Liquid clean up while Virtus.pro and Geekay crash out in this week’s top 10 OWCS stories
The regular season is officially over across North America, EMEA, and Korea, Japan has crowned its champion, and China heads into its final week in chaos. With the OWCS Asia format now revealed and OWCS Pacific delayed once again, the road to the World Finals in Guangzhou is finally taking shape.
So, here are the top 10 things that went down across OWCS this week.
Virtus.pro and Geekay Esports miss EMEA playoffs on tiebreakers
In last week’s roundup, we said tiebreaker shenanigans were in store, and they came in by storm. When the dust settled, Twisted Minds and Team Peps had taken the top two spots with 4-1 and 3-2 records respectively, while the other four teams finished 2-3. Thanks to the head-to-head tiebreakers, Virtus.pro and Geekay Esports, the Stage 2 champions and runners-up, finished in the bottom two. They were out of playoff contention before they had even finished their games for the weekend. It was an almost complete reversal of their Stage 2 performances.
Team Peps complete their revival as 1234 and Team Risk qualify
Team Peps’ revival became complete this weekend, with wins over 1234 and Team Risk securing a top-two finish. Both 1234 and Team Risk qualified for the playoffs anyway, against all odds, after being expected to hold the bottom two places at the start of the stage. VP did take a win over Twisted Minds in their final match, but it came with controversy. Twisted Minds pulled some questionable moves during the match, including putting star hitscan Ibrahem “Quartz” Alali on tank, which VP’s head coach, Cho “Smash” Bee-won, found disrespectful.
Team Liquid top North America in a weekend of 3-0s
North America’s final weekend of the 2026 regular season saw a clean slate of 3-0s, with Team Liquid earning the top seed heading into the regional playoffs. Dallas Fuel, Spacestation Gaming, and The Kafe will join Liquid in the playoffs. This continues a stretch of consistency for the region, as the same four teams have made it to every regional playoff this season. The question now is which of the four can turn that regular season consistency into a deep playoff run.
Disguised end their inaugural season without a postseason berth
In a disappointing end to their inaugural season, Disguised finished their 2026 campaign without a single appearance in the regional playoffs. The signings of Yoo “smurf” Myeong-hwan and Ryan “ryan” Lawless did briefly rejuvenate their playoff chances this stage, and the team looked more invigorated against some of their biggest rivals. Ultimately, however, back-to-back sweeps against NTMR and Spacestation Gaming last week left them too much to do, and Disguised fell short of the postseason once again.
Poker Face eliminated and Team Falcons head to Korea’s LCQ
The OWCS Korea regular season also came to an end this weekend, but unlike other regions, Korea has one additional weekend of competition before the regional playoffs get underway. This weekend finalised the regular season standings, confirming Poker Face’s exit from the competition after their loss to SEIJI ESPORTS. T1’s win over Team Falcons also confirmed Cheeseburger’s place in the Playoff Seeding Decider, leaving the Falcons to fight their way through the Last Chance Qualifier. Team Falcons, SEIJI ESPORTS, RODE ZANSIDE GAMING, and O2 Blast will compete there, with the top two teams moving into the playoff bracket.
ZETA DIVISION survive a Cheeseburger scare and beat Crazy Raccoon again
Cheeseburger put on an incredible show against ZETA DIVISION, pushing the Korean champions to the absolute edge in a very surprising five-map thriller. The regular season was then capped off with yet another showdown between Korea’s top two teams, as ZETA defeated Crazy Raccoon for the seventh time this year. ZETA, Crazy Raccoon, T1, and a new-look Cheeseburger now move on to the Playoff Seeding Decider, where they will fight to settle Korea’s top four seeds heading into the playoffs.
OWCS Asia format and seeding revealed
At the end of Sunday’s games, the OWCS Korea broadcast gave a sneak peek at the format for OWCS Asia and has since officially announced it. The event takes place in Busan, South Korea, from 11 to 22 November, alongside G-STAR, South Korea’s premier video game trade show and festival. Similar to Stage 1’s event, the top four Korean teams, the top three Japanese teams, and the top Pacific team will battle for four spots at the World Finals in Guangzhou. The top three Korean rosters will qualify, with the OWCS Korea winner qualifying directly. The final spot goes to the best team from Japan or Pacific, ensuring one of those regions is represented on the world’s biggest stage.
OWCS Pacific delayed again to November 4
OWCS Pacific has seen yet another delay to its season. The start date was originally pushed back to October 26 in a delay reported on October 3. Now a new update has pushed it back further to November 4, citing ongoing regional network infrastructure issues. The update states that the qualification pathway to OWCS Asia remains unchanged, and that if the network situation doesn’t improve, matches will proceed on the OPR server with standardised latency.
VARREL claim another undefeated OWCS Japan title
VARREL continued their dominant win streak, claiming another undefeated regional title after defeating MURASH GAMING 4-1 in the playoffs. VARREL now get another shot at the Korean teams at OWCS Asia. MURASH GAMING made their first trek into the international sphere with their second-place finish, while ENTER FORCE.36 returned after a 4-2 revenge win over 99DIVINE in the third-place match. The upset came as a particular shock, as 99DIVINE went 6-1 in the regular season, losing only to VARREL. All three teams now await the top four from Korea and the winner of OWCS Pacific in November.
OU Gaming stand unbeaten as OWCS China descends into chaos
OWCS China heads into the final week of its regular season with the standings looking shocking, to say the least. All three partner teams have at least one loss. Weibo Gaming lost a five-map thriller against All Gamers, who themselves lost to OU Gaming. OU Gaming are a brand new organisation in Overwatch, with a roster featuring former Overwatch League talent such as Kim “Ir1s” Seung-hyun at flex support and Oh “Victoria” Gi-hun at hitscan. They stand tall at 4-0, with only a match against Weibo left on their schedule. Keep an eye on the final week and the playoffs, as only two teams will make it to the World Finals.