📝 Crazy Raccoon qualify for Champions Clash. ZETA remain undefeated

The final day of official OWCS competition before the first LAN of the year at Champions Clash is here. Eight teams entered the competition earlier in the week, down to four yesterday, and only three for today.

ZETA DIVISION had already secured their spot in the Champions Clash to the massive relief of their parent company, GANYMEDE Inc., the organisers of the major. They would be waiting in the Grand Finals for the second qualifying team from Asia to determine seeding.

The remaining three teams clashed throughout the day and gave us the final Asia competitor for the Champions Clash.

Lower Bracket Semi-Final: VARREL 0 - 3 T1

VARREL have been on a fiery form throughout this competition. They had won every first-round KOTH map this competition with the Cat/Bastion comp, putting their opposition on the ropes early. However, against T1, VARREL's streak was broken. T1 banned Jetpack Cat, and VARREL had to face an inspired Kim "D0NGHAK" Min-sung on D.Va and Kim "ZEST" Hyun-woo on Symmetra, losing the map in a quick 2-0.

VARREL took the series to Esperanca and banned Symmetra. However, T1 banned Tomoharu "KSG" Inoue's signature D.Va and dodged the matchup ZETA fell to the day prior. With KSG on Orisa, T1 took the Cat/Bastion mirror in stride, Hong "Proud" Suk-jin completely took over the lobby, and finished the map 32-3. VARREL barely put any meters on the scoreboard.

Facing match point, VARREL picked Rialto. It would be the first time they play this map in the competition. VARREL banned Kiriko and T1 banned Torbjorn, which allowed VARREL on their favoured Cat/Bastion/D.Va comp for the first time in this series. At that point, however, VARREL's morale hit an all-time low as they came out on the bottom of almost every single engagement. With their ultimate economy always two steps behind T1's and a great performance from both Proud and ZEST, T1 full-pushed and subsequently full-held VARREL to bring the series to a quick 3-0 finish.

VARREL were sent home early and would miss out on the Champions Clash in their home region, Tokyo, Japan. But not for a lack of trying and multiple encouraging performances against the best Asia has to offer, which will surely put VARREL in the spotlight for future competitions.

T1 proceeded to the Lower Bracket Finals, where they faced Crazy Raccoon over the final Asia spot.

Lower Bracket Finals: Crazy Raccoon 3 - 0 T1

With Champions Clash qualification on the line, the stakes couldn't be higher for either team. The fourth clash between these two juggernauts this season. Crazy Raccoon had come out on top twice over T1, with the most recent meeting taking place just the day prior in the Upper Bracket Semi-Finals, where CR won in a close 3-2.

The series started in Lijiang Tower, and T1 took first blood in Control Center coming on top of the mirror-comp. The only difference being, Kim "vigilante" Joon on Kiriko and Kim "skewed" Min-seok on Ana. Crazy Raccoon quickly rallied, 100-0-ed the second round, and despite multiple back-and-forths in the third round, CR came out on top. Chae "HeeSang" Hee-sang put on a clinical performance on Reaper to tip the scales heavily in Crazy Raccoon's favour.

T1 immediately responded by picking Aatlis and banning Reaper. Crazy Raccoon banned Mauga and opted not to mirror T1's Cat/Bastion, and put Jeong "Stalk3r" Hak-yong on Cassidy and Choi "MAX" Su-min on D.Va. Aatlis was mostly a one-sided affair as T1 struggled to find an opening. Crazy Raccoon switched to the Cat/Bastion later for the more open points on the map, and T1 quickly hurtled towards a do-or-die match point.

On match point, T1 sent the series to Gibraltar, where they pushed CR to the limit the day prior, but ultimately lost. This time, they banned Jetpack Cat to avoid the Cat/Bastion. It made little difference. Crazy Raccoon completely dominated the matchup off the back of another monstrous 31-1 performance from MAX. Crazy Raccoon comfortably achieved the full push and held T1 to just a single point. CR punched their ticket to Japan in convincing fashion and now had only a ZETA rematch ahead to determine their Champions Clash seeding.

Grand Finals: ZETA DIVISION 4 - 3 Crazy Raccoon

Another rematch from the day before, however, this time it was a first-to-four. Similar to Crazy Raccoon's T1 matchup, this was also the fourth time ZETA DIVISION and Crazy Raccoon would butt heads this season. ZETA DIVISION have won all three prior engagements against Crazy Raccoon.

With both teams having guaranteed their Champions Clash qualification, they were now battling to secure the top Asia seed for the LAN.

Similar to yesterday, the battle for first place started in Lijiang Tower, but the script did not quite follow suit. ZETA banned Lucio to force the Cat/Bastion mirror, but Park "JunBin" Jun-bin continuously came on top of the Mauga showdown against Lee "Mealgaru" Jeong-hwan. HeeSang continued his flawless form on Reaper and Crazy Raccoon took the rare Cat/Bastion mirror win against ZETA and the early series lead. 1-0.

Unlike their previous clash, the early loss had ZETA quickly send the match to Blizzard World, where they've been untouchable all season. But the script was having none of that today. Crazy Raccoon had read the full primer on ZETA's Blizzard World and came out the gates swinging. CR once again took the Cat/Bastion mirror, but doubled down on making sure former CR ace, Kim "shu" Jin-seo, had minimal room to breathe. A heroic defence from vigilante on the second point cost ZETA precious minutes and were ultimately held halfway to the third point. CR kept the pressure up after the side switch and continued to come out on top in the mirror-matchup, delivering ZETA their very first loss in Blizzard World. Crazy Raccoon were up 2-0 in the series.

ZETA picked Havana for Map 3, and banned Zarya, CR banned shu's Ana and went Cat/Bastion/D.Va. ZETA went super poke-heavy, with Bastion/Sigma/Illari/Baptiste with Kim "Proper" Dong-hyun on Reaper. ZETA started their push in a bit of a messy fashion, a crucial stall on MAX backfiring completely. Ultimately, Proper bailed the team out multiple times to achieve the full push with a couple of seconds left on the clock. ZETA went full-mirror on the side-switch and put on a great defensive display, holding CR on the second point and stabilising the series.

Fourth map and CR finally get the chance to pick it. They pick Runasapi and ban Jetpack Cat. ZETA roll out on a similar poke comp as Havana and CR opt for a faster, more traditional Lucio/Kiri comp. ZETA quickly put 120 meters on the board before CR could compose themselves. CR answer with 100 meters of their own, but they completely run out of steam by the time they get there, and find themselves on the losing end of the ult economy for the rest of the map. ZETA roll over on the backswing and seal the full-cap to tie the series.

Both teams start Suravasa on the Mauga mirror, where ZETA won 3-1 the day before. Similar to last time, the fights devolve into ultimate matchups, and CR are the ones to come out on top every single time. They swept ZETA DIVISION and sent the series to a championship point.

The top seed on the line, ZETA DIVISION, picked Oasis, but in an interesting move, banned their star player, shu's signature Ana. With Bernar back in for ZETA, Crazy Raccoon ban D.Va and both teams mirror Mauga yet again. Shades of 2024 as Oasis crescendoes into a full-on Mauga/Reaper brawl madness. Crazy Raccoon immediately pushed ZETA into elimination risk, taking the first round and pushing City Center to 99%. ZETA, nerves of steel, flipped City Center, and reran the same routine in University. They pulled off the clutch for the ages, sending the series into map seven and a true championship point.

Crazy Raccoon's final stand against ZETA's onslaught. They picked Gibraltar, and banned Park "Viol2t" Min-ki's Viol2t, and ZETA opted to ban Reaper to stifle HeeSang's unstoppable momentum. Crazy Raccoon started on the same comp they used in their loss to VARREL, with Cat/Bastion/D.Va and HeeSang on Symmetra. They struggled to get the first point, but once the ball was rolling, they quickly snowballed to grab the second point, only for momentum to come to a stop just shy of a full push.

On the side switch, the teams brought out the full-mirror, except for shu on Ana and vigilante on Kiriko. ZETA looked their proper (pun not intended), confident selves again, quickly taking over the first two points. Crazy Raccoon stabilised eventually and started putting up a valiant defence of the finish line. At that point, ZETA showed incredible composure. With enough time on the clock, they decided to take it slow, and build up a massive ultimate bank. They overwhelmed Crazy Raccoon in the final fight and took the championship by the skin of their teeth.

ZETA DIVISION showed incredible grit and determination to secure the #1 Asia seed for the Champions Clash and lifted the Asia trophy without losing a single series all season. They will advance to the Champions Clash, where they'll face NA's #2 seed, Spacestation Gaming.

Crazy Raccoon will face NA's #1 seed, Dallas Fuel, as their first opposition in the upcoming LAN.

The anticipation is palpable with all eyes now on the first international LAN of 2026. Stay tuned to all things OWTV and our full Champions Clash coverage.