The path to Paris: OWCS Korea Stage 2 Playoffs preview
Just over a month ago, on May 24th, we watched Crazy Raccoon win Champions Clash, netting Korea yet another international trophy. In less than three weeks, France will host this year's Midseason Championship, where four Korean teams will join 12 others to fight for the right to lift that trophy.
Two teams have already clinched their spots: Team Falcons have earned a slot as last year's Midseason Championship winner, and Crazy Raccoon have earned their passage for lifting the Champions Clash trophy.
The remaining two spots will be given to the two best teams in Korea (other than CR or FLC). Even though the Team Falcons and Crazy Raccoon have secured LAN qualification, there are still thousands in the prize pool on the line, so let's meet the rosters that will fight to win OWCS Korea Stage 2.
Crazy Raccoon
- Tank: Park "JunBin" Jun-bin
- Tank: Choi "MAX" Su-min
- DPS: Jeong “STALK3R” Hak-yong
- DPS: Chae "HeeSang" Hee-sang
- DPS: Lee "LIP" Jae-won
- Support: Sung "CH0R0NG" Yoo-min
- Support: Kim "vigilante" Joon
- Head Coach: Moon "Moon" Byung-chul
- Assistant Coach: Son "Kong" Jun-young
- Assistant Coach: Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul
The reigning Champion Clash winner, Crazy Raccoon, continued their dominance in Stage 2. They started the regular season off 7-0, only to lose a close battle with ZETA DIVISION to end the Regular Season. Last week, they faced the remaining partner teams in the Seeding Deciders and beat them all 3-1. Their biggest change between the stages was MAX taking the starting role away from Junbin, playing every game in the Seeding Deciders and all but three in the Regular Season.
HeeSang and STALK3R have completely clicked as a DPS duo, playing great on a large swath of heroes, and vigilante is building his own niche at flex support, with his Kiriko in particular looking unstoppable. Overall, CR had a dominant 10-1 season, dropping only 8 maps.
For their dominant performance, they earned the right to a bye in the playoffs. They will get to pick their opponent, either the winner of ZETA/O2 or FLC/ROZE. Despite their spot in Paris already clinched, CR will continue fighting hard to win Korea, since Stage 1 was the first time since 2024 they hadn’t outright won the region.
T1
- Tank: Kim "DONGHAK" Min-sung
- Tank: Jeong "Jasm1ne" Jong-min
- DPS: Hong "Proud" Suk-jin
- DPS: Kim "ZEST" Hyun-woo
- Support: Kim "skewed" Min-seok
- Support: Kim "Bliss" So-myung
- Head Coach: Yun "RUSH" Hee-won
- Assistant Coach: Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun
T1 made no changes between Stage 1 and Stage 2, but it is clear that they were working hard behind the scenes after missing out on a trip to Japan. They started the stage off hot, upset over the reigning Korean champions ZETA DIVISION. The team seems to have finally figured out how best to utilize both DONGHAK and Jasm1ne, as they played 24 and 15 maps respectively. When watching their games, keep an eye out for Antarctic Peninsula and New Junk City, as T1 looks nearly unbeatable on these two maps. ZEST has also broken out as a Vendetta player, especially post-Season 3, where she received some buffs. Combining Vendetta with DONGHAK’s Mauga has made them a dominant combo on the battlefield.
In last week’s seeding deciders, T1 decisively swept both ZETA and FLC, but lost 3-1 to CR. These two wins are incredibly clutch in securing the #2 seed and for breaking a curse. DONGHAK had never beaten Falcons, with an all-time record of 0-13 against them. This match was the first time that curse had been shattered, and means that another is set in stone for the Midseason Championship.
That aforementioned upset over ZETA proved to be incredibly important, as both teams finished the regular season 8-3. T1 had a much better map differential (+17) and earned a bye into the second round, all but guaranteeing them a spot in Paris. They will play the remaining winner of ZETA/O2 or FLC/ROZE, after CR picks their preferred opponent. T1’s finish in their tournament will directly impact their seeding into the Midseason Championship, so expect them to go all-out.
ZETA DIVISION
- Tank: Shin “Bernar” Se-won
- Tank: Lee “Mealgaru” Jeong-hwan
- DPS: Kim “Proper” Dong-hyun
- DPS: Lee “knife” Seon-woo
- Support: Kim “shu” Jin-seo
- Support: Park “Viol2t” Min-ki
- Head Coach: Park "Crusty" Dae-hee
- Assistant Coach: Kim "GgulTaek" Jeong-youn
ZETA DIVISION broke a curse of their own last stage, as they made an OWCS LAN event for the first time in its history, coming in third at the Champions Clash. The one issue is that a third-place finish was deemed a disappointment for this superteam that dominated OWCS Korea and won Stage 1 relatively easily.
Going into Stage 2, nothing major was changed, and they started with a staggering upset, losing to T1 - a team that did not even qualify for the Champions Clash. Despite that rocky start, ZETA would go the rest of the regular season without dropping a map, chaining together seven wins, including a sweep of the Falcons and a five-map-banger against Crazy Raccoon to end the Regular Season. Throughout the Regular Season, Viol2t and knife looked inseparable on the Jetpack Cat/Bastion duo, and Proper picked up Shion in the latter half of the season to a masterful degree. Bernar is still his dominant self, playing lights out on D.Va, Sigma, and Mauga. This dream team roster still looks as scary as ever. In last week’s Seeding Deciders, they seemed to have taken a step back, dropping series to both T1 and CR, sending them down to the #3 seed in the playoff bracket.
These unfortunate losses in the Seeding Deciders dropped their season record from 7-1 to 8-3, tying them with T1. On top of that, losing to T1 twice and going all the way against CR and ROZE in the Regular Season dropped ZETA’s map differential to +12, which is good but below T1's, sending them to the three seed in the playoffs.
This means they will start the playoffs against the six-seed O2 Blast, an up-and-coming team that was swept by ZETA in week two of the Regular Season. This first round is win-or-go-home, and ZETA needs a win if they want a chance at making the Midseason Championship. On top of that, they will have to face either CR or T1 in the Semifinals, both of which beat them just last week. They will need to work hard this week if they want a chance of defending their spot as the reigning champions of Korea.
Team Falcons
- Tank: Choi "Hanbin" Han-been
- Tank: Ham "SOMEONE" Jeong-wan
- DPS: Choi "MER1T" Tae-min [OUT]
- DPS: Baek “Checkmate” Seung-hun
- DPS: An "SP1NT" Woo-jin
- Support: Kwon "Fielder" Joon
- Support: Han "ChiYo" Hyeon-seok
- Head Coach: Kim “NineK” Bum-hoon
- Assistant Coach: Kim “SP9K1E” Yeong-han
- Assistant Coach: Choi “Junkbuck” Jae-won
The winners of the 2025 Midseason Championship, Team Falcons look to defend last year’s title in Paris. That being said, they missed the Champions Clash altogether - the first time Team Falcons did not make an OWCS LAN event. This led to the organization making direct changes, signing rising star SP1NT from RØDE ONSIDE GAMING, giving them more flexibility around Checkmate and MER1T.
Falcons started off their Stage 2 endeavor by getting swept by CR - who were still hot off their win in Tokyo. They bounced back to win their next five games, four of which were sweeps, and one of those matches being an incredibly close battle against T1. They started week four getting swept by ZETA DIVISION, before sweeping Cheeseburger to continue this cyclical affair.
FLC’s regular season was solid, destroying the non-partner teams, but looking well below ZETA and CR. But they had a chance to change that rhetoric in the Seeding Deciders, only for disaster to strike. Right before the Seeding Deciders started, Team Falcons announced that MER1T would sit out the rest of OWCS Korea due to a hand injury. Manager Levi later clarified on Twitter that this injury was “a fracture of the middle finger on the right hand”, caused by closing the bathroom door onto it. With MER1T being their starting hitscan - and not missing a game up until this injury - Falcons had to rely on flex DPS players Checkmate and SP1NT to carry the load. This last-minute change clearly put FLC on the back foot, as they would lose all three seeding deciders. They did take maps off CR and ZETA - for the first time this stage - but they also got swept by T1, making it the first time that T1 had ever beat the Falcons, and DONGHAK’s first victory in 13 tries.
Despite these challenges, Team Falcons is in a great position, since they won the 2025 Midseason Championship, earning them a spot via the Title Defender Rule, under which winners of each game-specific tournament at the 2025 EWC will be granted automatic qualification for the 2026 tournament. That being said, this playoff bracket will still grant them extra money in the prize pool and another trophy to add to the collection.
Falcons will open the playoffs facing RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING, whom they swept in the opening week of the regular season. However, ROZE is on an upswing after sweeping through the Last Change Qualifiers, so if there was any match to watch out for an upset, this would be it.
RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING
- Tank: Cho "HEISER" Yu-hyun
- Tank: Kang "Void" Jun-woo
- DPS: Kim "Becky" Il-ha
- DPS: Jung "Kilo" Jin-woo
- DPS: Jung "Probe" Jun-young
- Support: Kim "IRONY" Baek-kang
- Support: An "OPENER" Gi-beom
- Head Coach: Park "KariV" Young-seo
- Assistant Coach: Kim "Ir1s" Seung-hyun
- Assistant Coach: Chon "Ado" Gi-hyeon
- Assistant Coach: Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong
RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING had by far the most interesting changes take place, both before and during the actual stage. This team started as two separate rosters, RØDE ONSIDE GAMING and ZAN Esports, RONG would lose their two best players in between stages, with SP1NT joining Team Falcons and Kim "Attack" Jun-hwa getting sent to Team Liquid in North America. To fill the holes, a quick merger was formed, and ROZE became a new roster, with HEISER, Probe, KariV, and Ir1s joining. They also added legendary tank Void to the lineup, making ROZE his first team since the Overwatch League’s collapse.
This new core started slowly, getting swept by Team Falcons, Crazy Raccoon, and newcomer O2 Blast to start the season 0-3. As the season moved on, they’ve meshed and grown, making HEISER and Probe key starters over Kilo and Void, allowing them to finish the season with a 3-5 record, and even taking ZETA Division to five maps in Week 3. The team looks like it's firing on all cylinders, with a special shoutout going to Opener, who looks like a cornerstone in the backline, and having the funniest merch ever with an “Opener” bottle opener.
Last week, they only had to play one game, as they had a rematch of their opening Regular Season match against O2 Blast. This time, they flipped the script, sweeping O2 Blast down to the losers bracket and clinching the fifth seed in the playoff bracket. This means they will have to face Team Falcons, the defending Midseason Championship winners. This may be no easy task, but Falcons will be playing handicapped. With ROZE in on an upswing after sweeping through the LCQ, and Team Falcons looking low after losing every match of the seeding deciders, this match could be a potential upset and bracket buster.
O2 Blast
- Tank: Lee "SeungAn" Seung-an
- Tank: Koo "Fate" Pan-seung
- DPS: Kim "Perr" Dam-I
- DPS: Lim "WuTian" Jae-won
- Support: Kim "Faith" Hong-gyu
- Support: Choi "Misin" Hyun-geun
- Support: Lee "Gamjung" Jeong-min
- Head Coach: Jin "O2Boss" Suk-hoon
- Assistant Coach: Park "Chilhwa" Min-hyung
- Assistant Coach: Seo "Myunb0ng" Sang-min
- Assistant Coach: Kwon "Cane" Dong-hyun
Our final team to enter the playoffs is a legend of the game. As an organization, O2 Blast has been around since 2017 and has been the premier organization for developing talent in Korean Overwatch. Head Coach O2Boss has been there since the beginning, and he has personally molded players like Viol2t, Proper, Probe, Junbin, MER1T, ChiYo, Kilo, HeeSang, Bliss, MAX, OPENER, iRONY, Proud, knife, and CARU. That list of players is only those who are still active and playing in OWCS Korea to this day. There are still dozens more who are active in other OWCS regions, and dozens more who have already served a full career in the Overwatch League or at other levels of the esport.
O2 Blast made their return at the tail end of 2025, and made their first attempt at OWCS in Stage 1, where they just barely missed qualification. This stage will be their first time at this level of competition, and they looked incredibly good for a team making their first appearance. They started the season incredibly strong with an upset over the newly formed RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING, and they etched their place in the middle of the pack, beating all the non-partner teams but losing decisively to the four partner teams. That being said, they were the only non-partner team to take a map off Crazy Raccoon, winning the opening Oasis in their week three matchup.
O2Boss found some great talent in the likes of Perr and Gamjung, and Wutian seems like a very raw flex DPS with a high skill ceiling but sometimes needs to cook first.
O2 entered the Last Change Qualifiers as the #5 seed, the top seed of the bracket. They opened with a repeat of the season's opening match, facing off against ROZE. In a role reversal, ROZE swept them down to the lower bracket, where they faced Cheeseburger. O2 easily handled the burgers 3-1, locking in their #6 seed for the playoffs.
Unfortunately, O2 will open the playoffs with a win-or-go-home game against the reigning Korea Champions, ZETA DIVISION, who need to win to qualify for Paris. This roster still has a lot to prove, but if any team can make a run at a title, O2 Blast can.