Spacestation’s perfect run ends as Dallas Fuel reclaim NA throne
After a cut-and-dry regular season, the North American Regional Playoffs blew everything out of the water. With crazy upsets and even more surprising results, the three top teams from the region have booked their tickets to the Midseason Championship in Paris.
Upper Bracket Semifinal 1
Spacestation Gaming 3 - 0 LuneX Gaming
Across both Stage 1 and 2, LuneX Gaming faced Spacestation Gaming twice and fell short on taking a map on all six attempts. While they had been steadily improving since the start of the year, LuneX continued to struggle against teams of Spacestation’s calibre.
And that trend continued in the first match of the playoffs. Spacestation consistently worked to ensure they fully understood the LuneX Orisa composition, and their efforts paid off. Denis "Lethal" Tari had ensured xten and xomba couldn’t make the necessary DPS plays, and ultimately they ran through LuneX without so much as breaking a sweat.
This victory was even sweeter for Spacestation, who secured their spot in the Midseason Championship with this 3-0 win. LuneX would have one more chance on Saturday to rematch against Team Liquid.
Upper Bracket Semifinal 2
Dallas Fuel 0 - 3 Team Liquid
Since needing to rebuild their roster, Team Liquid had been consistently one step behind Spacestation and Dallas, and that continued throughout Stage 2. Dallas stumbled once in Week 1 this stage, and now looked like a heavy favourite once more.
Yet as Head Coach Cas "Casores" van Andel mentioned in his recent interview, Team Liquid’s bootcamping efforts have proven valuable. For the first time since the 2025 season, Team Liquid looked in total control of a series against a top team. Boston "Infekted" Fine started on the tank role for maps one and two, while the ever-deadly DPS core of Elliot "TR33" Chu and Xavier "zeruhh" Zambrano dominated the server on a variety of compositions.
Dallas was caught off guard, and while they pushed the final two maps to extra innings, they looked completely drained. Rocco "Kronik" Iacobacci and Park "SeonJun" Seon-jun struggled to contend with their counterparts as the unit as a whole seemed to fall apart.
Team Liquid got what they needed. With this win, they officially returned to international competition. The Dallas Fuel, while still a favourite in their next match, would need to secure a win against LuneX to make it to the Midseason Championship.
Lower Bracket Semifinal
LuneX Gaming 0 - 3 Dallas Fuel
If LuneX hoped to finally break into North America's elite, they would need to win this Lower Bracket game here and now. Unexpected for them, it would not be Team Liquid in their sights but rather the Dallas Fuel. Regardless of whoever it was, LuneX would have to lock in and prove their might.
But for now, LuneX remain just outside the Big Three in fourth. The Dallas Fuel won the match without too much trouble, halting any progress from Alexander "Zeb" Shepard’s Orisa and Sigma.
This win would send the LuneX-core home with a third consecutive fourth-place finish, while Dallas Fuel advanced to the Midseason Championship. With the pressure now off their shoulders, they awaited another rematch against the loser of the upper bracket final.
Upper Bracket Final
Spacestation Gaming 3 - 1 Team Liquid
In the pre-match interview, Casores remained optimistic about his team’s chances against Spacestation and looked to pull off another upset. Spacestation would be a tough opponent, seeing as they had only dropped two maps all stage long.
While the upset didn’t happen, Team Liquid kept each and every map close. Both Neon Junction and New Junk City went the distance, with Liquid coming out on top on the new map and pushing Flashpoint all the way to 5 points. Team Liquid looked reinvigorated and online, but Spacestation clutched it out when it mattered most.
Spacestation’s perfect stage remained intact, and they headed for their second Regional Grand Finals in 2026. Team Liquid may have been handed a loss, but they went down to rematch Dallas Fuel looking scarier than they had all year long.
Lower Bracket Final
Dallas Fuel 3 - 1 Team Liquid
After coming out of the gate swinging on Friday, Team Liquid entered their rematch against the Fuel ready to make it back to another Grand Finals. Considering Liquid's earlier showing against Dallas, their confidence was at an all-time high.
While Infekted came out with a surprising Reinhardt play on Antarctic Peninsula, all momentum from then on came to a screeching halt. The Dallas Fuel looked more composed and more locked-in compared to their first match, expertly shutting down Liquid’s revitalized core. As Coach Eric "Wheats" Perez mentioned in the post-match interview, their initial game plan against Team Liquid on Friday was sloppy, and they worked to ensure the same mistakes wouldn’t be repeated.
Team Liquid went out in another 3rd Place finish, but luckily found themselves in a much more optimistic state compared to their Stage 1 end. With the Midseason Championship just around the corner, they will have more time to prepare to finally overcome their regional rivals. Dallas, on the other hand, proceeded forward to defend their NA Champion status against an unstoppable Spacestation side.
Grand Finals
Spacestation Gaming 2 - 4 Dallas Fuel
“SSG are Cat-Cass merchants…they’re a Top 4 team at best if Cat and [Cassidy] are not playable. I swear LuneX would be better.” - Christopher "Cjay" Smith
With Team Liquid out of the way, the Dallas Fuel returned to the Regional Finals for the second consecutive time. Hoping to defend their title, all they needed to do was win one more match, and they would secure the top NA seed heading into the Midseason Championship. The only problem? Spacestation Gaming would be waiting for them.
When the two teams last met, in the very first Stage 2 match, Dallas Fuel lost 0-3 to SSG, while Spacestation dropped only three maps across both the regular season and the playoffs. After SSG's disappointing Champions Clash campaign, the impressive turnaround so far has been the perfect momentum boost to carry the team all the way to the EWC.
But Dallas was not going to make this easy. On Illios, Kim "Kellan" Min-jae’s Mauga, supported by Luke "Lukemino" Fish on Jetpack Cat, surprised Spacestation Gaming. The Fuel effortlessly took over Control and secured an early lead in the series, looking much more composed than in previous series.
Neon Junction continued Dallas’ dominance, with Kronik and Kellan dominating on Shion and Mauga respectively, full-holding Spacestation right at the gates. For the first time all stage long, SSG’s status as the best team in the region began to falter.
Yet Spacestation wasn’t ready to go down without swinging. With a tactical Winston ban targeting Kellan and Dallas’ preferred dive style, Spacestation was about to get some much-needed stability. On Dorado, Dallas struggled to contend against Hawk’s preferred Sigma and Kamden "Sugarfree" Hijada’s Mei. Spacestation secured the Map 3-2, finally getting themselves on the board.
Dorado was a bit of a fluke, as the Fuel came back on New Junk City with a vengeance. With Kiriko banned by SSG, the support composition for this round was somewhat unorthodox. Christopher "Cjay" Smith, a traditional flex support player, was on Lucio instead of Lukemino, who was on Baptiste and Moira. While this would normally be cause for concern, with Kronik dominating on Shion, this unusual lineup made a lot more sense. Dallas won New Junk City, and brought the series to match point.
Backs against the wall or not, Spacestation wasn't ready to close things out just yet. Heading into New Queen Street, it seemed that Dallas was initially going to take the map effortlessly. However, after a miscommunication with Kronik using his Overclock in an unwinnable fight, Spacestation found the momentum needed to win the map, keeping the series alive.
On King’s Row, all stops were firmly on the table. With Mei banned by the Fuel, they began their attack and brought the cart to completion, playing a variety of dive and brawl comps along the way. Seonjun even brought out a surprise Anran, to mixed success.
But Spacestation was not done yet, as they too brought the cart to completion. It might have been by the skin of their teeth, but Spacestation had proven once more that their growth since the previous international LAN had borne fruit.
As the extra innings came, Spacestation’s attack went quickly. With them attacking first, they managed to capture only a few percentage points at Point A before falling to a full hold. And with Kellan coming down with his Primal Blade, the Dallas Fuel closed out the series 4-2, defending the crown in their own style.
The Dallas Fuel defied the odds and defended their title in North America, defeating all other top teams and recovering from a rocky start. In the post-match interview, Cjay acknowledged the difficulties the Fuel faced throughout Stage 2 and noted that the team now has a more relaxed outlook heading into the Midseason Championship.
While Spacestation would face their first loss of the stage, they still pushed Dallas when it mattered the most, and improved at their own game. Heading into the Midseason Championship, both teams will have a lot of preparation to find a foothold over the other regions.
Grand Finals MVP: Rocco "Kronik" Iacobacci
As the Dallas Fuel raised the North American trophy once more, the entire team won by playing their own style and flavour. But as Overwatch continues to evolve and new heroes are added, the expertise needed to master new compositions and styles becomes ever more important.
But this hasn’t been a problem for the Dallas Fuel, or their DPS superstar Kronik. Similar to his 2025 season, Kronik has once more shown mastery with Overwatch’s newest DPS hero, Shion, and taken his team to the crown again. Throughout the playoffs and Grand Final, his Shion play proved dominant, as he halted many of his opponents' attacks and decisively clutched when needed most.
Heading into international competition, despite the narrative surrounding the region, each team will need to be aware of the Dallas Fuel's hidden thorn.