📝 Champions Clash fantasy preview

Welcome back to the OWTV Fantasy preview! In this article, we cover everything you need to know heading into the Champions Clash, where champions clash as champions, or whatever WDG production would have said.

If you haven’t read one of our earlier previews, here’s a quick reminder of our goals: We try to offer thought-provoking options for your team, and help keep you up to date with any major developments that might affect OWCS Fantasy. We will do this by looking at the fixtures for the week, players we think offer notably good value, and any other clever ideas we cook up! We also play along with our own team, Fantasy Watchpoint, and share the rationale behind the team we put together each week.

Fixture review

Here is our tournament bracket prediction, along with a table summarising how many games we expect each team to play each day. Keep in mind: Day 1 is FT2, the Grand Finals is FT4, and every other match is FT3:

• 2 = the team is predicted to play exactly 2 games
• 2.0 = the team is predicted to play 2 games on average, based on multiple possible bracket outcomes

As things stand, we’re expecting the Korean teams and Twisted Minds to cruise their way through the bracket and reach the podium. Which means fewer games on Day 1 and Day 2. Going all in on these teams early is a high-risk, high-reward play. It all comes down to correctly predicting which one will end up playing the most maps. This is especially important on Day 2, where we’re expecting one of Twisted Minds or Crazy Raccoon to slip into the lower bracket and end up playing three matches.

On Day 1, Weibo Gaming go up against Virtus.pro, a fixture full of history, whether from last year’s EWC, where VP sent Weibo packing, or the infamous Landon/Leave beef that brought out some choice words from Guxue, this matchup can go either way. It genuinely feels like a coin flip, and that makes it one of the best fantasy targets on the slate. Both teams are guaranteed volume. The loser drops to the lower bracket and immediately has to play the loser between ZETA DIVISION and SSG on Day 1, while the winner is set up for two to three games on Day 2. Either way, this is where the tournament’s early fantasy points edge is going to be made.

We expect Weibo and VP to outperform the rest of the pack: All Gamers Global, SSG, and Dallas Fuel. In our view, AGG and SSG are mostly teams to avoid, unless you’re taking a gamble on their potential two Day 1 games at best.

Dallas Fuel, however, is the interesting wildcard. They open against Crazy Raccoon on Day 1, and both teams are known for loving a Winston comp. That means there’s a real chance we get the ultimate gift: a monkey mirror handshake. Even if Dallas is predicted to lose, that kind of mirror can still create real scoring upside. After that, they’re likely headed for a second lower bracket match, and if our predictions are right, Day 2 could set up a spicy showdown against Weibo in potentially another Winston mirror.

Fantasy metawatch

The real question heading into this tournament is, how is the West going to deal with the cat shenanigans? The best of the West and reigning world champions don’t feel too confident heading into this meta. According to Youbi, there is no counter to Cat/Bastion, and World Finals MVP Quartz is not enjoying it one bit. The last look we really had from Western teams was one from the archives, running a classic off-tank paired with Kiriko/Lucio, Emre on hitscan, and a Tracer or Pharah.  

Korean teams have been grinding the Cat/Bastion meta for the past month, while NA and EMEA have basically been in an off-season for the last month and a half. Even the Chinese teams have likely had more real-world practice with this meta than the West, since their stage ended two weeks after the NA and EMEA’s.

The proven earners from the Asian regions are the regular suspects. Viol2t, Vigilante, Proper, and Junbin all immediately stand out as the safest fantasy bets going into this meta.

China is harder to evaluate since we simply don’t have enough data, but don’t rule them out. If there’s one region capable of ignoring the script entirely, it’s them. There’s always the chance they stray away from the established meta and brainwash opponents into a Winston mirror, which would put them in their comfort zone, in which case, expect them to score well.

Final remarks:

Mauga is often paired with the Cat/Bastion combo, and that matters because EMEA tanks have historically been excellent on Mauga, so there’s a chance EMEA tanks become decent scorers if they decide to adopt the Cat/Bastion as well.

The Asian teams prefer to run a Cat/Ana backline. NA teams wouldn't mind Ana, but EMEA will most likely settle for Kiriko, since they've historically never favoured Ana.

Drafting strategies:

Based on what we outlined in the fixture review, there are a few clear approaches fantasy managers can take. Almost all of them revolve around Day 1 and Day 2, because by Day 3, the format practically solves itself. With the extra transfer and the budget bump to 109, most players will simply stack the top three remaining teams, so the real edge is found early.

Match volume approach: 

Target Weibo, Virtus.pro, and Dallas Fuel on Day 1 and fully commit to maximizing match volume. 

On Day 2, sell off the losers from VP vs. Weibo, and bring in whichever team you expect to drop from the Twisted Mind/Crazy Raccoon fixture. That way, you’re still maximizing games played, while avoiding unnecessary hits. Dallas assets can be held.

Balanced approach :

You start Day 1 by locking in one player from an expected top-three team, then fill the rest of your roster with cheaper picks from Weibo, VP, and Dallas.

This gives you a healthier balance. You’re aiming for guaranteed returns, but still taking advantage of the high match volume teams.

On Day 2, you bring in a second top-three asset, and you still have one free transfer in reserve, which gives you some manoeuvrability.

Premium set-and-forget approach :

Pick two ZETA set-and-forget players, then fill the rest of the roster with Weibo/VP/Dallas players and cheap enablers from other teams if the budget isn't sufficient.

You’ll miss out on the maximum match volume, but you’re trading that for guaranteed points. You’re effectively betting that in a Day 1 FT2 format, consistency matters more than volume.

Eyebrow raisers

Normally, this section would be dedicated to cheap, cost-effective picks; this time, we’re highlighting the players that genuinely raised our eyebrows when we looked at pricing.

Youbi (cost: 20) or JaeWoo (cost: 21) 

At 21, JaeWoo looks like an outright bargain, and even Youbi at 20 could be decent value if he ends up getting meaningful time, even if it’s on Symmetra. The only concern is playing time.

Seonjun (cost: 19) 

We expect Seonjun to continue farming points on Tracer, exactly as he’s been doing so all season. With the added bonus that, unlike his time in NA, he won’t be playing on ping in this tournament.

guxue (cost: 19) or Sunzo (cost: 19) 

A high-risk, high-reward play, both players are an absolute steal at this price. The trick is to predict correctly which one of them will get meaningful playtime.

LeeSooMin (cost: 18) or Lukemino (cost: 18) 

Both are priced one cheaper than their support partners (MAKA and Cjay, respectively). If their teams decide to play the double-flex support at any point, either of them could well bring on shades of Viol2t. 

Shy (cost: 18) or Kronik (cost: 18) 

Same story here: both are one cheaper than their DPS partner. They could easily deliver solid output while freeing up budget elsewhere, making them strong differential options.

FunnyAstro (cost: 20) 

Probably a must-have for Day 3. If the expected top teams reach the grand final, FunnyAstro stands out as the cheapest support option among the likely top three.

OWTV Fantasy staff team

• Kellan - Tank (cost: 20)
• Leave - DPS (cost: 19)
• kevster - DPS (cost: 20)
• Landon - Support (cost: 19)
• Lukemino  - Support (cost: 18)

We’re committing to the match volume approach. That means stacking players from Dallas Fuel, Virtus.pro, and Weibo Gaming.

Leading the roster is Kellan, coming off a tremendous regular season in which he established himself as the highest-scoring tank in the West. This weekend, we’re hoping he brings that same form onto the international stage and becomes Mr. Worldwide Fantasy Scorer.

We’re bringing in kevster, the highest scoring DPS in the West and a player with a proven fantasy track record who consistently delivers points even when his team struggles.

We’ve locked in a Viol2t jr in Lukemino.

Of course, it’s impossible to bring up VP vs Weibo without mentioning the two names at the center of it all: Landon and Leave. This time, they will be teammates playing on the same side… our side. We're hoping the tension fuels some high scores on both sides, and we’ll gladly rake in the rewards.

This will be the only article we release for this tournament, since everything will unfold over the weekend, but we’ll update you on our transfers on Twitter/X. Until then, enjoy the weekend and may it be full of peak Overwatch.