đź“ť ZETA DIVISION clinch Champions Clash spot
The last weekend of gameplay before confirming the two Asia representatives at the Champions Clash has begun. Earlier this week, the top four teams from OWCS Korea, the top three teams from OWCS Japan, and the best team from OWCS Pacific all battled in a group stage, with ZETA DIVISION, Crazy Raccoon, T1, and VARREL making out. Now those teams will spend the next two days fighting in a double-elimination tournament, with only the last two earning the right to represent their continent in Tokyo.
Upper Bracket Semi-Final: ZETA DIVISION 3 - 2 VARREL
VARREL made waves in the community earlier in the week, upsetting Crazy Raccoon and knocking Team Falcons out of contention for the Champions Clash. ZETA DIVISION entered the fixture looking to establish dominance over their Japanese counterpart and get one step closer to making their first-ever LAN in the OWCS.
Opening on Lijiang Tower, VARREL proved that their previous victories were not a fluke, coming out strong with their Cat/Bastion combination. Kim "Sley" Jae-hwan is one of the few players to have been playing the flying feline all season, and his dominance cannot be understated. He went 16-2 on Lijiang, and his timing and coordination with Daisuke "Nico" Fujikawa on Bastion propelled VARREL to an early 2-0 map victory.
ZETA DIVISION responded with something they usually reserve for the end of matches, Blizzard World. They are undefeated on this map, and that streak does not end now. They steamrolled through the attack, finishing the map with 2:07 on the timebank, before holding strong on the defense and taking their favorite map 3-0. VARREL decided to target Lee "Mealgaru" Jeong-hwan on map three after banning Wrecking Ball on Esperança. This forced ZETA to play around a Rammatra, while VARREL operated around Tomoharu "KSG" Inoue on his standard D.Va. Alongside this, Jeong "TOPDRAGON" Seung-yong brought out the Torbjörn, whose long range helped him play safe from afar, and his Molten Core shredded Rammatra and Bastion’s armor (especially when Sley catnapped them into it). VARREL won this map to put ZETA on the ropes, sending them to match point.ZETA made a key adaptation going into Havana, subbing in Shin "Bernar" Se-won to match KGS’s D.Va. As a result, this map was incredibly close, as every single fight was hard-fought. ZETA were able to string together clutch fight wins at the end of the distillery to hold VARREL back, and send the game to a pivotal map 5.
Busan was chaotic, but the peak of Overwatch this year. With Jetpack Cat banned by ZETA, neither team was quite sure what to play, with 21 unique heroes being played in this map, with us getting a taste of Emre, Widowmaker, Soldier: 76, Orisa, Baptiste, and Illari - just to name a few. VARREL jumped out to an early lead on MEKA Base, but surrendered a map on Sanctuary to tie it up. TOPDRAGON chose now as the perfect opportunity to run out on Anran, a surprising pick to be sure. The goal was to shred through Bernar, but it was very difficult for him to get close enough without melting. ZETA took the map, advanced to the Upper Semifinals, and edged a victory by the skin of their teeth.
Upper Bracket Semi-Final: Crazy Raccoon 3 - 2 T1
For the third time this season, these teams matched up in a pivotal battle. T1 took their first fight during the OWCS Korea regular season in a reverse sweep. Crazy Raccoon showed their adaptation when they met in the Korea Playoffs, sweeping them 4-0. Now they meet again, with the winner moving one step closer to the Champions Clash.
Rather than the D.Va and Wrecking Ball featured in the previous match, Kim “DONGHAK” Min-sung and Park "JunBin" Jun-bin had a different tank in mind - Mauga. Crazy Raccoon went out of their way to ban D.Va, an odd choice considering DONGHAK’s hero pool. Both of the flex DPS - Chae "HeeSang" Hee-sang and Kim "ZEST" Hyun-woo experimented with Tracer and Reaper, trying to find their places in this meta. This map was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams winning multiple fights on each map. In the end, Hong "Proud" Suk-jin’s 34 eliminations and over 14,000 damage on Bastion propelled T1 to the map victory.
Going into map 2, Crazy Raccoon chose to play Runasapi and targeted DONGHAK by getting rid of his hyper-mobile Wrecking Ball. T1 started the map with a Mauga composition, but CR was clearly prepared, subbing in Choi "MAX" Su-min to run the D.Va, forcing T1 to make an adjustment. Eventually, DONGHAK was forced to mirror the tank, and his awkwardness showed. Crazy Raccoon won the map with a comfortable 70-meter lead, evening up the series.
T1 clearly needed a change, and banned D.Va in map three. They also sent the series to Watchpoint: Gibraltar, where VARREL full-held CR on to end the group stage of this tournament early in the week. T1 started strong with their attack, yet again a Mauga mirror, odd for the dive-based map. They fully capped the point, forcing CR to match their attack. Unfortunately for T1, CR had clearly been practising their attack, rolling through Watchpoint: Gibraltar faster than T1. This extended timebank helped tremendously in overtime, as CR took the map 4-3.
T1’s next trick was out of ZETA’s book, going to Blizzard World. They had a similarly strong attack hero, fully capping the map fast, leaving just under three minutes in the timebank. While they didn’t have as strong a defense, they were able to hold firm on the third point, extending the series to a crucial map five.
Havana featured critical hero bans, with Mauga and Jetpack Cat. Kim "Bliss" So-myung and Sung "CH0R0NG" Yoo-min now had to play Lúcio for the first time in the series, and Jeong "Stalk3r" Hak-yong and Proud got to face off on Sojourn, while Heesang and ZEST mirrored Pharah. T1 started strong on the defense, stopping CR inside the distillery. When the tables turned, and T1 started attacking, they seemed disjointed and couldn’t put together a good fight. When the lights were at their brightest, the stars faltered, and Crazy Racccoon’s experience under pressure helped them clutch out a victory, moving forward to the Semifinals.
Upper Bracket Final: ZETA DIVISION 3 - 1 Crazy Raccoon
Both teams have survived a well-fought match already today, but they needed to win one more matchup to confirm their spot at the Champions Clash. These teams faced off twice previously, with ZETA DIVISION winning both times: first, 3-1 in the opening week of OWCS Korea, and then a 3-0 sweep on the final day of Seeding Deciders.
It was interesting that this game also started on Lijiang Tower, considering both teams lost Lijiang earlier in the day. It was already evident that both teams had made some adaptations from their previous matches. Mealgaru was still the starting tank on ZETA, but this time he played Mauga after watching CR and T1 battle it out in the previous series. In a similar vein, HeeSang started the match on Reaper rather than Tracer - since CR banned it to mitigate Proper. Despite the change, ZETA still seemed far and away the better team this map, with Proper and Mealgaru both going 25-5, and they took the opening lead in the series.
Looking for a change of pace, Crazy Raccoon elected to go to Midtown - for only the second time this year. They also banned Jetpack Cat, trying to invoke a similar playstyle to Map 5 vs. T1. This map was instead similar to ZETA’s Map 5 vs. Varrel, as sixteen unique heroes were played, including Domina, Torbjörn, Genji, Mei, and Illari. ZETA opened the map with an odd composition, with BERNAR coming in to play Domina, although eventually switching to the tried and true D.Va. CR got stuck outside the gate of Grand Central Station, but a clutch defense helmed by HeeSang’s Genji and Vigilante’s Ana held ZETA division, tying up the match.
Suravasa had an interesting start, with Proper running Soldier: 76 and Mealgaru in on the Rammattra, but after losing the first point, ZETA DIVISION changed pace. The map devolved into two Mauga mirror comps with flying bastions patrolling the sky, the standard meta of the day. Not to say it wasn’t entertaining, as fights were decided by clutch plays and ultimates, but ZETA seemed far more successful in the mirror, and bounced back to take the flashpoint 3-1, sending us to match point.
Crazy Raccoon went to test their luck on Havana again, after beating T1 earlier in the evening. This time, with D.Va and Bastion banned, both teams strolled out on Sigma-based poke compositions, with Illari, Ana, and Emre. Proper played his typical Tracer and went out of his mind. He went 15-0, absolutely obliterating Crazy Raccoon. Propelled by this performance, ZETA DIVISION fully held on Havana and easily won the match, sending them to the Champions Clash. They now will have the opportunity to participate in their first-ever OWCS LAN, hosted by their parent company, with a home crowd sure to loudly support them.
The final day of OWCS Asia Stage 1 is tomorrow, Saturday, May 10. VARREL will play T1, and the winner will face Crazy Raccoon for the final Asia slot in the Champions Clash. Stay tuned to OWTV for our full coverage.