📝 The stage is set: OWCS Korea Stage 1 Week 4 review

The regular season is now over, and the playoffs are looming close. The top four teams have secured their place in Seeding Decider matches, where they play a mini-round-robin to figure out seeds 1-4. Teams 5-8 will have to fight in a play-in bracket for the final two spots in the playoffs. So let's go over how everything panned out to set the stage for next week.

Game of the week: RØDE ONSIDE GAMING vs. Team Falcons

The penultimate game of the regular season earns this spot as both a 5-map thriller and the game with the most on the line. Entering the fray, Falcons, RONG, and T1 were all in the mix for the final two spots in the seeding deciders, with the unluckiest team having to fight their way through the LCQ. Falcons needed only one map win to clinch, while RONG needed two. T1 was on the outside looking in, needing FLC to win 3-1 or 3-0, or RONG to win 3-0.  

The match kicked off on Lijiang Tower, with Team Falcons target-banning An "SP1NT" Woo-jin’s Pharah. With RONG’s poke-heavy style disabled, the Falcons opted for a heavy brawl composition, centered around Baek "Checkmate" Seung-hun on his world-class Symmetra and Choi "Hanbin" Han-been on the Rammatra. These would dominate the playing field in Gardens, taking the point from 0% to 100%. RONG would eke out a 100% - 99% win on Control Center, as SP1NT’s swap to Reaper led to a brawlier mirror. Falcons flipped the script on the final submap - Night Market, and edged out the 99% - 100% victory, taking the map 2-1.

RONG’s response to this close battle was to eliminate Kwon "Fielder" Joon’s Kiriko after he pumped out 23000 healing on Map 1, and this ban also allowed An "OPENER" Gi-beom and Kim "iRONY" Baek-kang to run a Brigitte/Juno backline on the flatter Runasapi. This plan would backfire, as Falcon’s hard brawl -now boosted with Fielder on Baptiste- would jump out to a 117-meter lead that never RONG never closed down. Falcons would win Runasapi, sending RONG to a match point, looking down the barrel of a clean sweep.

It took until Map 3, but RONG eventually realized the engine that made Team Falcon’s composition run - Checkmate’s stellar Symmetra. Heading into Watchpoint Gibraltar, Checkmate lost his Symmetra, and the game went exceedingly well for RONG. SP1NT rolled out on Torbjörn alongside clutch Emre plays from Jung "Kilo" Jin-woo and iRONY/OPENER’s undivable Ana/Brigitte backline. Team Falcons were held to just 61.1 meters on their attack. A feat that RONG was able to swiftly exceed, avoiding the sweep.

Team Falcons tried their luck on a similarly dive-oriented map, Numbani. With Checkmate back on the Symmetra, they were able to out-rotate RONG’s feeble dive attempts and held them to just 85.4% on the first point. All Falcons needed to do to win the map was take a single fight, a feat that was evidently harder than it looked. RONG put together an unbreakable defense, dying just four times that entire round and holding Falcons to only 48.7%. The win sent the match to a final map and clinched RONG a spot in the seeding deciders.

For the final map, Team Falcons chose to go back to push. On Esperança, they protect-banned Wuyang, to keep Han "ChiYo" Hyeon-seok on Lúcio. They ran a very similar brawl composition that garnered them success early, with Symettra/Rammatra leading the way. Just like Runasapi, Falcons saw success early, jumping out to an 82-meter lead. RONG fought back, scrapping together 68 meters of their own in response. Falcons saw RONG’s fight and countered by stringing multiple fight wins together, hitting 116 meters, establishing a lead that was unrecoverable. Team Falcons avoided being reverse-swept and secured a well-earned victory to end their regular season.

Player of the week: STALK3R

Crazy Raccoon made one shocking move this off-season, signing hyperflex phenom Jeong "STALK3R" Hak-yong after a dominant two years on Team Falcons. STALK3R was an incredible pickup, as the former OWCS 2024 Finals MVP can bring his talent to a new roster and potentially replace Lee "LIP" Jae-won. His first stage with Crazy Raccoon have been a bit all over the place as he learns his new role and adjusts to a new style of shot-calling, but in his most recent matches, his talent has shown through tremendously, earning him player of the week for OWCS Korea Week 4.

STALK3R had two matchups this week, one against New Era and another against his former organization, Team Falcons. In the six maps he played this week - all of which he won - STALK3r totaled 127 eliminations and only 22 deaths. His hyperflexibility was on full display as he rolled out on a myriad of different heroes (including the second Sierra gameplay of OWCS Korea). He spent multiple maps playing Bastion, and also ran Tracer, Symmetra, Emre, and Vendetta to peak efficiency. STALK3R has a gift, which we will soon see him use in the playoffs as Crazy Raccoon enter the Seeding Decider matches next week.

Hero ban and map picks report:

Data sourced from: OWCS 2026 Hero Bans / Metas

Over the course of the regular season, we have seen 252 heroes banned during 126 total maps. It's becoming pretty clear what Koreans prefer for both what maps to play and what heroes to ban. Here are some key takeaways from the map picks and hero bans in OWCS Korea:

• As always, I must note the OWCS Asia map rule that combines Flashpoint and Push into one pool, meaning only one of those gamemodes can be played before map 5. This rule also allowed the RØDE ONSIDE GAMING vs. Team Falcons game to feature both push maps, slightly skewing the data.
• This week was Sierra’s first chance of being banned, but no team did. 
• Zarya and D.Va have still controlled the tank role for the highest ban rate, but in recent weeks, Hazard has risen in the ranks
• Pharah has gotten seven of her nine bans within the last two weeks, and most of them came on map one. 
• Support has exploded in ban popularity in the second half of the stage
  • Kiriko gained a dozen bans in the past two weeks, climbing from six to eighteen
  • Ana has also risen by double digits, going from six to sixteen
  • Lúcio has doubled in bans since week two, going from six to twelve
• Support is still the role with the most bans, responsible for 93 of 252, or 37%.
• DPS has been banned 77 times, while tank comes in second with 82.
• Escort was the most popular gamemode, with Havana being far and away the most popular map in that category.
• Blizzard World has spent years in the shadow of Eichenwalde and King’s Row, so it's nice to see it being the favorite Hybrid, being played on over 50% of all hybrid map picks

Week 2 match summaries:

Poker Face 0 - 3 RØDE ONSIDE GAMING

This game was summed up beautifully in only the first fight, as SP1NT gets the first three final blows against Poker Face to secure the first cap of Oasis: Gardens. SP1NT would finish the map 20-0, a beautiful performance on Tracer.

RØDE ONSIDE GAMING ran circles around the less-experienced Poker Face on Aatlis, taking the flashpoint 3-0, featuring Kim "Attack" Jun-hwa proving his Hazard talent (the same that got him Player of the Week earlier in the season) by going 26-1.

RONG dominated their attack on Rialto, finishing the map with just under four minutes left on the timebank. Credit where it's due, Poker Face kept it close by also finishing their attack (albeit in overtime), but RONG finished them off, taking the series in a swift 3-0 sweep. 

T1 1 - 3 ZETA DIVISION 

The matchup opened in Busan, where T1 looked absolutely outclassed. Hong "Proud" Suk-jin and Kim "Bliss" So-myung combined for 15 deaths, and Kim "Proper" Dong-hyun played like the G.O.A.T., going 14-2 on his signature Tracer.

The game then flipped on a dime, as T1 entered Suravasa with an Illari ban, targeting Park "Viol2t" Min-ki. Kim "DONGHAK" Min-sung played excellently on the Wrecking Ball, but the real star was Proud, who racked up over 15000 damage, 50% more than Proper. This map gave hope that this game could be close. ZETA would dash that hope, as they pulled off a miraculous defense on Havana’s second point, stuffing T1’s attack.

T1 responded with a questionable decision, Blizzard World. ZETA had yet to lose this map, yet to give up a single point, but T1 chose to send us there. They believed that since they had the first ban, they would be better off going now, rather than waiting for ZETA to pick it if the game went to map 5. Even when targeting Kim "shu" Jin-seo with the Ana ban, ZETA held stalwart, full-holding the map and ending the series in a sad fashion.

Crazy Raccoon 3 - 0 New Era

After last week’s suspension of SoLa, New Era is continuing to shake things up at the tank position. For this week, veteran Lee "MCD" Jeong-ho has moved back to his native main support role, and Yate stepped up to play tank, mostly Hazard.

Unfortunately, Yate’s debut at Tank is against the pinnacle that is Crazy Raccoon, who pulled no punches in this game. Park "JunBin" Jun-bin went 24-0 to open the game on Oasis, showing exquisite tank play. This map was not an outlier, as Crazy Raccoon continued to steamroll, taking all three maps easily, only allowing one point all series.

New Era left this game still without a map win, leaving them with only one opportunity left - the final game against Cheeseburger. 

T1 3 - 0 ZAN Esports

Entering their final game of the season, T1 needed every map they could muster. Their losses to RØDE ONSIDE GAMING, Team Falcons, and ZETA DIVISION put them low in the standings, so in order to get the best chance at making the playoffs, they would have to finish the match with a 3-0 sweep. On top of that, ZAN Esports could be looking at a preview of a Play-in game, as they will face Poker Face for the #6 seed later in the week.

In the lobby, this game was exactly what T1 needed. DONGHAK proved his dominance at tank by going 82-19 over only three maps (28, 33, and 21 eliminations on each).

ZAN esports kept the game closer than the average sweep, with Watchpoint: Gibraltar going into overtime rounds thanks to clutch dives by Kim "Becky" Il-ha on Tracer and Cho "HEISER" Yu-hyun on Hazard. Look forward to seeing these teams rematch in the postseason, as they almost certainly will cross paths again soon. 

ZETA DIVISION 3 - 0 Cheeseburger

ZETA DIVISION’s final game of the year was a fun show for all ages, unless you enjoy Cheeseburgers. This game was little more than a livestreamed execution, sending Cheeseburger to 0-7 on the year (and still without a map win).

Viol2t and shu were practically the third and fourth DPS, raking up 21051 and 17496 damage, respectively. Viol2t ended the three maps with 60 eliminations, where the highest total on Cheeseburger came from Kim "Argon" Han-saem with 42. ZETA rolls into the Seeding Deciders with an 8-0 match record, and look to maintain their dominance, and hopefully advance to their first-ever LAN in OWCS. 

Team Falcons 0 - 3 Crazy Raccoon

An incredibly important battle, this matchup was pivotal not only for their long-standing rivalry but also for standings in the upcoming seeding deciders. The winner of this match would all but clinch second place.

The sad reality is that traditions are meant to be broken, and this matchup did not live up to the hype of its previous appearances. While not complete domination, Crazy Raccoon looked like the better team by a wide margin, and STALK3R was having a great time getting revenge on his former organization. He led the way on Busan, leading all players in Damage (13681) and eliminations (27). That trend continued on Esperança and Rialto; he would finish the matchup 60-15 with 35548 damage over the three maps.

It seems that Crazy Raccoon have leveled up over the stage, and now enter the seeding deciders hot.

ZAN Esports 3 - 0 Poker Face

This game had stakes entering the match, as the winning team would clinch the #6 seed and reserve the right to enter the upper bracket of the play-in tournament.

This game proved definitely that ZAN Esports - while they may not have the talent to compete with the partner teams - is filled with oodles of skill. Han "A1IEN" Yu-bin initiated the match by going 22-2 on Emre, shooting Go "D4RT" Min-hyuk’s Pharah out of the sky multiple times as if he was aim-training.

On Aatlis, HEISER put on a performance of a lifetime, going 36-2 on Hazard, absolutely gapping the opposition. ZAN Esports now look to get revenge on T1 as they will face off in the first map of Week 5, with the winner clinching a spot in the playoffs. 

New Era 0 - 3 Cheeseburger

For the first time ever in OWCS, two winless teams will enter the final week without a match win. Even more intriguing, both teams enter the final match without having won a single map. Now, they must battle each other to see who will be the unfortunate team eliminated, and which team will land the final spot in the play-in. 

The match started with a bang, with New Era taking 98% on Busan: Sanctuary, only to lose the submap to Cheeseburger thanks in part to Lee "WoochaN" Woo-chan going 9-1 on Kiriko. Cheeseburger would then finish the New Era off on Busan: Downtown, with Lee "SeungAn" Seung-an’s tank play being a highlight.

The game did not get much closer on Map 2, as Watchpoint: Gibraltar was dominated by Kim "FARMER" Yea-han, who came on Winston, his indomitable Monke going 35-2.

Cheeseburger closed it out in Blizzard World by full capping with two minutes left on the timebank, and then continuing to fully hold New Era, ending their run in OWCS Korea Stage 1 at 0-8, with a map score of 0-24. Cheeseburger moves on to battle Poker Face in the lower bracket semifinals of the play-ins.