📝 The Road to Tokyo: OWCS Asia Stage 1 Preview

Two months ago, on March 16, OWCS Japan kicked off its first stage of competition. In less than three weeks, Japan will host Champions Clash 2026. There are two spots left in that tournament, the two representatives from OWCS Asia. The top four teams from OWCS Korea, the top three teams from OWCS Japan, and the best team from OWCS Pacific will battle each other this week, first in a group stage, then in a double-elimination playoffs, to earn the right to represent their continent in Tokyo. 

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 has never made an OWCS LAN event in its history, and that curse is very close to breaking. ZETA was the consensus champion of free agency, building a strong core around Bernar. First, ZETA added the 2025 Midseason Championship winner and MVP, Proper from Team Falcons. Hyperflex knife joined him on DPS. The support line continued this trend, with the largest free agency acquisition: shu, who left Crazy Raccoon after two incredibly successful years, and the legendary Viol2t. Mealgaru Jeong-hwan rounded up the roster on the main tank after his breakout season with WAE last year. Their coaching staff has a similar aura, with two-time OWL champion Crusty and the catalyst of last year's Champions Clash stand-out, NTMR, GgulTaek.

In OWCS Korea, this ZETA DIVISION roster dominated. They went 8-0 in the regular season, with significantly dominant performances in all of their games. It was not uncommon to see Proper carry fights with his Tracer, or Viol2t lead the lobby in damage on Illari. That being said, they have dropped maps to all of the other Korean Partner Teams here, and the ghosts of their choking past may haunt them in OWCS Asia. With ZETA’s parent organization - Ganymede - hosting the Champions Clash in Tokyo, it would be horrible for them to miss out. Look forward to watching a great display of showmanship whenever this roster takes the stage.

Team Falcons

• Tank: Choi "Hanbin" Han-been
• Tank: Ham "SOMEONE" Jeong-wan
• DPS: Choi "MER1T" Tae-min
• DPS: Baek “Checkmate” Seung-hun
• 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 2024 World Finals and 2025 Midseason Championship, this organization has a significant history in OWCS, and they look to add another trophy to their ever-expanding collection. Going into this year, Team Falcons would go on to lose star DPS STALK3R and - even more surprisingly - Proper. They filled this gap with Checkmate, and re-signed Junkbuck as coach, both from Al Qadsiah.

They spent the regular season in OWCS playing the high-quality performance we’ve come to expect. Checkmate and Junkbuck integrated nicely into the core and added a new element to their gameplay with the Symmetra expertise from their year in EMEA. ChiYo and Fielder look as stable as ever in their fifth year as a support duo, and Hanbin looks near omnipotent on D.Va and Zarya. In their matches against the other partner organizations, they beat T1 3-1, but lost a 5-map banger to ZETA, and got swept by Crazy Raccoon. They lost again to these two in the Seeding Deciders but got their revenge in the playoffs, beating CR 4-1 to earn a spot in the Grand Finals, where they were outclassed by ZETA 4-1.

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

Last year's Champion Clash winner, Crazy Raccoon, is in a tough spot, fighting for the chance to repeat. They came into this season with few chances after earning third at the OWCS World Finals, added STALK3R to its stacked DPS core while testing if Kim "vigilante" Joon is a suitable replacement for their all-star flex support, shu.

Despite a week-one loss to ZETA DIVISION, Crazy Raccoon seemed to be rolling as they charged through the regular season of OWCS Korea. HeeSang and STALK3R were clicking as a DPS duo, and vigilante was a high-level replacement, even if he couldn’t live up to the legacy he was filling. That was until they matched up against a much weaker T1 and got reverse-swept. They leveled up for the remainder of the season by sweeping Team Falcons in the final week of matches and beating them again in the Seeding Deciders, with their only loss then being to ZETA. Going into the playoffs, they had high hopes to be the #2 seed, until Team Falcons upset them in the semifinals. They avenged their regular season defeat by knocking off T1 in a 4-0 sweep, but still must look to the future to try to clinch a spot to Tokyo, to finally play in front of a Japanese crowd - the hope of their parent organization. Expect LIP to see time in the group stage matches, as this may be his final tournament before mandatory Korean military service catches up to him (although we’ve been saying this since 2024).

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 entered 2026 with one big change - the addition of Bliss at main support and the subsequent move of skewed back to his native flex support position to replace the departure of vigilante. While there wasn’t much of a chance on paper, the roster faced another move: DONGHAK out of the starting lineup, and Jasm1ne in.

The regular season started rough, with T1 being the only partner organization to drop a match to a team outside of the partner system, with RØDE ONSIDE GAMING beating them 3-2 to end Week 1. T1 looked behind the remainder of the season, with Falcons beating them and Crazy Raccoon threatening to sweep, until - like the prodigal son - DONGHAK returned in Week 3. After his return, T1 not only reverse-swept CR, but also played with renewed life, taking three maps off ZETA in their two matches against them. While they lost the third-place match to CR to end Korea, T1 has the potential and talent to earn a spot in the Champions Clash. This will be their first full OWCS Asia experience, as they missed stage 1 last year to WAE. Expect T1 to turn some heads and potentially upset the other Korean rosters.

VARREL

• Tank: Tomoharu "KSG" Inoue
• DPS: Jeong "TOPDRAGON" Seung-yong
• DPS: Daisuke "Nico" Fujikawa
• DPS: Nariaki "qki" Hirayama
• Support: Kim "Sley" Jae-hwan
• Support: Takashi "Qloud" Umeda
• Head Coach: Jeong "ＰＡＩＮ" Yu-chan

I’ve said it multiple times this year, but VARREL is VARREL. They are unquestionably the top team in Japan, having won four straight OWCS Japan titles (and five of six all-time). They have been the only Japanese team to win a map at a LAN, knocking off Team CC 3-2 during the Midseason Championship, and taking Team Falcons to the brink (2-1) in their opening match of the World Finals. These players are very comfortable with each other, with Nico and KSG being a duo since 2021, Qloud joining in 2022, and TOPDRAGON and Sley being imported into the roster after Stage 1 last year. KSG is simply the best tank in Japan, and Nico is unarguably the best hitscan in the country. They dropped only one map across the Stage to ENTER FORCE.36 and established dominance when they rematched in the Grand Finals of Japan. If there is any team to upset a partner organization, look to VARREL. This will also be the debut of their new logo, so maybe that cosmetic change is the catalyst for a new era of Japanese dominance.

ENTER FORCE.36

• Tank: Lee "HEESUNG" Hee-sung
• DPS: Kim "Edison" Tae-hoon
• DPS: NewJ
• DPS: dra
• Support: Mori "Gaisen" Yoshiki
• Support: Ydot
• Head Coach: Jung "Tydolla" Seung-min

It's hard for any team in Japan to take the throne from VARREL, but someone has got to try. ENTER FORCE.36 is a brand new organization to Overwatch, and they came in hot this offseason by signing the core from the REJECT’s 2nd-place roster and adding Heesung on tank. Alongside Edison, the Korean imports showed why this team will be a force to be reckoned with. The Japanese talent is no slouch either, with NewJ and Ydot making the final cut for Japan’s World Cup roster. This core has been incredible to watch in the Regular Season of OWCS Japan, dropping only six maps, three to VARREL and three in a close upset from the TOKYO TAIYOs. In the playoffs, they swept PNHB 4-0 to advance to the Grand Finals (and clinch their spot here), before getting swept by VARREL. After a month of practice, can they finally step out from VARREL’s shadow, or will they be second-best in Japan?

Please Not Hero Ban

• Tank: Kim "homerunball" Jae-woo
• DPS: Lee "Soae" Chae-woo
• DPS: ky0n
• Support: Neivis
• Support: Sakume
• Support: Fizz
• Head Coach: Jang "Gyomin" Young-hoon

Please Not Hero Ban made waves last year, running a revolutionary Torbjörn/Symmetra/Wrecking Ball composition. While the initial aura of that team is gone, this iteration of the roster still has a little bit of that swagger with "Soae" hard-forcing Symmetra every map. Despite the name, homerunball has surprising flexibility off the hamster, and his ability to play multiple tanks has secured tough wins for this roster. ky0n’s hitscan prowess is something to be in awe of, as he can take over games at the drop of a hat. Neivis and Sakume have experience, playing matches together since 2024, and their synergy is palpable in the lobby. They went 5-2 in the regular season - the same record as E36 - but with a much worse map differential (+5 compared to +12). PNHB could be a dark horse to upset E36 or even VARREL, so watch their team carefully this tournament. 

It's important to note that Gyomin and homerunball are both marked as “looking for team,” as they posted on Twitter seeking new opportunities [1] [2]. According to homerunball, “Due to the current contract, you can sign up after ASIA STAGE.” PNHB has not announced any changes to their roster (and changes must be made since they only had homerunball on tank), so it's possible that they have not left, and are merely looking for potential opportunities elsewhere while currently signed. 

The Gatos Guapos

• Tank: Leyton "Punk" Gilchrist
• DPS: Kelsey "Colourhex" Birse
• DPS: Joshua "sgy" Lim
• DPS: Park "Nyang" Su-young
• Support: Isaac "Ackyyy" Berry
• Support: Marcus "wntr" Kwa
• Manager: Fatcat2001

Pacific’s top team is back, attempting to make their second OWCS Lan (placed 13th-16th in the 2025 Midseason Championship). This team is built around Colourhex and Punk, the only two players in OWCS Pacific with experience in the Overwatch League. (Colourhex is also the oldest player to make LAN last year, currently 28). Although not OWL-level talent, their remaining roster has been playing in OWCS Pacific since the beginning, and most have some experience in Contenders. These Handsome Kitties were convincingly far and away the best team in the region, dropping only five maps all season. They rolled through the regular season, sweeping every opponent - except for Rankers - who upset them in the final week of the regular season. In the playoffs, they took convincing wins, 3-1 and 4-1, to send themselves to OWCS Asia. Expect this team to put up a strong fight against the OWCS Japan teams, and possibly take some maps against the Korean partner organizations. Also, keep an eye out for The Gatos Guapos in Stage 2, as they look to secure another change in the Midseason Championship.