A Day of Upsets
The Overwatch World Cup Quarterfinals are in the books. It has been an incredible day of Overwatch action. A day that was marked not just by the desk shenanigans, but by upsets as well. Over 98,000 viewers on Twitch were watching at the beginning of a day that showed the best Overwatch players in the world fighting with everything they had.
United States vs. United Kingdom
The United States were not only the clear favorite in this matchup, but there was a strong case for them to take the cup. All of it is gone now in wake of the Three Lion’s from the United Kingdom. They started off strong enough. An absolutely dominate performance on Ilios let the USA take map one. They continued with a strong defense on King’s Row, practically keeping the UK in spawn after they’d unlocked the payload. They’d lose the map however, being unable to do better then they’re opponents when it was their turn to attack.
After the half the game went to Volskaya Industries. Here is where things really began to fall apart for the US. In the fourth round they had both a massive time bank, and the UK had only added a single point. They had more than enough time to take both points, but it just didn’t happen. The British stalled them out and won their second map.
The last game was on Route 66 and it was the exact opposite of earlier. The British team came out strong. They moved like a speeding train straight through the map to the finish, barely being stopped by the United States. On attack the Americans looked just bad. They were held all over the map and each time the clock ticked off more time they didn’t have. They failed to finish the map, and now they’re out of the tournament.
France vs. Canada
xQc was the man of the hour. Highlighted by both teams and the analyst desk, who gave out the Tank players old stuff. The crowd was excited, with screaming fans of both teams. The energy rivaled that of the France Group stage and I felt it even watching at home.
The 3-0 win here for team Canada doesn’t do this match justice. A look at the map record will tell you the real story. Canada won this match but the French team made them fight for it. Starting off on Busan, the newest map in the game, the fight went across all three parts of the map. On each segment both teams held the center, each having to take it from their opponent to secure each point.
On Eichenwalde France began the attack. They charged into the first point and with a pick on the Canadian Mercy in the first attack they unlocked the payload. The Canadians made the rest of the push difficult though. Though they secured the second point, France had bled too much to finish the map. Canada was able to get the payload further on their attack without a problem.
Map three took us to Egypt. This Temple of Anubis went the distance, and then some. The Canadians held the French team for a long time at the first point. Just like on Eichenwalde France had been bled for time they couldn’t spare. Canada had more time to work with, and ultimately that got them the W. Team Canada played the right kind of defenses to advance to the Semi’s
China vs. Finland
I was finally right about one of these matches. Team China dominated the match, showing the same mechanical skills they displayed in the group stage. Starting on Lijiang Tower Team Finland came out swinging and took the first point there. China would dominate the rest of the not just this map, but the whole match.
For map two Finland chose Hollywood. China attacked first here and made steady progress throughout their attack. They finished the map with nearly two minutes left. They wouldn’t a second of need it. Although Finland would unlock the payload, they were unable to complete the map. 2-0 China was the score going into the half.
Hanamura was another map that went go the distance. Final points on the map were 4-3 China, showing just how close these teams were to each other. Finland started with a sneaky teleport onto the first point and capped it instantly. This gave them a huge time bank advantage that they’d carry into the next round. Despite this China clutched it out, grabbing the last point they needed in overtime. They managed to outlast Finland’s time bank and hold them at the last point for the win.
South Korea vs. Australia
It’s a shame for Australia. Like the US and UK they looked better this year than ever before. They looked good in their onesies. Too bad for them that Korea looked better in every way. In a repeat of every defeat of the day Australia came out strong on the first map. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough. Korea took Busan 2-0.
Next we went to Blizzard World where the Australians gave their best showing. They showed off the new Torbjorn to actual success. Pulling off an impressive defense and kept the Koreans from finishing the map. Australia would get close on their attack, but they failed to exceed the distance the Koreans pushed the payload.
We came back to the Temple of Anubis for the final map of the day. Korea would take the map 2-1, but not before Custa would bring out the Nano-boosted Torbjorn. The Australians put up a good fight against the reigning champs, but at the end of the day South Korea will be the team to advance.
The Adventure Continues…
Four teams and a lot of Overwatch are left in this Overwatch World Cup. The Semifinal matches kick off Saturday at 9:30 AM PT with South Korea taking on the United Kingdom. Will the Koreans go all the way again, or will one of the other teams take them down? Only time and a few short hours will tell.
