📝 Disguised out, Fuel on top. OWCS NA Week 3 review

Six entered, four remain.

Week 3 of Stage 1 has officially concluded, bringing both some surprising results and the return of some familiar faces. With two remaining playoff spots on the table, each team fought their way to secure their appearance and avoid relegation.

Game of the week: Spacestation Gaming 2 - 3 Dallas Fuel

“My two supports are insane at their heroes…they always know how to get maximum value…” - Coach Eric "Wheats" Perez

Heading into the final weekend of the Stage 1 regular season, the power structure of the region had shifted greatly. With Team Liquid no longer as dominant as they were in 2025, both the Dallas Fuel and Spacestation Gaming had risen as the two strongest teams in North America.

There were some questions regarding which team would come out on top. Dallas looked shakier with their style of off-meta composition and boasted a much weaker overall map differential compared to Spacestation’s more rigid scorelines against their opponents. Despite the differences, this match would truly prove which team is the strongest in the region.

And immediately out of the gate, this match was back and forth. Although Spacestation had won both Lijiang and Suravasa, both maps could easily have swung the opposite direction. In fact, that was proven ever more true when the Fuel came back to narrowly win both Blizzard World and Rialto and begin their reverse sweep attempt.

Throughout the series, neither team truly stayed consistent with the meta. The Fuel are no strangers to exploring creative compositions, as they rarely play the D.Va or Zarya/Kiriko/Lucio and instead opt for lineups that better fit both Kim "Kellan" Min-jae and Luke "Lukemino" Fish’s hero pools. Spacestation experimented themselves with Kamden "Sugarfree" Hijada and Xander "Hawk" Domecq flexing onto their own styles that better matched against the Fuel.

It wasn’t until the final map of Runasapi, where Dallas’ composition built around their comfort picks defeated Spacestation’s on-meta Vendetta/Zarya composition. With this victory, not only did Dallas prove themselves as the definitive best team in North America and secure the #1 playoff seed, but they also showed how comfort can make all the difference in victories.

This series highlighted not only a difference in styles but also how close these two teams are. Every fight on every map could have easily swung in either team’s favor, and the series could’ve ended at any scoreline for both teams. Heading into the playoffs, both teams will be looking to meet one another in the Grand Finals.

Player of the week: Park "SeonJun" Seon-jun from the Dallas Fuel

When the Dallas Fuel needed a hero to help them secure the reverse sweep, Seonjun stepped up to the plate.

Seonjun grabs a double on Rialto against Spacestation Gaming.

Seonjun has been a reliable player throughout his tenure in OWCS, proving himself on both WAE and now the Dallas Fuel. This past weekend, he found great success on the Tracer and landed almost every single one of his Pulse Bombs to secure their status as the best team in North America.

Heading into the playoffs, the remaining teams will need to be on their guard and hope they can match his level of aggression. OWTV is proud to recognize Park "SeonJun" Seon-jun as this week’s North American Player of the Week.

Personal comforts and the return of Mauga

Graphic from OWCS 2026 Hero Bans/Metas Spreadsheet by pthandley32

As the regular season wraps up in North America, all teams have settled into their comfort picks. It is quite rare to see a meta this diverse, as nearly every team, across the board, has revolved around personal strengths rather than a single defined meta.

Support has largely been focused around Lucio/Kiriko, but teams like the Fuel have shown how flexibility in the backline can bring great success. DPS has seen the rise of Emre as a dominant hitscan alongside Vendetta on the flex, but teams have opted to play their strengths on heroes such as Tracer, Echo, Pharah, and even more niche picks like Hanzo and Reaper.

Tank this past weekend also saw the biggest shakeup, with Team Liquid borrowing some ideas from the EMEA region and reintroducing Mauga into the mix. This, along with the occasional Orisa and Ramattra, has thrown a wrench into the dominant Zarya/D.Va meta, and once more solidified the need to play to an individual team’s strengths.

Heading into the playoffs, each of the four teams will be looking to find success in their own individual style. This will be the time to truly showcase strengths and see which composition can be the key to booking a ticket to Tokyo.

Week 3 in review: Comebacks and relegation

Team Liquid 3 - 1 LuneX Gaming

“I think everyone’s been stepping up. I think this is the hardest we’ve ever worked as a team…” - Elliot "TR33" Chu

After a disappointing Week 2, Team Liquid entered Week 3 in desperate need of a win. On the other hand, LuneX came in after a surprising 2-3 loss against the Dallas Fuel, and only needed a win to qualify for the playoffs.

For LuneX, that victory eluded them (for now). Despite all four maps being fairly close, they ultimately lacked the finishing power needed to take down Team Liquid. One notable moment in this series was LuneX tank player cartifan22 coming in and making Watchpoint: Gibraltar much closer than in previous matches.

After this loss, LuneX was left in a tough position, but ultimately still controlled their path to the playoffs. This team would need to shake off the loss quickly and turn their attention towards Disguised.

Team Liquid knew this game was a must-win, cause if they had lost, then their chances of avoiding Relegation would be slim. The DPS core of Elliot "TR33" Chu and Xavier "zeruhh" Zambrano has continued to shine, showcasing good flexibility against their opponents. And crucially, the team opted to bring back Boston "Infekted" Fine to the starting roster, who unlocked a hidden Mauga pick, throwing LuneX off guard. This series was also a much better showing for Yasser "Escanor" Alotaibi, who looked much improved on both the Kiriko and Juno picks.

While this win didn’t automatically secure their spot in the playoffs, Team Liquid earned a much-needed bounce back after their disastrous 3-0 loss to Disguised in Week 2.

With this victory, all Liquid needed was for Dallas to beat Extinction, and they would avoid Promotion/Relegation.

Disguised 1 - 3 LuneX Gaming

“There was not a sense of nerves in my team’s voice the entire series…” - Coach Sascha "SNR" Rogg

In Week 2, Disguised had officially claimed their first OWCS match victory against Team Liquid, and hopes were high heading into their final match of Stage 1. Although their chances of avoiding Promotion/Relegation hinged on some extra support from other teams, a chance is still a chance.

Unfortunately, Disguised became the second partnered organisation sent to the Promotion/Relegation playoffs alongside Team Peps in EMEA. While both Evan "PGE" Ngo and Alexander "Tred" Madgwick-Smith continued to impress, the overall team coordination seemed off in this match.

This loss by DSG also meant that neither they nor Extinction could sneak into the playoffs. Both will be facing the winner and runner-up of FACEIT League Season 8 - NA Master.

In the post-match interview, Coach SNR alluded to how disappointing the result against Liquid was, but also how it didn’t break the team’s spirits. Much like the Fuel, LuneX has continued playing into their strengths and making the most of comfort heroes, as evidenced by xten and Alexander "Zeb" Shepard’s Reaper/Orisa or Zarya combination.

While there are still questions regarding the flexibility of this roster heading into the playoffs, LuneX has continued to impress the region and shown how valuable the new qualification system has been.

Dallas Fuel 3 - 0 Extinction

“We throw a curveball every time we play people, because they never know how to play against [our style]... ” - Rocco "Kronik" Iacobacci

With Disguised officially out and LuneX officially in, Extinction were now Promotion/Relegation-bound before their match had begun. While there wasn’t anything left to play for, this didn’t mean there was no fun to be had.

This match was as unserious as they come. Both the Dallas Fuel and Extinction opted to play Mystery Heroes, and had plenty of hilarious compositional choices that made this series look more like a late-stage DhillDucks game.

Both teams had opted to put their hitscan players on Widowmaker on Busan, and each was pocketed by their respective supports on Jetpack Cat, and gave us some of the most entertaining gameplay of the stage.

This also marked Gorilla’s OWCS debut, and while this match wasn’t the best test of their skill, it was nice to show off the player who was the original inspiration for Extinction’s former colors.

Kronik duels in the skies while being flown by Cjay and boosted by Lukemino.

While the Fuel also had nothing left to play for, this series officially secured them a 5-0 stage, the best record of any team in North America.

Spacestation Gaming 3 - 1 Team Liquid

“I’d say we’re good for a top four internationally, and/or we’ll win it all.” - Kamden "Sugarfree" Hijada

With LuneX defeating Disguised, Team Liquid officially locked in their playoff spot. Now was the time to show the region just how strong this roster could be and plot their course for redemption. After fully incorporating Escanor, and Infekted rejoining the starting lineup, Team Liquid were looking more lethal.

Although it was a loss, Liquid made Spacestation work for this win. Much like Spacestation’s match versus Dallas, every map could easily have swung in the opposite direction. This match also continued the trend of Infekted utilizing Mauga, which did catch Spacestation slightly off guard but ultimately fell short.

This series did show one thing: Team Liquid isn’t done just yet.

For Spacestation, their resolve continued to grow despite the unusual compositions. As Sugarfree mentioned in the post-match interview, this team has their eyes set not just on the North American crown, but on great success in the international sphere.