đ Nothing ever happens: OWCS Korea Regional Playoffs Week 2 summary
In a playoff series that, until this point, had delivered crazy upsets and exciting matches, the finals were a more pedestrian affair. However, there were certainly matches that produced the high-calibre Overwatch that this region is known for. WAE certainly rose to the occasion and put themselves on the map, and Crazy Raccoon demonstrated their plot armour/unbelievable clutch factor again and again on their way to winning the tournament.
Game of the week: Crazy Raccoon 4 - 2 WAE (Playoff Semi-final)
It was WAE that took Crazy Raccoon the furthest in these playoffs, showing that they werenât just another Korean dive team. Their best performances actually came on the maps where dive is more difficult, namely Kingâs Row and Junkertown.
WAE showed their prowess on Kingâs Row earlier in the playoffs against Team Falcons, and their performance against Crazy Raccoon was a similar story. They were able to force a Ramattra mirror against Choi "MAX" Su-min and utilised the Symmetra to gain a positional advantage. Lee "Ade" Ji-hwan was also consistently getting the better of the Crazy Raccoon DPS on almost every occasion, and the eventual playoff winners struggled to get any momentum on their attack. WAE continued their bid to become the new Kings of the Row.
However, when Park "JunBin" Jun-bin was in on the dive-oriented maps, Crazy Raccoon really showed their class. Junbin and Chae "HeeSang" Hee-sang stole the show, with multiple individual clutches each, but the main story of this series, and Crazy Raccoonâs entire playoff run, was their truly inspiring ability to clutch âlostâ fights.
The most outrageous clutch of them all came on Esperanca. Crazy Raccoon had given up a significant lead, and WAE looked like the favourites to take it home. However, yet again, at the death, Junbin solo kills both of the enemy supports to complete another improbable comeback.
The thing about Crazy Raccoon is that the individual level is ridiculously high across the board. Junbin can turn water into wine; Heesang can and will win side fights against the best flex DPS players in the world; Lee "LIP" Jae-won can find a pick out of thin air, and Kim "shu" Jin-seo and Sung "CH0R0NG" Yoo-min can survive the most dangerous dives while still somehow killing the entire enemy team when they feel like it.
What this series really showed us is that water is wet, the sky is blue, and Crazy Raccoon WILL clutch up when it matters.
Player of the week: Junbin
In the aforementioned clutches, there was one player who was always the closer: Junbin. Be it on Winston or Wrecking Ball, he found value with every ultimate, found openings that didnât seem to exist to solo kill the enemy backline, and assert his dominance in dive matchups of any and every kind. When dive is good, Crazy Raccoon are the kings, and their ever-reliable main tank player is a big part of the reason why.
He made the other two premier dive tanks in the region, Lee "Mealgaru" Jeong-hwan and Kim "DONGHAK" Min-sung, look second-rate in comparison. You could make the argument that he has the best team in the world around him, but he truly has the X-Factor that makes Crazy Raccoon what it is, and can carry fights on his own if he has to.
A monster performance that should keep every team on their toes going into the World Finals in Stockholm.
Other match reports:
ZETA DIVISION 0 - 4 T1 (Playoff Semi-final)
This was quite a sad performance from ZETA. After looking fairly strong at points during the regular season, T1 made them look like they belonged in T2. Even the usual bright spots on ZETA in Shin "BERNAR" Se-won, Oh "Pelican" Se-hyun, and Kim "AlphaYi" Jun looked dim in this one, seemingly outclassed on all fronts â a tough watch for ZETA fans.
WAE 4 - 0 ZETA DIVISION (3rd Place Match)
Unfortunately, it was a similar story for ZETA heads in this match. They looked lost, dazed, and confused By all metrics, ZETAâs best chance of beating WAE was from forcing an off-tank mirror on one of their best maps, Kingâs Row, by banning out Ramattra. Instead, ZETA opted to ban the Venture, leaving Ramattra open and politely asking WAE to make it quick. Even Kim "Mag" Tae-sung had a go on the Wrecking Ball, but to no avail â a sad departure from the playoffs for ZETA.
Crazy Raccoon 4 - 1 T1 (Grand Final)
Many fans expected this game to go the distance, be the 7-map Grand Final that we were all hoping for. T1 smoked Crazy Raccoon in the Regular Season, but clearly Crazy Raccoon werenât even trying back then, because this was a very different story. In a classic case of Nothing Ever Happens, Crazy Raccoon beat T1 in dominant fashion.
Aside from a quite puzzling Esparanca Winston performance from Player of the Week Junbin, in which he holds a Primal Rage for close to ten whole minutes just to get slept and die, T1 didnât really look dangerous at any point. A 2-0 sweep on Ilios, a dominant 2nd point hold on Rialto, and a 3-0 Suravasa further demonstrated what Crazy Raccoon had already shown: any one player could carry the game at any point, and if you give them an inch, they will take a mile. They are in peak form going into the Real Playoffs (Road to World Finals).