With Blizzcon fast approaching, get caught up to speed with our guide to the Overwatch World Cup.
As one of the last highlights of this year’s Overwatch Competitive Calendar, the Overwatch World Cup starts October 29th. The event is structured as follows: the 16 teams who qualified will play a group stage style bracket (October 29th-31st) to determine the final eight teams to enter the knockout stage . Each group will be made up of four teams, with the top two national teams from each group qualifying for the single elimination bracket at Blizzcon in sunny Anaheim, California. Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be best-of-three (both taking place November 4th), building up to a best-of-seven grand finals on November 5th.
The sixteen qualified teams are:
Auto Qualifiers:
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- South Korea
- USA
- Australia
European Qualifiers:
- Germany
- Finland
- France
- Sweden
- Russia
- Spain
Americas Qualifier:
- Chile
APAC Qualifier:
- Taiwan
- Singapore
- Thailand
Especially with the recent performances of the eastern teams in the OGN APEX League and the APAC Premier, we can expect top level games between many of the invitees. While Europe enters the tournament as the best overall region, strong contenders emerge from other regions as well. From the APAC qualifier, Team China and Team South Korea both look like formidable adversaries with rosters full of proven talent. The automatic qualifier hid some top level competition from the prying eyes of other regions. Team Canada and Team USA will be entering the tournament relatively unscouted, which should work to their benefit. Both teams contain notable players, like Seagull and Talespin from the US side and Surefour and iid from the Canadian side.
However, all eyes will be on the qualifiers from EU to see which team will be able to bring their A game and take the trophy home. Besides high profile teams Finland and Sweden, the other invitees from the region all have the ability to contend for the title. Our team to watch from the region will be Germany, standing as the top opponent to the Scandinavian favorites. Look for InternetHulk to lead his boys to a deep run in the knockout stage.
If you are looking for things to fill your non-Overwatch time with during Blizzcon, be sure to check out some of the other competitions occurring at the same venue. The knockout stages for the Hearthstone World Championship, the Starcraft 2 WCS Global Finals, the Heroes of the Storm Fall Championship, and the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship will be occurring concurrently at the venue on November 4th and 5th.
If you are unable to make it out to California, fear not; you will be able to catch all of the action with the Virtual Ticket, and the tournaments will also be streamed on Twitch.
As the event approaches, Gosugamers will be putting out more content and coverage. Be sure to check us out on social media to be up-to-date with the latest news.
For more competitive Overwatch news, follow us @GosuOverwatch.
