OWCS pre-season tournament recap - Day 1

The 2026 OWCS season is officially underway with the explosive start of the OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp Tournament. A brand new initiative by Blizzard to gather all the OWCS Partner Teams in Korea for an intense week of scrims and valuable practice time before the start of the 2026 season.

The capstone of the pre-season bootcamp is a 3-day tournament featuring the invited teams, the sport’s top players, and the season's first official prize pool. The four-day pre-tournament scrims produced both expected and unexpected results, setting the stage for an exciting start to the 2026 season.

The scrims leaderboard at the end of day four:

Day one of the tournament featured eight of the 12 invited teams in four first-to-three matches, following a slightly unorthodox ruleset.

Disguised 2 - 3 Team Peps

The first game of the day was a clash between the fan-favourite Team Peps and the freshman organisation Disguised.

During scrims, Disguised had the worst record, with a single series win, while Peps managed only three. This match would be a much-needed statement for both organisations at this event.

The first map of Illios was a back-and-forth clash between the two teams, with each team winning a subround before a decisive battle on Ruins determined the winner. While Disguised initially took the round to 99%, Team Peps brought it back to 98% and almost won the map. Once Brice "FDGod" Monsçavoir missed the Catnapper, Evan "PGE" Ngo got the necessary kills and won the Map 2-1.

Heading into Shambali Monastery with all heroes now on the table, the bread and butter compositions began to show. While Illios was back and forth, this map was all Disguised dominating with Alexander "Tred" Madgwick-Smith showcasing his Domina skills and easily overwhelming Florian "Dip" Lefèvre’s Vendetta. Peps only managed to bring the cart to 65 meters on Point A, and while William "Willys" Ersson helped anchor the team to try and secure a fuller hold, it was ultimately not enough.

Now up 2-0 in the series, all Disguised needed to do was close out Esperança and secure their first official game win as an organisation. However, Team Peps were not going down without a fight. With Willys now on the D.Va and Dip finding his footing on Vendetta, momentum swung back in their direction and brought an early lead for the veteran squad. Ultimately Disguised were unable to secure the clean 3-0 as Team Peps clutched out a victory on Push, bringing the series to 2-1.

With Disguised now on the back foot, the series went to Midtown for Map 4. Although the freshman org did manage to fully cap the cart, Peps easily dominated off the back of Willys’ Zarya and Leo-Kristian "Zorrow" Sundin’s Sojourn. Heading into extra innings, all Team Peps needed to do was capture one tick on Point A. Thanks to a clutch Ramattra ultimate from Tred and some slick Tracer play from Julian "Rokit" Pizana, Disguised managed to fully hold the French squad back and deny the win, keeping the series at 2-1.

A disappointing tie on Map 4 seemed to have upset the French team. In New Junk City, Team Peps was all dominant once again thanks to Zorrow’s Sojourn and Willys’ Zarya. Disguised were no match for the fury of Peps, and easily won Flashpoint 3-0. With the series now at 2-2, a decisive Map 6 would determine whether Team Peps would successfully complete the four-map reverse sweep or if the freshman organisation would hang in and win their first official match in OWCS.

The winner of this match would be decided on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, and it was in favor of Peps all the way through. While Disguised fought hard by putting PGE on a comfort Ashe, it wasn’t enough to stop the overall might of the veteran squad. With this victory, Team Peps would move on to the Top 8, while Disguised would head home having won just a single match across both the official tournament and scrim blocks.

The very first competitive matchup of the 2026 season started with a six-map reverse sweep, an incredible kickoff for the tournament and a statement launch for the season as a whole.

VARREL 0 - 3 Team Falcons

The 2nd game of the day was between VARREL and Team Falcons. The two teams recently met at the 2025 World Finals, where the Falcons came out on top. VARREL kept their entire roster since then; however, the Falcons added both Baek "Checkmate" Seung-hun and brought back their 2024 head coach, Choi "Junkbuck" Jae-won, after a very successful tenure in EMEA with Al Qadsiah.

On Lijiang Tower, VARREL struck first with a clutch catnap from Takashi "Qloud" Umeda onto Choi "MER1T" Tae-min to secure first blood and early control. Falcons quickly flipped the momentum, however, with Han "ChiYo" Hyeon-seok answering back in kind, catnapping Jeong "TOPDRAGON" Seung-yong before finishing Daisuke "Nico" Fujikawa and Qloud to steal the round. Control Center followed a similar script: brief resistance from VARREL, but ChiYo continued his hot streak and proved decisive as Falcons closed the map 2-0.

VARREL opted for Shambali Monastery, banning D.Va while Falcons removed Illari, and the Korean side immediately set the tempo. Falcons stormed through the first two checkpoints before being briefly halted near the final choke. Even then, ChiYo’s Jetpack Cat was overwhelming, finishing their attack with 20 elims and only two deaths. On defence, Falcons were impenetrable, full holding VARREL in a commanding 3-0 map win to move to series point.

On Midtown, VARREL banned Lucio, and Falcons answered with a Vendetta ban, putting forward a composition built around Checkmate’s Symmetra and Choi "Hanbin" Han-been’s D.Va. The comp proved devastating. Falcons bulldozed their way to a full push, with Checkmate and Hanbin creating constant chaos while MER1T locked down every angle on Sojourn. Keeping the same look on defence, aside from ChiYo swapping to Wuyang from Juno, Falcons shut down every VARREL attempt and secured a second consecutive full hold, closing out a decisive 3-0 series victory.

An explosive start as Falcons set down the groundwork for a frightening early look at Junkbuck’s 2nd run with the team and the 2026 campaign.

Dallas Fuel 1 - 3 T1

In the new hero showcase on Map 1, Dallas Fuel made a strong start to their 2026 campaign. Kim “Kellan” Min-jae with a very strong display on Domina, and a huge Panopticon seals a 100-0 victory for Dallas on Garden. On Night Market, T1 took early control. Despite Christopher “Cjay” Smith pulling off a massive counter-Lifeline on Kellan from a Catnap attempt from Kim “Bliss” So-myung, Proud still managed to kill three on Emre to clutch the round for his team. Control Center goes down to the wire, with Dallas taking an early lead in capture progress. T1 won the first real swing and put out a meaningful percentage themselves. Cjay opened up T1 with a Catnap onto Donghak, but T1 ultimately won their side-fight duels, secured the round, and took the map 2-1.

Dallas picked Midtown next, and both teams played Kiriko/Wuyang/Sojourn/Vendetta comp, with Jasm1ne on D.Va and Kellan on Domina. Dallas started their defence strong, with Kellan showing his skills on the new tank once again. They are forced back by T1, but eventually regroup on the point with Kronik’s Overclock, killing three. During overtime, ZEST brought down a massive Sundering Blade, and T1 finally managed to capture the point. Momentum took care of the rest, and T1 kept it rolling towards the full cap, but was held just short by the Fuel.

Dallas Fuel’s attack started with an attempt at the Bastion/Jetpack Cat combo, flying Kronik over the train and trying to melt through Jasm1ne. Unfortunately for Dallas, Jasm1ne's pocket is good, and the flight comes crashing down. Dallas swapped to a more straightforward composition, but the attempt cost them dearly and they couldn’t get anything going. They win a fight right at the end, but failed to touch the point and trigger overtime. Dallas went down 0-2 in the series.

In Havana, the Dallas Fuel started their defence with Sigma/Widowmaker/Genji/Ana/Illari. T1 began their attack on Domina/Widowmaker/Genji/Baptiste/Wuyang. Trades go both ways early, but Jasm1ne quickly switched to D.Va, and T1 got the first point cap through. Ana swaps from both teams as T1 kept it moving through the second point. A huge Dragonblade from ZEST seemed enough to close the deal; however, Dallas respawned just in time and cleaned up the end zone. T1 finished their push just before the final checkpoint.

Similar compositions to begin Dallas’ attack, and another slow start. Seonjun and Kronik eventually opened up T1’s defence, with Seonjun securing their first point capture with a big Dragonblade of his own. Kronik found himself a Widowmaker Headshot to give Dallas the break they needed to capture the second point as well. Not to be outdone by ZEST, Seonjun killed four with a Nanoblade on the last point to seal the deal for the Fuel’s first competitive map win in the OWCS era.

T1 picked New Junk City for Map 4. Both teams mirrored the Domina composition with Kiriko/Lucio backlines and Sojourn in the DPS slot, while ZEST locked in Vendetta opposite Seonjun’s Tracer. T1 controlled the opening point from the outset, capturing it convincingly before weathering an early Dallas surge on the second. An ill-timed Ajax from Luke “Lukemino” Fish swung the momentum straight back in T1’s favour, allowing them to close the point and move up 2-0. Dallas found early progress on the third point thanks to a massive Panopticon from Kellan, but a chaotic final fight saw trades fly both ways before Lukemino fell just shy of Sound Barrier, sealing the map for T1.

Virtus.pro 3 - 0 AGG

Landon “Landon” McGee kicked things off with a dominant victory in the Mizuki 1v1 against Jeong “KIVIS Yeon-woo, earning Virtus.pro the first map pick.

Starting the first map at Ilios, VP spared no second as Kwon “FiXa” Yeong-hun Lifelinked Jonas “eisgnom” Stratemeyer into the heart of the opposition, leading to his immediate death. AGG capitalised and took point control early. AG managed to trade effectively to keep the point for a while, but once VP took control, they kept it till the end. A close fight at the end, but Maximilian “Seicoe” Otter’s efforts are enough to keep the fight in VP’s favour, and they take Lighthouse.

On Well, VP took an early advantage thanks to eisgnom winning the side duel against Jia “LiGe” Chengjie. eisgnom was taken out early in the next fight, but Song “Insane” Chunhui is traded in return, and VP are able to stabilise and win despite the tank disadvantage. AG managed to put up a better fight than on Lighthouse, though, with Chen “Lengsa” Jingyi Catnapping eisgnom into the well. However, VP came back to the final fight with a huge ultimate advantage and closed it out 2-0.

AGG picked Eichenwalde for Map 2, and both teams went on the Jetpack Cat and Cassidy to start. Seicoe went Echo, and his AGG counterpart Lee “Viper” Jung-woongon went Tracer. Landon on his signature Baptiste with KIVIS on Kiriko. Slow start from AGG, but they eventually found picks onto VP’s DPS. Despite AGG’s picks, eisgnom and his support-line still managed to hold them at bay in an impressive 3v5 hold until Kevin “kevster” Persson and Seicoe rejoined and VP stabilised. AGG ended up scarpering to two ticks on the capture point, but that was the end of it.

After the side-switch VP rolled out on D.Va/Kiriko/Lucio, with Kevster on Sojourn and Seicoe on Tracer. AGG folded within seconds as eisgnom found KIVIS to start, and the rest of AG followed suit. VP sent the series to match point, 2-0.

For their last point of defence against Virtus.pro’s onslaught, AGG went to Shambali Monastery. Both teams ran Domina, with a Jetpack Cat/Illari backline. Kevster and Seicoe opted for Cassidy and Tracer, while Insane tried Emre alongside Viper’s Echo. VP put a quick stop to AGG’s progress on the first point, until a Fly Noon attempt from Kevster and FiXa went horribly wrong, leading to kevster’s death. This gave AGG the momentum to push forward. Things quickly fell apart for the Chinese side when VP regrouped for the recontest and put a swift end to AGG’s hopes and progress towards the end of the first point.

VP rolled out on Lucio/D.Va for their push and steamrolled AGG into a fine mist. Seicoe’s Vendetta comes into play early, and VP completed the job in dominant 3-0 fashion.

The first day of the tournament concluded after a slew of exciting matchups. EMEA and Korea showed up with purpose, with all four representative teams advancing to Day 2. NA and China now have a single team each representing their regions, and we'll see how they'll fare in Day 2. VARREL, Japan's sole representative, has been eliminated from the tournament.