Over the weekend, the top 8 teams in the 2017 Overwatch World Cup fought for their organization’s colors at BlizzCon. On the roster, there are a lot of players struggling to survive in Ovewatch after a rough period of the Overwatch Contenders season. As the top organizations are clearing out contracts with players because of the complexity of the Overwatch League and the uncertain future of Overwatch esport. In the face of such pressure, the community is still patient and patient to bring us the Overwatch World Cup. Among the teams competing in the final round, the story of France and Canada is the most moving: full of courage and spirit of dedication to the world eSports world.
Rogue’s old lineup: strong to receive a bitter end
One of the esports organizations that everyone expected to make an appearance in the Overwatch League, Rogue tops that list. As a new team, Rogue gave EnVyUs their first taste of defeat at the ESL Atlantic Showdown in August 2016. They later won the tournament with a win over Reunited. After the transfer between Luminosity Gaming and Misfits last December, Rogue owns the all-French squad we all know and love. With Nico’s arrival in February 2017, the French team established a historic feat in Overwatch esports, placing first in multiple Overwatch tournaments in a row before entering the Overwatch Contenders.
Despite the disappointing performance at Contenders season 1, Unkoe, Knoxxx, Winz, AKM, Soon, and Nico are still among the most formidable teams in the world. After being selected to represent France at the 2017 Overwatch World Cup, things started to look bright again. They destroyed their opponents in the Shanghai Qualifier, losing only 2 rounds in the tournament and earning a spot in the BlizzCon Finals.
In one of the most shocking announcements of the past few months, Rogue officially announced the disbandment of the Overwatch roster on October 8 because they didn’t get a spot in the Overwatch League. Just days before BlizzCon, the Los Angeles Valiant Overwatch League team announced that Unkoe and Soon would be joining the team for next season, ending the glorious era of the French team. Still brimming with enthusiasm, the boys entered the Overwatch World Cup to demonstrate the strength of this roster one last time.
They got off to a strong start against China (the team also changed their roster just before the tournament). Junkertown is quite interesting, the French team was able to use Bastion to successfully push the payload. Even against Korea, Rogue persevered to make a great match. Brandon Padilla, Overwatch analyst for OverwatchScore, shared some thoughts on the French team’s performance.
“Their Junkertown match against China is considered one of the best, and against Korea, they proved that the titans can still bleed,” said Padilla. “Knoxxx goes up against Mano, who is considered one of the best Winstons players in the tournament. AKM was upset that he didn’t get to the OWL, but he gave his all in all the matches at the Overwatch World Cup. He was the only Pharah player who forced Fl0w3r (DPS of Korea) to count numbers.”
France played their final match against rival Sweden. As the commentators have said, this is the Overwatch El clasico that fans have been waiting for: the thick head-to-head record between the two teams over the past year. The former Rogue fought bravely but had to lose 4-2 to Sweden. An end for all, when Tviq – their former teammate – sent the French team home with the ultimate Tactical Visor:
Canada is at the heart of North America
When Canada’s World Cup roster was first announced, many doubted the talent of some of the players on the team. Especially xQc and Mangachu, the two most famous pro players in the community. With xQc, it’s his proactive Winston style and “personality” on the stream. “When xQc dies” became a meme on Twitch, although this doesn’t quite match what actually happened. Mangachu’s skills are unquestionable, but there are still some who think he has only one style of play.
Team Canana’s first reagent was Katowice Qualifer in Poland, one of the most watched streams at the Overwatch World Cup. Also in Katowice are Russia, Korea and the Netherlands, very formidable opponents. In the end, Canada only lost 2 rounds to win a spot at BlizzCon. The other team that then also faced Canada in the final of the World Cup was South Korea.
When the matches were drawn, the US had to face South Korea on the first day of the match. It’s not a 100% loss, but most Overwatch fans and pundits think the US won’t be able to pass this test. That’s right, they failed. So everything depends on Canada to represent the North American region.
Things didn’t go so well in the first match between Canada and Australia. DPS didn’t play as expected, but they still managed to win to move on. From here, they write a new page of history. The second match took place first, Sweden seemed to be the end for Canada. The Sweden roster includes all players competing for teams in the Overwatch League (Florida Mayhem, Dallas Fuel, Philadelphia Fusion), 4 of them played together at Misfits for a very long time. In theory, Sweden should win easily.
Team Canada has other plans. Although Joemeister struggled to control Mercy and xQc was the only tank on the team, Canada still beat Sweden after losing 2 maps in a row. This forces Sweden to compete for 3rd place with France and Canada will reach the final to meet South Korea.
If there’s a gap that needs to be filled, it’s the tanker position on the Canadian team. xQc can stand alone against a 3 DPS setup, but it won’t be easy against a Korean smack. They used the ‘dive’ tactic before it was considered a ‘meta’. Mangachu must be good at D.Va if they want to succeed. However, their opponent Zunba had one of the best offtanks.
Map Hanamura has clearly demonstrated Canada’s resilience and adaptability. After trying the 3 DPS dive setup from the start, they changed to a 3 tank formation: Agilities played Roadhog, and Mangachu controlled D.Va. The ability to reduce damage and buffalo health helped them get far in the match, unfortunately still losing in the end.
Team Canada played on Junkertown and Numbani – the final map of the tournament. Mangachu scores by killing people with Torbjorn’s hammer. In the end, South Korea went home with a gold medal, but it wasn’t the massacre everyone thought it would be. xQc even won the fan-voted T-Mobile MVP, beating Widowmaker expert Fl0w3r. Despite losing, it was an eye-catching match to see a North American team appear in the final, especially when many people thought it would be a match between Sweden and Korea.
Source link: Win or lose, Overwatch World Cup is full of great stories
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