An unforgettable OWCS weekend ends with Virtus.pro on top
OWCS 2026 EMEA Stage 2 is now over. While the full three-day affair determined the final standings, prize money, and the EMEA Stage 2 champion, the first two days arguably carried the higher stakes.
The two Day 1 winners and the winner of the lower bracket clash on Day 2 would punch their tickets to the second OWCS major of the year, the coveted Midseason Championship. Having said all that, the competition in Overwatch has never been stronger or more passionate than what we witnessed this weekend in EMEA. Despite securing the EWC qualifications midway through Day 2, all the teams involved continued to give it their all the way down to the wire. The result was four out of six matches that went the full distance, and ultimately, one team stood above all after a hard-fought and well-earned first-place finish.
So here’s a quick summary of how one of the best, if not the best, OWCS weekends went down.
Day 1: Upper Bracket Semi-Finals
Virtus.pro 3 - 0 Al Qadsiah
In his interview with OWTV in the lead-up to this match, Al Qadsiah coach Jordan “Gunba” Graham said, “I think it was a mistake. They probably just ****ed up”, referring to Virtus.pro’s decision to face Al Qadsiah in the Semis.
This matchup immediately made clear that Virtus.pro’s Regular Season domination was set to continue. They took Ilios in a speedy 2-0, with both Kevin “kevster” Persson and Jonas “eisgnom” Stratemeyer going deathless the whole map. kevster also put his lethal Shion on display, which was rumoured to have dominated scrims all week.
This matchup also marked the first competitive showing at Neon Junction in EMEA. Al Qadsiah put up a stronger fight at the start, but all momentum ran out once VP started investing their ultimates properly. It all eventually came down to just how strong kevster’s Shion remained, and how much more clinical Kwon “FiXa” Yeong-hun was with his beats compared to Ziyad “Zox” Aldosarie.
On Circuit Royal, VP’s Baptiste/Mizuki backline shone, supported by a flawless Symmetra display by Maximillian “Seicoe” Otter. Once eisgnom proved to be the better Sigma over Ilari “Vestola” Vestola, there was no way out for the Saudi org. Virtus.pro punched their EWC ticket in a swift 3-0 sweep.
Twisted Minds 2 - 3 Geekay Esports
Geekay Esports showed guts from the very start in this matchup. Abdulelah “LBBD7” Alfaifi starred on Shion in Nepal, however, Ahmad “Youbi” Alyoubi and Ibrahem “Quartz” Alali completely took over in Shrine and Village.
The teams went to the new map, Neon Junction, with Geekay starting on push. Twisted Minds full-held Geekay on the first point behind an immovable stand from Abdualziz “TVNT” Altmimi on Reinhardt and a massive High Noon from Quartz. TM wrapped things up quickly on their push, sticking to what worked on defence. Twisted Minds were now one map win away from EWC qualification.
Geekay took the game to New Junk City, which gave us a rare look at Youbi on Reaper. The whole map was a brawl as both teams took two points each, but TM’s heavy investment into securing point D allowed Geekay to secure the final point in the end.
Twisted Minds took Geekay to Circuit Royal despite losing to GK there the week prior, and Geekay kindly reminded them of it as they full-held TM and easily took the win, sending the series to a decisive fifth map (a recurring theme for Geekay this weekend).
The fifth map was completely one-sided, Geekay’s momentum was unstoppable. They hit the map with complete confidence in their abilities, dying a total of 10 times across the map. They fully pushed the bot in just around three minutes and completed the upset by reverse-sweeping the world champions.
Geekay became the second team in EMEA to guarantee their EWC qualification, sending Twisted Minds to the lower bracket to fight for theirs against Al Qadsiah.
Day 2: Upper Bracket Final and Lower Bracket Semi Final
Twisted Minds 3 - 0 Al Qadsiah
With the final Midseason Championship on the line, it was do-or-die for both teams.
Al Qadsiah started strong on Nepal, taking the first subround with a convincing performance. Unfortunately, that was the extent of the trouble they could offer to the world champions. Starting in Nepal’s second subround, Twisted Minds showcased the dominant gameplay we’d expect from the world champions.
Lee “Ade” Ji-hwan looked impressive on Shion, however, Zox was completely outmatched in the three-map affair. On TM’s side, Quartz took over the lobby and was without equal throughout the series. A level of performance that we haven’t truly seen from the star hitscan since the 2025 World Finals.
New Queen Street was Twisted Minds’ best performance. A stark contrast from the humiliating full-push they suffered the day before. Despite Al Qadsiah banning Youbi’s Symmetra, the team captain hopped on Soldier: 76. It wasn’t his best performance, but Twisted Minds finished the series and secured their qualification convincingly.
Virtus.pro 3 - 2 Geekay Esports
Virtus.pro and Geekay Esports met in the upper bracket finals, with both teams having already secured their EWC spots, they fought over a top-two finish and to avoid Twisted Minds lurking in wait in the lower bracket.
VP took first blood and won Ilios comfortably, with kevster getting the better of LBBD7 in both subrounds, first as Cassidy against Shion, then as Shion against Cassidy. Geekay found their footing in Colosseo on a Sigma/Mizuki/Kiriko/Symmetra/Cassidy mirror and tied the series. Geekay continued their form in Hollywood holding them to just shy of the second point. However, VP still managed to rally and held Geekay even further back on second, off the back of a great display from eisgnom on Sigma. Geekay weren’t done, they picked New Junk City and pulled out a 2024-style Mauga/Reaper/Kiriko/Lucio comp. They wrapped up NJC swiftly, 3-0ing VP, and for the second day in a row, Geekay sent a top-two team to a deciding fifth map.
VP picked Circuit Royale for the decider and banned Sigma, Geekay banned Mizuko to give Ziyad “ZIYAD” Alkathiri space on D.Va. eisgnom on Ramattra and Seicoe on Symmetra were more than enough to fully counter ZIYAD, forcing him onto Ramattra himself. VP controlled the pace throughout and eventually pushed the cart home with 1:10 on the clock. Geekay answered with a fierce push of their own, banking 1:23 and forcing a timebank round.
What followed was one of the best Overwatch sequences of all time. Geekay attempted to end VP’s timebank push early with a Kitsune Rush from Oh “FiNN” Se-jin, but Seicoe had already charged up his Photon Barrier and nullified Geekay’s advantage and VP pushed well past the halfway mark on point two. What happened next is one for the ages. Geekay’s push was relentless as they easily captured the first point, and they wouldn’t slow down. Virtus.pro, not ones to go down easy, brawled and scraped for every centimetre. Even with less than a meter left on the push, VP still managed to miraculously touch the point, keeping the fight going to the bitter end. When the dust settled, VP were the last ones standing on the cart, booking their place in the Grand Finals and sending Geekay to face a rematch against Twisted Minds.
Watch - Virtus.pro hold on for dear life for more than a minute straight
As VP flex DPS Seicoe summed it up in his post-match interview, “That was the craziest game of my life.”
Day 3: Lower Bracket Finals and Grand Finals
Twisted Minds 2 - 3 Geekay Esports
A rematch of the Day 1 clash that had sent Twisted Minds to the lower bracket. The match immediately started with TVNT’s Reinhardt countering ZIYAD’s Sigma without breaking a sweat on Antarctic Peninsula. TM carried that dominance into New Junk City where Quartz was clinical in the Bastion mirror against LBBD7, and they quickly put the series on match point. Geekay found their footing in Neon Junction, with ZIYAD, LBBD7, and Kim “AlphaYi” Jun combining for 39, 45, and 41 elims respectively on a Sigma/Bastion/Symmetra setup that gave TM no answers. Geekay also put up a very disciplined hold on Dorado, keeping TM to just shy of two points, and tied the series up on the side switch.
The deciding fifth map was a certified banger. Both teams ran the Symmetra/Juno/Kiriko mirror, with LBBD7 on Sojourn against Quartz’s Cassidy, and the Sigma vs. Reinhardt gauntlet between ZIYAD and TVNT resumed for a third and final time. Geekay had come up short against TVNT’s Reinhardt twice already, but this time, they had done their homework. In an exact repeat of their Day 1 reverse sweep, Geekay reverse swept the world champions once again, booking their place in the Grand Finals and setting up yet another rematch against Virtus.pro.
Virtus.pro 4 - 3 Geekay Esports
A seven-map Grand Finals that perfectly encapsulates the state of competitive Overwatch in EMEA and will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Virtus.pro took Ilios in dominant fashion on a full Symmetra/Cassidy/Sigma/Kiriko/Mizuki mirror. FiXa and kevster were clinical in ensuring there was little comeback for the Saudi team, despite Geekay’s best efforts.
Geekay immediately returned the favour on Colosseo, the map they’ve relied on heavily throughout the tournament. Geekay kept the series level at 1-1 behind a heroic AlphaYi play in the dying moments.
Watch - AlphaYi’s winning play on Colosseo
VP took back the lead on Hollywood, with an uncharacteristic Freja by kevster and constant pressure on LBBD7 that led to one of the star hitscan’s worst maps ever, finishing 10/14. Landon “Landon” McGee also reminded the world as to why he’s one of the best Baptiste players in the world.
Watch - Landon ensures VP score three in Hollywood
Geekay answered emphatically on New Junk City, with a highly divisive Anran pick from Seicoe getting repeatedly caught out of position and punished. Geekay took points A, B, and C in brutal fashion with little to no resistance from Virtus.pro.
Circuit Royal broke the back-and-forth win trades in Geekay’s favour. VP found early avenues only to be shut down on their push to the third point, before Geekay wrapped up their side switch cleanly to take the series lead. For the first time in the whole series, Geekay were now in the driver’s seat.
Virtus.pro refused to fold. A nail-biting Aatlis saw both teams score two points, to send the Flashpoint to a critical fifth point, with the championship point on the line for Geekay. The Saudi side capped point E and were clinical in defending it till 99%. At that point, Virtus.pro rallied in commanding fashion, recaptured the point, and held on just long enough to force a seventh map in this unforgettable series.
Geekay chose Antarctic Peninsula for their last stand. ZIYAD went Mauga against eisgnom’s Sigma, and what followed was a total dogfight across both subrounds. Geekay pushed Virtus.pro to the absolute limit, but VP’s poise was unbreakable. VP held on by their fingernails, adapted on the fly, and with a critical mistake from AlphaYi and a brilliant play from kevster to capitalise (see below), they took both subrounds to claim the EMEA Stage 2 championship.
Watch - Championship-winning play from kevster and Seicoe
Virtus.pro ended the stage on top as they head out to the ever-critical Midseason Championship as EMEA’s top seed. An incredible turnaround for a team that mostly came together at the start of the season and have been consistently building up a level of flexibility and synergy that no other team in the region can match right now.
Geekay Esports have also come a long way since their catastrophic 3-0 loss to Al Qadsiah on the opening weekend of the stage. Their tremendous rise to the Grand Finals says everything about how far the additions of Kristian “Kellex” Keller and Son “Undine” Young-woo have taken this squad. Geekay's ability to take every single one of their four matches the full distance, including two victories over regional rivals Twisted Minds, is astounding.
EMEA now heads to the Midseason Championship with more firepower than ever, and their inevitable clash with the Korean teams will be one for the ages.