Day 2
Final match: South Korea vs. Russia
ANAHEIM -- What started off as sixteen teams competing for the title of the best country at the 2016 Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon, ended in polishing the story of South Korea's flawless tournament run. Going 3-0 in the group stage, 3-0 in the quarterfinals and the semifinals, Russia was the last opponent standing in the way for South Korea's trophy claim.
South Korea would have none of George "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha's usual Genji kill streaks as every member from the South Korean squad would show precisely why they have had a flawless tournament run up until now, to take a 4-0 sweep against the Russians as well. On the Temple of Anubis, Kim "EscA" In Jae crippled the offense of Russia by preemptively taking out the likes of Ruben "Rubikon" Zurabyan on Ana before he could Sleep Dart anyone from South Korea. When the early snipes weren't possible, it was Kim "zunba" Joon Hyuk on Zarya who reliably trapped the entire Russian team in well placed Graviton Surges allowing DPS players EscA and Jeong "ArHaN" Won Hyuk to execute a clean team kill. Let it be known also, that with insult to injury, ArHan on Lijiang Tower solo killed five members on Russia one by one on Genji, which was ShaDowBurn's signature hero for the duration of the Overwatch World Cup.
While all members of South Korea's team had an important role to fill, the most notable MVP of the match once again is awarded to Gong "Miro" Jin Hyuk. Praise has been showered on this fabled Winston player several times, but none of it was undeserved for his flanks and assassinations while on Winston were so aggressive this tournament and for the finals that no one has yet figured out how to halt the rampage. There was nothing Russia could do to even make a dent in South Korea's armor, making it clear to all spectators who the best are right now.
Third-place match: Sweden vs. Finland
Sweden and Finland had one last showdown in the Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon in Saturday's bronze medal match.
Things started badly for the Finnish team as they were demolished on the first map, Hanamura. Watching Finland recklessly trying to capture the second point on Hanamura was like watching someone repeatedly throw themselves against a brick wall, and it allowed Sweden to take an advantage point early in the series.
For the rest of the best-of-three, however, Kalle "hymzi" Honkala had other ideas as he would remind all spectators why he's one of the best Roadhog players around. Landing hook after hook, hymzi singlehandedly got his team further in the payload push than should have been possible against Sweden's solid defense to take the second map of Route 66 for Finland heading into the final map.
With the momentum swinging back to equilibrium between both Sweden and Finland, they would take Nepal all the way to its limits. Equal blows from both teams brought them to a winner-take-all situation on the final point of Nepal: Sanctum, where Finland's revived efforts brought them to near victory. But in a last-ditch effort, Kevin "TviQ" Lindström helped lead the charge on McCree to drive three well-aimed bullets through Finland's Achilles' heel, and take the third-place victory back to Sweden.
Day 1
Eight teams were culled down to the final two, as the Overwatch World Cup hosted both the quarterfinals and semifinals back-to-back on a fateful Friday. Following up on the upsets that led to the bracket stage, it was time to separate these powerhouses into different groups and pit them against each other.
Russia was dominant in their group, even taking down the United States in a deadly Genji showdown, but no one expected France to put up as much as a fight as they did. They were able to dominate the Russians on Temple of Anubis, with faster times, better defense, and better coordination, but that all changed when they faced off on Eichenwald. Despite France's incredible level of coordination in the face of talent, George "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha proved time and time again that he was deadly, and ended their dreams on both Eichenwald, and Lijiang Tower.
Spain and Finland might have been the most evenly matched opponents to meet each other at the World cup, as they went into a jaw-dropping, stalemate on the last map of Lijiang Tower. Spain was about to snatch victory as Timo "Taimou" Kettunen snuck around the side and sniped off some key players from Spain. When all looked lost, Jonathan "HarryHook" Tejedor delayed their execution with an incredibly well-timed sleep dart from Ana onto Taimou at the same time that Jose Antonio "BromaS" Ramos revealed himself from the shadows and dropped down on Reaper to eliminate the rest of the Finnish team with the famous death blossom. Despite Spain's heroic efforts to advance to the semifinals, a delay is just that -- a delay. Taimou would not be silenced, for his second attempt to send Finland proved successful with back-to-back headshots, securing the semifinals spot for his country.
As both the United States and South Korea were expected to advance to the Top 4 before the World Cup began, fate would not allow both to achieve that, as they were pitted against each other in the quarterfinals. Despite the praise for the American squad, they were blown away like strands of paper in a mighty storm, as South Korea completely shut them out on Temple of Anubis. Gong "Miro" Jin Hyuk from South Korea continued to push his Winston play to the limits of perfection, dismantling them on Eichenwald for a clean 2-0 victory.
China versus Sweden proved to be a classic example of the big fish in the small pond. China was unstoppable at the beginning of the group stages, but it's arguably true that it was an easier group with weaker opponents overall, so seeing China get completely wiped out by Sweden was surprising initially, but not unexplainable. This isn't to say that China is weak, but when matched against talented players like André "iddqd" Dahlström, the difference between the two teams was so obvious, as iddqd racked up 22 kills without a single death on King's Row.
Finland was an obvious favorite to the World Cup with Finnish players Taimou and Kalle "hymzi" Honkala constantly piercing the armor of their opponents to get clean victories, but in the face of the teamwork forged by the Russian lineup, it was all they could muster to come close to taking a game off of them. Despite their efforts, it speaks volumes when you draft a team composition that can shut down ShaDowBurn's Genji, and fail to use of those countermeasures to stop him.
For the final match of the day, it would be Sweden's attempt to stop the juggernaut that is South Korea, who had thus far been knocking down teams like taking a sledgehammer through ice sculptures. Make no mistake, for iddqd and fellow Swedish player Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström absolutely phenomenal players, and amongst the top crop of players in the current competitive Overwatch community, but South Korea has both Miro as well as Kim "Esca" In Jae to lay waste to yet another obstacle in their path. With another clean 2-0 under South Korea's belts, it's up to the Russian Squad to end South Korea's streak in a best of 7 match in the finals tomorrow on Nov 5th to conclude the Overwatch World Cup.