ZETA DIVISION are Midseason champions after a Paris classic
Day 4 of the Midseason Championship cut the field to four, with Crazy Raccoon swept out of Paris by T1, Weibo Gaming ending Spacestation Gaming's run for the fourth LAN running, and ZETA DIVISION and Twisted Minds both advancing without much trouble.
The final day of the Overwatch Champions Series 2026 Midseason Championship settles it. T1 meet ZETA DIVISION in an all-Korean semi-final, and Twisted Minds face Weibo Gaming in the other, with the losers dropping into a third-place match. Both semi-finals and the bronze match are first-to-three, while the grand final is first-to-four.
Here's how Day 5 panned out:
ZETA DIVISION 3 - 0 T1
A matchup of juggernauts, and one with recent history. ZETA beat T1 in the OWCS Korea Stage 2 playoffs, though elimination at the semi-finals has haunted them since their disappointing Champions Clash exit. ZETA picked Busan, and both sides mirrored the Mauga/Cat/Ana composition to start. ZETA took Sanctuary 100-0, then wasted no time in taking MEKA Base by the same score. T1 were left floundering, with Hong "Proud" Suk-jin, Kim "Bliss" So-myung and Kim "DONGHAK" Min-sung never finding a moment's peace against Lee "knife" Seon-woo, Kim "shu" Jin-seo and Shin "Bernar" Se-won respectively. shu's Ana was particularly disruptive, to nobody's surprise.
T1 took the series to New Junk City, one of their favoured maps, and with Kim "ZEST" Hyun-woo on his signature Vendetta, they started strong, pushing point A to 99% before ZETA rallied behind a massive Terra Surge from Bernar that took out two. T1 could not flip the point afterwards, and ZETA took the early lead. That sequence set the rhythm for the rest of the map. On both point B and point C, T1 poured progress into the capture only for ZETA to sweep in and swipe it from underneath them. An unbelievable killing spree from Kim "Proper" Dong-hyun saw a guaranteed point C slip through T1's fingers as he single-handedly took care of DONGHAK, Kim "skewed" Min-seok and ZEST to put the series to match point.
On Suravasa, DONGHAK opened with an unusual Junker Queen pick, though it did not last long before he switched to D.Va. ZETA took close to 70 metres before T1 managed their first fight win, but a quick switch to Brigitte from Park "Viol2t" Min-ki put ZETA right back in control and forced DONGHAK into a second switch, this time to Ramattra. The balance of power drew closer, but every fight became a dirty scrap that never allowed T1 much progress. ZETA never added another metre after that initial 70, and they did not need to. They played a disciplined winner's game, never letting T1 build anything of their own, and swept through to reach their first international Overwatch grand final.
Twisted Minds 3 - 2 Weibo Gaming
In a shocking turn of events that should come as a surprise to no one, Twisted Minds pulled off yet another reverse sweep to advance to yet another grand final. The clutch factor, mental fortitude and adaptability of this roster continue to make them one of the scariest teams to face at LAN, and the further they go in a tournament, the more dangerous they become.
Nepal saw Weibo use the D.Va ban early, and it paid off. Xu "Guxue" Qiulin surprised Twisted Minds by rolling out on Doomfist, hitting a huge Power Punch on Ahmad "Youbi" Alyoubi's Teleporter to win his team the fight. TM were not ready for it, and despite clawing back some percentage, they went down 0-1. Sanctum was a tougher task for Weibo; in the Ramattra mirror, they did not have the X-factor, and disciplined Symmetra/Cassidy play from Ibrahem "Quartz" Alali, and Youbi levelled the score. Once Weibo got back on Cat/Bastion for Village, though, things swung back their way. They utilised the rooftops and open space well, and Zheng "Shy" Yangjie did everything he needed to with his team's help to go 1-0 up.
The good looks continued into Route 66, where Chen "Sunzo" Cheng was subbed in and looked to continue his map win streak. Weibo used the Symmetra ban, which really limited TM. Youbi was forced onto Mei on a map where she is not all that strong, and without his leadership and mobility on his signature hero, his team struggled around him. TM did get through the first point thanks to a pick from Quartz, but they hit a brick wall on the second. Shy held a power position on the high ground and went nuclear, and incredibly clean play from the rest of Weibo kept TM short of the second checkpoint before they breezed through on their attack to take a 2-0 lead.
As many LAN events before this one have taught us, though, it would be incredibly foolish to count out Twisted Minds at a mere 0-2 deficit.
With the Symmetra and D.Va bans used, Weibo could no longer force TM to play the game on their terms. On Neon Junction, after a slow start, TM got the snowball rolling. Weibo had a few good fights, but once their ultimate bank was dry, TM powered through without much issue. Quartz made a rare mistake on their defence, but after the first point capture went through, it was the Twisted Minds show. Weibo won some fights in big ult trades, but their opponents stayed in control and bled the clock down until Weibo had nothing left.
On Aatlis' first point, Guxue's Doomfist once again made life extremely difficult for TM, despite Abdualziz "TVNT" Altmimi's correct read in rolling out on Orisa. Not afforded a moment to breathe, TM had to give up the first point, but Guxue's first death soon after prompted a swap to Mauga, and his team moved to Cat/Bastion now that the indoor point was over. The swap meant the game was now firmly in TM's playground. They relied on their defensive ultimates — Kitsune Rush and Sound Barrier as well as Deadeye and Terra Surge — to weather any all-in Weibo tried to create, and took firm control of the map. A Shy 5K gave Weibo a brief moment of hope, but the retake from TM was good, and they took the map 3-1.
With the momentum against them, Weibo took the series to Colosseo to try and have Guxue produce another miracle on Doomfist. It was not to be. Weibo held the lead for the first half and went blow for blow for most of the map, but as soon as they lost a fight near the checkpoint, TM put their foot on the gas and never looked back. A dead-even game became a 60-metre lead, and from there Weibo never stood a chance.
The composure, confidence and execution that go into a reverse sweep are unbelievable, and Twisted Minds have a knack for it whenever their backs are against the wall. ZETA DIVISION will be their toughest opponent yet, but even they might be worried if they end up winning the first three maps of the series.
Weibo Gaming 0 - 3 T1
Weibo Gaming and T1 faced off to determine the third-place slot, and an extra $40,000 in the pocket. Despite coming fresh off of losses to the finalists, the chance to secure some last-second glory was still on the table.
As the series began on Nepal, both Xu "Guxue" Qiulin and Kim "DONGHAK" Min-sung opted in for the Mauga mirror. While Weibo were able to keep the map close, ultimately it was T1 who came out on top and seemed to have the wind in their sails. That also stayed true as the series progressed onto Neon Junction, with Weibo Gaming looking drained on their best map of the tournament despite having a small resurgent play from Huang "Leave" Xin.
By the time the teams loaded into Aatlis, all the energy had depleted from the Weibo players. It looked as though the reverse sweep TM delivered affected Weibo more than their Korean counterparts as Hong "Proud" Suk-jin and Kim "ZEST" Hyun-woo ran down the server on Shion and Vendetta. Aatlis closed without Weibo taking a single flashpoint, as T1 earned their bronze medal and won the series 3-0.
Regardless of their finishes, both T1 and Weibo Gaming proved that they are more than capable of hanging with the best the world has to offer. While both teams would bow out in third and fourth, the rest of the eyes turned towards the Grand Finals.
Twisted Minds 2 - 4 ZETA DIVISION
The 2026 Midseason Championship grand finals pit one of the best teams from Korea against one of the best teams from EMEA. Twisted Minds had just come off a stunning reverse sweep against Weibo Gaming with all the momentum in the world behind them. ZETA DIVISION defeated regional rivals T1 in a dominant 3-0 and looked more dominant than ever with their all-star roster.
At the Champions Clash, just two months ago, Twisted Minds defeated ZETA 3-1 and finished second overall. ZETA’s loss was disappointing to a team expected to win it all. This clash was ZETA’s ultimate chance to not only right their prior performance, but finally lift their first international trophy. With both teams ready and looking stronger than ever, the series began in Busan.
ZETA came out of the gate strong with Viol2t’s lethal Jetpack Cat, and it seemed as though this was going to be a dominant showing for the Korean squad. That was until Quartz and TVNT came online to shut down the flyers and bring TM up early on Sanctuary. But both Bernar and knife swiftly came back on MEKA Base on their own Sojourn/D.Va composition, allowing ZETA to bring out their Cat/Bastion composition to secure the map win on Downtown.
Twisted Minds sent the match to Neon Junction in search of their first win. Their tried-and-true Symmetra/D.Va composition proved to be the key factor yet again. Twisted Minds overwhelmed ZETA’s compositions to the point where both knife and Proper struggled to find a stable DPS core. ZETA nearly came back on their own attack off the back of Bernar’s Zarya, but were halted at the end of the map thanks to a clutch Sound Barrier from Daniel "FunnyAstro" Hathaway. The series was now tied at 1-1, and the series was just getting started.
ZETA brought the series to Colosseo and banned Kiriko, so TVNT returned to his Reinhardt pick alongside Simple on Baptiste. Against any other team, this composition would’ve walked over the competition, but not ZETA. Proper and Viol2t’s Pharah/Cat flyer duo made the Reinhardt pick very difficult to play with, resulting in TVNT swapping back to his signature D.Va. The switch allowed TM to better contest in the neutral, but ZETA still dominated on their composition and closed out the map on the back of a massive Biotic Grenade from shu.
After Colosseo concluded, this series truly defined itself as a back-and-forth masterclass. Each and every player made small adjustments to get an edge over the other, such as Bernar swapping to Doomfist on Suravasa to counter Youbi’s Symmetra, only to be met with Quartz on Cassidy. Then on Route 66, thanks to a Symmetra ban, Twisted adapted to match ZETA’s aggression with picks like Torbjorn and Mei, only to be met with further adaptation when Bernar began their defence on Domina. All 10 players in the lobby proved with their flexibility and adaptation that this was the pinnacle of competitive Overwatch on full display.
Map 6 brought the series to Eichenwalde, its first appearance of the entire Midseason Championship, and it was here on this map that everything was decided. With ZETA up 3-2 in the series, both Shu and Viol2t showed why they are undisputedly the absolute best duo in the world. With Shu’s Ana overwhelming Twisted’s every push, and Viol2t’s slippery Jetpack Cat drawing attention away from the rest of the ZETA frontline, Twisted Minds finally fell. With a crucial pick by knife onto Quartz, ZETA DIVISION pushed the cart all the way into the golden box of victory, and finally claimed their spot at the top of the world.
Twisted Minds made every stage of this series close, and came incredibly close to forcing a Map 7, but in the end it was time for them to once more bow out in second place on the international stage. And for the first time in their history, ZETA DIVISION won an international major and crowned themselves the 2026 Midseason Champions.
OWCS 2026 Midseason Championship MVP - shu
shu was named the tournament's MVP, taking home $25,000 alongside the title. A veteran of the game and long one of its most decorated supports, he closed out the week as the tournament's defining player.
His Ana was the throughline. A hero widely written off as an archaic pick, it went unmatched across the entire tournament in his hands, and ZETA built much of their identity around protecting it. Every ZETA player had a case for the award after a run like this, but shu's grand final performance settled it.