đ Korea has a new champion: Stage 1 playoffs recap
We just wrapped up the OWCS 2026 Korea Stage 1 Playoffs. Six first-to-four matches across three intense days. Day 1âs conclusion confirmed the four Korean teams for the OWCS Asia Stage 1 Championship, while Days 2 and 3 sealed the final standings for Korea Stage 1, the final seeding for the upcoming Championship, and the prize money distribution.
Last week saw the new Jetpack Cat/Bastion meta enter the scene in full swing. One of the biggest factors coming into this week was whether the Cat/Bastion combo was still as effective or if the teams had figured out a proper counter to it.
The first-to-three nature of the regular season is a considerably different affair compared to the playoffsâ first-to-four. Where the prospect of banning Jetpack Cat or Bastion is an easier accomplishment in the former, itâs a much more difficult task to avoid the combo in a longer series.
Playoffs Day 1: Quarter Finals
Match results:
Recap:
The first match between Team Falcons and ZAN Esports started with a little scare for the former. ZAN Esports immediately opted out of the Cat/Bastion by banning the latter. The Mauga/Pharah paid off initially as ZAN took the first sub-round in Lijiang Tower, but things quickly unravelled from there.
Sporadic flashes of skill from ZAN were ultimately unsustainable against Falconsâ consistency. Even with an underwhelming showing from Choi âMER1Tâ Tae-min, Falconsâ coordination carried them through the opener and set the tone for the rest of the series. The gap only widened from thereâRunasapi and Havana were largely one-sided, with the Falcons speedrunning their win conditions.
Worth noting that it took until the fourth map and the match point for ZAN to finally ban the dominant Jetpack Cat, but to no avail. As Choi âHanbinâ Han-been put it succinctly in the post-match player of the match interview, âit was easy.â
RĂDE ONSIDE GAMING and T1 followed a similar arc, where RONG displayed hints of early resistance only to give way to a clear separation between the two teams. T1 showed incredible flexibility and standout individual performances. Kim âZESTâ Hyun-woo was instrumental in dismantling the opposition.
In this matchup, T1 were the ones to opt out of the Cat/Bastion comps, banning Bastion in Oasis and Jetpack Cat in Havana. The matches became closer when the Cat/Bastion came back into play from Map 3 onward. However, just as RONG were starting to get comfortable in the âmostlyâ mirror-comps, T1 started playing around the Cat/Bastion by picking out Kim âiRONYâ Baek-kang early every fight. Without iRONYâs Ana to keep the Cat/Bastion afloat, RONG saw themselves lose Numbani and Esperanca. A disappointing 4-0 ending to an otherwise promising season.
Following this matchup, ZETA DIVISIONâas the top seed of the playoffsâpicked T1 as their opponents for Day 2, sending Team Falcons to yet another fateful clash against Crazy Raccoon.
Playoffs Day 2: Semi-Finals
Match results:
Recap:
ZETA DIVISION and T1 delivered a series that fully displayed ZETAâs compositional mastery, with their Cat/Bastion ultimately proving to be the decisive factor.
T1 were willing to mirror ZETAâs Cat/Bastion in Lijiang Tower, but the latterâs comfort and precision showed a stark difference between the two teams. T1 wasted no time banning Jetpack Cat in Runasapi, forcing a scrappy Sojourn/Pharah mirror comp. ZETA looked destabilisedâan Ajax from Park âViol2tâ Min-ki early in the game disrupted ZETAâs tempo. ZETA stabilised too late to flip the outcome.
T1 took out Bastion on Map 3, but ZETA were unstoppable on Winston/Tracer. Just as T1 looked to get the ball rolling, Kim âProperâ Dong-hyun put a hard stop to their ambitions with a 1v3âclutching a lost fight and subsequently the map back in their favour. Numbani brought back the Cat/Bastion mirror. However, the gap in execution was overwhelming in ZETAâs favour and they sent the series to a match point.
In Aatlis, T1 decided not to mirror Cat/Bastion and opted for Cassidy/Echo with a Kiri/Lucio backline. The gambit worked as ZEST forced Lee âKNIFEâ Seon-woo to pick Lindholm Explosives on Bastionâprompting a quick switch from T1 back onto the Cat/Bastion. The bait-and-switch forced KNIFE to switch to Cassidy, since the Lindholm Explosives perk wasnât as effective to deal with the Cat/Bastion mirror in the sky. T1 managed to send the series to a Map 6, and the inevitable Blizzard World pick from ZETA sealed the deal in dominant fashion. But perhaps T1 revealed at least some counterplay to the dreaded Cat/Bastion in the process that might see some more play during next weekâs Asia Championship.
The Crazy Raccoon and Team Falcons matchup was five straight maps of Cat/Bastion. The entire matchup was defined by Falcons repeatedly beating Crazy Raccoon at their own game. With Ana removed from the equation in the first two maps, the series leaned heavily into whoever came out on top of the Cap/Bastion duels. Suravasa also put forward the Mauga/Reaper meatgrinders, echoing the tail end of 2024 and the Falconsâ dominance under Choi âJunkbuckâ Jae-won.
Havana had both teams fully mirror one another. Cat/Bastion on full display, but this time, with the full suite Ana/D.Va suite in tow. Both sides were evenly matched, but the Falcons continued to edge out small advantages that added up over time, and CR brought the map to an awkward finish with an awkward C9 halfway towards the second point.
Crazy Raccoon surged back briefly with Park âJunBinâ Jun-binâs return on Wrecking Ball. They put up a performance that was more in line with what theyâve shown so far against Falcons in the regular season. But, ultimately, it was short-lived. Falcons sent the series to Gibraltar. Crazy Raccoon showed promise before stalling just short of the finish line. Falcons adapted mid-map, just in time to find their dominant edge once again, and responded with a decisive full-push that locked them into a top-two finish in OWCS 2026 Korea Stage 1.
Crazy Raccoon had previously fully swept Team Falcons twice. Once during the Regular Season, and the other just the week prior in the Playoff Seeding Decider matches. However, in the span of a single week, Team Falcons look to have substantially improved their mastery of the Cat/Bastion meta that CR themselves first introduced.
Playoffs Day 3: Third-place match and Grand Finals
Match results:
Recap:
T1 and Crazy Raccoon had already guaranteed an equal prize money split, finishing third and fourth. With the only stakes being a higher seed in next weekâs Asia Championship, both teams seemed to approach the series as a testing ground. T1âs early experiment with Domina within the Cat/Bastion framework never quite found any footing, forcing a quick pivot from Kim âD0NGHAKâ Min-sung onto Mauga to stabilise. Even then, Crazy Raccoon looked far more comfortable navigating the meta they helped popularise.
In Havana and Numbani, Jeong âJasm1neâ Jong-min came back in for the first time since Week 3. With the Cat/Bastion still at large, Jasm1ne found himself floundering as he was still adjusting to this metaâs pace. T1 lost both maps and quickly found themselves staring at match point.
Facing a 4-0 sweep, with D0NGHAK back in and Jetpack Cat banned by CR, T1 finally found their footing in the non-mirror matchup. Crazy Raccoon also subbed in Lee âLIPâ Jae-won to partner up with Jeong âSTALK3Râ Hak-yong. T1 won the map 3-1, but any hopes for a bigger turnaround in the series were short-lived. T1 banned Jetpack Cat for the following map, but Crazy Raccoon were able to adapt immediately and shut down T1 in a swift final map.
Finally, it all came down to the Grand Finals. With both prize money and the top Asia Championship seed on the line, both teams were ready to duke it out. Team Falcons and ZETA DIVISION traded blows early and often, but the series ultimately settled into a familiar pattern where ZETAâs command of the Cat/Bastion meta proved decisive.
Lijiang Tower opened with the Falcons banning Jetpack Cat and taking the first round, but as soon as KNIFEâs Mei and Lee âMealgaruâ Jeong-hwanâs Wrecking Ball came online, the map slipped away from the Falconsâ grasp.
Gibraltar saw Falcons strike back. Despite the Cat/Bastion mirror, the difference came in the form of Baek âCheckmateâ Seung-hun on Reaper. Falcons managed to hold CR halfway to the second point and comfortably tied the series, 1-1.
ZETA spent no time sending the series to their sacred grounds, Blizzard World, and full-pushed with two minutes on the clock. However, Falcons did not back down and gave ZETA their first proper scare at Blizzard World. For the second time this week, Falcons brought back shades of 2024 Hanbin on Mauga and Checkmate on Reaper, and they gave ZETA their first proper scare at Blizzard World, pushing them to the brink. ZETA only stabilised in the dying minute of the map, holding Falcons and winning the map.
From there, Esperanca was comparatively straightforward, with ZETA dictating the pace and cruising to a full push behind a standout Bastion performance from KNIFE.
Falconsâ last stand in Rialto brought real ingenuity to the table. They broke away from the Cat/Bastion mirror with a completely new Symmetra/Soldier: 76 comp, relying on Checkmateâs mastery of the former. The new composition forced the game into yet another timebank round, but it wasnât enough to overturn the Cat/Bastion gap on their defence. ZETA closed out the series 4-1 and secured the top spot in Korea.
With the Grand Finals wrapped up, it officially brings the OWCS 2026 Korea Stage 1 to a close. Under Park âCrustyâ Dae-hee, ZETA DIVISION brought an end to a string of OWCS championships dominated by Crazy Raccoon and Team Falcons. They will head to the OWCS Asia Stage 1 tournament as the top seed from Korea, where theyâll hope to replicate their regional success and make their way to the Champions Clash.