A China-USA final would also prove a talking point, as would an All-Asian affair between Korea and China.

As unlikely as it is, the UK and France could clash for the second time this tournament in the semi-finals and – unlikelier still – we could get The Ashes kicked off early with an Australia-UK final.

My prediction, however, is a rematch of last year’s decider between South Korea and Canada.

5) Who’s auditioning for Overwatch League?
Arguably the most interesting subplot to the whole weekend is the fact that six of the eight new Overwatch League teams are looking to get their rosters locked in for next season – and there’ll be plenty of talent on display for them to shop from.

While it’s likely Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou’s (as of yet unnamed) teams will pick largely from the untapped Chinese scene, there’s still spots on Toronto, Vancouver and Washington’s rosters seemingly available.

The recent signing of New Zealand’s Colourhex (Kelsey Birse) by Boston proves league teams have their nets cast wider than Korea – so there’s more than just prize money to play for here.

Most of the Australian team will be putting their best foot forward, with tank mains Trill (Ashley Powell) and Punk (Leyton Gilchrist) probably our country’s best chances. Don’t sleep on the rest of the team, however, with Ckm (Felix Murray), Akraken (Dario Falcao-Rassokha) and Hus (Huseyin Sahin) all showing glimpses in the group stage.

For Canada, controversial tank xQc (Felix Lengyel) will be hoping for a lifeline, while XL2 Academy’s Mangachu (Liam Campbell) would likely be on someone’s radar.

China are the enigma in this regard, with many of their players – notably guxue (Xu Qiulin) and leave (Huang Xin) – already proving beyond doubt they should be playing at the Blizzard Arena next season too.

Bracket prediction

Quarter-finals
USA def. UK
France def. by Canada
China def. by Finland
South Korea def. Australia

Semi-finals
USA def. by South Korea
Canada def. Finland

Final
South Korea def. Canada