From Doctrine to disconnects, the 10 biggest OWCS stories this week

The final stage of OWCS 2026 is now in full swing!

With the North American and EMEA regions officially back on the mound, upsets and storylines galore emerged across every region. This weekend also brought a brand-new update, featuring massive reworks and even a new hero.

So, here are the top 10 things that went down across OWCS this week.

Doctrine and Sombra take over

The Reign of ex-Talon was in full swing this week. Doctrine and Sombra have come to transform the meta. Across Korea, North America, and EMEA, the newest members of the support family have slotted right in alongside Jetpack Cat and Ana, benching long-time flex support Kiriko. 

Roadhog’s rework, however, doesn’t seem to have landed as strongly as the other new additions.

Compositions from Stage 2 and the World Cup stayed strong, particularly the Cat/Bastion alongside D.Mon. While recent balance changes no longer let Cassidy tether during Deadeye, he remains a comfortable hitscan option to counter the flying feline.

Grímsvötn debut

The latest season also introduced Watchpoint: Grímsvötn, the new Escort map, and it immediately made its debut in OWCS NA and EMEA this past weekend. 

The map proved very popular across both regions. It was picked three times each in both regions, with only SSG and Twisted Minds opting to go Route 66 and Havana respectively, when they had the chance to pick an Escort map.

We don’t know whether Grímsvötn would have been as popular across Japan, China, and Korea, since those regions started their OWCS stages before the new season launched. As a result, the new Escort map isn't in the OWCS map pool in those regions.

Cheeseburger topple Team Falcons

Cheeseburger pulled off a surprising upset against Team Falcons this weekend. In their series, Cheeseburger defeated one of OWCS’s best teams 3-1, with Choi "K4ne" Ju-hyung proving to be a real difference-maker on the hitscan for the second week in a row.

Crazy Raccoon’s new support player, LIP

Last week, Lee "LIP" Jae-won took his iconic Sombra into the lobby for a last ride before her rework into the support role. It was a fine gesture for his long legacy on the hero. LIP, however, who has taken more of a reserve role this year with Crazy Raccoon since the signing of Jeong "Stalk3r" Hak-yong, made a very surprising appearance this weekend. In both matches against T1 and Cheeseburger, LIP crossed the border into support alongside his iconic Sombra, sidelining Kim "vigilante" Joon for the weekend.

LIP has been well known as the best Sombra in the world, and didn’t seem interested in losing that title anytime soon. LIP used his familiar hero alongside Doctrine to help Crazy Raccoon win both matchups, 3-1.

SEIJI ESPORTS get their first win over ROZE

The weekend brought another surprising result when SEIJI ESPORTS, the team that came in as the ninth seed in Korea, pulled off a 3-1 victory against RODE ZANSIDE GAMING. While some decisions from the ROZE coaching staff, especially putting Yoo "Taejong" Tae-jong in on support, may have contributed to the result, SEIJI overcoming Korea’s fourth seed was not on the cards.

The result gave ROZE a devastating 0-3 start to the stage before they finally managed to eke out a win against O2 Blast.

Disguised overcome an obstacle

Disguised, who have routinely finished fifth or sixth throughout 2026, overcame one of their biggest obstacles and defeated The Kafe 3-1. In earlier stages, DSG struggled against the former-LuneX core and routinely finished just outside the top four. But with both Ryan "ryan" Lawless and Yoo "smurf" Myeong-hwan now on the team, Disguised looked more invigorated and stand at the precipice of finally breaking the relegation curse and finishing in the top four.

The Kafe strike back

Undeterred by their loss to DSG, The Kafe took down Spacestation Gaming in a surprise 3-2 win. The Kafe, a team that hasn't been able to beat any of the top three teams in North America, finally earned their flowers with their win over SSG. Both Z. "zzz" Harvey and Ava "NenWhy" McHenry seemed to shine on the Doctrine/Sombra composition, while Alexander "Zeb" Shepard looked right at home with Orisa’s new Major Perk. 

Spacestation, debuting their newest additions, Jesús "Galaa" López and Boston "Infekted" Fine, were fresh off a decisive victory over Team Liquid, but this time slipped against an opponent they have routinely defeated.

Statement win for Team Peps

Team Peps’ 3-1 loss to Twisted Minds on day one had one silver lining: when Loïc “KroxZ” Ricci hit the field, they looked much more competitive and got themselves a map win against the Midseason Championship runners-up. Against Virtus.pro, KroxZ played the full series, and Team Peps secured their first win of the stage.

VP hit the ground running with a win on Ilios, but back-to-back victories on Grímsvötn and Esperança put Peps in the driver’s seat. The stats heavily favour VP, but Peps were clinical as a team, handing VP their first loss after an undefeated Stage 2 in the region.

Peps’ time away from OWCS looks to have freshened them up. As long as D.Mon stays viable, KroxZ will be happy to keep the wins coming.

ZIYAD disconnect hands Twisted Minds the win

Geekay Esports picked up exactly where they left off in Stage 2, narrowly losing to VP in a five-map thriller. They bounced back straight away against Twisted Minds, and the two Saudi giants were level at 2-2 after four maps.

On the deciding map, Aatlis, tank Ziyad “ZIYAD” Alkathiri disconnected after the first flashpoint was captured, and the match went on pause. He failed to reconnect, and once the 15-minute pause allowance ran out, Geekay were forced to play on with four players. Geekay made no serious attempts with four players, and Twisted Minds quickly capped the remaining two flashpoints to secure the win.

The result leaves Geekay with a disastrous 0-2 start. Barring further surprises, they still have the firepower to win their remaining three matches.

Black Flag and SHENGSHI Esports eliminated

OWCS China runs a little differently from NA and EMEA. The region opens with an eight-team Swiss stage, where the bottom two teams are eliminated, before the remaining six move into the regular round robin.

This weekend brought the two-week Swiss stage to a close, with Black Flag and SHENGSHI Esports falling. Weibo Gaming finished with an expected 3-0 record, and All Gamers were close behind with a single loss to JD Gaming.