The Overwatch World Cup came to an epic close yesterday with a familiar champion being named, as South Korea reigns once again. The league began in August in Incheon, South Korea and moved the competition to Los Angeles, Bangkok, and Paris before finishing at BlizzCon in Anaheim.
The qualifier format before BlizzCon separated the regions into four groups, each with six teams. Two teams from each group moved on to the Playoffs stage at the main Blizzcon tournament. The final Top 8 teams for the playoffs consisted of the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, South Korea, China, Finland, Canada, and France. Each of the first round matchups ended with the victor shutting out their opponent except for the United Kingdom beating the United States 3-1.
When it came to the Semifinals, China and South Korea sent the United Kingdom and Canada to the Bronze match, where Canada was crowned with Third Place. In the conclusion between China and South Korea, the teams fought valiantly on the maps: Ilios, King’s Row, Temple of Anubis, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar. While China had a successful run until the Finals, South Korea continued their dominant trend of not losing a single series throughout tournaments for the past three years. Even more impressively, they did it a with a roster that was formed fairly recently. They swept China 4-0 and South Korea’s support player, Bang “JJpNaK” Sung-hyeon, was voted the MVP by the fans.
Another set of exciting esports tournaments have come to a close at BlizzCon after many new announcements. But it won’t be long until competitive Overwatch fans are treated to the 2019 season of the Overwatch League in February. Check out our detailed discussion of the upcoming season and new teams.