📝 Day 1 for qualification, Day 2 for elimination: OWCS EMEA Playoffs Week 1 preview

The regular season has come to an end, but the road to Stockholm and the Overwatch Champions Series Grand Finals is just about to hit overdrive. We summarised all the action leading up to this stage in our last week’s summary, and bid our farewells to Goud Guys ANM and Quick Esports.

After six straight weeks of teams battling it out, Al Qadsiah came out on top. The top six have all locked in their slots in the playoffs, with the bottom two having to start their way from the lower bracket, where a single slip-up could mean the end of their journey.

Al Qadsiah securing the #1 seed in the playoffs meant they had priority pick on who to face between the #3 and #4 seeds. On Tuesday, October 14, Al Qadsiah chose the #4 seed, Team Vision, as their opponents. An expected choice, given that Al Qadsiah were able to defeat Vision quite handily when they first met in Week 1. This forces Virtus.pro to face Twisted Minds as their first opponent.

On October 14, the new Overwatch season also just started, and with it, a new balance patch. The balance changes dropped just four days before the start of the playoffs, giving teams almost no time to research, adapt, and develop their compositions, and run scrimmages to hone them. While the balance changes have affected a lot of the heroes that are frequently picked in OWCS games, it’s unclear whether the changes are significant enough to warrant any major meta or composition shifts for the teams.

Here’s what the overall playoff journey looks like:

EMEA Playoffs - Day 1 (October 18, 2025) - Upper Bracket

Al Qadsiah - Team Vision

The first clash of the weekend sees Al Qadsiah take on Team Vision. When these two sides met earlier in the season, Al Qadsiah came away with a clean 3-0 sweep, though Team Vision showed flashes of potential that nearly turned the tide on a couple of maps.

Al Qadsiah have been nothing short of unstoppable, cruising through the Regular Season without dropping a single series. Every player on the roster has been performing at their peak, and the team now has its sights firmly set on Stockholm and a shot at the OWCS Grand Finals.

For Team Vision, this is their chance to make good on their early-season ambitions of a top-three finish. However, their struggles against the region’s elite have left some doubts heading into the playoffs. Much of their success may hinge on Park “Viol2t” Min-ki, who can turn games on their head, though his aggressive style has backfired in key moments.

While both teams have the safety net of a double-elimination bracket, there’s plenty at stake here. The winner secures a qualification spot to Stockholm and advances to face the winner of our 2nd game of the week in the next upper bracket matchup, while the loser will face Team Peps and battle their way through the lower bracket to keep their Stockholm hopes alive.

Virtus.pro - Twisted Minds

The second upper bracket matchup features Virtus.pro taking on Twisted Minds. A highly anticipated rematch between two teams that couldn’t be more evenly matched. When they met in the Regular Season, Virtus.pro narrowly came out on top with a 3-2 victory, and this playoff meeting promises to be just as close. Both squads were part of the Midseason Championship, and both are hungry for another international appearance. A win here would lock in their ticket to Stockholm for the OWCS Grand Finals.

Virtus.pro seemed to benefit early in Stage 3 from the removal of Symmetra’s Advanced Teleportation perk, a signature part of Twisted Minds’ playbook. Yet as the season went on, Symmetra slowly found her way back into the meta, and with the new balance patch that landed on October 14, just days before the playoffs, the dynamic between these two teams could shift once more.

Both Virtus.pro and Twisted Minds believe they have what it takes to claim first place in the EMEA Playoffs and secure the top seed heading into the Grand Finals. But while victory would guarantee them a spot at the Grand Finals, defeat won’t spell the end. The loser will drop to the lower bracket, where Gen.G Esports await their next challenger.

EMEA Playoffs - Day 2 (October 19, 2025) - Lower Bracket

Upper Bracket Game 1 Loser - Team Peps

Team Peps entered the playoffs by the narrowest of margins, scraping into the bracket with just two wins from seven in the Regular Season. Their campaign ended on a sour note with a loss to local rivals Goud Guys ANM on the final matchday, a result that could leave them on the back foot heading into their opening playoff game.

To stay alive, Peps will need to rediscover the form they showed in Week 3 against Gen.G Esports, where they delivered one of their most cohesive performances of the season. They’ll be facing either Al Qadsiah or Team Vision, depending on how the upper bracket opener unfolds. Naturally, Peps would prefer a rematch with Team Vision, whom they managed to take a map off earlier in the season, rather than a repeat of their 3-0 defeat to Al Qadsiah.

With elimination on the line, Team Peps will have to shake off recent frustrations and bring their best form yet if they hope to extend their playoff run.

Upper Bracket Game 2 Loser - Gen.G Esports

Just like Team Peps, Gen.G Esports entered the playoffs with a 2-5 record from the Regular Season. But while their results might not reflect it, Gen.G’s performances tell a different story. They’re the only lower-bracket team to have taken maps off all three of the region’s top contenders: Al Qadsiah, Virtus.pro, and Twisted Minds.

Their season started slowly, but as the weeks went on, Gen.G began to click. With their roster finally finding its rhythm and settling on map+hero compositions that suited their style, the team began to look increasingly dangerous. They pushed Twisted Minds to the brink with a 5-map dogfight, and even took maps off both Al Qadsiah and Virtus.pro, proving they can hang with the best when everything comes together.

While those results didn’t change their regular-season standing, they could be crucial indicators heading into the playoffs, where every round, every map, and every mistake carries far greater weight. The question now is whether the midseason balance changes, particularly the Reaper changes, will disrupt Gen.G’s established compositions or if they can adapt and keep their late-season momentum alive.

Looking ahead…

With the OWCS EMEA Stage 3 Playoffs about to kick off, the stage is set for one of the most competitive weekends of Overwatch we’ve seen this year. The top seeds will be fighting to secure their spots for Stockholm and the Grand Finals, while those starting in the lower bracket will be playing for survival from the very first map. Between shifting metas, recent balance changes, and plenty of unfinished rivalries, every matchup carries its own storyline, and every team still believes they have what it takes to go all the way.

No matter how the bracket unfolds, one thing is certain: the road to Stockholm begins here, and it’s going to be an unforgettable ride.