📝 OWCS 2026 Stage 1 EMEA preview

A new year brings a new season of OWCS, and EMEA has an almost completely new look. Quite a few teams have had serious reshuffles, with several fielding completely new rosters from the ones that they finished 2025 with.

OWCS 2026 EMEA Stage 1 starts on March 21. The competition consists of the three OWCS Partner Teams and three teams that earned their spots through the OWCS Open Qualifiers. With the new six-team format, the level of competition is higher than ever. With only two spots available for the first international in Tokyo, Japan, and the bottom two standings in risk of relegation, every single map matters.

Twisted Minds

Twisted Minds roster:

• Tank - Alhumaidi “KSAA” Alruwaili
• Tank - Abdualziz “TVNT” Altmimi
• DPS - Ibrahem “Quartz” Alali
• DPS - Ahmad “Youbi” Alyoubi
• DPS - Kim “JaeWoo” Jae-woo
• Support - Kim “Simple” Ji-sung
• Support - Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway

As the old saying goes, Champions Rise as Champions, and Twisted Minds are in prime position to sweep through the region once again. Their biggest rivals in Al Qadsiah have lost their key players to rival teams, including their coach Choi “Junkbuck” Jae-won, who returned to Team Falcons in Korea, and the other EMEA partner teams had no answers against them during the OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp scrims.

Twisted Minds kept most of their world champion squad together, except for a single change. Kim “JaeWoo” Jae-woo replaced Maximillian “Seicoe” Otter as the second flex-DPS option next to Ahmad “Youbi” Alyoubi. After an impressive year with Virtus.pro in 2025, JaeWoo has picked up where he left off, slotting perfectly into the Twisted Minds lineup at the bootcamp.

The rest of the roster remains, with tank options in Alhumaidi “KSAA” Alruwaili and Abdualziz “TVNT” Altmimi, alongside their ever-reliable backline of Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway and Kim “Simple” Ji-sung. Their real X-factor is still their DPS duo. Ibrahem “Quartz” Alali has looked like the best hitscan player in the world for a number of months, and Youbi can bring a unique and often confounding Symmetra-based game plan that really gives Twisted Minds the edge.

There were some doubts about Twisted Minds’ ability to win without Symmetra, but their flawless performance at the OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp tournament has since put these doubts to bed.

Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro roster:

• Tank - Jonas “eisgnom” Stratemeyer
• DPS - Kevin “kevster” Persson
• DPS - Maximilian “Seicoe” Otter
• Support - Landon “Landon” McGee
• Support - Kwon “FiXa” Yeong-hun
• Head coach - Cho “SMASH” Bee-won

A strong performance in the scrims at the pre-season bootcamp, but ultimately being eliminated against Team Liquid set a strong start to the team, albeit with a couple of lingering weaknesses from last season.

The team let go of a few players from the previous stage. Virtus.pro brought in world champion Seicoe, and with Niclas “sHockWave” Smidt Jensen out of the team, Virtus.pro put Kevin “kevster” Persson on the hitscan role.

The team’s backline has seen Landon “Landon” McGee join to replace Jesús “Galaa” Núñez López, who has transferred to the new Al Qadsiah roster. Landon was one of the most impressive flex supports of 2025, putting up multiple carry performances against the best teams in the world.

Keeping the core of kevster, Cho “SMASH” Bee-won, Jonas “eisgnom” Stratemeyer, and Kwon “FiXa” Yeong-hun will give the stability they need as they still have a lot to prove from last year, and they will get the chance to do just that against the best that EMEA has to offer.

They weren’t able to put together a Bootcamp tournament run that matched their scrim success, but losing 3-1 to a very strong-looking Team Liquid shouldn’t discourage the team that is poised to be EMEA’s number two.

Team Peps

Team Peps roster:

• Tank - William "WillyS" Ersson
• DPS - Leo-Kristian "Zorrow" Sundin
• DPS - Florian "Dip" Lefèvre
• DPS - Terence "SoOn" Tarlier
• Support - Brice "FDgod" Monsçavoir
• Support - Benjamin "Xeriongdh" Nambruide
• Head coach - Julien "René" Garcia
• Performance coach - Clément "Tarteg" Ortega

The French team have kept the exact same roster of up-and-comers that propelled them miraculously to the World Finals last year.

William “WillyS” Ersson remains on tank, and he proved he could adapt to meta picks throughout last year. His Zarya looked solid, and he was willing to hop on Ramattra when appropriate as well.

Their DPS line of Leo-Kristian “Zorrow” Sundin and Florian “Dip” Lefèvre looks as strong as ever, with Dip showing incredible promise on Vendetta at various points over the bootcamp, and Zorrow continuing to be a very consistent hitscan option that pops off on the regular. Their French backline of Benjamin “Xeriongdh” Nambruide and Brice “FDGod” Monsçavoir is set to continue their synergistic partnership that continues to defy expectations.

That’s the advantage that Team Peps have over some of the reshuffles and newcomers in Stage 1 - this roster has been playing as a unit for far longer than any other in the region, with the exception of Twisted Minds to a degree. They are well-coached, hungry and are more than capable of upsets, as the bootcamp’s first day of scrims demonstrated. Their comeback win over Disguised in the tournament showed this: what they may lack in star power, they make up for in grit.

Geekay Esports

Geekay Esports roster:

• Tank - Ziyad "ZIYAD" Alkathiri
• DPS - Abdudelah "LBDD7" Alfaifi
• DPS - Kim "AlphaYi" Jun
• Support - Osama "Haku" Abdullah
• Support - Oh "FiNN" Se-jin
• Coach - Go "Aid" Jae-yoon

Geekay Esports switched regions from North America to EMEA, and with it have fielded a completely new and exciting roster.

The key piece of this new roster is Ziyad “ZIYAD” Alkathiri. Fresh off a rookie-of-the-year performance in 2025, he was a widely sought-after prospect following Al Qadsiah’s highly successful 2025 campaign. Geekay Esports snapped him up, and he led them to first place in the OWCS Open Qualifiers.

No expense was spared on the DPS line either, with Abdulelah “LBDD7” Alfaifi also making the move from Al Qadsiah to take up hitscan duties. He was bested only by Quartz in the region in 2025 and spent the year lighting up the region under Junkbuck’s tutelage.

Two ZETA DIVISION alumni have been imported to this roster by way of Kim “AlphaYi” Jun and Oh “FiNN” Se-jin. AlphaYi was the brightest spot on a tepid ZETA roster last year, and made the switch back to flex DPS after a brief stint on main support. It looked like he didn’t miss a beat, and despite his Lucio-induced hiatus, his tracer was on par with the best of them.

FiNN also looked strong at times on that ZETA DIVISION roster, coming up with highlight reel plays on flex support. He’s been at the top level of Korean competition for a while, but whether his strengths will translate to this new region remains to be seen.

Rounding out the roster is Osama “Haku” Abdullah on main support, who played in the Saudi eLeague with Al Qadsiah last year. His performance in the OWCS Open Qualifiers had many positives, but it remains to be seen how strong they’ll translate when Geekay are pitted against the strongest in the region.

Al Qadsiah

Al Qadsiah roster:

• Tank - Ilari “Vestola” Vestola
• DPS - Yoo “Taejong” Tae-jong
• DPS - Lee “Ade” Ji-hwan
• Support - Majed “SirMajed” Alrashied
• Support - Jesús “Galaa” Núñez López
• Head coach - Son “Undine” Young-woo

After an extremely successful season under Junkbuck, where Al Qadsiah finished as world runners-up, the Saudi organisation have completely revamped their entire roster. They played in the OWCS Open Qualifiers and had to earn their spot in the OWCS alongside Geekay Esports and Anyone’s Legend.

They have assembled a roster with ample experience among them, making use of many of the missing pieces from last year's teams.

They acquired Ilari “Vestola” Vestola, formerly of Virtus.pro, who was sidelined in favour of eisgnom towards the back half of last season. If the meta from the pre-season bootcamp and the open qualifiers persists, it looks Vestola will be able to rely on his comfort heroes more often, such as D.Va, Sigma, and the newest tank to join the cast, Domina.

Al Qadsiah also snapped up two Korean imports for their DPS duo. Lee “Ade” Ji-hwan and Yoo “Taejong” Tae-jong. Ade had a breakout year on WAE, cementing himself as one of the premier hitscan prospects out of Korea. His Freja was particularly impressive when she was at the height of her strength. Taejong is a young up-and-comer who has previously played for ROC Esports in China and WAY in Korea, as well as Team Vision in 2025. He’s still looking for his breakout success at the top level, but he has shown enough potential to merit his spot at the top level.

Their backline consists of Galaa, formerly of Virtus.pro, and Majed “SirMajed” Alrashied, who previously played for Team Falcons but moved to a content creation role for them last year. After a year away, he’s returned to competing, and his accolades as a player precede him. Alongside Quartz, Youbi, LBDD7, Haku, and KSAA, he was part of the legendary Saudi Arabia team that won the 2024 Overwatch World Cup.

There is a glaring main-support-shaped hole in this roster, which Galaa is trying to fill by playing Lucio. It was a serviceable performance in the Open Qualifiers, but it remains to be seen whether he can achieve the levels we’ve previously seen from him on this new role.

Anyone’s Legend

Anyone's Legend roster:

• Tank - Tama
• Tank - Ahmed “amdp” Balateef
• DPS - William “WMaimone” Maimone
• DPS - Kai “Kai” Collins
• Support - Lewis “Crispy” Beer
• Support - Christian “Khenail” Ríos
• Head coach - Maeng “YaHo” Hyun-ho
• Assistant coach - Jamie “Backbone” O'Neill

Anyone’s Legend are the wildcard team of the region; backed by All Gamers, they were able to sign Gen.G Esports’ core roster from 2025 and added William “WMaimone” Maimone, and Kai “Kai” Collins, with Tama and Ahmed “amdp” Balateef on tank to round out the roster.

WMaimone spent two stages last year with Geekay Esports in NA, and Kai took a step back from OWCS for Stage 3 following the dissolution of The Ultimates at the end of Stage 2. Tama is a promising talent who made his OWCS debut last year on Team Vision and found some success despite limited top-level experience.

Their backline sees the return of EMEA staples Lewis “Crispy” Beer and Christian “Khenail” Ríos, who ran as partners in support for Gen.G Esports in 2025. Finally, fan-favourite player Jamie “Backbone” O'Neill is taking the role of assistant coach next to Maeng “YaHo” Hyun-ho at the helm. Backbone was able to orchestrate some of Gen.G’s most memorable upsets last year that saw them finish the year fourth in EMEA, and we may see a repeat of that once again this year.

While EMEA is unlikely to change at the top this season, there is an abundance of talent in the region, and every matchup has room for an upset. The mix of interesting styles, matchups and players will breathe new life into the newly-crowned premier region of professional Overwatch. Each week should bring something new, and come the playoffs, viewers will be in for a real treat.

Make sure to stay up to date on all information, news, and interviews with EMEA teams on OWTV.gg.