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📝 OWCS Open Qualifier: NA Phase 2 preview

by Finn “Fiñata” MacCarthy

The Swiss-stage has wrapped up, and the OWCS Open Qualifier in NA now moves on to Phase 2. There are 16 teams remaining in the tournament, and with four OWCS Partner Teams already confirmed, there are only two OWCS spots up for grabs.

OWTV's cover image of the OWCS Open Qualifiers NA preview

The bracket is a double-elimination format, and each match is a first-to-three. Once two teams remain, the tournament will conclude. This means the teams will not play the grand finals.

Phase 2 of the OWCS Open Qualifier in NA will run over two days. On Sunday, March 01, at 01:00 GMT and Monday, March 02, at 01:00 GMT. With its conclusion, we will have the final two teams that will join the existing four to form the full list of OWCS 2026 Stage 1 in NA.

Major players

There are some recognisable names in the tournament, as well as some organisations that have fielded new rosters to have a chance at making it back to the top level of play.

The ex-Sakura Esports core are set to return with a roster full of recognisable NA up-and-comers; Alexander "Zeb" Shepard, Cartifan22, xten, Xomba, Z. "zzz" Harvey and Aidan "NenWhy" McHenry make up the team. With their depth of talent and experience, they are set to be the team to beat.

Another highly-rated team is Scuffed Island, comprising the former core of Emote Down Mid: Stevie "sniper" Rivera, Ryan "Ryan" Lawless, Carson "pdk" Terry, Dylan "Grapes" Watts and Chris "scuffed" Murphy. Most have comparable OWCS experience to Sakura, but a little less, in terms of final results. This may be the golden opportunity for Scuffed Island to break into OWCS.

Team Z are returning with a new roster, comprising Ryan “Painkiller” Cooper, Joshua "Chopper" Song, Carlos "Talisman" Santiago, Deitrick "Hanbei" Radford, ttriplet, Roger "JUTSU" Lewis and Devin "peace" Vasquez. Painkiller was one of last year's breakout players and will be hoping to lead this experienced, dangerous roster to the top. Many of these players appeared in OWCS in 2025 and are likely to pose a good challenge to the top dogs.

The number 1 seed from the Swiss stage, Diversity Hires, are sticking together. Their roster consists of Kashir "Kashir" Khan, Chako, ElementalGuy, Alexander "AJMR" Ronneburger and Johnno. A strong performance in the Swiss stage has put quite a few eyes on their up-and-coming roster, and it will be interesting to see how they stack up against the previously mentioned teams boasting more established talent.

With the two teams in Grand Finals both qualified, viewers can look forward to an early preview of a face-off between the teams that will complete the cast of NA OWCS 2026.

The tournament starts on February 28, and you can follow all the action directly at OWTV. The games will be streamed live through the following channels: