If you missed Day 1 of the Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon, here's a quick recap of what happened and which teams advanced to the final day.
Only one day is left of the first ever Overwatch World Cup. But before the final two matches take place, let's take a look at the matches that were played today.
First up was Russia up against France. Russia had some difficulties at the start of game 1, but they got back into the series by blowing away France. The 3rd and final game had some good fights in favour of France, but Russia’s control was not contestable. Russia closed the series 2 to 1.
The next quarterfinal featured Spain battling against the full professional line-up of Finland. Spain was prepared, their confidence was still there (from their earlier victory against Sweden), which was clearly shown when they took game 2 and tied with Finland. On the last map however, Finland baited out Spain’s mistakes and Spain just couldn’t make a decisive comeback. Finland deserved this series win.
The 3rd quarterfinal between South Korea and USA was one of incredibly high skill. USA always seemed to take the game, but South Korea is just too strong for them to beat. Both nations played incredibly aggressive. The style of USA lacked that bit of perfection, while South Korea was more consistent. South Korea took the series with a clean 2 to 0 wipe.
In the last Quarterfinal China had to take on Sweden. China was trying, but they failed horribly. Sweden showed the best of themselves and crushed China like nobody expected. China fought back, but when Sweden is able to win on Hanamura in 3 minutes, you know it’s hard to come back. It was even harder on the 2nd map, King’s Row, as China was tactically completely outplayed. Sweden blew China away with a 2 to 0.
The two Semifinals decided which teams will play in the Grand Finals tomorrow, and which two will have to play for 3rd place. With no prizepool on the line, but a mention in Overwatch history instead, these matches are still very important for those involved.
Russia took a surprising 2-0 win against Finland, showing superiority on the Payload maps Dorado and King's Row. ShaDowBurn was a deciding factor in all these matches, and he will have to continue tomorrow if they want to defeat their opponents.
Speaking of their opponents, South Korea is continuing the own dominance that was highlighted a few weeks ago when the West enjoyed the APAC Premier and APEX league. Even though most players agree the individual skill of Korea is not exceptional, their inventive teamplay surely does make the difference. So much so, that South Korea took care of fan-favorite Sweden in a fairly clean 2-0.
With these results, the final two matches are locked in. Tune in tomorrow at 10:00 AM PDT/1:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM CET to watch these final matches on the Blizzard Twitch channel.
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