Some unexpected results in the quarterfinals resulted in some shake-ups and unexpected match results for the "first" season of Overwatch Contenders NA.
Overwatch Contenders Season 0 NA held just as much action as the EU version of the tournament did: there were upsets early in the playoffs, followed by some unexpected talent stepping up and giving veteran Overwatch teams a run for their money. When the dust settled, however, only one team could claim victory.
Think you missed something? Don't worry, we've got you covered in the recap below:
Most of the quarterfinals were played off-stream, but all quickly set a tone for how difficult the NA brackets were going to be:
- Immortals vs FaZe Clan - Immortals wins, 3-0
- LG Evil vs Kungarna - Kungarna wins, 1-3
- Renegades vs FNRGFE - FNRGFE wins, 2-3
- Team Liquid vs EnVision eSports - Team Liquid wins, 3-0
* FaZe Clan and Renegades advanced to Season 1 after battling it out in the Loser's Bracket for 5th-6th Placement.
LG Evil was the most shocking loss of the early rounds, with the team going from number one seed to not qualifying for Season 1 by the end of the day. Immortals continued their domincance to earn themselves a semifinal match against Kungarna, while FNRGFE upset Renegades to move forward in the semi's. The dark horse of the playoffs, EnVision, wasn't able to capitalize on the momentum they had from the Group Stage and ultimately fell twice - once to Liquid, then again to Renegades - to fall short of qualifying for Season 1.
Immortals vs Kungarna - Immortals win, 3-0
Immortals overpowered Kungarna at every turn, constantly on the offensive and taking the fight to Kungarna's spawn on multiple occasions across all three maps. Agilities in particular had a fantastic match, taking on the heavy-duty work and racking up the kills needed to make the entire match look easy. In the end, Kungarna just couldn't keep up with the agressiveness that Immortals was putting out, resulting in a very decisive, very quick 3-0 victory.
FNRGFE vs Team Liquid
Dahang constantly found himself under attack by Muma's Winston or Clockwork's Tracer during Oasis and Watchpoint: Gibraltar, though he was able to get revenge as Sombra on Hanamura to help give Liquid their first win of the match. Liquid then pulled off what seemed to be impossible at the start of the match: a reverse sweep, snatching Hollywood from FNRGFE last minute and then stealing the final point in a five-map Nepal. When the dust settled, FNRGFE didn't have the steam to complete what they started, punching Liquid's ticket to the Grand Final against Immortals.
Immortals vs Team Liquid - Immortals wins, 4-1
The Grand Final was more of a tennis match between the two teams, with the advantage going back and forth between the two with each passing map. Nepal went decidedly Immortals way, with GrimReality running around rampant with very little response coming from Team Liquid. That missing response came in Watchpoint: Gibraltar, where Liquid clearly had full control of the map thanks to AZK's consistent targetting of Kariv and Verbo. Immortals struck back on Hanamura and Hollywood, being able to stabilize and control their support ultimates more efficently than Liquid, which snowballed into back-to-back map wins. Kariv was the hero of the hour on Oasis, turning into a Boombox-esque DPS Zenyatta to secure kills and keep his team alive to finish the job and give Immortals the win.
With that, Immortals takes the title of Champions of Overwatch Contenders Season 0 NA. They take home the lion's share of the $50,000 prize pool, while Team Liquid takes second. They'll join Team EnVyUs and Rogue as the top teams to look out for come Overwatch Contenders Season 1 NA.
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