Overwatch World Cup/All-Star Weekend I OT I

[The_Strokes]

Because pro-Overwatch never stops, after the conclusion of the Overwatch League and most of Contenders regions closing up their season as well, the OWWC kicks off to fill the void!

Let's get the basics first: the Top 24 teams from across the World are divided in four qualifying groups that'll see the top 2 from each qualifier earn a spot to participate in the Finals at Blizzcon in November.

Each group stage will be played throughout August and September with our first stop being in South Korea, starting TODAY!

INCHEON QUALIFIER (August 16th-19th)

Teams:
South Korea

• Pan-Seung "Fate" Koo (LA Valiant)
• Tae-Hong "Meko" Kim (NYXL)
• Jong-Ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park (NYXL)
• Hae-Seong "Libero" Kim (NYXL)
• Seong-Hyun "Jjonak" Kim (NYXL)
• Yeon-Jun "Ark" Hong (NYXL)
• Sub: Jae-Hyeok "Carpe" Lee (Philadelphia Fusion)

This year's team for defending champs South Korea is 71.43% NYXL, an obviously very talented team that nevertheless had a hard time adjusting to the new meta heading into the Overwatch League playoffs. And now they have to deal with the hamster! But if anyone can do it, it's basically-the-NYXL (feat. Fate and Carpe), but they'll need to come in like a Meko-ball to silence the doubters.

Russia

• Denis "Tonic" Rulev (Contenders EU: Bazooka Puppies)
• Ilia "Txao" Makarov (Contenders EU: CIS Hope)
• Stanislav "Mistakes" Danilov (Boston Uprising)
• Aleksandr "MayN" Katarskii (Contenders EU: CIS Hope)
• Andrey "Engh" Sholokhov (Contenders EU: CIS Hope)
• George "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha (Philadelphia Fusion)
• Sub: Andrei "uNFixed" Leonov (Contenders EU: CIS Hope)

The Overwatch League's only two Russians, DPS players Mistakes and ShaDowBurn, will be protected by a roster that is mostly CIS Hope, who are in the top tier of Contenders Europe this season. Although ShaDowBurn didn't see play time in the Overwatch League Grand Finals, CIS Hope captain Engh will have to steel himself to shot-call for his hyper-experienced DPS duo.

Finland

• Joona "Fragi" Laine (Philadelphia Fusion)
• Joonas "Zappis" Alakurtti (Florida Mayhem)
• Jonas "Shaz" Souvaara (LA Gladiators)
• Benjamin "BigGoose" Isohanni (LA Gladiators)
• Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin (Houston Outlaws)
• Timo "Taimou" Kettunen (Dallas Fuel)
• Sub: Tuomo "Davin" Leppänen (Contenders EU: Team Gigantti)

Who knew that a country of around 5.5 million people could produce so many Overwatch League professionals? Team Finland is a complete revival of the 2017 incarnation of Team Gigantti, who won Season Zero of Overwatch Contenders Europe, with the addition of Taimou, who was a part of the famous APEX Season 1–winning EnVyUs squad. They'll try to prove that great things can happen when old friends who developed competitively together combine once again.

Japan

• Sean "ta1yo" Henderson (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)
• Kazuki "SamuraiD" Nouno (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)
• Kaito "kenmohororo" Yoshida (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)
• Ryoma "Sabagod" Tsuji (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)
• Takahiro "CLAIRE" Watanabe (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)
• Kenji "AmeKen" Hisano (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)
• Sub: Yuuma "dep" Hashimoto (Contenders PAC: CYCLOPS)

This Japanese squad, comprised entirely of CYCLOPS players, came up through the Path to Pro program. After finishing first in Season 2 of Pacific's Open Division, they placed third in Trials to be promoted into Contenders. And they have been killing it. As of publication, they are undefeated in a league that features five all-Korean teams, which is nothing to sneeze at. Team Japan shocked the world with their performance in last year's Overwatch World Cup, only just missing out on a spot at BlizzCon after finishing first in their group over Finland and Spain. They're the dark horse of Incheon.

Chinese Taipei

• Wei-Teng "kant" Kao
• Chao-Hua "ATing" Chen (Contenders PAC: Hong Kong Attitude)
• Jing-Han "TenTen" Liao (Contenders PAC: Hong Kong Attitude)
• Keng-Yu "ShaiuLin" Lin (Contenders PAC: Hong Kong Attitude)
• Shiao-Chin "Craz1S" Wei (Contenders PAC: Nova Esports)
• Ruei-jhou "OYO" Gao (Contenders PAC: Nova Esports)
• Sub: Erh-Fu "BLUE" Kao (Contenders PAC: Nova Esports)

With a mix of players from two middle-of-the-table Contenders Pacific teams, it could be said that Team Chinese Taipei are in the lower tier of competitors at Incheon. That said, the Hong Kong Attitude players have a lot of experience in the Pacific region, having participated in both Overwatch Pacific Championship tournaments in 2017 and finishing in fourth place each time. Nova Esports also rose into Contenders Pacific via the Path to Pro system, and although they haven't been faring as well as the Team Japan roster of CYCLOPS, they are maintaining a respectable record in a respectable pack.

Hong Kong

• Kin-Long "ManGoJai" Wong (Contenders PAC: Hong Kong Attitude)
• Ka-Chung "GZQQ" Wong
• Chi-Yeung "Moowe" Yip (Contenders PAC: Hong Kong Attitude)
• Tsz-Kit "Mikouw" Wan (Contenders PAC: Hong Kong Attitude)
• Chung-Ching "JazZy" Pak (Contenders China: LGD Gaming)
• Chan-Yuan "YiWind" Ho
• Sub: Cheuk-Pang "AmCrazy" Lai

SCHEDULE:

Day 1-2 (August 16h-17th):

• Russia vs Hong Kong I 8:00PM PDT
• South Korea vs Chinese Taipei I 9:45:PM PDT
• Hong Kong vs Finland I 11:30PM PDT
• Russia vs Japan I 1:15AM PDT
• South Korea vs Finland I 3:00AM PDT
• Hong Kong vs South Korea I 20:00PM PDT
• Japan vs Chinese Taipei I 21:45PM PDT
• Russia vs Finland I 23:30PM PDT

WHERE TO WATCH:

Overwatch's Twitch Stream

MORE INFO WILL BE ADDED

Thank you, Solidsnakejej for the quick recap.

 

[Javier]

Yeah!, thx for the thread. The match between Hong Kong and Russia is a complete mess xD

 

[Hardvlade]

oh shit! Didn't know this was going on. Thank you for the thread! tuning in now.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/overwatch-world-cup-live-now-ot.62509/