Esports News: In what came as little surprise to anyone, South Korea took home first place at this weekend’s Overwatch World Cup 2017, which was held at the Anaheim Convention Center during the annual BlizzCon extravaganza.
South Korea came in with high expectations, given their domination at the last Overwatch World Cup, where they failed to drop a single map all tournament long. And, even with a different roster, they once again came in as the overwhelming favourites in the betting.
South Korea and USA Clash Once More
In the first round, South Korea were paired with the United States, the same team they opened against last year. In arguably the best series of the entire tournament, South Korea immediately found themselves on the back foot, dropping the first map of Nepal 1-2 to the US. After rebounding on Eichenwalde (3-2), South Korea then tied Hanamura 4-4 to bring the series to an even 2-2 (a,s with a tie, each team is awarded a win).
One development that occurred in Hanamura was the emergence of Fl0w3r on Widowmaker, a hero rarely seen since the change to Mercy that allowed her to resurrect an ally on a 30-second cooldown, which removes many pick-orientated heroes. The next map of Watchpoint: Gibraltar saw Fl0w3r continue his dominance on Widowmaker, continually opening up the map for the rest of his squad and granting his side to 3-2 victory as the US were unable to move the payload to the final area. Building on their momentum, South Korea then swept the US 2-0 on Oasis for the overall 4-2 – which will have been a little too close for comfort for the defending champs.
French Put Up Resistance in Semifinals
The semifinal saw South Korea face off France, beginning on Oasis. France came within inches of stealing away Oasis, but a last-second D.Va ultimate from South Korea’s zunba killed two players, giving the rest of South Korea enough time to stall out and eventually claim the point, giving them the first map victory.
The second map was Numbani, where each team pushed the payload to the end, meaning overtime was then in effect. With such little time remaining, France decided to employ an odd strategy based on using Bastion – a hero known for his defensive capabilities – on offense in order to catch their opponents off-guard. However, South Korea quickly and expertly adapted, preventing France from claiming the point.
After switching to the offensive side themselves, South Korea dominated the opening point, giving them the 4-3 win. While France were able to full-hold and claim victory on Hanamura, South Korea responded with a win on Watchpoint: Gibraltar to push themselves into the finals against Canada.
Plucky Canadians Await
Once again opening play on Oasis, South Korea continued their dominance on that map, achieving victory in 2-1 fashion, including not losing a single percentage point while on the third segment. Following Oasis was King’s Row, where Canada utilized a three-DPS composition with limited success, only capturing the first point before stalling out while moving the payload.
South Korea’s offensive strategy utilized the Pharah-Mercy combination, something typically used on king of the hill maps, rather than hybrids such as King’s Row. Howeve, South Korea showed what power this composition holds, quickly eliminating both Surefour’s Tracer and Joemeister’s Mercy, who had flown into a dangerous area in order to revive Surefour. Fl0w3r continued his impressive display on Pharah, removing both Mangachu and Joemeister and completely opening the second area up for his team, giving South Korea the swift victory.
Map three was a back-and-forth battle on Hanamura, where South Korea finally achieved victory in double overtime. Fl0w3r on Widowmaker, Saebyeolbe on Tracer (63 kills and only 9 deaths), and ryujehong on Zenyatta all had their share of the glory, as each of them had highlight plays that allowed South Korea to earn the 3-0 map advantage. Canada finally found a victory on the newest map to the pool, Junkertown, in a closely fought 3-2.
The final map of Numbani was an incredibly interesting matchup, as Canada utilized an attack-Torbjorn – something almost never seen before in competitive play – to great effect while forcing overtime. While Canada did find success to start overtime, capturing the first point, their offense sputtered out from there, barely moving the payload at all before time was up. After quickly capturing the initial point, South Korea pushed the payload just the few metres required to be crowned champions of the Overwatch World Cup 2017.
While every member of the team performed strongly, superstar Fl0w3r put on an absolutely stunning display. With incredible showings on a variety of heroes, Fl0w3r clearly walked away as the MVP of the Overwatch World Cup 2017.
