ZANSIDE fall short as ZETA and T1 book their Paris tickets
The final ongoing OWCS Stage 2 competition has concluded, and with it the crowning of the OWCS Stage 2 champion in Korea, as well as the final two participants of the highly anticipated Midseason Championship.
Apart from the Grand Finals, every single matchup carried LAN qualification implications, and the Grand Final itself was a slugfest between two teams that have already established an unmatched rivalry only two stages into the season.
Crazy Raccoon and Team Falcons had already secured their EWC qualifications. Falcons through the Title Defender Program, for winning EWC in 2025, and Crazy Raccoon for winning the first LAN of the year, the Champions Clash.
Day 1 pitted ZETA DIVISION against O2 Blast and Team Falcons against RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING. Crazy Raccoon and T1 automatically proceeded to the Semi-Finals, having achieved first and second in the Seeding Deciders.
All the matches played this weekend were first-to-four. Each of the two winners from Day 1 would proceed to join CR and T1 in the Semi-Finals, with Crazy Raccoon having the advantage of picking their opponent from the two.
So let’s get straight into how it all went down.
Day 1: Quarter-Finals
ZETA DIVISION 4 - 0 O2 Blast
While there was no EWC qualification on the line for the winner of the first game, the loser would be eliminated from EWC contention. The game between ZETA and O2 gave us a quick preview of what ZETA’s weekend would look like.
In a repeat of their Regular Season matchup, ZETA made short work of O2 Blast, who only managed to keep things close on Aatlis, but even that was ultimately shut down with a monstrous display by Shin “Bernar” Se-won.
The result saw O2 Blast head home early, and ZETA proceeded to the Semi-Finals.
Team Falcons 2 - 4 RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING
This match carried much stronger LAN qualification stakes. A Team Falcons win would mean automatic qualification for both ZETA and T1. However, ZANSIDE had other plans.
Falcons started strong in Antarctic Peninsula, but despite the mirror comps, ZANSIDE outplayed Falcons on both the second and third subrounds to take the early lead. That momentum continued in New Junk City, and ZANSIDE went up 2-0 in the series.
Having opened the distance between them and Team Falcons, ZANSIDE brought in Jung “Kilo” Jin-woo, despite finding much more success with Jung “Probe” Jun-young in recent weeks. Things immediately took a turn for the worse as Team Falcons brought in Ham “Someone” Jeong-wan and took two maps in a row to tie the series.
ZANSIDE finally brought Probe back in for Colosseo, and they immediately transformed into a winning side again, dispatching Team Falcons for another two maps in a row and eliminating them from the playoffs.
If Team Falcons hadn’t already secured their qualification through the Title Defender Program, then this would have spelt disaster for them. Whether they lost due to taking their foot off the gas having already secured qualification, or due to Choi “MER1T” Tae-min’s absence is anyone’s guess. But the reigning MSC champions need to turn things around quickly till EWC kicks off.
ZANSIDE’s win threw a small wrench into ZETA’s and T1’s expected smooth sailings. Their heroics against Team Falcons put all three of ZANSIDE, ZETA, and T1 onto a collision course over the two qualification slots. Especially since Crazy Raccoon picked ZANSIDE for the Semi-Finals, and a ZANSIDE win there would guarantee elimination for either ZETA or T1.
Day 2: Semi-Finals
Crazy Raccoon 4 - 1 RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING
This match was the first of two opportunities for ZANSIDE to secure EWC qualification.
In Antarctic Peninsula and New Junk City, ZANSIDE came out of the gates looking strong but just lacked that little clutch factor to tip the close fights in their favour.
Wasting no time, ZANSIDE immediately sent the series to Colosseo, where they had a lot of success against Team Falcons the day before. Crazy Raccoon also made a quick change and brought in their veteran hitscan Lee “LIP” Jae-won for Jeong “Stalk3r” Hak-yong. ZANSIDE’s trump card was unsurprisingly effective, and the underdogs put their names on the scoreboard.
However, in Circuit Royal, ZANSIDE switched Probe out for Kilo, and similarly to the day before, they immediately started underperforming, and the series was now at match point. With the series on the line, ZANSIDE took the match to Neon Junction with Kilo still in the lineup and barely scraped a single on their push. Crazy Raccoon easily outscored them on their attack and sent ZANSIDE to the losers' bracket to face off against the loser between ZETA and T1 for a final shot at LAN qualification.
T1 1 - 4 ZETA DIVISION
The stakes are simple but critical. The winner would go on to face Crazy Raccoon for the OWCS Korea Stage 2 title, plus EWC qualification, and the loser would get one more shot at EWC qualification in a match against ZANSIDE.
On paper, T1 were the favourites in this matchup. They had defeated ZETA both times they had met this stage. First in Stage 2’s opening week, and again just last week in the Playoff Seeding Deciders, in a crushing 3-0 sweep.
In the actual match, though, things took an almost 180-degree turn. ZETA immediately showed up with purpose and made it clear this wasn’t going to be a repeat of their past two clashes.
ZETA quickly took the first two maps, until T1 edged out a win in Aatlis. T1 was looking poised to win Colosseo as well, but ZETA managed a late comeback to send the series to a match point.
In Neon Junction, ZETA held T1 to just a single point. On their push, just as T1’s defence was stabilising, Park “Viol2t” Min-ki delivered one of many intelligent plays he’s pulled off over the course of the weekend that put the final nail in T1’s coffin. While the play was unclear during the main broadcast (as they were observing Kim “DONGHAK” Min-sung tear through ZETA), ObsSojourn provided the match-winning play from Viol2t’s point of view.
ZETA DIVISION missed the 2025 Midseason Championship completely when they lost to Team Falcons in the MSC Last Chance Qualifiers (who then ended up winning the whole thing); with this win, however, ZETA guaranteed their qualification directly.
T1 would get one final chance against ZANSIDE on Day 3 to secure the coveted MSC qualification.
Day 3: The Finals
RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING 1 - 4 T1
The first clash of the final day put the last two teams still hoping for LAN qualification against one another. The prize money for finishing third or fourth is the same, this was all about the securing qualification.
T1 were looking to shake off their one-sided defeat at the hands of ZETA, while ZANSIDE looked to capitalise on exactly the same thing. But things didn’t quite pan out that way for ZANSIDE.
They comfortably took Ilios, and while ZANSIDE showed a bit of character at the start of Circuit Royal, on T1’s push, the entire team fell apart defending point one, opening the floodgates for T1 to take the rest of the map with ease. New Junk City followed suit in a 3-0.
It took till the deciding fourth map for ZANSIDE to send the series to their favoured Colosseo, where they once again put a win in the books, but T1 answered right back in Neon Junction, full-pushing then full-holding ZANSIDE with ease to secure their Midseason Championship seed.
Despite ZANSIDE not playing Kilo at all against T1, the team looked completely outclassed. While the win was completely expected from T1, the result does not bode well for Team Falcons ahead of the second Major of the year.
Crazy Raccoon 2 - 4 ZETA DIVISION
The Grand Finals, for the title of OWCS Korea Stage 2 winner and the biggest share of the prize money. Crazy Raccoon and ZETA DIVISION have been trading wins all stage. Crazy Raccoon defeated ZETA during their critical face-off in the Champions Clash, and most recently in the Seeding Deciders last week. ZETA have also beaten Crazy Raccoon multiple times this year, in both Regular Seasons, as well as in the OWCS Asia tournament prior to the Champions Clash.
The rivalry between these two sides has been one of the highlights of the year so far. Between Kim “Shu” Jin-seo facing off against his former team, Kim “Proper” Dong-hyun butting heads with his former DPS duo Stalk3r, and the unmatched level of Overwatch play on display every time these two sides collide, it’s always a treat, and this Grand Finals delivered nothing less.
The series started with the two teams separated by nothing but the finest of margins. Crazy Raccoon had the first map pick in Antarctic Peninsula, where they edged out a win, and ZETA immediately followed by picking New Junk City and edging out a win in return. Chae “HeeSang” Hee-sang’s Symm was the difference maker in the former, and Lee “knife” Seon-woo’s Sojourn clinched the win in the latter.
Crazy Raccoon then picked King’s Row, but this is where ZETA interrupted the serve, holding them to a single point and handily taking the win on the side switch. CR took the match to Circuit Royal, and the two teams were right back at each other’s throats. This time, however, Crazy Raccoon just about managed to come out on top.
The rest of the series continued being an absolute brawl, but Crazy Raccoon wouldn’t find success again. ZETA picked Colosseo next, and while CR showed up early in the map, once ZETA stabilised, they never looked back.
The final map was Neon Junction, and both teams went all out. On this map alone, ZETA DIVISION repeatedly put on display their unmatched capabilities in the tightest, most now-or-never clutch situations, especially through their prolific support duo, Shu and Viol2t.
Watch - Shu and Viol2t cost CR precious time that cost them dearly later in the map
CR went on to full push with less than a minute on the clock, but just as they were putting the finishing touches on holding ZETA to only two points, the Shu/Viol2t clutch factor struck again.
Watch - Viol2t’s Tidal Blast and Shu’s Nano Boost flips CR’s victory on its head
In the timebank round, ZETA managed to push the cart just around the corner after capping the first point, and just as CR looked in control and on their way towards getting the better push…ZETA did it again.
Watch - “Somehow, someway…ZETA win it right here, right now.”
Three individual clutch moments that perfectly encapsulate not only how Neon Junction went down, but how ZETA are consistently able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
And with that, ZETA were crowned OWCS Korea champions for the second stage in a row (Shu’s fifth in a row), and CR would have to settle for second place. Whether these two sides lock heads once more in the Midseason Championship or later in Stage 3, we are guaranteed a treat of what the highest calibre of competitive Overwatch looks like.