Virtus.pro and 1234 send a message

OWCS EMEA is back. Stage 2 is underway, and so is the road to Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris — the most lucrative LAN of the year. Twisted Minds return as defending EMEA champions, fresh off a second-place finish at the Champions Clash, but the opening weekend made clear that the script from Stage 1 is very much up for rewriting.

Five matches and a first week that had something for everyone — a shocking sweep of the world champions, a five-map instant classic, and a rookie performance that demands everyone’s attention.

Game of the week: Al Qadsiah 2 - 3 1234

Al Qadsiah entered the second game of their weekend having just swept Geekay Esports 3-0 the day before. 1234 entered it as a team, still without an organisation's backing, and with a Stage 1 campaign that never quite got off the ground.

Map 1 on Antarctic Peninsula set the tone early. With Mauga banned by 1234 and Jetpack Cat off the table for Al Qadsiah, the series opened with a control map that gave Harry “GoldenPants” Cawthra his first ever stage in the highest echelon of Overwatch esports. The rookie's Wrecking Ball was an immediate standout and 1234 dominated the scoreboard and pushed Al Qadsiah all the way to a 2-1 subround finish. Al Qadsiah's macro game, however, proved the difference. Patient, structured, and clinical, they deftly closed out the map and took the 1-0 series lead despite taking more damage than they gave.

Map 2 flipped the dynamic. 1234 picked Dorado and banned D.Va, Al Qadsiah countered by removing Ana. On attack, 1234 were shaky and barely managed to push past the first point. Their defence was an entirely different story: rock solid, and enough to full-hold Al Qadsiah and level the series at 1-1.

Numbani was Al Qad's pick for Map 3, with 1234 banning Sigma and Al Qadsiah banning Tracer. Al Qad leaned into their newly-found macro-first identity and pushed the payload to two points before losing momentum. 1234, however, never found their footing on attack and were full-held in return. Al Qadsiah retook the series lead going into Map 4.

Then came Runasapi, and with it, GoldenPants fully unleashed. 1234 picked the map and burned their protect-ban on Roadhog, removing it before Al Qadsiah could pull the trigger. On a map perfectly suited to his hero, GoldenPants' Wrecking Ball carved up Al Qadsiah's formation time and again, occupying enough space to give William “WMaimone” Maimone and Kai “Kai” Collins all the room they needed to deal with Ilari “Vestola” Vestola's Mauga. Al Qadsiah never found their footing, and the series went to Map 5 at 2-2.

Al Qadsiah picked Suravasa for the decider and saved their most important ban for last: Wrecking Ball. With GoldenPants' best hero off the table, 1234 removed Bastion to ensure the fight would be played on the ground. The rookie responded by switching to Winston, and it made no difference. His momentum was unmatchable. 1234 swept Suravasa 3-0, handed Al Qadsiah their first loss of the season and announced themselves as genuine contenders with a very different look to anything they showed in Stage 1.

Player of the week: GoldenPants

Numbers rarely tell the whole story in Overwatch, but occasionally they say enough on their own. In 1234's stunning upset of Al Qadsiah, their new tank finished the fixture with 144 eliminations and only 19 deaths.

Those are monstrous figures in any context. In a player's first-ever OWCS match, they are extraordinary.

What made GoldenPants' performance so remarkable wasn't just the stat line. It was the timing and intelligence of his Wrecking Ball play that underpinned 1234's entire game plan. On Runasapi in particular, he occupied space, forced reactions, and created real situations his teammates could capitalise on. Al Qadsiah's decision to save the Wrecking Ball ban specifically for Map 5 said everything about the threat he posed. And even when denied his best hero on the most important map of the series, GoldenPants refused to disappear.

1234 chose to bring him in ahead of their Stage 1 tank, amdp, and on the opening weekend of Stage 2, he made that call look inspired. For a team still competing without an organisation's backing, having a rookie perform at this level from day one is the kind of foundation that could change a team's whole trajectory.

Map picks and Hero bans data

Match summaries

Geekay Esports 0 - 3 Al Qadsiah

Al Qadsiah started their Stage 2 campaign in convincing fashion, sweeping a Geekay Esports side that had hoped the additions of Kristian “Kellex” Keller and Son “Undine” Young-woo as coach would spark a new chapter.

On Oasis, Al Qadsiah played a Cat/Bastion composition with D.Va, while Geekay countered with Sigma/Mizuki. It made little difference. Lee “Ade” Ji-hwan was enormous on Bastion, and Al Qad took the map without much resistance.

Circuit Royale, Map 2, produced the most drama of the series. Geekay put up a staunch defence — Ade a constant threat on Freja — but once they opened the floodgates, they pushed all the way to full cap. Al Qadsiah answered with an unstoppable attack. Vestola on Sigma anchored a push that carried all the way home with 3:50 on the clock. Geekay managed to push midway to second in the timebank round, but Al Qadsiah's time advantage was more than enough to close it out.

Geekay took the series to Map 3 on Runasapi and banned Bastion to shift the game off Al Qadsiah's strongest composition. Al Qadsiah responded by banning Kellex's Lucio, neutralising one of Geekay's key pieces. The map was a back-and-forth affair. Every time Geekay threatened to take the lead, Al Qadsiah stopped them. Talal “KORZ” Alharbi impressed on Symmetra, Ade stayed dominant on Cassidy, and Al Qadsiah closed it out. A confident start to Stage 2, before 1234 cut short their perfect record the following day.

Twisted Minds 0 - 3 Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro came in with scores to settle and a team that has spent an off-season sharpening the edge that very nearly sent Twisted Minds packing at the Champions Clash.

On Ilios, both teams set up a Cat/Bastion mirror. Abdualziz “TVNT” Altmimi went Mauga against a Virtus.pro side that had Jonas “eisgnom” Stratemeyer ready on Sigma. Kevin “kevster” Persson was everywhere. Kwon “FiXa” Yeong-hun and Maximillian “Seicoe” Otter were uncontested in the skies, and despite Seicoe opting for the unorthodox Lindholm Explosives perk (by mistake), the pairing with eisgnom ran the map at will. VP took a quick 1-0 series lead.

Rialto was a tactical masterpiece from VP. They banned Illari, Twisted Minds banned Sigma. Ibrahim “Quartz” Alali pulled out Emre, and TVNT went Zarya, while eisgnom took Ramattra with kevster on Cassidy. VP's defence was shaky on point one, but they immediately regrouped, and TM couldn't convert. The Mizuki/Kiriko/Ramattra/Cassidy/Mei combination worked beautifully. On attack, kevster switched to Tracer, Seicoe to Bastion, and FiXa to Jetpack Cat. Virtus.pro were simply unstoppable on every level.

Hollywood wrapped the series up on VP's now-familiar Mei/Cassidy/Sigma composition. kevster dominated the hitscan match-up, getting the better of Quartz and Kim “JaeWoo” Jae-woo across the board. Seicoe's link-up play with eisgnom was surgical. Twisted Minds failed their push once again right after the first point, and Virtus.pro ran the exact same script as Rialto.

What defined the series above all was VP's ultimate economy, three to four ults ready to none for every decisive teamfight. Twisted Minds never had an answer for it.

"The script is already written," Seicoe said after the match. "I 100% knew we were going to win this match."

Twisted Minds 3 - 1 Telacy

If the Virtus.pro result was a bombshell, Map 1 against newly-promoted Telacy threatened to add insult to injury.

TM subbed in Alhumaidi “KSAA” Alruwaili for the opener on Ilios. Twisted Minds took the first subround as expected. Well and Lighthouse, however, Telacy did something few saw coming. Without any gimmick comps or off-the-cuff picks, just role-to-role, disciplined Overwatch that outplayed the reigning world champions clean. A Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway Ajax sealed the deal at the end of Lighthouse, and the team that had lost only a single map across all of Stage 1 had now lost its fourth.

TVNT came back in for Map 2 on Rialto. TM banned Mizuki, Telacy responded by banning D.Va. Lars went Hazard against TVNT's Zarya, and icav was impressive again on Cassidy. TM scraped through on macro, grabbing the third point with 1:07 on the clock. Telacy, lifted by momentum, put up a monumental fight on attack. Between Simon “sxj” Debono on Pharah and icav, the newly promoted side got the full cap in 1:14. The timebank round, however, was all TM: they rallied to a point and a half on attack, and held Telacy to nothing on defence. Series tied 1-1.

King's Row swung decisively back in TM's favour. Telacy banned Ramattra, Twisted Minds banned Cassidy. Lars on Sigma looked strong, and Telacy made quick work of the first point on attack, almost pushing into second. TM put a hard stop to that momentum and held Telacy to a single point. On attack, Twisted Minds were inevitable. They delivered the predictable but unstoppable TVNT/FunnyAstro/JaeWoo Graviton Surge/Tidal Blast/Rocket Barrage combo, again and again, to send the series to a match point.

Runasapi closed the series. TM banned Sigma and Telacy banned Pharah. Telacy overcommitted their ults across two consecutive major teamfights, burning Deadeye, Kitsune Rush, and Sound Barrier in back-to-back fights each time, falling behind on the economy in the long run. TM took control and never let it go. Series finished 3-1.

Virtus.pro 3 - 0 Geekay Esports

In Stage 1, Geekay gave Virtus.pro serious problems, beating them in the upper bracket playoffs and nearly costing the Bears their Champions Clash spot. This time, VP looked like a completely different team.

On Oasis, VP banned D.Va and Geekay banned Bastion. Having already swept the reigning world champions earlier in the weekend, Virtus.pro made quick work of both subrounds, giving away a total of only 10 eliminations in the process.

Geekay Esports picked New Junk City for Map 2, a map heavily favoured by VP. Geekay banned Brigitte, VP banned Sojourn. Another 3-0. Virtus.pro looked a tier above in every aspect of the game.

Geekay picked Runasapi for Map 3 and banned Tracer, VP removed Juno. This was Geekay's most competitive showing of the weekend. Ziyad “ZIYAD” Alkathiri, Abdulelah “LBBD7” Alfaifi, and Kellex were linking up, and Kim “AlphaYi” Jun opened effective avenues on Symmetra, ultimately pushing 94.80 metres. Once Virtus.pro took command, though, they never let it go. kevster was unstoppable on both Cassidy and Bastion, Seicoe's Symmetra teleporters were operating on another level, and Landon “Landon” McGee got the better of his counterpart Oh “FiNN” Se-jin in every key moment. Virtus.pro closed out the stage's opening weekend in perfect form.

Looking ahead

Week 1 of EMEA Stage 2 has made one thing clear: Virtus.pro are not here to play second fiddle. Their sweep of Twisted Minds was decisive, and their follow-up dismantling of Geekay left no room for doubt. Whether that form holds across a full regular season, and whether Twisted Minds can regain their footing against the rest of the field, will define the next few weeks.

1234's upset of Al Qadsiah is the story of the week. Their Stage 1 campaign offered little to suggest they would be capable of this, and GoldenPants' arrival has clearly changed the team's identity entirely. Al Qadsiah remain dangerous and will be looking to course-correct quickly. For Geekay Esports, two 3-0 losses leave the new-look coaching setup with questions to answer early.

With EWC Paris spots on the line for the top three after Stage 2's playoffs, there is no margin for error. Week 2 cannot come soon enough.

Stay tuned to OWTV for everything OWCS EMEA, including standings, full match statistics, and news.