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OWCS Korea Stage 3 preview

by Chris 'gigalore' Munro

Stage 2 Review

Stage 2 brought a power shift in the region. Team Falcons and Zeta Division both failed to finish top 3, while Crazy Raccoon endured a three-game losing streak before turning things around in playoffs to take the domestic Championship. The primary beneficiaries from this wave of change were partner team T1, for whom a meta shift and smart recruitment saw them catapult themselves from fifth in Stage 1 to second. All Gamers Global, formerly WAY, overcame player losses to finish third: qualifying for the Midseason Championship and forcing Falcons and Zeta into the MSC Last Chance Qualifier in Riyadh. Onside Gaming rounded out Korea’s top 6 despite winning back-to-back LCQ games after a disappointing Group Stage, securing their position in Stage 3. This left Old Ocean, Poker Face and Vesta Crew (VEC) relegated, with only Old Ocean managing to requalify. Two new teams, Mir Gaming and Cheeseburger, have taken the place of VEC and Poker Face to round out the nine participating in Stage 3.

Stage 3 Format

OWCS Korea has been slightly modified for Stage 3 to allow for the return of an Asia event, which was absent in Stage 2 due to the automatic MSC qualification for the Japanese and Pacific champions. The stage retains the same $51,500 prizepool and three-phase format as it did during Stage 2.

The nine teams will conduct a single round robin group stage between August 21st and September 19th. The top 4 will automatically advance to playoffs, with teams ranked 5 through 8 entering a Last Chance Qualifier on October 3rd. The top 2 teams from LCQ will join a six-team, single-elimination playoffs between October 4th and 12th.

Absent from this edition of OWCS will be the Seeding Decider Matches. In previous editions, the top 4 have conducted a second group stage between themselves to determine their seeding heading into playoffs. Instead, the top 4 in playoffs will be seeded by the initial group stage only.

Additionally, a final event named Road to World Finals will take place. This will involve the top 3 from Korea playoffs entering directly into a four-team double-elimination bracket. An LCQ between the 5th/6th placed teams and the 4th placed team determining the final spot. The top 3 in this event will qualify for the World Finals at Dreamhack Stockholm. This event will be held at the Korean International Exhibition Centre from October 24th and 26th. The event will co-occur with the Japan vs Pacific Road to World Finals series, where the top 2 teams in each region will play in a single-elimination bracket to determine who claims the single spot available to the two regions.

Team Previews

Stage 2 First Place: Crazy Raccoon

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  • Lee “LIP” Jae-won (DPS)
  • Chae “HeeSang” Hee-sang (DPS)
  • An “SP1NT” Woo-jin (DPS) [New]
  • Park “Junbin” Jun-bin (Tank)
  • Choi “MAX” Su-min (Tank)
  • Sung “CHoRoNG” Yoo-min (Support)
  • Kim "Shu" Jin-seo (Support)

  • Moon "Moon" Byung-chul (Head Coach)
  • Son "Kong" Jun-young (Coach)

Crazy Raccoon enters Stage 3 with their worst-ever finish at an OWCS Major and an overall mixed Stage 2 performance, despite eventually claiming the Korean Championship. Whether their automatic MSC qualification dulled their motivation in Stage 2, or the meta was simply working against them, remains up for debate. What is clear, however, is that cracks in CR’s armour are more apparent compared to their 2024 performances.

17-year-old flex DPS SP1NT is the only addition to the roster, who joins after two stages on Poker Face. SP1NT will have a prominent role in the first three weeks, as per comments originally made from assistant General Manager Yu "Pavane" Hyeon-sang:

“LIP has decided to take time off until the end of Week 2 of Stage 3 due to personal circumstances and in order to prevent burnout… This decision was made prior to the EWC, and we kindly ask for your strong support for SP1NT in Stage 3."

Since this comment, Lip has announced he will also take a break during week 3.

Despite the up-and-down Stage 2, the other six players and coaches are now entering their 21st month working together, becoming the most successful team in OWCS, with three Major titles.. With the versatility and high-level ability to adapt to the Season 18 balance changes, they are exceptionally well placed to claim one of the three MSC slots available and push for a third Korean OWCS title.

Stage 2 Second Place: T1

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  • Yun "RUSH" Hee-won (Head Coach)
  • Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun (Coach)

T1 were the big movers and shakers of Stage 2. With vigilante joining the support line, the team settled on a preferred flex DPS line up, and showed the ability to play more heavy carry comps. As a result, they climbed from a 5th-place finish in Stage 1 to a final position of 2nd in Stage 2 and secured an MSC slot. They return home from Riyadh with a 4th place finish, having been knocked out of the main event by Falcons in the semi-final and losing to Twisted Minds in the Bronze Medal Match.

T1 have recruited Jasm1ne - formerly of Poker Face and AGG - to complement DONGHAK’s hero pool on tank. But with the Season 18 patch likely swinging the pendulum back in favour of the latter, how the team will utilise their tank duo remains to be seen. The settled roster, and the mechanical skill of the support line should continue to give the stars on the team in DONGHAK and Proud plenty of opportunities to continue to display their carry potential. They should enter the stage with reasonable expectations of World Final’s qualification, and any short of third would no doubt be viewed as a massive disappointment.

Stage 2 Third Place: WAE (Formerly All Gamer’s Global)

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After being picked up by Chinese organization All Gamers Global, the Stage 1 WAY core improved on their 4th-place finish in Stage 2. Despite losing standout players Kim "PEPPI" Noah on Tank and Lee "WhoRU" Seung-jun on DPS, they managed to end the stage in 3rd place, ahead of Team Falcons and Zeta Division, and secured their qualification to MSC. No good news follows from there however, as the team lost both group stage games without a map win: exiting the tournament with the same record as Latin American ZoKorp Esports and the unsigned Pacific team, The Gattos Guapos. All players and staff were then dropped by AGG less than a week after the end of the tournament.

The team have ultimately chosen to largely stick together moving into stage 3 and play as a free agent team under the same (but slightly modified) branding they did in stage 1: WAE. Tank Jasm1ne has transferred across to T1, while flex DPS Taejong has joined the team from Chinese-based ROC Esports.

How Taejong and Seonjun will split gametime and how Mealgaru will perform as a solo tank remain to be seen. Player quality, particularly through the support line if double flex support remains a strong option in Season 18, should keep them clear of the notional relegation zone. Requiring a top 3 finish to qualify for the World Finals means fighting off at least two of Crazy Raccoon, Team Falcons, T1 and ZETA Division. An uphill battle given recent form and reduction in resources.

Stage 2 Fourth Place: Zeta Division

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  • Jung "Probe" Jun-young (DPS) [New]
  • Oh "Pelican" Se-hyun (DPS)
  • Kim "AlphaYi" Jun (DPS)
  • Shin "BERNAR" Se-won (Tank)
  • Kim "Mag" Tae-sung (Tank) [New]
  • Oh "FiNN" Se-jin Yoo-min (Support)
  • Kim "Bliss" So-myung (Support) [New]

A somewhat new look Zeta Division enters Stage 3. Gone are both Tank Farmer and beloved long term hitscan DPS Flora. In their place, Zeta have taken advantage of the West’s soft move away from Korean imports, picking up Main Support Bliss from Spacestation Gaming and Tank Mag from Gen.G. Hitscan DPS Probe transfers across from Old Ocean, while AlphaYi returns to his original flex DPS role. flex support FiNN, DPS Pelican and tank Bernar remain in their roles, while Mobydik moves into the coaching role following the departure of Yaki.

Stage 3 seems to be a crossroads for the Zeta Division side. Despite being a popular team, particularly in Korea and Japan, they have failed to qualify for all four OWCS majors, from five attempts: missing the 2024 Dallas Major under the “From The Gamer” banner, finishing third in both 2024 Asia Stage 2 and 2025 Asia Stage 1, and missing both opportunities for the MSC: losing the 3rd place playoff game to AGG and the MSC LCQ to Team Falcons.

This is the largest change to the ZETA Division roster since its inception. While the organisation's goals remain high, as the organisation hopes to turn their fortunes around for 2025’s final stage. With three spots available for the World Finals, the target is reachable, but they will need their new signings to deliver. There is hope that Zeta Division will regain their competitiveness coming into Stage 3, but they will have to overcome a multitude of challenges from their top tier Korean opposition to be in contention for a World Finals spot.

Stage 2 Fifth/Sixth Place: Team Falcons

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  • Kim "NineK" Bum-hoon (Head Coach)
  • Go "Aid" Jae-yoon (Coach)
  • Kim "SP9RK1E" Yeong-han (Coach)

Falcons had the most interesting Stage 2 possible, signing ex-Toronto Defiant duo SOMEONE and MER1T on the conclusion of Stage 1. Falcons entered the stage on an extreme high, notionally gaining an elite Winston player, which seemed to represent the primary gap between them and Crazy Raccoon. But while MER1T easily transitioned into the team on the newly released hero Freja, SOMEONE struggled to find his place in the lineup. To make matters worse, Falcons struggled to adjust to their new rotational DPS line-up, eventually resulting in Proper being benched for the back half of the stage. Falcons finished outside the top 4 before losing to Crazy Raccoon in the first round of playoffs, forcing them into the Last Chance Qualifier.

However, structural changes were made post-stage. Proper returned to the side with Stalk3r now permanently benched, while SOMEONE was better integrated into the starting roster. This resulted in Falcons moving through both the MSC LCQ and main event to become eventual champions, defeating every other Korean side bar Crazy Raccoon, alongside the 1st seeds from EMEA, NA and China along the way.

This success seems to have resulted in perhaps the most notable roster move of 2025: Stalk3r, without a clear indication of retirement, short-term break, or desire to seek out another team, has been left off of the Falcons roster for Stage 3. Widely regarded as a top-tier DPS player, Stalk3r first made his name on Tracer and across the past 12 months, has showcased his ability to flex onto hitscan heroes when required. At present, the reasons behind his apparent departure from the team remain unclear.

Despite this potential issue, Falcons have gotten over the teething issues that plagued Stage 2. With six of the undisputed best players in the world, and the MSC trophy in their cabinet their confidence will be sky high. They will see themselves as a lock for one of the three World Finals spots available and will be pushing for even more.

Stage 2 Fifth/Sixth Place: Onside Gaming

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  • Jung "Kilo" Jin-woo (DPS)
  • Chon "Ado" Gi-hyeon (DPS)
  • Lee "KNIFE" Seon-woo (DPS) [New]
  • Kim "Attack" Jun-hwa (Tank)
  • Kim "Kellan" Min-jae (Tank) [New]
  • An "OPENER" Gi-beom (Support)
  • Kim "irony" Hyeong-woo (Support)

  • Lim "F4zE" Si-hyun (Coach)

Onside Gaming entered Stage 2 as a group of experienced but largely unheralded group of players. They had a very disappointing group stage, only picking up a solitary win against VEC, before winning both games against Poker Face and Old Ocean in the Last Chance Qualifier to enter playoffs and retain a Stage 3 slot.

Alongside Zeta Division, they have been a major beneficiary of Western teams shifting away from Korean imports. Spacestation Gaming tank Kellan and Team Liquid flex DPS Knife have joined the roster for Stage 3. Supports Opener and Irony, DPS players Ado and Kilo, and tank Attack continue from Stage 2, alongside coach F4ZE.

With their pickups, they will look to go a step further than Stage 2 and crack a place in the top 5. To do this, they would be required to beat one or more of those top 5 teams, a feat they failed in Stage 2.

Opens 1st Placed Qualifier: Old Ocean

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  • Han “A1IEN” Yu-bin (DPS) [New]
  • Kim “Becky” Il-ha (DPS)
  • Go “D4RT” Min-hyuk (DPS) [New]
  • Cho “Heiser” Yu-hyun (Tank) [New]
  • Jeon “Gur3um” Yong-min (Tank)
  • Ryu “Ryujehong” Je-hong (Support)
  • Jeong “KIVIS” Yeon-woo (Support)

  • Kwon "Yang1" Yang-won (Head Coach)
  • Kim “Hunter” Dae-Nang (Coach)
  • Kim "DOX" Min-seok (Coach)

After failing to qualify for Stage 1, the Ryujehong led Old Ocean qualified to Stage 2, and performed strongly in the regular season, finishing in 6th place. However, back-to-back losses to Falcons and Onside Gaming in the LCQ saw them fall to the relegation slots. Their top finish in the double elimination bracket sets them up well to push for top 6 in Stage 3, and achieve participation in both Korea playoffs and Road to World Finals events. Support Kivis, Tank Gur3um and DPS Becky will continue alongside Ryujehong from stage 2, and have been joined by former Poker Face players Heiser (Tank), A1IEN (DPS) and D4RT (DPS). Departing from the roster are DPS players Probe and M1nut2. The roster will enter Stage 3 as the 7th seed.

Opens 2nd Placed Qualifier: Mir Gaming (formerly New Era)

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  • Choi “K4ne” Joo-hyeong(DPS)
  • Kwak “Flos” Min-seo (DPS)
  • Jang “AZENT” Hyeon-ik (DPS)
  • Kim “RULER” Yi-gun (Tank)
  • Lee “MCD” Jeong-ho (Support)
  • Jang “Univ2r” Geon-ik (Support)

  • Lee "le0na" Ji-seop (Coach)

Mir Gaming, a Korean-based organisation operating rosters in games such as Rainbow Siege 6 and Eternal Return, picked up New Era following their successful Promotion/Relegation Tournament. New Era had failed to requalify for Stage 2 after losses to Old Ocean and the team that would become Onside Gaming, but Flex Support MCD and Coach le0na returned from Full House in Pacific to build a young roster capable of pushing past more favoured teams back into OWCS. Wins over Vesta Esports Crew and ex-Korean Contenders side Xero, two highly rated teams before the tournament, will give them confidence that their return was no fluke.

Joining MCD and le0na on the roster are Univ2r, the other Support player from Full House, alongside his twin brother AZENT, a DPS player coming off back-to-back stages in Japan. Other Open stage additions were returning Stage 1 tank Ruler, who played Stage 2 on Chinese team Zones and DPS player Flos, previously of GenG Academy in Korean Contenders. DPS player K4ne joined the side from VEC at the conclusion of the open stage, having spent Stage 2 on the Japanese side Revati to finalise the roster that is now competing as Mir Gaming.

Opens 3rd Place Qualifier: Cheeseburger

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  • Hyeon “D0D0” Jae-woong (DPS)
  • Song “ZeSin” Yun-jin (DPS)
  • Kim “Argon” Han-saem (DPS)
  • Kim “FARMER” Yea-han (Tank)
  • Lee “SeungAn” Seung-an (Tank)
  • Kim “Faith” Hong-gyu (Support)
  • Lee “WoochaN” Woo-chan (Support)

  • Choi "Mircalla" Hyeon-seo (Coach)
  • Kim "Ir1s" Seung-hyun (Coach)

Lower Bracket Qualifiers Cheeseburger are a roster built around the remnants of the stage 2 VEC core. Tank SeungAn, main DPS ZeSin and Flex Support WoochaN have all stayed together for stage 3, along with fellow VEC alumni Farmer on Tank, transferring from Zeta Division, and 2024 Assistant Coach Mircalla, now stepping into the lead role following a stint with Nyam Gaming in OWCS Japan stage 1. Rounding out the roster are Flex DPS Argon, formerly of Team XX in China and Vortex Wolf in Japan, and Main Support Faith, who returns home after an up and down time with EMEA team The Ultimates, first as a player, then as assistant coach. DPS player D0D0, formerly of New Era and Japanese team Nyam Gaming, joined the side from VEC after the tournament was over.

The final day sweeps against VEC and Xero, both of whom took maps against other qualifiers New Era, will fill the team with confidence that their bottom seed status does not necessarily reflect the quality of their lineup.