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Nintendo switch to Nvidia GeForce RTX game changer.
watch a world cup finals coming to you live from beautiful sunny anaheim
california we're a blizzcon
backward all started i'm zoe and i'm joined by my good friends not colleagues
not co-workers they're my actual besties it has Matt and Danny with me on the
day that one that's a little star by johnny
little star by johnny but yeah we're still have to be back we had a
fantastic first day of action matt have we ever had this
combo before I don't think so. No, no, it may be the last time. Yeah, it might be a little
much better. The only way we were getting silly out of bed this early is if it was all of us together.
Yeah, we promised to entertain her this morning. I'm literally the first one up every morning,
so I'm not talking about that's crazy. No, we have a lot of great matches coming our way,
a lot of great performances on stage as well. Of course, more panels and whatnot,
it's blissful. There's just so much going on. The crowd is still just filling in,
So we're going to get things started a little slower,
a little more quiet here, but we have a lot of things to discuss.
Yeah, I mean, the coffee line is long, right?
So we're going to land by less than a half of the mosey on in here.
You know, get it kind of started because we have some sick games today, right?
We do, yeah.
And first though, I want to kind of revisit yesterday and what happened.
It was a day of domination.
We saw a lot of very, well, dominant and one-sided performances.
And the energy was up in this room.
Let's talk a little bit about the matches
and which teams really stood out to us.
Ash, what comes to mind first?
Dude, when it comes down to that first match between KSA and Spain,
that's the one that I kind of think back to.
Seeing Spain get so excited after winning out on Route 66
with a, what, three-minute hold, right a couple meters left from Captain Gnat Point,
that was just insane to me.
They showed that KSA were able to bleed.
Yeah, and of course we all predict that Sweden to take this from...
I don't know what you're talking about Matt, I don't know, well obviously Sweden came to play, that was extremely dominant, so did France, they came with the same kind of energy that we saw them rock up with in Busan, and then of course the dominant finish to our day.
It was South Korea. Yeah, completely dismantling Team USA, Danny.
Like, I was very surprised. Like, we all thought, you know, I'm sorry, I want to apologize to everybody.
I bought into the scrim box, but it wasn't true. Guys, never buy into the scrim box.
On top of that, I feel like South Korea, they were ready. They were on fire and like, they
just like locked it in. And that, I feel like this is the South Korean team that we all know
and love. And I was just so excited to see them. I don't know if you guys saw it.
There's a clip where I infected Joy one of the co-streams and he's like, do you wear on fire bro?
I think we're gonna free you
That clip does not look awesome right now
Those age particularly well
Man, I do love how they shook up though because now we get that rematch from Korea and France
It was France that took them down in Busan
So Korea wants their events so badly here as they definitely do and with their performance yesterday
You are expecting them to be bringing that heat into today here as well
I do not think that we are gonna see a Korea that's gonna slow the rule
They're gonna continue to amp their way up and get into that grand final
Yeah, I mean we've seen this before right where you know South Korea will lose to a team and then they kind of see them yet again
They're gonna be out to try and embarrass France today like they're not gonna try and just beat them
They're gonna try and like you know really just clown them
So I'm worried about France because when Korea is
Yeah, when they're in that type of mindset, they're really difficult to beat
Well at the same time like France looked really good
They look really solid and and they you could tell that they're like oozing confidence, right?
Even on stage when I was talking with Cronus, we're like, yeah, no, we got we got it
Like we got in the back doesn't really matter with if it's gonna be USA or Korea that we're facing like we're ready for them
That's the thing right like you beat them once. Yeah, and they're not very long ago either. So like surely can just do it again
Okay, wait hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on. Just do the same thing again right?
I just remembered. Okay I see what's happening. All right. Do you see what's happening? We're
getting a little early into our predictions here Danny. Okay come on overall. We're just
pre-baiting predictions. Actually let's take a look. I actually want to talk a little
bit about the hero bands we had because obviously heading into this very event we talked
about the patch and how it might affect the hero bands and the performances of those individual
teams with demon having been so very dominant in Busan and also of course the jetpack cat
we now see Kirika at the very top of the leaderboard demon still considered a massive threat here as
well it hasn't changed that much really i mean uh even when kirie is banned like nerfed right
and then like i we're still seeing her played a lot of the time and then look jetpack cat just
kind of enables Demon and Cassidy to do a lot of things they wouldn't typically be able to.
Very similar meta to Busan, which I think is a little bit surprising, but I think the patch came
in so late that teams, they had scrimmed, they had gotten ready, they're not going to change up
everything. Yeah, I mean, it's why throw the entire playbook out of the window we saw yesterday,
right? Teams like Fron still heavily relying on that Demon look, and he works so well for them.
It does look so good for them. I mean, again, when we talked to Crocs, he was like,
this hero was made for me.
It's so good when it comes down to his play style
and it works so perfectly.
And I feel like it's not just that.
It's the fact that the backline is so good
at supporting him as well.
Well, I wish Zoe would have told Team USA
not to throw out the playbook.
I mean, they have Luca Mino who's like tremendous
on chip packet.
They didn't play it at all yesterday.
They were like, oh yeah, we have something else
figured out, obviously didn't work.
But yeah, I mean, France has been just kind of riding.
You know, really, I mean, Crocs on the D-Mon
is unbelievable, but like FD got on pass.
really kind of empowers that as well, which they're not changing the thing.
You know exactly how they're going to play today.
Yeah, I mean, again, if it's working, why change anything?
But I'm sure they came prepared, maybe have something else in the pocket as well.
And they have to bust it out today.
We're playing in a single elimination bracket.
First two, three is still the way to play.
So, you know, they got to bring their A game on every single map.
Now, we have a great day of action ahead of us starting with our
semifinal between KSA and SWEET and then afterwards we're gonna get that awaited
anticipated rematch between team France and South Korea and then it's gonna get
loud in here we have incredible performance on stage here at BlizzCon
from Yaw Sobi and for everyone at home you're unfortunately missing out on that
but don't you worry we've got a treat for you as well we're gonna have some
expanding Overwatch lore for you at home and I want everyone to stay in chat, participate,
stay in game and participate as well because you can cheer for your conference and get drops
on top of the drops you get for simply watching so.
Drops on top of drops?
Drops on top of drops.
Drops on drops.
Drops on drops.
Literally all of them.
All of them.
All the drops are dropping.
All the drops are dropping in this particular instance.
That was a great sentence, Danny.
Thank you Matt.
And you got to try to speak.
Can you believe that?
That's crazy.
But yeah, obviously we have the different conference skins here.
Matt, any favorites, any preferences?
I mean, I'm a sucker for every skin.
I'm kind of a, I'm kind of a, yeah.
You're just a cosmetic fan.
Yeah, they talk about those whales.
I mean, I'm out there, I'm buying them all.
So I do like the EMEA colorway though.
And I feel like I am one with the EMEA region at this point,
because I've casted it.
I now feel like we're different.
No, we don't.
We don't.
You're in America now, and that's okay, Matt.
Okay, that's fine. That's fine.
I love your confidence on that.
I'll say being an honorary Australian.
Oh, no, I know.
I'm shaking my hand.
Hey, don't say that like you didn't shake my hand
when I asked you to dab me up earlier.
For context, for context,
Dani wanted Matt Morello to dab him up
and Matt just gave him a really funny face
this afternoon.
I'm going to say,
I'm going to say,
I'm a really friendly business agent, nice to meet you.
They sealed the deal that day, it was beautiful to watch.
I want to circle back the coworkers and friends.
This is good, I like that full circle.
Guys, let's talk about,
are we considering players like coworkers?
Me kind of, right?
Yeah.
They're here frequently when we're working.
Okay, how distant coworkers,
that's what we're going to be chatting about right now.
Exactly.
Okay, we're getting a little parasol
Those cousins that are not invited to the wedding, we're going to be chatting about them.
Let's talk about this first match.
Sweden came in hot yesterday. Honestly, they looked flawless. It didn't skip a beat.
We may have underestimated them a little bit here, Ash.
And I don't know why, because we talk all year long about just how people like Kevster are completely taking over servers,
are on the top of their game. Why didn't we believe in Sweden?
I don't think it was so much that we didn't believe in Sweden as much as how good journey have looked how well they've grown together as a team
Being very much so led by ice nom who was unfortunately taken out by his teammate in cancer yesterday who has been completely lights out
It feels like episode has not slowed down whatsoever. He's been absolutely incredible
I mean this team is like really I feel like you know we look at some of the the teams obviously left
I feel like they're a little bit of the underdog, right?
But they should be like, I think they have a real chance to be KSA.
I mean, it's going to be a very difficult game, but I they've been really impressed
with Sweden from online to the groups.
And then now here at BlizzCon.
It might be because like it's a team where people are quietly really, really good.
Not Kessler. Kessler is loudly very, very good.
But the rest of it kind of goes under the radar.
We talked about the backline a little bit with Skyline and Abner yesterday.
Like they're really, really incredible.
But we don't really talk about them that much.
Well, it's just in dancing on stage like rocks, right?
So like, yeah, it's a it's a team that's like all business, right?
They just kind of show up, they scream, they do their thing and they come out and
have great performances.
I think Admiral's a great shot.
I mean, yeah, been a really strong player for a while now.
Kevser really gets a lot of the love on this team and like deservingly so,
but a lot of really talented players top to bottom.
Absolutely.
Now, of course, when we're talking all business, we have to talk about
KSA, KSA, they're grinders, okay?
Like they do not ease up.
They're not playing around.
They came here to lift that trophy once again, Danny.
Yeah, I mean, like we talked about yesterday,
they are still the superstars, right?
And also, yeah, they were the champions in 2023,
but we're looking at course, he is,
I do agree with what everyone said like that.
I think he is the best sit scan we have.
That's a hot take, Danny.
That's a hot take, Danny.
That's a hot take, Danny.
That's a hot take.
Okay, guys, get him.
That was Matt Morello.
It was getting.
It's not the best sit scan that we have
in the overall world cup.
Of course, it is.
And on top of that,
They're just all superstars and they have that synergy, right?
Yesterday against Bankster, they lost the map against it,
but I feel like that's probably more so
because it was like their first match going in
and also they were probably tweaking stuff.
And I do believe that this is still a very strong team.
Quartz has been the best since game for two years now,
maybe even more.
The one thing that I would be slightly worried about
if I was KSA is like,
we haven't seen them play Demon like at all.
They just kind of like,
okay, well, if you just keep Quartz alive,
we're going to win, which is like a pretty good strategy.
I mean, they won World Finals basically doing that.
But with how teams are playing the demon so aggressively,
like the one thing about KSE is their backline
and it's like really kind of untested, I would say.
Like we've seen them obviously play at a really high level,
but like not in the OWCS,
not playing like, you know, competitively,
like really that often,
how can they hold up against the aggression
of a team like Sweden?
Yeah, I mean, so far they've not really
super been pushed at their say, right?
I mean, they did lose them up against Spain.
We expected to see a bit of a cleaner performance,
So maybe, maybe there is an in here for Sweden, but KSA should still be considered the favorite.
Let's look at our predictions here, Dani.
Khabibi all the way.
There's still a little cortisol.
TVNT is laid back and watching us, and I am fully channeling his energy.
I'm going for, I forgot what I put, honestly.
I think it was 3-1.
I'm giving that one map for Kevster, because he said, he was like, he was like, hey,
like when I interviewed him yesterday, he was like, hey, like, you know, they
looked a bit shaky.
I think it's going to be a good match.
I am giving that one map four Kevster, but I think ultimately it's going to be KSA winning the match.
Yeah, I went 3-1 KSA as well. I could see this being a game five though. I could see this series really.
Oh no, I did go 3-2, okay, so I wasn't sure.
I was like, I knew I was either going to go 3-1 or 3-2, but 3-2 KSA, I think this goes all the way to the distance.
I think Sweden is that good.
They are really good so far, and unfortunately though, I don't think they're good enough to take the match.
I did also go for KSA with this one a three one for me. I'm with you, Danny. Let's go
All right, I think we're all aligned here
I also have to go with KSA for this one
It's just really hard to bet against them I too gave Sweden a map because I think Kessler is just one of those players
I can completely take over a server
I'm very very impressed with the synergy in that team even though they're just thrown together
And they don't have the pre-existing synergy felt like they were all on the same page
but KSA is also always on the same page. They work as a unit as much as we're
trying to find an in here for some critique. We'd like the backline being
untested. Overall they should be considered the favorite to win but we'd love
to be here and see Sweden prove us wrong. Now we get our opinion of who we
think is gonna come out on top. On day one we actually had an opportunity to
chat to all the teams and hear who they think are the teams to watch out for.
Who do you think is the one player that we should be watching this tournament outside of your team?
I'd say Kevstar and the rest of the U.S. players will play well.
Kevstar, because he's back on Flex DPS, I want to see how far he can take Sweden, especially in these big matches.
Kevstar?
Can Kevstar go?
I think Luke Mino can play good.
Like, he had a store performance against us, so I think he can shock like him, you know?
I don't know what's Luke and me, no?
Yeah, Luke is him.
Luke is him on Cat, especially.
We'll see how the cat changes.
Yeah, yeah, sure.
Maybe Lapta. These days he usually plays Sitskin, but this tournament, he's playing with Quartz, right?
So he's gonna play more of the flex DPS, but he's been really good on those as well, so maybe look for Lapta.
To me, I'm kind of interested in Lapta.
Now playing with Quartz, he's picking up like the Tracer and the Shion.
Lapta was an extremely mind, and I was always impressed how fast this guy could learn
learn new things like any high-pressure situation,
throw a new hero at him, throw a new job at him
and he would figure it out.
I think any of the tanks, like croaks, willys?
I would say willys.
This is really good.
He's been proving himself in OWS.
He came back up recently.
He's a really good player here to go very far.
I think it's hard to not say quarts.
Everyone already has their eyes on quarts.
It's going to be quarts again.
All the quarts, I mean, he always plays good,
or maybe like three, I think,
can do an insane performance again.
I don't want to be basic. I said it before, but I think 3 is the best.
I think 3 is the best in the U.S.
I think it's good to have a lot of physicality.
And there you have it. Any thoughts, any add-ons to this one, Matt?
Yeah, I mean, a lot of the players like interested this E-Tree.
I thought it was funny that they mentioned, like, wukumino on the cat,
and I mentioned we didn't see that at all yesterday, which I know a lot of people were sad about.
But a lot of love for Korps know in there, because, I mean, he's been, really,
whether it's like, Sojourn, Cassidy, any of the hitscans, he's just been so good.
Who would you put on that list, Ash?
Ooh.
Of the teams that are still in there.
You get that caveat. The teams didn't have that yesterday, right?
Of the teams that are still in here.
Jimbin, Jimbin, South Korea.
Good chat, good chat.
I like Xerion played really good yesterday as well.
Like if Kiri is in the mix, I think Xerion. Xerion's a pretty good player.
I got it. I want to say, I want to say...
I'm going to go with Stalker first one.
I was about to say Stalker all the way.
So flexible, he got it all.
The good call because we love to be right over here on the pitch.
That's very good.
I haven't been doing great with the predictions.
We're peaking today already. We haven't even started the match.
So you know what? Let's do that. How about it?
We have our first semi-final coming year away.
So stick around as we're about to get these players on the stage.
You
you
you
you
you
you
time Sweden grace that podium Johnny in third place 2017 and standing across from them team
Saudi Arabia just three years ago 2023 held back trophy high and they're looking to do
anything to defend it.
This grand finals day here at Biscondt Overwatch World Cup 2026, but before we get there we
have to take part of the semifinals and Sweden for them.
It's been a long time coming here now.
Like you said, 2017 was the last time.
I believe they beat up France in the third place match that time around and of course
now they get the opportunity to face off against Saudi Arabia.
I'm not trying to be a bad influence.
Oh, wow, you look not 13. You look like you're seven.
Are you seven? Are you seven years old?
Oh my God, I'm a genius!
Seven years old, yeah, I can't- Oh my God, hi! How old are you?
What did he say? Eleven? Yeah, we're not cursing.
Okay, we're not cursing. We're just gonna have fun.
fun. So really appreciate all of your patience guys. As a thank you for your
patience we're gonna be giving away some some lovely items. I was practicing my
throwing arm but um yeah we're not throwing these. So we have... oh shit this is heavy.
Oh, poopy, this is heavy.
Poopy.
It is signed by...
Oh!
Bro, oh my god, I am so sorry, guys.
This is unscripted.
I am just that clumsy.
It is signed what looks like by all the developers.
Okay, so this is a really hot item and I feel like I'm about to have a lot of people
despise me because there's only four of these and there's a lot more of you.
How do we do this?
How do we do this?
Okay, okay, okay.
I think what I'm going to do is to make it fair since there's only two of these big
bad boys and then two of the small cute little ones. I'm going to pick one person from each
section and then we're going to do rock paper scissors. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
One person from this section. Oh, how can I not? Thank you. Come up here, come up here,
come up here. Hi, what's your name? Nate. Yes. Awesome. Thank you very much. So we
We have Nate, who wants to face Nate?
Okay, just to be fair,
I'm gonna go backwards a little bit.
I'm so sorry guys, I'm so sorry, I'll come back.
Oh, shit, this is really hard, this is really hard.
Oh, I cursed again.
What's your name, sir?
Will.
Will?
Nice to meet you.
All right, Will, you are going to be facing Nate in a...
This is not being streamed.
This is being streamed.
I've been cursing.
Oh my, Lord, it's okay.
This might be my last time hosting.
That's all good.
Nate and Will, we're gonna do a Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Now, before we start, let's cement the rules.
We're gonna go Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot, okay?
And will you, Colton, how much time do we have?
My freaking in-ears not in.
Surprise.
Little Ana action on this match.
Serma Shed only even playing the Kyroko pretty much
as for the time being, but with those Suzu nerves,
Ana is definitely gonna be a little bit more pronounced
in these fights.
Yeah, definitely gonna look out for those
biotic grenades now, could have massive impact
all the way to this burst here, socks, quads.
Yes, Tenzo.
Well, that ended up winning the duel versus Kevster.
Both of them kind of backing off now, and this is something we saw Sweden do the other day too.
Admiral Kevster on the flank, but Kevster ends up going way too high up.
But Wilderman on his face there, he ends up going down first.
Yeah, the knockback, just put him in a pretty awkward position,
and that's going to be the disengage from Sweden.
Four versus five, you don't want to take this engagement at all.
You want to wait for Kevster to wrap around that flank,
look to combine on that. Sweden as well they have to be aware here of course playing this fast in
the third form is so lethal that is definitely a cool down you want to play around. Okay round two
Kevster, Admiral trying to do the same thing again with Skyle doing the majority of the healing.
A good Atlantic but Kevster already dead again. Nano boosts on to Willis but it's a hard task
here to open this up but that might just do it. Got Bastion down a triple for Willis. Okay
Hey, Sweden are online!
It's very decisive engage from Sauria Arabia
and they get rid of Kevster, but that just leaves so much room for Willys to operate in the frontline
and Demon is a very capable hero in this meta.
Sauria Arabia already looking out for Kevster, looking to take him down the star player early.
It's on the flank angle alone, Abra not with him right now.
Just Quartz looking for a cheeky nade bounce.
Doesn't it? We're actually getting a hit marker.
Oop, he's abused Njall, a little nade to Skyle, should be fine.
They're gonna back off, but KSA have granted themselves some space, even more so now with the rush.
A good sleep, but when is this ejected from the mech really early on into the fight?
And still, the large mass of Ziad in the frontline means Swin cannot approach the backline of KSA,
giving them a free fight win here and the cap.
Yes, we don't really look to combine that with the cap from Admiral,
But the Unbreakable, the Unstoppable from Ziyad as he overran into the front lines there.
Neesha, Sorya, Arabia, who's get away with a pretty clean engagement.
Cage fight for Ziyad 2 and Sox has got Catnap.
So this corridor of death now.
It's not what he's just trying to approach.
It's gonna be rather nasty and there it is. Cage goes down in the mech history.
Although Sorrow instead of getting nanotip, straight pops the old submission.
and Sorrow takes over the game completely.
KS not really sure what they wanted to do in that fight.
They ended up using the case but not expecting the tag team ult with the nano.
Quartz has managed to do a little bit of damage and KS they still control the point.
Abruz gonna sweep in trying to get that last bit of percent and Sok sends us going down.
The supportive backbone of Sweden capping the point.
I'm gonna be honest, Joss, I don't even know if that Nono onto Zorah was intentional.
It looked like maybe Skala was trying to get it onto Willis there as the cage fight from Sia came out,
but it worked out, Zorah, with that extra damage amplification, just devastation with the Oberite protocol.
So, I'm going to do the Freya here now, so look out for those bolts there to capitalize and secure a couple of kills.
Alright, I'm gonna do the same thing again.
Just use this artillery garage, try and pick off Skyl.
I sell Teva onto the Ana, saves her life.
Bites Brolin, now comes the Spree.
Zorro hit from downtown with that bite.
In the NCR, it's an easy pickings for the Malga.
Even in this close range.
Sweden needs to get a clean engagement here now.
82% force out of Arabia.
Sermadius is going to have this get sooner on.
Sweden need to find a win condition.
No, so I'm just going to want to rid this early.
Looks like Sweden are going to try a different approach.
But Kev's friends are going down early.
Okay, it's a 4v5 with this last fight.
The Russians are coming through, and now Sweden have to make a decision.
They've got to get in.
Admiral with the catnap on the point to trigger.
OT doesn't manage to finish off Zox, but it's going to be a trade.
Another sleep as well.
It's going to hit the front line, but Sweden cannot capitalize on it.
Admiral got the touch.
He got the pick on to Zox, but it's not enough.
First round to KSA.
KSA, they got some of the best vibes here at the Abortion World Cup, all smiles laughter
after that opening round.
Gotta say this approach from Saudi Arabia, cannot favor them there on Sanctum, you can
play aggressive with the Mauga and combine with the Church as well.
We didn't build less room to operate here on Sanctum, with this Ana doesn't have
the same line of sight and when you do commit forward, means you have to usually
see Ana going to be enraged as we take a look at the Zoro here.
tons of damage here. It's just a nasty amount of damage with the nano of the
acerbite protocol. That splash is crazy and even hits the direct on the cat too.
Real nice stuff. It's difficult to catch a cat there in the sky.
Yeah, it's just whoo-hoo spinning around. All right. Big wrapper on here from
Sweden once more. Forfeiting this high ground, they want to take a slow
approach here. Work the flank angles and see if they can find an opportunity.
getting opening pig. Will is under pressure. Yeah Admiral's playing on the
periphery too. It's Skyle this time. It's gonna team up with Kevster on another
angle. Much better for the honor in this spot obviously. Got the headshot perk too
for the additional damage. Real nice scuff. Now Zoro. This is the point
where Sweden can take over the game with these bolts. And this is one of the
big reasons to play the Freya against the Katbash and Komp Johnny. It's
It's very easy to land those take-aims. They do trade. Skyle down.
Yeah, it doesn't look like Sweden has had the cleanest fight there. They're going to cap the point, but...
I've heard a story, Radio. I've heard a good opportunity here to get back into things.
Seattle is slow.
Enter Poppen.
Someone's keeping alive there.
Kade Akkova drive in play. Still though, he ends up going to the back.
Despite him being, what, sub-100 HP?
Seattle is one.
He is dead, sure. A teleport from Sturmyshed.
Yeah, this fight is not exactly going the way of Sweden, it's a spite to see that going down.
And it feels like Sweden had everything going for them, they got the appropriate flank angles,
they invited their time, they just couldn't get enough value, Soro couldn't, they needed the
Vols, Kester couldn't land those eliminations, so it was a pretty good setup from Sweden,
just not able to capitalize on it.
Okay, so they're gonna give them the space,
just put on much respect here, they're saying they're just popping the rush,
There's the wheels mode from quartz to
It's gonna be a hesitant push and even with the nano on willis. It's just too much damage
Good head shot from service yet crossed the point in this fight all but over now for sweden
Sorry we're looking mighty comfortable here. Oh
Oh, it's actually gonna pop. I'm just gonna do the same thing. It's a pile in the kitchen
And Kevster just knocked on the head with a pan
KSA
Kind of so shocked. I think that's we didn't invest it so much
So we don't have to find something here that works for them again like sky is having quite a difficult time finding
Cyclines here on this honor obviously Admiral will be really busy trying to help willis in the front lines on the demon
But also take care of the honor make sure it's there's not too much pressure on to the sports
to be Russia's by much merely a space creation tool and a time dead in a two
see of course can get an angle with this cat bastion although Admiral might be in
his sights again kind of separated from the rest of team now thanks to this
cage the agents of the cage ends up dying short so machete now in
struggle limit break is gonna be good but laughter and see it have already
come over kills it's up to Willis now in the front line to try and hold
down to the rest of the team. Another reach rig over overtime here as he dashes into the
front line but Lagga is not going to give him the opportunity to get the kill. He's
all on his loadsome now. Abra with the cat map's got nothing left in the tank either.
Barely going to get back to the point in time as KSA starts off with a map win.
They're feeling real good. Clean assed your life. No need to play the demon.
Mauga has proven to be kind of a good hero to actually deal with demons.
fights really well in that brawl and with Kevstar not able to maneuver the
tracer on the opening map. Sweden struggling to set up the fight, struggling
to combine and secure those picks instead. It looks like Saudi Arabia really
confident just playing the back and forth brawl with the Mauga, with the
turret form from the bastion and not feeling like they were under too much
pressure at all in that opening map.
Yeah maybe that was maybe coming down to the tracer band too from Saudi
I mean that was huge. That was a really important ban that was dealt here in the opening map and that's going to free up Kevster to play Tracer for the rest of the series, which will be a big boon here.
So sorry Arabia, they can be quite comfortable the fact they're up 1-0 already in this series. But because you dispersed that Tracer ban, it was almost like a must win map here.
I think if you're Sweden, you gotta be pretty calm still.
Just pick the stats are real fast. Yeah cats. I mean look at that only eight and six
I mean struggle straight across the board for Sweden that
So definitely what couldn't find their groove really I mean
It felt like they had a couple of good positional fights
But just like Willis in that final fight you have the limit break
But like what value are going to get with the limit break like Saudi Arabia is not going to present themselves in front of you with
That limit break in hand
And so they're going to fly their bastion around the yard is going to overrun all over the place and really make it difficult
for Sweden to get a couple things. It was really only that one fight where Willis got a 3k, but it was pretty clean for Sweden.
Yeah, I mean look at this fight too, the one in the previous clip.
Ziyad got slept on bridge and Willis is getting de-mech on the other side of the fight.
And the rest of Sweden cannot just run over Ziyad like
Run over the mahogany, the mahogany is gonna sit there basically stomp on your head or like, you know,
just turned and just gunned you down. Like it's a really tough spot for Willis to be here.
I spoke about how Kevser, April, the veterans on the team need to kind of push the team forward,
but if it's on Willis here to hold this down as you normally do as a tank player, Johnny,
you know all about that. It can be very tough when you're going up against a team that feels so
damn drilled and prepared for this, for this form of war. Yeah it's so difficult if your Willis
to pick kind of your timing to engage because Saudi Arabia, they're pretty cool down
reliant. Of course we talk about the Bastion, the turret form, how important that is because of
that extra damage Bastion is able to deal but also Mauga relies a lot on obviously the unsubble
ball when you use their overrun but also the cardiac overdrive helps so much with the sustain to
keep that Mauga alive and you can't just simply biotic grenade the Mauga because Sir Marjad
will always have that Susan hand ready to dispel that effect and so this Saudi Arabia team
they're really good at playing around both the turret form cooldown but also the cardiac
go drive from the mouth gap and it makes it real difficult for Sweden to find that opening like okay
When do we do a decisive engagement? We can set up positionally, but when do we actually commit to a hard engagement?
When is it favorable for us to go?
If you didn't take a peek on the screen already from under Sweden players, then
You know that that's now
Flashball, we're not seeing that as at all. I mean flashpoint's been a bit of a rare pick
Yeah, we barely seen any flashpoint
whatsoever so we're looking to grow things out here no tracer band this time
around this is it going to try to utilize yeah for sure going to utilize those
flank angles and this also means you can probably like protect them as well I
will you don't really have to protect them for the tracer of course but you
can protect band the demon as well get rid of a tank perhaps and you're
guaranteed to play both the demon and the tracer if you want to see how
cat reliant to feel hero atlas
I mean Phillip you're in the comms right now if you're team sweet and what you
try that I think you're pretty calm still as the Kiriko band gets deployed
all right it's going to be more of the the on approach here I think if you're
really calm if you're Sweden because you knew that the opening map was
used for Arabia they have the opening map picks they have the first hero
ban and they deployed that tracer ban. So if I'm Sweden, okay, I'm looking to win map 2 and 3.
I don't need to win the opening map. I don't need to get ahead early in this series.
If we can, we don't even have to win the tracer ban map. Like, we can win the later maps in this
series. We still got a really good chance. So I wouldn't feel too defeated if I'm
Swedenic once right now. Definitely not. I think Kempz has been through the tougher spots
as well. Even treaching back to, unfortunately. On the flip side of things.
Saudi, imagine, like you mentioned, smiles on each one of their faces, doesn't matter what the situation is it feels like, TVNT I'm sure, Max recline on the chair, in the backstage.
I've been talking a little bit about it in these tournaments as well, that it's so comfortable, if you have something that works for you as Saudi Arabia decides to get rid of the demon here, in fact, as the tank wasn't protect bad, it's so nice to just be like, okay we want the first map, we know our composition works,
Like, we know the Mauga and the Kiriko works, we have a recipe for success, we're not scrambling to find something that works for us, we're feeling pressured at all to make a certain composition works, because we know that we have what it takes already to take down Team Sweden here.
And so that aids, you know, their comfortable feeling, you can see they're laughing, they're having a good time on stage, they're not feeling the pressure of this semi-finals moment.
When we added Merlux to the game, huh?
Next hero?
Come on, it's gonna be...
I mean, there's the Murlocs back on Palamura, you remember that?
The Wildmarchor?
Oh, yeah, that's true.
The Murlocs.
So, I guess they're cannon.
They're cannon? Yeah, Murlocs are cannon in the Overwatch universe.
Of course, of course.
All right, Alice is the map pick from Sweden and Jönne.
They can play Kevster on the Tracer.
This is what I think people really wanted to see.
I think Kevster just farming on Tracer.
It was built in the Swedish lab, played Overwatch, I mean, played one hero except me well, against the very best that Overwatch has ever produced.
And I'm expecting big things from Kevsey, and I think the entirety of Sweden too.
I mentioned at the top, look, they have not had a podium finish since 2017.
Let's take a mathematician to say how many years that is.
There's been a lot of rosters, a lot of different players representing Sweden throughout the years, but this roster in specific
I just really found something in the 2026 Overwatch World Cup,
went the distance with USA in the group stage, just narrowly losing that one.
But coming into this tournament, don't take it from us, the teams themselves,
they talked about Sweden as a potential dark horse, they talked about Kevster
as one of the more mechanically skilled players in the entire tournament
that they fear to face, right?
And so Sweden, going down early in this series,
but they definitely have what it takes to make a comeback.
But this is where we need to see it, Charles.
This is their first map pick, this is their opportunity to play their style and their preference.
Now they really need to capitalize on this.
They're really putting a lot of eggs in that Tracer basket now with Sermajed on the Ana, but he's not exactly...
Not exactly unfamiliar with the hero. Let's just say that.
Pretty scary Ana player.
He's a veteran. Talking about veterans, the inexperience.
2023 Overwatch League. Florida mayhem. Sermajed has been there, done that.
TP out, Quartz on the cast.
Here we go, Zee Adam Willis on at the D.Va, no at D.Mon, first point.
But of course both cats still in the mix.
And the players of Highlight here, it's going to be Ciara actually.
Another young prodigy here for Saudi Arabia, one of the best D.Va players in the world.
See what they can get the job done here against Anona, and I'll get my cat backline for Sweden.
It's going to be tough. It's going to warm me up as well, for Zoro.
Against Quartz on the Cassidy.
All eyes on the tanks right now. What a mate though, from the sky. Hit three.
Zoro is going to get one thrown straight towards him, but luckily, swooping to the rescue comes after all,
but it's Kevster that goes down first again, but this time, at the hands of Quartz.
Quartz is not going to miss.
When Kevster does appear on that flank angle,
He's going to give him the toughest of times and so far Kevster just hasn't found it in
Then quartz can basically babysit surmeshed like sitting on top of your honor is gonna be
Number one priority here for course. Well, I guess number two if you think number one is just shooting in between
Boycaped by Kasek will this is gonna force Zad down to his level and now trying to trade places
Sermosh yet now in trouble. Matrix completely 2. No chance for a sleep-dub, but Quartz has found a double kill already.
Up to Willis again to be the spearhead of the team.
It's a 3 on 3. Quartz with a nice little headshot though, but now I still have this Matrix, but has the backup!
But there's no health on Willis! A self-destruct to get the re-back and Kepster gets 2 tapped!
Like, it doesn't matter how good you're on Tracer when you're facing a Cassidy like this.
Oh, Zoro narrowly escapes to this life, but this is KSA's point, surely, Kevser's dead.
I mean, that's the round.
They're going to touch.
Oh, that goes wide, they do get another chance of victory here on this first point, but Willis
is out of mech.
What do you involve?
They're committing here.
Involved here.
I mean, Skyle gets busy with the nano.
Zoro gets a desu, sure, but a high new kills Willis.
A good headshot, but from Zoro, but there's no touch.
missing out on the point there. What's the movement? Obviously! I mean Admiral eventually takes care of the demon that is Quartz.
Sir Machete in the 1v1 looking for something more but yeah you won that fight sure sweetie but you didn't win the point.
Can't feel good about those frags after you missed out stepping on to the point of
testing the objective there. Sweden they got a couple of things going for them in that fight but
It matters not. Sky Noon available here. Let's see what Zoro can get done with that.
But in this day and age, especially with the D1 in the field, the defense matrix,
I feel like teams are so good now at playing around with Sky Noon.
It would be difficult for Zoro to secure some value with it.
Yeah, so we look at Sky Noon. Where is it going to be placed? Looks like Zed.
Definitely a preferable target. High Noon for Zoro. Sky Noon, in fact.
No one in sight.
Willis, Sadamec, we're ready. A bit of damage. Where's the follow up?
No feeling just too damn good KSA's backbone living strong and that is going to be cap
I mean this is just a Saudi Arabia roster that there is one step ahead
You can see that Willis is combining pretty well with Cavs. They're the coordinating these dives
Sorrow is having impact on this Cassidy, but Saudi Arabia. They're just better. Siyad
tremendous diva player
Deployed the non over there from server jet in all that enhancement as we get so much value
Of course, it's just hitting headshots left and right this audio radio sir. Just looks unstoppable
Now time is ticking
Well, I mean the catnap can be quite devious on this point
We're just gonna try and set up on at the point now chase the add-on there comes the sky new
a spotted Willis for the time being but just kind of on the pedestal now on this
high ground that has got the spree too so Willis is met it's just history and KSA
they managed to sleep Kevster hits the recall but he's so damn low socks is
gonna go for the chase but it might not even matter the frontline is just
being demolished Sweden lose sorrow and now KSA in point-winning position
We're gonna try to go for one more touch here, the cadnap in phase, but Willis doesn't get the touch, nice be.
Oh, the skills are so damn good though, but can they follow up with kills and go for a retouch?
Willis can't overexert himself here and overextend to chase that cat.
Abraul on the other hand doesn't have going down, kept a shot in the back of the head.
Quartz puts him to rest.
The rest of Sweden are gonna follow on this point.
That's gonna be two. Up for KSA now as Quartz just keeps dancing on him.
We didn't really struggling to find any kind of momentum in this series so far
and this is where you need to take a moment if you're Sweden just reflect on
what's going wrong what is working for us what isn't working for us so far
Willis has been under so much pressure in this frontline has been setting up
with tepster sometimes in coordinated but feels like Willis is under so much
pressure early on loses the armor and in the middle of these fights Sweden
lose their tanker, they lose their mech.
Spiner, this is how you start things off on Watt, Watt is sleep as well.
Good Matrix, good sleep, nothing is going wrong for KSA right now.
We're gonna clean up this one as well. Get the opening cap.
2-0, clean as you like so far on Atlas.
And they're very much looking like hands-on favourites here at the Overwatch World Cup.
So we didn't do our course and everything who can step up big time we talked about Kevster as a star player
But hasn't come through so far. You can see some big moments for him now holds bomb in hand. No Kirigou on the field
What can he come up with?
Kevster needs to come alive with the straza
That to hold the execution the stake doesn't connect
It's still got recall so can't get busy. Unfortunately though Willis is taking a large part of the damage here
Kepster recalls the execution for Starmachet is down.
Self-destruct for Willis to try and find a remake and now Quartz in Kepster's sights.
Sky, although on the flip side of things, ends up falling.
And their trading here are Sweden, but not well enough.
Quartz is in the sky, hits the silver bullet on Zoro.
And this is Sweden going down.
More of a win put on a roll coming into this series.
One final stagger on to Willis.
Going to be a terrible spawner, 85%.
Kevster has to be the man to touch, playing a 4 vs 5 scenario.
What can we do?
Sky knew reports to...
Slept out of the sky, okay.
Kevster's on the point to get the touch.
A lifeline here as Quartz ends up going down.
Nano onto Zorro, but hot pursuit is the ad right now.
Looking for the mark.
Sermosh head falls and in fact, Kevster's still keeping this point alive.
A spree onto Avril is going to be good and there it is.
Lavder slays Kevster.
Willis on the hazard.
It's just not enough. Nothing is enough.
KSA finishing that one off with a 3-0.
I mean, that was brutal.
We talked about Saudi Arabia as the favourites going into that one, but...
Okay, a 3-0.
We're putting a lot of respect on Team Sweden.
The momentum they're coming in with, they dominated Germany yesterday.
They have one of the best damage players in the game in Kevser.
But they don't have any answer whatsoever
for what Saudi Arabia is bringing in this one.
Yeah, it just couldn't get it popping.
It looked like it was shut down at every kind of angle,
whether that's quartz, just two tapping him on the Cassidy,
Sermaz yet hitting the sleeve.
Even hitting a Bionade is normally good enough
to force the tracer to recall.
And then after doing a little bit of heavy lifting there too,
holding the executions, just waiting for Kedzter
to kind of peek his head around,
basically buying time for Ziad to run over their front line.
I mean, Seagod 17 and one of them.
Even Zog's 12 and one too, I mean.
Both of them only coming up with two deaths.
But this is what I talked about this on the death yesterday,
Jaws.
It's like, yes, Sweden, they were
able to deploy this playstyle up there,
so really combine it with Kevster and Willys.
And we saw that from Kevster's POV a couple of times
on this map, where you're waiting at the wings,
you're trying to set up this dive, right?
But then you jump in there and saw the radio.
They're so ready for it.
Willys already have health on the mech.
Once you get in there, really combine with Kevster, and it feels like Saudi Arabia, they just have a read on this playstyle of Sweden.
And at this point you're thinking, you gotta try to change something up here if you are Sweden.
Where are we allocating our resources? Who are we trying to dive right on top of?
Because Kevster is not finding the value, trying to look for these picks in the back line.
Maybe you want to pay a little bit more attention to Seat in the front line.
Maybe see what you can do against Quartz, obviously.
I mean on the flip side of things like it's weird and you can pray new to fight
now they want at least that podium finish on me they want to release hell
yeah at least get that third place and our cosplay sick we got some good ones
this year goddamn I saw I'm not I saw some world of warcraft cosplayers yesterday
Yeah, you know, you can sit like markers. They're like moons and crosses. Yeah, and they have those so they walked around
Post plays always so good at was one of the reasons to come honestly
Yeah, very happy across the board here
Sweden now kind of tempting to lock in oh looks like it's gonna be root. Thank you for the
It's a great way to get a
brief cheat there.
That's a very fluid motion.
It's a great way.
Here in the robot of the clubs for sure.
Alright, Bruce 66 picked Sweden.
It's been kind of the go to
between Junkertown and Australian
Shambhali Monastery.
Yeah, it's really been a really good map
If you're Ana, you have the long range sight lines.
A lot of great verticality, big skybox,
if you did the fact cat as well.
Yeah.
It allows you to sit back.
You can protect your supports quite a bit.
And Sweden obviously feeling comfortable
picking this map now.
Also, you get to avoid Junkertown potentially,
which is a map that, sorry,
maybe looks really good on.
Especially with Sermajed, who's really flexible.
We saw what he was capable of on the Ana
just now on Atlas.
But this is a team Sweden team that is now backs against the wall not only down 0-2 in
the series they need to find a little something special to try and get back into this series.
What will the answer be?
I felt like Saudi Arabia as well probably went back looked over the VOD of that route
against Spain.
I was a 3-1 series. No one was really expecting me.
Spain really had a lot of gumption, a little spark.
They showed up in a big way.
And yeah, okay, all right.
It's just gonna happen at some point, man.
Come on, that's the end.
Yeah, we're gonna make it out.
That leaves them open to play.
So, even if it wants to match Zola and the Freyja,
we'll be mad to see that either, to be honest with you.
But there's no other hits down to.
We bastion to, but there's no other hits down.
It is quite as efficient as casted at shutting down tracer and casters don't have a bit more room to roam here
On a band from so early on makes sense here. Obviously we talked about the sidelines that
You are available to take here on root 66 so
Anna makes sense. You're probably going to be more careful play because of that. Oh
Senyatta, we saw some Senyatta gameplay yesterday. We did the guard symbol Korea
They just came out with like a senyatta with a micro decider
What are they cooking?
What is moon cooking?
What are they cooking?
I loved it, man. It was great.
So, look, simple, like hovering on the Sanjara, like twisted mines, like...
Dude, funny, Astro has been saying for a hot minute that simple is the best like simple.
He's a steam ale, he's a sleeper, still.
He won the World Finals.
Look, he's saying he's the best zen in the world as well.
Yeah.
He's already got it, he's got it.
Astro is probably speaking the truth.
2-0 for Saudi Arabia here. Sweden in an extremely tough spot. Requiring a reverse sweep. Hoping praying maybe just to get back in the series.
Kevser has looking a little mute and the rest of the Swedish team not like them on another page to each other just feels like Saudi Arabia have kind of the ideas of how they want to topple Sweden.
Now, not playing Sweden's game, they're playing their own game.
They have played with the catcom for so long, so much they can play.
Ana, Kiri, don't matter.
And we know QWT is just the consistent hitscan pressure that you need in this kind of meta.
You need to just pick cast it.
You need to be just hitting shots over and over and over and over again, just protecting
your backline.
Making sure Zox has a more free time, Ziad has a free time.
We know how consistent that would be too.
It's just so impressive the variety we're seeing from Saudi Arabia.
They're so fluid in their hero picks, the way they play the game in meanwhile Sweden.
I mentioned of course very fortunate to come into this tournament, the Overwatch World Cup,
being really proficient at playing the demon, playing the jetpack cat approach, but Saudi
Arabia now playing the spoiler, showcasing that they know how to deal with that playstyle
and how are Sweden going to respond.
Will they pick here in these dire moments?
Okay, here we go
Traces are not this is a comfort compared to sweet
It is indeed and especially with that cast to be gone now forced out of your radio
Well, you have some more opportunity to play that tracer that being said though like who do you really harass here?
If you're a kevster like yeah, you can force out the teleport as usual from sir
my dead, towards going to be pretty unreachable here. Maybe a bit more of a
stable duel against Labda, but Kevster's path here is going to be quite difficult to fill.
I mean following up on the bolts is nice. Labda taking a little damage, little bike, little dash,
all good, Kevster's all of a weak one already. Yeah. It's safe. You can kind of just get back
to the point, no problem. Skars right behind him, same with Avril. Looking for Zoro to
to land a take-in shot and then Kevser moved on forward.
Looks like that's going to happen now.
Quartz is actually alone in this high ground.
Offal Longnows, Oxy's going to join him.
But there's the kill on to Kevser this time.
And the hands are submerged yet.
And Swede is probably feeling like their hand
is forced a little bit.
Feeling like once they're hovering around that payload,
their health is being drained.
The resources quickly fading.
And they have to go for that commit.
So Kevser blinks into the background of Saudi Arabia.
There will be a quick to follow on the Diva as well.
But Zoro can't find a pickster across the line of sight and Sweden just feels like they're having a force of a bit.
Mines a picker onto the court, out of the capitalized on this.
Hello, Headshot from Skyle.
Good quartz guys.
I mean that is very unusual having the Bastion guy that early and look at that.
Hey, say you backing out.
I bet it's a pretty damn good mindset there.
We know we lose the Bastion back all the way up.
We've got another chance to go in.
The Cat could just fling the Bastion back into the frontline.
And Sweden can't get this Cat for free.
Keep Suzuruachu Sermajedo. They have to be aware of the turrets form from Portsir still.
Okay, Quartz has already used the tariff form, so now maybe waiting on the rush.
Well, they're gonna pop it on this high ground. Take it one for free, although,
Sweden jumping under big girls now. There's the catnap, but the Suzuruachu is good.
Sovishad doesn't have it going down, though, with Sox managing to pick up Zoro with the catnap.
But it's all after in the kill feed here.
They're gonna let this point go for a little bit longer, but it's only Willis left alive.
And with a minute and 30 left Johnny,
Dire Straits is waiting.
What a great spree that is by Labda.
Doesn't commit to it too early once Sweden still has their matrix,
they still have their Susu in hand.
Instead, wait for the fight to go on a little bit,
and then all that damage from the spree,
Labda capitalizes, finds the picks necessary,
and now Sweden, just 80 seconds remaining here,
backs against the wall, down 0-2 in this series.
They need to come out good.
I like this swap up as well from Skyle. A lot more frontward damage and the window can clear out this high ground relatively easily.
There's the artillery barrage but...
I don't mind too much here. Now Willis is on an off angle.
Spots Labster hops on the bike. Skyle Labster end up training but you are now only down to Abra with the heals.
They are going to be pushing the point here but a quick re-contest comes in. Quartz deadfoam.
So a three on four on the point and Kevster finally comes alive wins the one-to-one duel
And here is Sweden making a statement not going down
Not at least not yet
Trading out the damage bears off. Sorry Arabia. They're going to take that
Any day of the week skyline over onto this batista with received a couple of buffs here in the midseason patch
No, it's just a few days ago
But it's desperation for Sweden now, as they look for something that can work their way.
What's on the M-Ray? Okay, an easy defensive push here for KS-8 to get themselves out of the cave.
Uh-oh, well, over-right protocol gets popped here from Zoro. No nano-Busalli, they're trying to back him up.
A lot of those shots just getting eaten straight up by Ziad. Good tracking, but Sermosh head actually is the first to fall.
First of all, once again, they're left without this Kiriko healing.
On to Zox to try and sustain for the rest of the fights.
And Kevster, again, is in the kill feed.
A two-minute time bank left for Sweden,
but Kevster's still with a chance to defend on second.
It's a really good override protocol from Sorrow, because at that point,
Saudi Arabia, they find themselves in the middle of the battle field in Seattle.
They can't utilize the matrix to block the damage,
and they find themselves going down to extra damage now.
We've got kids watching the hand here, Admiral, looks for an early cap now.
He's going to get one as well, of course, he's been taken out.
No chance to come back here, Skyle, is he going to be able to get lifted up?
Yeah! The save from Admiral!
Okay, Admiral does end up falling short, but they've saved the back.
Zox now harassing the Baptists, ends up picking up the kill, but the payload is still moving.
Not sure Zox is going to get there in time, but Ziad is going to challenge Kevser on the point.
a good eat from the diva to his court stories back into this fight I think
that's the third close one from cancer so far this game and no value secured
see out on top of things with the matrix once more here minute remaining for
Sweden now as you look to get it set up once or no real open it's available
either need to find an opening somehow here but so difficult in a position like
this
Just there, payload is so damn close as well, Kev's there. Every opportunity, trying to just touch the point, but ends up losing his life.
And now with only one attack remaining here, 45 seconds left in the bank, no more casualties could be afforded.
And it's already a difficult composition to approach with. Skylogsly on this, but Thise is going to be the number one target for Siad to get in there with the D-Buck towards now.
Past this overwrite protocol as well, set up comfortably on the high ground.
It's going to be a heroic effort here from Sweden.
If they're to find an advantage, you're just up for a fight.
Double GPS O as well for KSA is so damn scary. Quartz is going to open this one up.
Oh, long range shot straight over to gas station, and Zoro gets sniped instantly.
Despite the lab being thrown out too, Skargo goes dangerously low in Seattle, acting like a big tracer.
And that's another one down.
Quartz on the high ground, just sniping.
It's just so damn easy for him.
It's only a couple of seconds to go.
There will be an overtime touch here.
So an override protocol just sent to the wind.
And Sweden, no chance to get this second checkpoint, KSA.
A very familiar spot for them to be on a Route 66,
but they're bringing a brand new beast to this series.
It's only really a couple of errors there for Saudi Arabia on that defense first, of course,
getting picked on the opening point, allowing Sweden to secure that opening capture.
But from there on out, Saudi Arabia still so solid, Seattle doing so much work in the
front lines as Diva providing all the room necessary for Kvars to shine.
But still if you're Sweden, you've got to take this.
going to be no easy points at the Overwatch World Cup. Probably not feeling
comfortable at all here having to defend this second point now to stay alive in
this tournament. Just take a look at this save here from Admiral. But you've got to
find a way to win these kind of maps if you want to become the Overwatch
World Cup Champion. That is so really helpful now that it does auto-tether
when you're over a death plane. It's still a really nice save from Admiral.
Pick up the cat players out there that are keeping that in mind.
No Tracer hit for Kevser and actually was on the sick.
Very standardised defense.
Up to Oshastan. I mean look.
I think with how KSA looked to play,
she was just going to be forcing Willis to use that grass,
push him off the high ground and then take control from there.
probably gonna be the game plan as soon as they clear out this forward hold
it's going to be a real difficult defense for Sweden here one one extra good
thing I suppose about dealing out this casted ban here is you don't have to
be worried about the sky to kind of round this opening corner see a little
bit hope back and forth see I'm actually going to go down here so make
your ultimate generation here for Sweden will it
I can't die. I far forward here.
Kinda looking for the opening contest of the payload to see if you can contest the payload multiple times, but will is...
Kalei goes down pretty early there. This is going to force Swedish to withdraw as soon as Saudi Arabia get back to the fighter.
Yeah, they don't lose anybody else and that's the most important thing here.
Oh, okay. Oh, that's terrible news for Swedish.
for Sweden. All those locks ends up going down to actually not the worst spot to be in if you're
Sweden right now. You've lost Kevster Shor, but Zoro alive and well, healthy, kind of. And then
D-Mec on to Ziak, so slowly but surely. Sweet. They're grasping the hold of this game with their
two hands. They need a little bit more though. That's the spice of the Serial Raid. Willis
taking down, this is just going to be one last kind of contest here for Sweden. And Willis
Obviously going down just then would be really difficult to get back in time or so Saudi Arabia will be set up perfectly
With this bashing as well. It's going to be a difficult contest for Sweden at all
No, Kev's is gonna be there on Tracer so there's no problem
Loud the drops low. It's out shot. There's the cat now. They're gonna try and drag the bashing off the high ground now
The court says yes sir, no problem. I'll now shoot from down here, especially on this rush to
Kempster already found lab to go so a tough spot now for Quartz a lot more heavy lifting required here
But Kempster it gets another pick
This is what you need. This is what you need from your sword player. Two picks from Kempster
God Kempster!
From the back of the basket there as well and now running riot here against Saudi Arabia
Two minutes away from the time back of Saudi Arabia and Sweden stepping up to the plate now
Come at me 145 now
Now, the KS8 to attack this first point.
Kevs has got Pulse, Zoro's got the override protocol.
Getting the Pulse to make sure it's gonna be tough.
But it's doable.
Kevs is gonna go in again.
He's trying for somebody.
There's the override protocol from Zoro.
He's short on the eye there, slowly off court.
But Lacta, Enzwillis is like,
a good catnap from Zox.
He's gonna make sure that mech is history.
Kevster, both form, doesn't get a pick once more.
They're gonna get chased out now,
fight goes in, sent to the back,
Missouri gets a kill, onto Ziad.
They're gonna try and make their final stand here.
Lata is dangerously low, but so is Kevster.
Still measures to pick up the kill,
though, with two meters to go.
They're chasing down Quartz,
minute left in the time bank here.
Can they stay alive?
Compesting those payloads, everything they've got.
Kevster's gonna have to come up
with one more pick at least here.
They need to find something, they can't just keep him on the payload.
Kevster is trying his hardest here.
He's trying his hardest, Johnny.
The catnap comes in from Amru, doesn't find a single target.
Surely Ziad's matrix is going to run out at some point.
Skyline now down unfortunately, Kevster, with the post swap.
He's going to connect that one, but Quartz, he gets a double with the artillery barrage.
Go on! Even his nightmares crawl back under the covers.
As KSA, they're going to cap this first point with time left in the bank.
How does Saudi Arabia rally together, avoid getting picked in a scenario like that,
kept their running riot on the tracer, and still Sweden can't find that opening pick required
to really hold firm on that defense.
Now, 3 minutes 30, they need to hold here, but already getting picked they are.
That's an unbelievable catnap from Zora there too. Stunning a couple and now forcing a reset
while they get through the toughest point in point two. Like getting it past this giant
stretch taking this high ground control. Zora's going to swap over to the Bastion here. Looking
to mimic what Sauri Arabia has done so far but it's so difficult to get any kind of
position here. You want to poke away, see how the Willis doing a good job establishing
high ground there. It leaves Zora to get out on the Bastion and now you can
take the turret mode it's cooled up already down to low ground is when it's
though is the fashion is sent sky high that's got the artillery will be a rock
here from quartz it's Admiral Bites the dust same with Zorro slowly but
surely here Sweden are being pushed to their limits pushed ever closer to the
jaws of defeat KSA are just walking all over them the hero for Sweden the
The last man, the last touch here for Kevster has to come in.
He's gonna triple blink, but Avril shut down Kevster, 99% the postbomb.
But they are shut out KSA brick by brick building their empire as
they find themselves, yet again with a spot in the finals.
Well, a joyous moment for Saudi Arabia, the 2023 Overwatch World Cup champions once more
get the opportunity to defend their title in the grand final where they will face either
South Korea or France later today.
It was a dominant showing throughout.
They came in ready today.
They came in prepared for everything that Sweden had to throw at them.
Another star on the jersey is wanted by KSA.
Korea have three, they are slowly catching up.
Sweden going down here, doesn't mean they're out just yet.
However, this is a KSA squad that honestly Johnny looking no different from 2023, a dominant
showing a close grand finals to be said, but still as good as ever.
I mean the mechanics, their team play, their morale, like the way they're just playing
so confident, so happy, it's so very impressive and what a clean 3-0 for them.
You say team Sweden, they get another opportunity going down to the third place match where they again will face the loser of South Korea and France.
And you talked about going into this match nine years ago, 2017, it was them picking down France in that third place match.
So still an opportunity to fight for a medal, but this moment in Saudi Arabia.
3-0-2. I mean, Sweden. They've still got another opportunity here. But everybody in the bracket,
doesn't matter who you are, are going to be scared. A KSA, a 3-0 victory after only losing
a single map yesterday. I think they want to make a statement, Johnny. They want to
run this all the way to finals and maybe not even drop a map there. This is going
to be looking like one of the craziest Grand Finals in history, too. I think if Korea
make it if they can defeat France, of course, will be a heck of a storyline, too.
But congratulations to them and Sweden with a chance at that podium, Johnny.
Yeah, obviously, when Saudi Arabia won the 2023 edition, they then reversed with China
in the grand finals.
They didn't get the opportunity to face South Korea in that edition.
So given that South Korea, they're three-time champions, 2016, 2017, 2018, it would be
very glorious to start Arabia to repeat getting consecutive titles against an
opponent like South Korea, but might be France you never know. You never know. I
mean look if France could do it once they can do it again. I know the crowd's
been back in them a whole bunch as well. Speaking about vibes being high too.
The French team, have you seen a happier French person in my life?
That confidence is something else. Yeah I mean it's gonna be a ridiculous one.
That's the next semi-finals coming up after this. Although I think we've
We've got a special word down on the stage with Danny.
Thanks guys, I'm here with...
Sir Majed.
Let's go from Team KSA, 3-0 victory against Sweden.
You guys did an amazing job,
and you guys are moving on to the finals.
Sir Majed, how do you feel right now?
I feel amazing, to be honest.
I appreciate everyone that came here to support us.
Attig, thank you, thank you.
Very happy, hopefully we can defend the champ.
We win versus Korea or France 5.
Korea or France, who do you usually want to personally go up against through the finals?
I want to meet Korea to be honest.
I want to beat them.
Any specific reason?
They're just really good.
It's going to feel great to beat them, I'm very excited.
And also quickly, this one was a blow.
I feel like you guys are just too good.
KSA is looking very strong right now.
How did you guys prepare for your match against Sweden?
Did you guys do anything specific?
To be honest, the main thing,
we just fixed a lot of mistakes yesterday.
Just to be on the same page, listen, play cool,
and that's what we did today.
And you won, that is correct.
I'm going to let you go because I know you have to
get ready for the final.
That was Sir Mejad, everybody.
Thank you so much.
much. Zoe, back to you. Thank you so much, Dani. And with that, we now have KSA as our
first finalist of the Overwatch World Cup 2026. Let's talk about how they got it done. I have
Matanash joining me here to break it all down. I mean, this looks near flawless. It really
was just until Route 66 where Kevster tried to turn it up. But unfortunately,
it was just not enough. The one-man Kevster show did unfortunately not cross the finish
I I thought that was gonna be a much closer series. No with how Sweden looked yesterday
Coming in obviously, you know KSA is
Extremely strong, but I mean this is a statement game
It feels like right where KSA just kind of showing there a level ahead
Really right out there with South Korea NATO even kind of a coin flip on a day right between those two of
Who's the best in the world at Overwatch?
I know we thought that it was going to be a little bit closer in some kind of regard here for this matchup.
But at the same time, after yesterday's result, losing that one match to Spain, I think we also had that expectation that KSA
were going to come into day two of BlizzCon at the Overwatch World Cup and absolutely look to clean things up.
They were not going to let Sweden make things close.
things close and we saw that even on route 66 where Sweden come out with that
cast ban there as well really trying to target I think what they were struggling
with in the first two maps but again courts he's just too good on any of those
hits he's just inevitable final boss for sure but like generally I also just
like to see that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that they're really switch up
too many things if we're comparing what they're playing right now from Busan
right they're already playing into their strength haven't see out on their
It's just such a boom for them.
Keep it simple.
Exactly.
Keep it simple, win games.
Ziad on D.Va or Moga, Quartz on a hit scan.
All the supports stare at Quartz.
And you end up winning a lot of games that way.
There's no reason to overcomplicate it.
No, there definitely isn't.
And overall, I think that not just that,
we haven't even seen TNT.
And Serma Dead was talking about how he would probably
be the best demon player ever.
So maybe they have some Asus out there,
so they still, but now landing in this grand
final here they're right back where they were in 2023 and they went every series
in Busan 3-0 they dropped that game to Spain and then they 3-0 here I mean
they're on just like a tear through the entire Overwatch World Cup format right
just dominating groups coming here I mean looking as good as ever they got a
championship title to defend happy on fire too they want to bring gold home
once again and the teams that could be in their way are South Korea or
or France. I love Surmajet's answer here, saying that really they want to face South Korea, being
considered the best teams, especially South Korea is the banana for scale here. If you
take them down, then you're a really good team. And that's what they're trying to prove
here. Of course, having France though, you know, like throwing a bit of an upset already
in Busan. Big question is, can they do it again and actually make it to the final?
I don't know. Why do I always go to the final? Why do I always go to the final?
Because you know I love to talk about France and I also love to talk about South Korea
I think overall though when it comes down to how South Korea we're looking in form yesterday
I just don't think it's gonna be happening
They were lost France just plays with such like a delusional confidence though. I know
Like where it's like you kind of start to buy into it and you believe a little bit and I mean look
They're going to have a chance in this series. It's not I would be shocked if it's like just kind of a they're gonna roll over and die
I increased going to kind of run through them.
So, I mean, that would be a while that I mean,
France has had a historic like, you know,
really kind of space within Overwatch Esports for a while
with some legendary players just never really have gotten,
you know, close to like winning an event like this,
where this feels like maybe the time to do it.
Hey, it's definitely possible.
You kind of call back to Busan and it's not just the wind,
but it's talking to Crocs, hearing from the team
and the fact that he typed in chat and went,
Do you guys believe in the reverse sweep?
And the fact that he's able to just continue to bring that energy,
that's definitely their secret power.
Because I want to believe, and it's probably not the case,
but I'm just going to steer drama for absolutely no reason.
I want to believe that France might be living rent-free in South Korea.
There's no way.
No, honestly, though, maybe there's maybe a little bit of a way here.
I want to believe, I feel like we all want to believe,
but we also always have to support South Korea
because it will be delusional not to.
And that match is coming up.
One of those two teams will find themselves
in our grand finals facing up against our reigning champion,
Team AKSA.
Who is it going to be?
We'll find out after a short break, so don't go anywhere.
you
you
you
you
you
What's going on?
I think it's France.
I said it would be France, wouldn't it?
I'm saying France.
Jordan, Fawti.
France because of Crocs.
Because they've crocs like leading the team as the tank.
France.
France?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's France.
They have crocs.
Who has the best mechanics?
Okay, on three.
One, two, three, quartz.
Hello?
I thought you weren't meant to say team.
What about mechanics?
It is me, but...
Saudi.
Saudi, right.
I don't want to be stuck in Saudi.
I don't know. I don't know.
I'll see Sweden.
Who's saying Sweden or USA?
Maybe.
I think it's hard to deny that it should be South Korea.
Three, two, one.
Sorry about that.
Definitely not last.
Yeah, that's what I'm gonna say.
What's the most underrated team?
I would say Sweden, personally.
I think they are really good.
Can you do anything?
I mean, absolutely else?
Yeah.
I'm taking anything.
Maybe us.
I kind of want to say Sweden.
I think there's actually a good chance that if they meet Saudi, they could win that, for sure.
If your team doesn't win the World Cup, who do you think it will be?
Korea has the highest probability,
but both Saudi and US have a great shot at the world.
on day two of the 2026 Overwatch World Cup finals coming to your life from Sunny Anaheim
in California, Matt and Ash are joining me for our second semifinal to determine which
team will be meeting. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now grand final to try and get that
trophy out of their hand. They are the defending champion and the favorite to win it all.
You know, in this semi-final, we have a team that is kind of unexpected, I believe, for a lot of us.
I don't think we have France making it into the top, but they're coming so eager, so enthusiastic, and so confident, even if you call it delusional confidence.
You gotta have a little bit of that.
That's true, that's true.
Yeah, they're coming into this hot and South Korea once revenge.
We're here for a revenge matchup.
I love a revenge matchup.
I think that it's going to be such a fun one.
And we saw, again, Korea up against Team USA yesterday.
They were lights out.
That was a clinical match from them.
And we all expected it to be a much tighter affair.
And that tells you about the energy
that Korea are bringing to the Overwatch World Cup
here for the playoffs.
I mean, it wasn't like Team USA was throwing punches back,
right?
I mean, it was completely one-sided there.
But I look, I mean, South Korea always shows up and performs at Overwatch World Cup, right?
And you also think about like the last Overwatch World Cup we had, right?
Where Finland was able to take them down, like this is like a little bit of like a redemption over the year.
The reverse sweep that France pulled off in Busan against Korea was unreal.
I mean, in Busan, like able to get it done, like the last map though, like they almost got full health, France.
Like it was like, it was like a really scary dire scenario.
So it wasn't like, you know, the last three maps were dominant in France's play.
Korea should still be pretty confident going into this game.
Yeah, and I'm sure they will be. Historically, of course, they are at the top of the leaderboard
with their medals for the Overwatch World Cup.
KSA also having one of those medals from the 2023.
France has never got the gold medal, so they built the team to, like, win it all this time around.
Yeah, yeah, actually, yeah, not just gold medal, like any medal, I think at this point, they're almost playing with house money.
I think they made it this far and they're so close to getting a medal at a BlizzCon Ash.
It's so close for them. Just honestly, I feel like, especially with what we've heard from this squad, to them, they believe it's just within touching distance, right?
That's how much confidence that we continue to talk about. They're bringing to the table.
overall this team, France, they're going to look to definitely clap back.
I feel like what's insane about this matchup, not just it being the rematch
from the group stage is also the fact that both squads, France and South
Korea have so much national pride standing behind them as well within those fans.
And Crocs is, for team France, one of the players, the player that's been
definitely dragging that.
Yeah, he's like the French infected, if you will.
It's kind of crazy. Lots of aura on that stage and quite frankly both of these teams,
France and South Korea have been really, really smooth in the quarter-finals.
Like they really didn't give the opposition any opportunities to come into their respective matches.
And France, they play at such a fast pace.
Nobody has been able to really punish that.
That's what you're looking to see if South Korea can do today.
Take the smile off of Crox's face because Crox, you know, just get, you know,
Air dropped into the back line by FD God and just caused so many problems
And you see a lot of these games that Crocs will finish like they're like one death two to three deaths
Like you cannot allow that to happen when the tank gets dropped through the back line
And that's you got to look at for South Korea to make that adjustment today
That's the crazy part right the fact that he's just living in those situations
But again at D. God, it's not just like the positioning for him. It's the amount of
of just overall impact that he's had in the server
and the support that that back line has been given to Crocs.
I love the resurgence of FDGOT, if you will,
because he's always been around.
He's played for so many different teams.
We've been part of his journey for such a long time.
To see him excel, like, Jepakat gets released,
FDGOT picks it up, it plays into his,
sometimes maybe too fearless of a playstyle,
but you know what, it's working so well for them.
but it really supports Crox's aggression as well.
I don't even know if FDGod's that same type of player though, right?
Like, I think the mouth on him early was like so aggressive.
It was like, oh man, what are we doing here?
But I think he's really kind of like toned that down.
And I think your point, Ash, like the Jetpack cat really suits him well.
Like he's able to kind of get in there with Crox,
also get Crox out of trouble.
And FDGod's another player that just feels like stays alive so long for Fran.
So those two players have really been kind of what's led this team this far
and that success.
Yeah, it is. And having a player with so much
veterans' experience on that cat who has just an incredible amount of map awareness and game
awareness and sense, that's what you want, right, on impactful heroes such as the Jetpack
Cat. Now on the other side of course, we're talking about a stacked roster for South
Korea, like Front to Back, like they're all like absolutely in the top three of their
respective roles. It's really hard, even though they got reverse swept, it is extremely
difficult to go against that team and consider them the underdog and literally any
series they will be playing. I mean like a sub-korea B team would probably be a top 2 team.
Exactly! There's so much talent coming out of Korea for Overwatch and no for me I
really love watching simple play I know a player who plays in ENA and OWCS but
I know seeing him play the Zen yes race and Zen widow that was like a
That was a throwback.
It really was. I feel like...
I was talking to Jack yesterday about it, and he had told me that funny astro mentioned that he thinks that simple is being the best Zen player in the world.
So seeing him pull it out yesterday, I feel like that moment was when we knew that game was going to be over.
Yeah, I mean, if you're looking at each individual, there's just so much good things you can say.
Jundan is an incredible, flexible tank player, and speaking of flexibility, always have to talk about that soccer, right?
Sun Jin is going to be in the starting line up for them and he was the top performer yesterday in the two maps that he played.
Yeah, played a lot of Indeta yesterday. Indeta obviously gets a buff coming into this event, so I see the numbers there for Sun Jin.
He's absolutely dominant out there, but hey, don't sleep on Keo in number two.
We were talking a little bit in the series, you know, me and Mitch casted.
Keo does a really nice job of dealing with the aggression that Jetpack can and a demon can kind of put in your face.
constantly like we see a lot of times that's where like the
It's so like I mean obviously he the moment the Cassie's throwing the hindrance when the demon is right in like the face
There's nothing you do at that point he was able actually just kind of like ditch the demon and pick that jetpack cat out of the sky
And he was gonna need to keep that performance up today if they're gonna have a chance
He definitely does and I feel like that's also just so well synergized with the fact that you have dip on the other side
Alongside cross kind of getting in the face of the other team
so that he's able to kind of pull back and get into those positions where he can be more comfortable.
Yeah, I think for both like the DPS lineups in both of these teams, it's going to be so much aggression,
so much just go, go, go. But Franz, we talked about the tempo that bring to a game, like
they are going to be wanting to set the pace for this one map, but will South Korea let them?
They can fall down 2-0 again. I mean, if you fall down 2-0 here, if you are friends,
there's a good chance we're clearing off the stage pretty quick and we're kind of getting,
I know ready for our performance.
I think France needs to kind of keep that aggression up that they've been showing the entire time.
I look, they can fall back and play some things like the Orisa like we saw yesterday.
We see Crocs play like Maga, but it's not what has really gotten France here.
They need to play that really up tempo pace.
But South Korea knows that, right?
I wouldn't be surprised if we see Dmon bands, Jetpack Cat bands, things in that, you know, offline.
I think that is the main thing though is this is a rematch from just a couple of weeks ago.
For the side of France, it was a situation where they really caught these teams off guard during the group stage,
especially South Korea, but they know what to expect this time around.
They do indeed. I mean, generally, like obviously there's just so much experience on both of these rosters.
Might not just be Overwatch World Cup experience, but general competitive experience.
I mean, FDGOT has been in so many Overwatch World Cup stages and in the qualifiers and group stages.
So I think that really is going to be a boost for both of these teams.
There's so many professional games in general for DGOT, he's been around for ages, you look
at the rest of France, not really that much experience, I know Zaryon is probably the
second most ten year player on France when you think about it, I know in terms of their
starting lineup, but even a lot of first faces on South Korea, like simple, like the
MC in the World Cup, Sunjin as well, so really kind of an FDGOT, it's really weird to
think about it because I feel like a few years ago, we were talking about him as
and then time just went like that and now he's the oldest 10-year player we have.
We talked about that for Team Germany as well, right? With Eisner.
He's now the veteran but we literally just like praised him as an up-and-coming like...
We met him two years ago.
Exactly, pretty much that. But yeah, this is going to be a good one.
Obviously these players, they want to lift that trophy.
They want to get some medal into their hands.
They get an opportunity today to do just that in our single elimination bracket.
brackets of everything on the line. Let's chat predictions. Matt, starting with you.
Are you believing? Are you a believer? I believe to an extent, but I went with Korea
in this game. I I wanted to pick France. I really, I thought they had a chance.
I'll get the word. That's fine. Look at them. Look at them in the eyes when you say that.
Say it to their faces. Yeah, yeah. I mean, hey, look, I picked Korea 3-1.
I think about that, but but no I look I would be I would be thrilled to see a
France win right it's a country that has really had great overwatch players
throughout its history like really kind of deserves a moment like this we're
in Paris the French fans are going crazy they didn't have a team there
where I would love to see them get it done here at BlizzCon but Korea is too
good. Yeah guys you know I normally love to vote for France but the Korean
in the has to go with team Korea this time around overall.
I just think that.
Yeah, who asked you as well.
Yeah, quality, right?
So I'm cool with the input guys.
It is what it is.
My apologies, team France.
I do think that they can make it a close match up.
But overall, when it comes down to South Korea,
how they looked yesterday, knowing
what they're bringing into this room with the energy
as well, they got to defend that match.
Who'd you take?
I don't want to say that.
Just our booners.
I'm very sorry.
My French friends.
I really want to be right.
I love you.
I love you.
Wait, wait, wait.
She didn't even give you a laugh.
At least we gave you a laugh.
At least we gave you a laugh.
Wait, wait to call me out.
We didn't need to talk.
I wish with all my heart for France to take this one, I really, really, really do like again French and Overwatch go way back, sort of for you, but that doesn't matter in my sentence right now.
It's just, South Korea were playing lights out yesterday, they're coming with a vengeance, they want to get their revenge.
You know that they France make them lose in front of the home crowd
They they ain't letting that rest. No, they ain't letting that rest if there's anything
You know about Koreans is that they're very stubborn. Yeah, and they're very prideful speaking from personal
So you even give them a map that's not pointing it
You're off the desk next there. I just say you know
We obviously expect a close match, even though that may not be the score that we predicted,
but we hope for a close one.
Because quite frankly, yesterday it was a little on the one side of the spectrum, which was
surprising.
I generally, looking at the matchups we had in the quarterfinals, I low key, high key,
thought that we're going to have one actual role, and everything else could be closed.
And the one thing that I predicted as a role was KSA Spain, and Spain was in fact
the only team that fall back.
So, yeah, I guess our predictions mean nothing anyway.
The only thing competitive so far has been the rule set
that we play the naps under the series
have been all blowouts.
But I mean, look, I think if France gets off
to a hot start, right?
I think they obviously have confidence, momentum.
Like I think they believe in that can start to really kind
of infuse that team with a lot of confidence,
like move forward.
But I find it hard for us that like South Korea
is not going to be extremely prepared for the way
that France plays, the way they beat them in Busan.
They've been hearing a lot of the talk
about how they got beat in Busan,
where I think they're gonna come out for blood.
Absolutely.
All right, let's get this one started.
It is the rematch that we wanted to see
team France going up against South Korea.
Welcome back BlizzCon, how are we feeling?
It is time for your second semi final as you find out who is moving on to play
KSA later on tonight.
Introducing first, please make some noise for the fan favorites.
They've done it once.
Why can't they do it twice?
It's Team France.
And as you all saw yesterday, they dismantled the Aussies.
France come in at the underdog according to the polls,
but if you're looking at recent history,
they should have the confidence they can do it again.
Led by M.T. God on support,
the veteran is looking to lead this squad
to their first podium appearance.
They're going to be able to take the lead
and they're going to be able to take the lead
and they're going to be able to take the lead.
take this one to their first podium appearance.
Team France, please take your seats.
And now for the team we've all been waiting for.
They've done it three times and they have won a bronze medal
with the three golds.
Welcome back to the stage.
The greatest team in World Cup history.
It's South Korea.
No matter where you will get this roster, there is a top three player.
The best part of this world is the team or the confidence that comes with it.
According to Stalker, he's gonna hand you a 3-0 solid division.
Do you wish, Don?
South Korea, please take your seats.
It is time to kick in the second semi-final underway.
Ladies and gentlemen, one more time before we get the game.
Make some noise!
We are live in Anaheim once again.
You all better make it in the T-C-A for now,
against the rest of the world they've been perfect every hit France has taken has
come from South Korea every hit South Korea has taken this World Cup has come
from France including humiliation on home soil today only one of these teams
can make it to the Overwatch World Cup Grand Final and for fans of the
Korean squad I mean gold is the standard it's the expectation there's
ridiculous weight on the shoulders of this team but with three stars on the
jersey they proven that they can shoulder it that they can stand under the
weight of that expectation and rise to the occasion. France though put up a stiff
fight they are wanting aggression in the group stage it put Korea on their
heels. Still a lot of people have been saying that moment awoke something in
this Korean squad showed what they needed to become if they wanted to
to take gold here in Anaheim and so far that bloody swap they cut through Team USA is still
hurting personally, Mitch.
It's a pretty impressive statement game to come back of and for France, they've made
the top four twice now.
Every time they made the top four though, South Korea made sure they went no further.
In 2017, they lost to South Korea in the semi-finals.
In 2019, it was down in that bronze-medal match, so this French team are reaching
higher than they've ever gone before and South Korea is simply stepping back into
territory they feel belongs to them. It certainly did but it has been years since
South Korea have held aloft a World Cup trophy. They are the most impressive
dynasty in the Overwatch World Cup but that's ancient history. New faces and a
new mandate to get back to the top. We're starting on Samoa, Jake and we did
notice. Sonjin is in the lineup here for South Korea. We've already seen a
A bit of that Vendetta play that, frankly, looks pretty devastating to a lot of teams that are going up against.
I think France, at least, are going to bring a very different look than we saw from Team USA yesterday, who wanted to slow the game down.
For the French, that does not seem to be the case whatsoever. They constantly start fights first, but will they be able to do the same against players like Saundran and Jun Bin?
these guys have been leading the aggression with ball and vendetta.
It's a style that just about no one else in the World Cup would dare to play.
And yet these guys make it look unbeatable.
It feels like we saw Tim USA almost try and keep tempo with that comp.
Early on on Samoa in their series, they realized that just wasn't reasonable.
It wasn't possible.
We did see Junvin play a couple of different tanks over the course of that map.
But crucially, that it was like a, you know, Hazard was targeted by France
when they played Samoa, right?
They had a game plan. They wanted to play the up tempo style and I'd suggest they want to play the mirror
But we know we talked about it
Jumbin doubled down on that demon play to make sure that he wouldn't get caught off guard by that pig again
She's been tweaked slightly still quite powerful
Doesn't he get back to I think to sort of really supercharge her mobility jet back cat as well as had some touches
But it's still been highly played here at blizzcon
Speaking of these critical heroes for France, I can't help but be worried a little bit about the band factor in a series like this.
Korea has shown ridiculous flexibility in this opening band.
It strikes right at the heart of what has been so successful for Team France.
Crocs in the center of the thick of the fight, diving in on backlines, somehow getting away with murder time and time again.
Korea aren't going to have to face off against that key threat, at least in map one.
Gion is going to be the second band. We've actually seen Gion Tracia looks from this
Zampgrin roster in this particular configuration, but it seems like France,
while they're aware that Sontran can go over towards the Vendetta, they don't
seem too bothered by it. We've also seen Crocs play a bunch of
Arissa, a bunch of other looks here. Certainly not by any means, Tethered to
that Daemon and for the rest of the series if he wants, he'll be able to play it.
The question is though, what do we see on this map? The first one in this
series because winning control is massive if we go to five maps you get that
map selection for the decider if you win control crucial map to win also to
set the tenor of the series for France a win here to open the series it's gonna
start to make this Korean squad tremble just a fit thinking is it gonna happen
again could we lose again in a shocking upset but Korea though I mean a
straightforward opening ban on the demon you know it doesn't exactly take a
genius but it's a powerful band it's been the bread and butter for France I
love the she on banner response though because yes as good as the Vendetta can
be there's no hits game that can keep up with the pace that she on brings so
dream is a close second baby but honestly with the style that we played
yesterday I think she is more important than the Vendetta who could be
replaced by a tracer
we're starting off on the sunny sands to open this series simple with
someone who's discussed pretty at length by the desk, right?
And someone on the Kirikos.
Probably one of the best to do it.
We saw him in the yard briefly on Route 66 yesterday.
That was impressive.
Korea and France, when the medals come out,
France in the past have faltered.
They want to find their way into the top two
in South Korea, simply returning
to what they believe is home.
BlizzCon, let's play some Overwatch.
Similar comps here,
Korea go with a lot more individualism on the hits game role dip. It's gonna have his work cut out for him
Not easy to stay alive on Bastion against these two enemy DPS
No ball is interesting though. Jundan doesn't want to start in that way
Tat Korea have a different lead on this French outfit with Dimon banned
Happy to opt into an Orisa mirror
Korea also playing pretty
Pretty long range hits game here or just some long range pressure
Maybe War of Attrition is what they're hoping to play into now
The jetpack cat of empty gods already making some moves.
Stork is getting pressure down.
The Siphon Blaster though, a camp for Zarian comfortably.
And Crocs has to dive deep for that elimination.
It's just a trade down in numbers between France.
War of attrition, absolutely the right call,
but Stalker forcing that desperation TP from Zarian,
finishing the kill himself.
It basically ends the fight in the opening moments.
Jundan untouched on Arissa is going to take first tap.
Jumbo down to have it push up a little bit more.
And that creates space for Sondred to play like this.
He's passed the line of scrimmage to the middle part of the map.
Get some early poke down.
He's out to build towards a bowless shot that could be highly disrupted to a backline.
Crocs is being ferried into the action now.
Will be allowed to try and compete for these flank angles,
but he's already met by a javelin as his Jumbo knocked down onto the point.
And a space here for Crocs might be able to connect to this backline.
Keo on the cast, a crucial big headshot.
Can you find more?
Stalker's trying to break the line of sight.
the grenade downward to affect Jungbin, but that's easily shrugged off by the Orisa.
Jongun might be making his move now, no one's paying him any attention,
Kio might be a little bit too late.
It's gonna be a Suzu drawn out, but Jungbin is gonna be very pleased about it,
because there's nowhere for Kio to go.
Brantz just run down on the extremities, and the three players down.
The spike is done and dusted.
Grabbing the capture flip though here is gonna mitigate South 3 in progress.
He's such a big problem right now for France.
I don't think they feel like they have an answer to it.
Especially again with these push-ups early in the fight by Jumping.
Sondre gets to sit on a flank angle, find a lot of poke, and look at FD Gott's health.
He needs Kiri to double back to kill him up.
And the Korean team is sitting on a full bank of ultimates.
Here's, he's gonna be a tough spot here.
Knight Nunu over the top though, does grab one.
Here's Sondre, gassing out the ability to dump Alphatute and get away from that sky.
NUNU! And that's simple!
He disappears, Cox having to find the finishing blow.
And Kiri doesn't really have to move too far from this position.
It's simply clean-up for Nuna from France.
They get the opener, Jake, but it's off the back of that sky noon.
They have to concoct a bit of a win condition,
and South Korea is still sitting on a lot of these ultimates, banks.
Tana Bezplan from Korea not committing to a losing fight,
still with a ton of ultimates to come back in for the retake,
but France have bought themselves a new lease on life.
Even economy is going to come down to the ulti trade.
Here it goes, in the spotlight right now.
So, we just switch off.
Doesn't really want to contend any more with this Cassidy-Cat combination.
Simple going down early. It's far too and then taking the tempo
And take that first pick considering that it's simple. It really means that South Korea have to take a sidebar for a second consecutive fight
Couple fights now where France
Find the weaknesses not scared to get aggressive in their trademark style working even against the Koreans
Pretending well for their future in this match, but a lot of overwatch left the play
It's been a patient couple of fights between South Korea,
still holding onto those ultimates.
Kio, those have not climbed a good up towards yet another dead end.
This could be dangerous.
Skull comes, flaxs him.
Zerio's having a fight in the finish where no one can contest his high ground.
Sonjun has to go the long way to get up there.
And up in the air, Kroc skips, pops.
He has that fortified.
The Terrasurge comes down, so he strikes it off to...
Jumping, caught out on the point.
And France has slow starved now.
They've willing truly caught up on this round.
And every time we come to Kio's camp,
He has demanded respect on this server in the company of legends but perhaps building something a new legend for himself and with the sky noon this last fight looks scary now for Korea.
Salka with an override protocol.
But it was a sky noon and he's up for France previously.
This is dangerous for Salka.
He's got to get out of that line of sight very hastily but Geo got to chase him and Salka walked into a trap of his own design.
Now a 99% South Korea had to make a big play with them running out of options.
Zipples fall by the wayside now.
If he got trying to get back to safety then he's doing so.
Good night South Korea, an easy pick up.
And Boussade was a slow start for France.
This time they're up to the races early.
Crucial first round for France.
So many questions circling around this match.
Was it just a fluke in Boussade?
Is there any chance they could do it again?
And with Croc's signature demon banned out here on Busan it really took Kyo going to the next level in that first round
Stalker a rare negative score line for him
That's a shock to the system for Korea one than they'll need to adapt to quickly
But with Junmin hovering the wrecking ball everything could change in the second round
That Korea wanted that Orisa Mira
You're ultimately undone by the Cassidy
Sonjun's got quite a varied hero pool, but sometimes simple is best.
We'll see what the look is now. The Bastille in tow.
It looks a little bit more standard, a bit more classic.
France are going to reciprocate a similar look on their comp.
There's no tracer for the French squad.
Sonjun though will maintain that on South Korea
and he's already trying to wrap around and link up with Junbin.
patients from France here they know the threat of Junbin's father he bites his
time
people being dragged around here Junbin wants to try and pressure the Bastion
oh that could be a dangerous proposition but Stalker's able to take dip down
while he is entirely obsessed with the idea of getting one of Junbin
good exchange and good target acquisition I think for the Korean
Bastion player. That'll be an early South Korea take. Great punish from
Stalker and Cholot. French, they're getting cleaned up here but this is just precious seconds,
slipping away from the round. No possibility for France to bring this fight back. Every extra
seconds out to rig and buy is worth it. You see Jun been there, just tank and beat before eliminating
Xerion. Again, switching off. There's a Malga switch here for Crocs.
A lot of players like the match up here into the wrecking ball. Cage fight can be powerful,
but with 30% already in the board for Korea, it's a long way back to get towards these ultimates.
France need to pull something out of their hat here.
K-Trike can be nuked down pretty quickly by Faxity in a tank mode as well.
Here's the artillery strike from Stalker,
peppering that high ground, forcing France to drop down,
and now Sunjin has to pressure them from that backline.
Kiyoto is sharp and he's having a war to trace her away.
Stalker also under some degree of pressure, but deep as the trade-outs,
So both bastards have been handled.
It's a self-sufficient, disperation for the carries who try to stay in the game.
But Sang-jun will not be denied.
This pulse bomb might be well apportioned on the bulky frame of the Malga,
but Krok says to be respected.
South Korea give him some space,
and Afro to trip himself with, is eventually he's brought down.
Oh, Korea just looked different on these ball comps.
The aggression Jun-bin and Sang-jun demanding so much respect
that Sarkar is getting all the space in the world,
and he just keeps finding depth. I mean constantly the first take on this battle.
Always pressure from Song Jin.
Jumping him, I want to try and catch him in the choke.
He's hitting on my mind, killed him, hit him in the foot, that's right away.
It's a new rush coming out from Zerion though, didn't catch Song Jin, a trade shot!
He always dealt with!
Nothing is left to the Casterly already off the table!
It is a one-sided affair!
The South Korea barrel into France is there trying to get their ducks in a row.
Cage fighter coming late in the fight for the help.
Just is not there for Crocs.
He is down in his legacy.
The Cage will also be broken through.
We're looking at a fortified 100 to zero in our second round.
Yeah.
Korea are wasting no time pulling out the stops,
showing the style that has made them a unique foe in this event.
So few players can play the Wrecking Ball on Junven's level.
Honestly nobody can I mean this guy is the best in the world
I'm willing to go on record with that the wrecking ball
Absured at this level of play and Sanjini slotting in so incredibly well to this team
His tracer was felt really massively in that round stalker a resurgence from him as well getting a little bit more space and
This time it was the French who looked flat-footed
We asked a question what do France have outside of these demon compositions?
It looks like they're pretty heavily indexed into this Orisa Cassidy Bastion combination
But it doesn't cut it on our second round. They're gonna run it back, but this time German bin will move to the Malge
There'll also be a Reaper in the mix
Forward thrashing Korea trying to push the base but Stalker's brought down
So I'm just gonna have time to get into a relevant position at the start of this fight
Perhaps here though we can find some value
Here is brought down by the Hellfire shotguns and Crocs could be in danger
But it's a fight that will take any day of the week, and Rippa gets torn to shreds.
This one could get tricky.
Respawn's going to come back in, France, they would love to grab this cap for free, but
Jürgen's almost back.
That's Marga's pretty quick on his feet, plus the jetpack cat can ferry him into the
action.
Some poke here first though, Grenade's exchange, his stalker takes a glancing blow, and Jürgen
needs a little change here, a little bit more health before he commits, getting
absolutely peppered down, and Dipp doesn't want to give him a challenge to recover,
pushing in his darkest direction, but this could be an overreach here.
Sondra finds that great connection, but Diff just has the deeps.
He has jumped in with the stump.
I've been anti-climatic for the Malga.
And Sondra again finds that light fight involvement.
But it's too late to make a difference.
Sondra with two, and a reform.
I mean, he's going to go down here, but oh, no way, okay.
Come down, what a good ridiculous.
Still a chance.
Power play, 14th Korea, if they want to keep this fight going.
Tera Surge here for Crocs, holding on to a drinker, going to be stunned up initially.
Stalker has a lot of space here, and he connects to the rogote, headshot Zerion,
has to duck out of the fight as a result. Here's the artillery strike.
Stalker dances amongst the shells, and Kio is picked off.
Stalker doing the most at the moment.
DPM, he's got lots of magma ready.
Sojran ready to break it down.
Crocs already so low, though it just might not be necessary.
I mean, no South Korea left to bank these ults for a rainy day.
It's largely getting so much down on the reaper here, truly a masterclass pulling
attention to himself and that's a tension that the French just cannot spare.
Stalker finds kill after kill in that fight. 62 plays at 7.
Dakarie here wants to dig in. Settling cage fight could be instrumental but it's
something that Crocs could just walk out of. Needs to be better connected for
And he goes cage, finds the boy, jibbering outside, look at him.
Cattenab catches the bastion, cuts the DPS jaw, patrol, can't overextend.
Drimbin's cage naturally is destroyed pretty quickly, and Sondra's death blossom is gonna be forced away.
Heads up, Javelin's been there for Crocs to take the Reaper out of Paul's position,
and a comfortable flip back for the French.
A resilient frontline, and Crocs displaying true confidence here.
Seeing and getting that energy in the player cam, it's gonna be infectious for Team France.
And they're on the verge of a map win here.
Overclocked for Stalker, is really all they've got to hang their hat on.
A potential Skynew could scarp with that ship before it gets off Drydock.
Here we go, overclocked time, and all the France respect in the CCs.
Tontra's trying to get a line of sight, but Q might be able to punish this.
Stalker, try to hide!
But Chorong getting caught instead.
Jetpack cat the beating heart of this competition has been dealt with in our South Korea down to four.
Perfect javelin there for Crocs.
Cut stalker out of the fight entirely.
He needs to go looking for a health pack.
Because Chorong's not going to be able to heal him.
Terrasurge now could be dangerous, but again,
it's respected, it doesn't matter.
Head steps off already.
France start the series with a statement win on Samoa.
hugely consequential to take map one in a series such as this
Momentum for a French team that loves to bring the pace the signature demon band
Should have been a dagger to the heart of this team, but for Crocs
It's barely a scratch that a risk of gameplay on round three was immaculate
Shutting down the early Bastion vibes pushing away Sanchez reaper
Really phenomenal play here from the team France front line and that's a win that
Staples momentum for Korea who are coming out of the back of a hugely dominant three-up. Yeah
There's just no shortage of heroes to run it down with at the end of the day
The brightest spot for South Korea was when they could play that Wrecking Ball unfettered
Interesting though
We are all sad
Apparently no substitutions in the pipeline here for a team South Korea will keep an eye on it
It will be interesting to see them invest in another map here for Songjin keep him around. I
Think this tells much of the story
We took that talk and struggles on that first map really has a nice little bounce back that ultimately finishes with a reasonable scoreline
But somehow this French roster is built for crocs to simply do as he pleases
Pops the damage scale looks comfortable in that a reset mirror
This round one come back from France really set the stage for them to start off the series with a competitive round
But one in which you do bring it home
Reminds them that they can win this series. They have won
this same series before under the bright lights though,
maybe never before against this particular opponent.
Saundra though, I'm not surprised he seems to be staying
in the server.
He looked phenomenal in these aggression.
The Achilles' heel though,
fortune South Korea has been that sometimes
German is just getting poked down at range.
Kyo and Deb working together really well on this round three
to just break the front line in so many to set up.
On top of that the sky knew uncontested from Kyo.
Stalker doesn't go towards that look at all
through the map and you're kind of wondering why.
I mean, he's phenomenal on the heroes he does play,
but that really does feel like a crucial strategy
in this matter with how powerful Cassidy could be
under the assistance of the Jetpack tab.
It does feel like there's not a lot of counterplay
to it right now, and it can almost win you the fight
on the spot.
Now, there was some discussion, I think,
about three years.
Obviously, very map-dependent
how they make their substitutions.
I have seen Sanjun and Junbin both stand up.
So, I mean, he's saying and Max
are gonna come into the lineup.
I'm happy to take advantage of this moment, also take stock of the situation because this is not a situation they thought they would be in.
I think this stat line tells a lot of the story.
Because Crocs cannot play the way he does without some serious healing throughput.
And in with Kiriko, the healing offered at travel speed has been reduced to also that max range, right?
So it's a little bit harder to squeeze all the juice out of that hero.
But Zerion and FD God are both really set up to heal Bok Krox as much as humanly possible
to make sure he actually has the freedom to play in a way that other players would probably
just consider utterly audacious.
I mean it's not just being one and two, it's the margin of being metaphealers.
I mean these two are putting out a ridiculous stat line and that's not just for Krox, right?
That's letting Kio and Dip really turn the screws, get aggressive, keep that spear
sharp.
And with the map went on the board. I mean you got to put some respect on the name
They are going up against some of the goats in Chorong and simple, but it's their names on top of that leaderboard
Yeah, I'm gonna point out that graphic is not cumulative. It's healing per 10 so it's average over you know over all the time that they played
So to have a lead of almost
10,000 healing per 10 is like a 33% increase over the next team's back line is absolutely insane
It's like it's a gift that gives back, you know you you empower crops let them go forward
He makes the space you stay alive longer you do more healing your uptime obviously is superior
Speaks to the trust between this French team, you know, I often think
When a team starts to get desperate they start to worry about whether they can win the right way players look for hero plays
They look to
Overcome and do something incredible which in fairness is sometimes called for but when a team is relaxed and confident players state in their lane
supporting one another. The support role is often where that's expressed most
clearly. Pumping that many heals, it's farming a ton of ultimates and we've seen
what Katnap and Katsune Rush can do. I think it's a really a well selected
strategy in the current meta for France. They're getting a lot of what they
want to succeed with. And Korea, take us to Route 66 where we got some spicy
comps in that match yesterday against USA. Yeah, first time and I thought at
the time the only time we'd see Widowmaker and Zenyatta on defense on
this map. Really a blast from the past. They are running a back right. Again, I think we discussed this
before coming on air, actually. And you feel like it's a setup that requires the right conditions.
Kiri and Tracer ban was what you felt like allowed South Korea to go for that, given that
you know, Kiri would be a potentially better option for a back line. And Tracer has the
ability to pressure both the Widow and the Zenyatta. So that also begs the question about what
kind of, you know, bands we see coming into this game.
But South Korea have subbed out the 2026 champions clash MVP
in order to take a different look on this map as well
and get Max back into the mix.
I mean, it makes sense if you want to go
for these greedy or back lines,
if you want to look at the widow and the Zen,
maybe the Ana, Max is an expert on the D.Va,
slowing the game down, stymying aggression.
And for France, that's been their signature look,
but so far there's been really no teams
that have been able to slow them down successfully.
You can maybe match that pace.
You can maybe take the brawl to them.
We saw that in map one.
But trying to slow the game down is a risky proposition
as we've seen throughout this event, Mitch.
You can get punished for that.
You yield a lot of control to the enemy team.
You rely on perfect execution from the back line.
Prots are proven twice
that they can beat South Corridor World Cup.
But the name of proven is that
they can actually beat them when there's medals
on the line.
It's been the same story.
They're winning groups.
They look honestly dominant there,
and when they get out onto the stage,
be it a BlizzCon or any other venue, they get beat.
For Efti God, he experienced the 2019 situation.
Beats out three in groups,
and then the bronze match, they got swept.
Same scenario this year, essentially, right?
Now that there's a medal on the line.
New generation of French players now.
Maybe here to chart a new course.
This is their time to set the record straight
right what they may feel is a wrong.
I mean, it's a nation that has punched above its weight historically in Overwatch.
A lot of great historical players from France.
And now a team of five and a lot of relative unknowns on this team.
We look at FDGOT as a really experienced player, but an event like this,
the performances they've put together so far at the Overwatch World Cup,
have put these players on the map.
I don't think there's a professional coach out there that isn't looking at a player like FROX.
and taking him a lot more seriously than they might have when she was pulling out the Roadhog 24-7.
Yeah, honestly, you know, Crocs has been on some of these OWCS teams in the last couple of years,
but none of them were, I would say, the most notable, right? Like, do we remember New Age,
the sixth, seventh place OWCS EMEA team from last year? He's not the only player from that roster
on the stage right now.
It's funny to me that World Cup is really
catapulted this player's stock, his profile,
and also that of his teammates.
Now, FDGOT doesn't need any introduction.
In Paris, place was full of French fans.
They were cheering for a team that wasn't even there.
They were cheering for the 52-0 team peps
that just played face at master
and had a flawless run to make their way back towards OWCS.
The fandom is there.
The French apparently travel quite well, Jack,
because they've been quite raucous
in that corner of the arena.
I think that energy is being felt opening band for France.
It's going to be the diva.
So, Team Seth Korea actually yielding band control, choosing to go second, choosing to respond.
And while the diva band, it does take away one of the most significant threats from Max.
I think there's a lot of options in his pool that can replicate a similar effect.
Korea banned the Kiriko.
They think that's maybe even more important.
But for simple, it doesn't have to be the Zen.
Zen. I mean he was phenomenal on it and it's exciting to see a hero that we rarely see in
current professional play but by taking the Kira go away it opens up a world of options
and as good as Xerion has been and the stats don't lie him and fp god the Kiri has been a
linchpin of that they they really don't go away from the Kira go a test for Xerion now
how can he perform against one of the goats in the Flex support role. In contrast to the last
time we saw South Korea on Rooz CCC Tracer is also still available that someone like Kio
notably from the well-known roster 1dip versus 100 guerrillas will be out at
you have a chance to run that tracer up in a potential mirror on this particular
map so that also is a factor it also might be invalidating for the Zen idea
you might not want to bust that out when you've got the potential of being run
down by what we know is a world-class tracer player at this point but this
lifts the script and what we saw in Busan in Busan South Korea started
that series strong in fact they swept the first couple of maps pretty
comfortably. It wasn't until we got to New York City where France started to come online,
started to really find their footing and then they slowly, it was slowly rested the series
back into their control. They didn't start well at all in that game. And frankly, they
finished barely getting past South Korea on Shambhali Monastery. It was a shocking upset,
but it was a very, very close game. A game of very thin margins. And that was
a game where South Korea were like, yeah, we were just completely unprepared for
the impact of the demon. We, you know, at the time that we put in was allocated incorrectly
to the wrong places. We weren't prepared. Moon says it was a wake-up call for the team.
They're not getting upset by France twice. Not in that fashion anyway. If France are
going to beat them, they're going to now do it against a team that has full awareness
of what they're capable of. Excuses, men, they aren't worth much on a stage like
like this, a win puts you in gold, metal contention, a loss sends you down to the third, fourth
match where you're fighting for scraps. For this Korean squad, that would be unacceptable.
That's the standard that's expected of them by their fans, by the country that sent
them across the world to play here in Anaheim. And for the French, it's hard
They're not to feel like they're playing with the house cashier.
Pretty much universally accepted as an underdog in this series,
but seeing them on those player camps,
on the French coach, I'm feeling pretty dang good.
The confidence of Croc seems to have spread
to the team around him.
Building that energy, a map win makes it undeniable.
There's no reason you can't do it again.
Here at the Overwatch World Cup.
It was Max that was getting set with his audio.
Just maybe having Jim been explained to him how the headset was intended to operate,
but we have ready checks that are being undertaken now for both sides.
So it shouldn't be too far away from jumping into this game.
I think...
France have made it pretty clear how they want this map to play out.
They do not want to have to contend with that potent mobility of D.Va
if they're going to be, you know, trying to play this demon.
They want to try and make the battle as ground-born as possible,
not with standing jetpack cats influence, of course.
Route 66 was a bizarre showing for South Korea in terms of the constant they pick, but it was deadly effective.
They hold on first against Team United States. They have a retake behind this transcendence that lets them get back into a strong defensive position, even though they slipped up in the previous fight.
To this team, not afraid to take risks, and if they make mistakes, they usually can fix them on the fly.
That's what's so terrifying about them.
But France want to force them. They want to force these areas by playing that up tempo style for South Korea in front of a
Sufif's different roster at them now
It's a huge pit stop for them. They've retooled their look down with he's saying in Max joining the fray
This time though for these two young players coming in under much different circumstances, right?
Down one though having to turn around a series that has started in a way that you did not anticipate
I think Korea coming into this match had to be confident had to be thinking we've
righted the shift we've fixed all of our wrongs and fairness to their
flexibility there covering a very different look one that could be a
surprise between France.
We learned a lot from that game in Busan but that doesn't mean
France have just been sitting around twiddling their thumbs for a couple weeks
they've also made their own advancements so now we're here to take the
measure of them in verse three series. We're off to route 66 for South Korea on the attack
side and Crocs will get his Dmon mirror. Big test for Crocs here on the defense. France
they look amazing when they can take the fight to their opponent but on route 66 first
and be hard to get aggressive. Korea they look so ready when Crocs comes for those
speaks. Interesting that it's, you know, Max of the Demon win by all reports. South Korea had
Jun been really starting that role hard, but both of them had to pick it up to stay current,
stay modern. Oh! And there it is, Storker takes the head clean off Deep's shoulders. Just snaps him
off there. A critical shot to find without the tracer. So hard to keep this margin contention.
Objected margin forward and France struggling to avoid being grounded here on the defense.
This is so huge for simple fans as well because he is going to be chilling safe in that
Backline limited pressure there as crocs couldn't quite get to him. Keo there's got a pretty safe angle to play from here
Doesn't get the dynamite detonation find some extra damage on Max but crocs will also be slept up
Borsley thinking self back up and get back to work Max with a biomedes
He's trying to go quite deep but Chorong gets there with him and Keo is dealt with that ash as time goes on to be a real friend
She's been dealt with but dip has re-ed returned to the fight
Nano online for Syrian. He's gonna pop in here, go through the crunch. Crocs empowered, but it's already low. Korea still fighting bit even in the base of the ultimate.
Crocs was looking for a mega health pack and couldn't get it. The Nano ain't bad either, but he's even the buyer of basically straight away.
It means that the Nano music is no offensive value for France, and Korea get to keep dictating the tempo.
Salka, get a feed here with Taiti's own medicine with a sky-nood over the top there, and a hinderance grenade into the cat-napping FV door.
It could have been a problem with Stalker, just gets too deep there. That's dangerous!
Crocs are about to find two eliminations out of that, and South Korea make a key mistake just as they're ahead of the fight.
Looked so good for Korea. I thought for sure they could dive in and get the clean up, but Crocs had done so well
in the fight's previous to have a living break online, and he just cuts them in twain here.
Now it's time for Korea to come back in. Huge economy advantage. They've got to close out first point here.
Geo's got another safe spot.
It's done Bobby's deployed defensively, I'll suggest.
Jorong's down on a pulse bomb, though it doesn't seem to end up.
Frogs have come up in the goods regardless.
The stalker out of the fight is essentially no coming back.
And Geo's got to play that before aggressively to make sure Maxi's staggered out just long enough.
Valk starting to run dry.
But Trance have nothing left in the tank.
It was huge for them to catch Korea off guard in that last fight.
Actually gets a couple of key ultimates out.
But nonetheless, Korea coming back with a catnap,
Satsuri goes free, and even the limit break.
France somehow has to catch them off guard again.
Reign just fought for Zerion to be, and he's so far forward there!
Still has the trade, they're going to have to make sure that they don't lose anything for nothing.
Trong and Sylvester play back here, South Korea feel like that was a false start for them yet again.
So they'll just have Max play up on the corner and keep France the chance to get Zerion back.
This branch aggression it keeps reducing something from nothing. I mean you would have thought that would be impossible
Against this stalwart Korean team, but for answer doing the impossible so far
Oh, oh coach come for Kio is gonna get out of dodge pretty quickly
He's back to standing in a way of not today still comes at him
He has to contend with everything the captain have even committed to make sure they could execute the ash
Nothing one better flies his way into the back line. The stuff to Ricky's free extract cereal from the equation
France though are fighting on fumes, but that might be enough for them as Crocs doesn't need a whole lot to get the party started.
With a break through now, he was hoping for a mega health pack there, but it just doesn't appear what he needs it to.
Can't quite catch Lee Sang there as he's executed, and Faptoria finally break through.
DeGott gets one back, but the cart's so close to the finish.
Surely the Koreans can get it over the line now, but France, a massive hold for them running the clock, nearly bone dry on this first point.
Now we reset the table. I'll be it with a shorter time bank to South Korea
My eyes are on a Stein noon potential here for stalker. She was switched over towards the Cassidy
Neither Cassidy nor you know Ash has incredible mobility, but perhaps he feels like the great role combination might be what he needs to get on out
Cactus and avoid it. They don't make bullets like they used to Jake
incredible dodge and Nero has to come up from Keo in response though just holding
the position and the cock keeps moving forward the box over the top
couldn't get it on this back line. Now Max gets the nano, Zippel immediately
jocks his back, knows he's going to be under pressure after the fact, dip just
slips away though. Where is Max supposed to be? There's no found a target
room to find and the pulse bomb gets stuck now all of a sudden the tide
to turn against the demon. Keo's having a roll away could he avoid the
questing blade of Max? It's he saying that's the real problem though. Max will
Every top top return to the Carp of Crocs has been committing his own kind of deviousness in the back line of South Korea.
Fortunately, it just won't hold up against what we've seen.
The attack side here, have the momentum, Crocs is knocked out of mech, and eventually downed.
Can't help but feel mech, but this French squad, they just, they fly into chaos.
Korea are just trying to stabilize this match, playing the kind of controlled style that is the signature of this country.
But the French teams seem to have just figured something out about this mess.
still Korea stand the test one minute left a crucial fight in a very difficult
retake for team friend. It is a heavy toll that South Korea are having to front
to get into the map. Theo of the top this could be huge for the defenders just one
pick just one there it is! Salk it down! Oh he's right above simple a brilliant
sleek dart dazzling work but he is gonna pick himself back up looks like
Crocs joined up with the news but it's still fight to be had Max's had to
double back this is very disruptive for the attack is they're gonna have
to regroup off this.
Just getting out of that door can sometimes be a challenge, French do it once better.
Diving in deep sleep is out simple as a huge trouble.
Oh what a steal coming there for cross.
There would be a flashbang coming.
He's able to save it off comfortably.
This Sasserik is free.
What's an interesting decision for Pisa?
Tracer's off for his thing here.
He's gotta come for the OT touch.
Really?
Okay.
Max falls back.
Tracer in the mix now for South Korea just to keep them going.
This is not how they envisioned this series happening
France somehow look even stronger than they did on Busan
Dr. Down crocs stifles the crucial ultimate deal with the second and Fred
They're doing it here on second point
Yeah, no one from Axidoo the limit breaks are to come through and crocs triumphantly
Cut through the met could be some sit number here with a dead off in the high ground and France
complete a dazzling defensive hole
It is a shocker in Anaheim right now.
The Korean squad has to be reeling.
The signature aggression from France, what brought them that reverse sweep, surely Korea
thought they had solved the puzzle, reviewed the VODs, figured out just what they needed
to do, but clearly they're still looking for answers.
Crocs seemingly in total control of this match.
A winnable defense though for Korea.
Don't want to cut your chickens before they hatch against the squad with this kind of
firepower.
Two deaths for Crocs on defense.
The switch to Cassidy for Keo is on the money.
Couple of dead eyes and really even the playing field.
In fact give France a chance to squeeze South Korea for another map win.
Now we put South Korea in the ironic position of having to reverse sweep then to advance.
Here in the round a defense that feels freighted with meaning here for South Korea
You've got to stop the bleeding now. You cannot let France go up to zero here
To put your team at risk of potentially being out of gold medal contention
The drought has been too long for the Koreans to let that happen. They need to fight back here and now and
You have to start to wonder we'll that pressure get to them
This is a very different defensive look than we saw from South Korea against the United States.
They don't have the confidence to bring the Widow-Zen in, not in a tracer world.
So it's very much a standard composition.
Tracer-Kassidy, simple on the honor.
And Kio is insisting Kio on this Widow.
Pressure for Max, I suppose, is going to deny that deep defensive setup.
No attempt at a risky spawn camp here for Korea.
They choose to play the corner.
Two fights is all they'll have on this first point defense.
They need to make each one count.
For Branson, it's a difficult corner to turn.
No easy solutions here.
They've got to find a crack.
They do have a high ground to play off of though.
And Crocs is using his launching power potential
to get back behind the billboard.
And they got with Crocs in tow.
Now they're playing to the top of the girls.
And yes, Crocs will be willing to fight for it.
But only if Condition Seeker favored
to shield his crack.
The Mega-Helped back though
He's available to him gonna keep him in the fight for the time being now the one with the fight the many
Up with his head
Croc's I might lose his neck for this but it might have been worth it pressure on the back line now
Severely mitigated for France. It's not good cereal play a bit more aggressively a bit more impact fully give these bios
And yes that exact thing gets done simple for up the sprouts here still and max might be forced to play safe for the time being
He's saying a picture would change everything
He's hearing in trouble, sleepwalked by Mack, the limit breakers online.
Korean's looking for the clutch and Mack, maybe he's done enough.
Mack's out of mech, but that's still not bad.
The issue is, is that he, by spinny, has to bite, he's tired.
To get the suit back, he can't just charge off the map and have to walk all the way back into the frame.
He sinkles down.
I think he overextended there into Kyo's spot on that high ground, Jake.
Oh, this is terrifying. Power play for France.
Every ultimate in the tank, Korea need an absolute magic trick to break this one back.
one back. Stalker falls to the low, brown the sky. New cut.
Jim and Stalker is picked off again. There's no counterplay to it.
No one had a diva in the map.
Kio's making the malicious use of the absence of the defense matrix.
Maxi trying to play on the point, trying to avail himself of the health pack for the time.
He just doesn't line up for him. He's going to be forced out of that corner,
carved out of that defensive position. The counter comes online,
and Beturong in a pretty timely pulse bomb is shrugged up by Crocs.
He has the limit break to make sure he stays in there.
And a first defense that falls short of expectations.
A couple mistakes from South Korea here,
uncharacteristic of the pedigree of this team,
but we've been characterizing him as Wanton with his aggression.
But that was calculated.
He knows the reputation he's built for himself.
He's pulling massive aggression from the Koreans.
Pretty crucial 1v1 for stalking World 1.
No one else on France could intervene.
The small window made extensive use of.
Now the South Korea is settling to these defensive positions,
and in theory, get Stalker set up on a safe high ground,
close to the choke.
Three minutes 30 on the clock.
For France, that first gap is crucial,
but where do you go from here?
It's just after God's catnap.
Can it be hard to make use of sometimes
in these attacking scenarios?
France are now fighting the shade.
They serve themselves for that high ground,
but in the meantime, Max dies deep
to the back flight, Zerion, a party gift for the both.
Bionic Rage might not be enough there,
but Chorong's got a little bit too close to the sun.
Dips out and bring him down, and Max gets de-sunaed,
and all of a sudden, France bounce back after losing the first pick.
That is wild stuff.
Chorong just barrels too close to Max and gets caught.
That's collateral.
Korea, they try to take the fight to the opposition,
but France even was in one, they're ready for the counter punch.
Great peel from Crox and FDGar,
getting back into that front line brawl.
And now, only the slimmest of margins for Korea, and they're up against this guy.
And it's been there for the Achilles heel so far in this series.
Maybe the last fight of the map.
They're building in a big thanks themselves in terms of ultimates, though.
Can they hold off for two and a half minutes?
Gio starts this off with a sky noon.
It's more of a zoning one, I'll be honest, but Max has his shield broken straight away.
Goes for a limit break to try and stay in the fights area.
Under some pressure in the back, climbing falls.
Diplo finds a polecloth connection on the stalker, and the cast of the enemy game is huge.
Now, with impurity, Keo can go looking for these key targets.
Max though, what's the fight with Crox? He faked his a bit of Archie-Barchie.
The Crox backs up onto the Mega.
Max will also regroup here.
Both teams, gentlemen's agreement to back off to reset the lines of scrimmaging though again.
Crox is chopping it a bit to get this fight done, but a pole-squot might delay things.
Is that all mine?
Whoa!
It's free-hearted!
The most disgusting sleep I've ever seen stopped to get out in its tracks.
We talk about no counterplay.
Clearly they've not met Serium.
And with that disgusting display,
Drats are done now.
He's done with the Outlast, the Game.
You're going to get it, Mr. Serious.
Ah!
Who am I talking about now anymore?
Wow.
The question we were asking was, can they find a reverse sweep? Can they do that again?
Maybe it'll just be the sweep this time, bitch.
A completely shocking turn of events. Team France, come out with the vengeance.
It's not just the croc show. It's Kio showing up on map one. Huge finds from him on the Cassidy.
Syrian to close out Route 66 with one of the brightest individual moments we have seen in quite some time on the honor.
He fires off that sleep dart and fades back behind the billboard and is greeted by a hit marker.
Probably the most impactful hit marker of his entire career.
Five damage, Veg, but emotional damage cannot be calculated.
Maximum cannot be calculated.
This is a shell-shocked South Korea.
Sat there in the reality of what just got done to them.
There's war crimes.
Crocs with 12k damage.
3 deaths, he dies once on the attack side.
It was great to see his perspective on that first attack on first point.
Taking bigger walls, but you know the aggression, if it was wanted, if it was wild,
he would have been diving into that backline, overextending, getting punished,
but he just takes the peek, he threatens the possibility that he might go too deep,
pulls a massive response out of the South 3 and team, and then he falls back and stays alive.
For me, watching this, this is not the side of a player who knows only one style, has only one look.
To be honest, against South Korea, that would not take you far.
We discussed this in France's game against Australia yesterday.
It's that, even if France play into a demon mirror, in every exchange, they're always eating out just that little bit more value.
Even when Max in fairness was being proactive, looking to be the one that starts the fight, he finds the first pick.
first pick. He runs after Zerion, pick spot. Crox always seems to get more when he
himself heads for the opponent's backline. I know how do you win against that
War of Atricial when six times out of ten, Crox is getting more value than you in
so many of these fights. Max look good there, I think he has the right idea of
going after the correct targets. But there's a moment that Wachuron follows
Max into skits blown up by dip instantly. It's a really volatile game
When you have the jetpack in the fix the game conditions can change in a second. I'll never forget that
I don't think I've ever seen a sleep dart like that before. Oh, I don't think I'll ever see it again either
That is that is a thing of beauty reads the counter scrape from Choron
Now it is silent over there
They see that French team they see what's going on
at this point we've got to admit Mitch we have been underselling the French they
are so much more than we thought they could be pulling up a shocking upset in
Busan but frankly it was easy to call that a fluke a one-off maybe the
Koreans slipping up maybe with a bad meta read but here in a high at the
Overwatch World Cup in a game that holds the fate of the gold medal in
its hands. There can be no denying what the French have accomplished so far. 2-0.
Perhaps we are blinded by history because when it's come to the BlizzCon arena,
South Korea have always found another gear. They've always stepped up and in
France's case specifically, they've always beaten them in those matches of
consequence, in those elimination games, the medal matches. Now, if they want to
pull that off again. They will have to mirror, reciprocate the reverse sweep that
France dealt them in Busan and I'm gonna take a moment to be real. They don't
look like the kind of team right now that can do that.
And Mitch, we talked a lot about the Korean substitutions, the time it takes
to get a new player in. You know, as much as that stalls things out here
on the broadcast, for the players it's a long time to sit and think. And when
you're winning, we're talking about the enemy team must be suffering, wanting to get into
that next match, not able to. Now it's a self-inflicted wound for the Koreans, thinking about the
state that they find themselves in. As a player, that's almost the last thing you want to do
in a spot like this. You can't be thinking about the paths that came before, about
the distance that is ahead of you, should a reverse sweep be possible. It has to
be one map at a time, one moment at a time. You cannot get ahead of yourself
against an opponent that is proving themselves undeniable now in Team France.
And while the players have to be fixated on this moment, this next map,
we have to think about what's to come.
The way of this game moves into our grand final to take on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
France versus Saudi Arabia in a final?
I would have thought it impossible coming into this year of the World Cup.
these guys aren't just the fun whimsy team that likes to joke around and you know
hand-random reverse sweeps is our three are they're the real deal some of these
players not undiscovered but definitely not thrust into the spotlight the French
scene as well in Overwatch e-sports has had moments has had individual players
that have maybe been out of you know step into Ross's but as a collective
they've been like a good for top four team but in 2023 they got swept in
groups a horrific year for them Mitch when I woke up this morning I
I would have said, okay, France versus the king of Assad, Arabia. That's not looking good for them
But as we sit here to all in the series
I
Started to feel like that could be a competitive grand final the friendship figured something out in this meta
They've made it their own bending other teams to their will and
The Korea to ban Cassidy is remarkable
And so also, though, for the Frenchman and jet-back cap, a shot to me given how well FDGOT has been performing, how good the style has been for them.
It does beg the question about how you're supposed to derive maximum value out of Demon if we get it on this map.
It would be ridiculous if Croc simply opted into an Orisa mirror to try and win this series, or something similar.
something similar. But the Castile do think it's been a problem. These Sky Moons are virtually
uncannable, especially in games where D.Va's banned. Keo looks to be more comfortable there.
He did have a stint on the Ash on Route CCC. And it looked like he struggled a little bit,
but that was because there was a jetpack cap on the map, burying the demon and taking
the high ground. That's not going to be a factor here. So there might be a
chance to run that back, or do we just play a Soju Mirror?
A lot of unknowns coming into this next map with Kat off the field.
It feels like it changes everything.
That's why I'm so surprised to see it from Team France.
You know, you would have thought in a series like this, you don't want to change too much.
You kind of want to keep the momentum rolling, force Korea to be the team to respond and
change the narrative.
Have to imagine Lucio is going to come out and as good as FD God is in the Lucio,
it is Chorong on the other side of the field.
He's a player with one of the greatest categories ever in the main support role as an individual,
as a leader of hugely successful teams throughout many years of Overwatch, incredible veterans
he for him.
I think it's a bit of a gift to the Koreans to take Cat off the field here on Esperanza.
No Cat, no Cassidy, no Skynoon, high Jinx, no Nonsense, still.
It's a map where high ground is relatively scarce outside of that neutral zone in the middle part of the map.
That makes a question.
If France have the architecture to keep Crocs alive with this ridiculous healing throughput that dwarfs that of other teams at this event
and have him play the demon anyway.
Lobs the two buttery.
Gains two boot.
I see it over in three.
If France have got other plans.
But Korea I think they're gonna be quite happy to pull out this look especially in the support line
I think they they love to put their individualism on display, but for the French
It's gonna be all out aggression maybe more than we've even seen on the last two maps
This cop has no breaks
This cop also has pretty low healing throughput right tough to get burst heel on crocs off
He takes a face full of damage. It's difficult to
Remediate that in a pitch
or off to the races anyway.
In some centres, the Limit Break functions like a sound barrier.
Crocs should need it.
Lucina used against Polskos to keep him in neck.
Career though, yeah, very, very different look.
Stalker on the emerald.
And as Ana Wooyah promises, good poke.
Pretty high healing output.
Violet attempted it from simple, Crocs is already in trouble.
You can see how slowly that health bar is falling back up.
proxy to win these fights early they don't win with this conflict of war of
attrition he'll get one but the cost is high they lose cross back and Syrian
it's just clean up now for Korea max recognizes there's no one who could stand
in this way and a consequential first fight on a map where controlling this
critical high ground is often decisive even also when you got emra to
abuse like extensive use of that sustained damage output from a safe
Perch.
Yeah, it's just gonna get pretty annoying.
You've got a comp that, like I mentioned, doesn't do insane amounts of healing, even less now.
Kiri's off at a speed being reduced.
And you're constantly dealing with Chorong poking you down.
You're constantly dealing with Emra, tearing strips off you at range.
Frans have got a position very carefully.
And stay at a line of sight for as long as possible before they engage.
Croc's expecified him from that high ground.
But again, just can't really hang at length with Max.
We'll need to look elsewhere.
Is this push spot has really made his way through the underpass?
From my trade, almost not an option here.
Crocs struggling to stay in the mix.
Stalker taking the fight to him, and it's all Korea to feed.
Yeah, looking good.
Colescom there, unsuccessful foot dip.
Pizzerium knows the fight is essentially over.
He'd rather make a quick exit now and be done with it.
So this is South Korea.
They're looking at at least 60 meters of progress.
Potentially that checkpoint now,
France cannot answer quickly.
We have a Sierra switch up here for Keo.
Mitch, I gotta be just keeping a bug with you.
This comp is terrible.
What are they doing?
This, you know, playing range for Simple and Chorong,
you're some of the best players in the world and you're trying to gap-close with the Lucio speed, it feels outdated to me.
Zera has had an increase of projectile speed, even if the damage of each shot has been reduced slightly overall, it feels like far.
Max here, give him the right click, just Geo, find the first ball, we're going to connect that.
Kana Blast on the high ground though, and he's sent Chase's area on down, also got a stat on Geo, they all seem too easy for South Korea.
France have had one pick in this map, maybe more, but they've barely been on the left side of the kill feed.
I think you've got the right tallymatch, I mean, and this is wind in Korean sales here.
A team that was struggling in this series gets a new lease on life.
And for the branch, I mean, you've got a lot of time on the clock, there's a chance to run this one back,
and you have done towards your support ultimates.
Really the linchpin of the success of this style.
3 consecutive teamfight wins and yet just a singular death there for Stalker.
Sam, are you gonna be employed now by Francis? There's a nano on Stalker inside this override protocol.
Big damage here from South Korea and a cut through the overshield.
Like hot knife from Butter. Stalking here, bends off the assailants and moves back to the push bot.
There's another dominant fight for South Korea. Perub's disaster for France.
They're gonna clean this up or they should but they're even losing Crocs, Maxu, Stalker staying alive late
and they got massive push during the duration of the fight.
So for Korea, it's a back-and-forth trade,
but one in which the objective continues
to march forward for them.
So now, France, not used to this series,
have to fight from behind.
They stay on this sort of Sierra Juno look now.
Definitely, this Cassidy Jetpack explosion
is made to look pretty uncomfortable on this map.
That's a good pick, though, to make use of it.
She said, a little bit too close to
one of the most insane aimers. We've gone to French seat, it goes for a pulse there
and eventually a count for Max's next. This'll be some free real estate now for
France. They're working their way slowly but surely back into Esperanza. Gonna get
some progress on the back. Big expenditure of ultimates from South Korea in the
previous fight. The cost is significant now. Zerion holds on to the
Katsune rush. That crucial opening kill on he's saying actually traded with
significance in a match that was looking dangerous. William Pope continues to come
down as strong as close to another title blast. Crox though, we're going to be
attempting to fight for that high ground. The healing throughput's a bit better for
France now, as Juno sustained output. He's saying they're looking for a
chase title blast. It's not going to be effective in the end. Milose, he's saying
to go a little bit deeper, but a continued rush for Zerion might have been
octalated against this kind of thing. Max is down though. Crox might be
soon to follow as this shield cannot account for the pulse bomb. Zerion is
He's handled as Crooks is ejected.
MVP performance from Hisei in that fight.
It was looking so good for Team France,
but Hisei just creates so much opportunity.
Korea retakes control, not only of middle map,
but crucially of the high grounds
that let simple and Chorong really show
why this comp is so effective with Cat out of the mix.
Over to the soldier now for Keog.
Perhaps some more reliable mobility.
Instable potential off the rail gun.
It's been mystery heroes for France for most of this map.
Still plenty to play.
Four and a half minutes.
Once again, Crocs as usual fight themselves right at home,
looking all to Max.
A nice little Limit Break connection
there as he wants to search for the Max
and Nano-Boost to keep him fighting.
Fist.
He'll reassert dominance off that overpass
before looking once again for his opposite number.
All to play.
You're gonna play within this
because this could be a little bit tricky.
It's gonna limit France to the more
quality of the orbital ray,
but have been able to use it to get backs out of BIC.
Slowly calling into the map once more,
but it's a pretty expensive fight.
We saw rush shoes just earlier, right here.
And outside of that, France are clean behind the ears.
The healing throughput of the Juno
has honestly changed things quite significantly
for France.
We talked about that to open the map.
Now, France with more resources to work with,
and we see a little bit more of what
has put France at the top of that support leaderboard
in the heels per 10.
And the sustain is paying dividends,
But there's a long way to go to make the comeback here on this map.
High ground out for France as they push for this first checkpoint.
Hit themselves into a butt scratch as Max is on the wrong end of a pulse bomb ejected from Neck.
He says he's got one of his own but if I come a little bit too late, pulse out torpedoes!
From Neck, he's got one of his own but as a dirty slide off the pulse bomb
but it's too little and too late, we've hit that checkpoint.
France are continuing to move into the map.
He's saying though, earns his key, but Kyo on the Kira-ko takes all the bags out of this forward aggression.
France, gonna be hard for them to hold this forward position. They're trying to refuse the back down. It's a risky play though.
Just one pick. That's all they're looking for. But Crox is under a lot of pressure. It's gonna be now.
Kyo, up to the high ground. Gonna draw a B on Max. He's gonna charge straight.
And Max is big enough for him to shoot. Enti-God is down. Kyo found Chorong as well.
That is massive! Essentially a 2 for 1! And yet it's not enough!
The joyride connects with Kyo!
GTA virtually is... he's saying now we'll be able to handle Crocs.
There's some delay. But the bot will move back to the center of the map.
Tell me a while before France are full fight, ready to fight for it.
But this is progress. Back to the Lucio for France.
We'll have to see if this pays off.
Maybe offering a little bit more juice when it comes to the Katsune Rush.
For France, they have to get desperate now, though.
Korea in control with a significant pressure lead.
And honestly, another Nano built by Sympil.
He's been a heal bot this game, 17 heals.
Well ahead of anybody else in the server.
So what Max sort of do is he pleases yet again.
Oh my goodness!
He sank just, emerges in front of Zerion,
and he already had that right click held down for the boys.
Chorong's been picked up now.
Max be suited despite the Nano used in the fight.
simple cannot keep his front man in the fray respect on that you got the boot
one stalkers NATO spree actually critical there I believe that keeps
multiple players alive a tiny detail but it makes all the difference in the
world the French need to keep their numbers alive this is gonna be there
maybe their last best chance with 90 seconds on the clock forward spawn
re-achieve though for France thanks reinforcements that much easier
Limbrake on Krox as strong as lanking on Woo-Yang, yes, he's looking to try and work his way in from the side,
and France are already struggling in this part of the map. Can't get a foothold.
Max's dealt with sure, but that was an acceptable loss for South Korea.
France get run, rush shot over, and Krox may go be staggered.
Korea just refuses to back down and take a defensive posture, dominating the map control without Woo-Yang flank.
He's saying finding so much France needs to get a cheeky fight out here
Looks like Roxas
Absolutely dirty
Kiyoko out by a well done and France gonna have to back away the sustained damage output has been extremely compromised
And they're gonna have one more chance to make a clean sheet from South Korea
He's saying he's been worth his weight in gold this series
Now in this map coming live with some miracle kills
It's seemingly necessary given the resurgence of this French team.
Here, pick off yet again. No idea. Little break here for Crocs.
He's got to capitalize. Max under extreme pressure.
But the way it comes out from the woo-young here, and Crocs is realizing, I think,
that he can't push any further forward.
He was deeply committed. Can fall away from this now,
but he needs to be able to keep overtime going.
And that's just too dangerous. Here's a Tata blast now for Heeksang.
This could be devastating. A knock down on Crocs.
After the sleep, Broke and Bailey played the game.
hands off the keyboard but not in the way quacks normally would like.
As fans crumbled here, the final hurdle proved to be just a little too high for them for the time being.
Weird comps on Esperanto and South Korea capitalized and carved a niche out in this series.
Mitch, it's just one map. It's just one map. There's a long way to go for the reverse sweep.
This is South Korea.
Players were talking, they've been real quiet on the cams of the post game in these last two
and now it's all possible. One is infinitely more than zero.
Grim determination on their faces. They're thinking about map 4 and map 5 as well.
This one may have started with a bit of a stop, a bit of a roll from France.
It feels like things have changed with this map win.
The difficulty with having to reverse with your opponent is that you eventually run out of impactful bans or so it feels.
There's only so many axes that you can target the cat-cassity look from.
France have obviously made great use of those in this series, but honestly look, Jake, on a psychological level, this has got to feel good for South Korea.
Chorong as well with a disgusting amount of damage output over the course of this map.
Chorong is right up there with Matt's and Stalker on damage. Just pure damage stat.
I mean, the Mooyang getting so much done, those title blasts on Heesang, allowing him to really have free raid.
So many punches from Heesang. I feel like you can't take this guy out anymore.
Like what he just showed on this map. He came alive for the team when, frankly, Tull3 had needed a hero.
They needed somebody to make the difference. And for the French, I look at his comp.
This is this is rough like this does not respond well to what we are bringing
The Lucio just can't quite close the distance on a map that is so long range
Well, we're gonna look back on this jetpack cat fam and if you're a french fan
You're gonna feel like it might have been a mistake. You've got a lease charm
Let it move over towards this rule on here in fairness
It's a map that really plays into his kit and yes
We've got needs to be constantly doing damage in order to empower his passive healing component
But still 7.6 K is a little excessive. They can't be letting that happen. And if we're trying to play
Alucio cherry you pop into that where your opponent has a third DPS
Not remotely enough
Just go margin fairer, you know once Crocs takes that first burst of damage
It's hard to bring him back into the fight and that's been so successful 14 France
The French are going to take us to New Junk City for map 4.
For me, this is the best chance to close out the series.
If Korea can pick up another, the momentum is fully left for French.
You got to win here, you got to win now.
New Junk City was the inflection point.
In the series between these teams in Busan,
it was the third map up until then South Korea had been taking France to task.
Something happened on New Junk City.
It was a 3-2 in terms of Flashpoint, a very close affair.
And I do think that moving over this map likely will necessitate.
You guessed it, some substitutions here from Team South Korea.
Makes sense to me actually, to be honest.
Coming into New York City feels like something like the Vendetta,
the Sanjin has been so comfortable on.
Opportunities for Chunmin to come in and play these aggressive frontliners.
They are theoretically quite strong on this map.
It's also scary to be pulling in players when you're just trying to put together a verse sweep
But for South Korea, they've refused to back down from this ideal that not only do they have five incredible players world-class talents who can
Charge towards that gold medal. They have 10 20 30
I mean how many Korean players could really be confidently standing on this stage more than just about any other nation in the world
And that's an easy sell
If you're like such an appropriate
Fights off for a semi-final
coming into this game 46 maps have been played between France and South Korea in
their World Cup campaigns every single map obviously lost by one another it's
to the team in front of them it feels like it a very appropriate conclusion a
way to cap off this really strange rivalry again a rivalry that sort of
existed in the sense that South Korea win the Metal Games France picked
them in groups get our hopes up and then have faulted in the past this
The series has started unlike any other from France.
They get off to the races early.
I want to throw it back to my desk, right?
So he's a Francophile.
So she loves France.
She is a 3-0 South Korea predictor.
Even though South Korea where beat was swept,
by France it would be something to believe is
that these guys never underestimate opponent twice.
They never get beat down the same way twice.
And it was true today.
They got beat down even worse
at the start of the series.
So for them to come back is gonna take a level of grit,
a level of, honestly, psychological solidity
that in the past many South Korean teams
haven't had to draw upon, haven't had to display.
And certainly not in their run in this tournament.
The world of Overwatch has changed dramatically
from all those years ago.
Here in this World Cup in 2026,
so many more countries have fielded
truly impressive competitive rosters,
Even nations for whom the professional scene isn't a common expectation.
Players have risen to the call of this moment.
A lot of young guns on Team France.
A win here would, it's fair to say change their careers,
change the rest of their life perhaps.
Certainly as it pertains to the Overwatch universe.
World Cup has been a huge turning point for
many players over the history of competitive Overwatch.
Even the best coaches with the best scouts can't always canvas
the more far-flung regions of the world, even France,
even though it's pretty ubiquitous
in the world of Overwatch,
we're still seeing a number of these players
being thrust into spotlights
they'd never thought to command.
But I mean, one of the examples I use all the time
is back in 2016, Team Thailand features a player
called Mickey who is very charismatic
but also incredible at the game.
He ends up in that first cadre
of Overwatch League players,
makes a real name for himself early on.
And if not for that World Cup performance,
if not for the chance
to show himself on the world stage.
That would never have happened.
And he's not the only one.
Damage mitigated per 10.
Here's a leaderboard on which it's the Koreans
taking the top slots.
I mean, Max earning his subs in here.
Junbin as well.
Incredible blocking from them,
but look who's just a hair behind here.
How is he, yeah.
Obviously this stat can be misleading
Because if you get your cheese clapped, sometimes you're going to have a lot of damage mitigated
because you're taking a lot of damage in general.
And the fact that Crocs is on this list, sorry I'm making this about the Frenchman, even though
the South Koreans are at the top of that list, but having such an impressive damage mitigation
number while also being able to be such a damage threat as well is a tough balance to strike
as a demon player.
I mean it means that you are striking the balance.
Go too far, die quickly, you're not going to have impressive stats in this regard.
It's those players who pulled the absolute maximum attention to themselves who lead the
team, taking those risks perfectly calculated and yet staying alive to tell the tale.
We've seen that from Crocs many times in this tournament, despite his incredible ability
to find those windows for aggression, he's also shown in this series, especially in
those first two maps, that he can make those reads with near perfect accuracy
backing down at just the right moment pulling just enough attention to himself and yet somehow making it back to those trustworthy supports and the French open with the Maga band.
I love this. We've seen this be for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Team USA.
Be a go to a hero that in theory could have a good response to the demon.
And this time it's Korea's turn to ban out the cap really does call into question.
the choices on that last map because now really I think they're very happy to be
slowing down the mobility for Crocs. We've seen how good him and FD guard are
together. Yeah very curious decision in that pretty
new map. It's out for Ria to play a series with one more get-packed cat band and
the otherwise would have expected. Subbed come before bands. So Frantz are
informed that Junbin is coming back in. They can choose to target his hero Paul.
A potent tool considering that Junbin and Max are subbed out basically
because of that specialist status. But at Magus Band, a risk is always an option.
We've seen from Macha played on this map pretty extensively.
Demon is still on the table. We saw Max play it on Route 66. But like I said,
that all the interviews that Team South Korea came said, now, Jim Ben-Town, Demon guy,
you know, he after that loss, he extensively studied the hero, got in the lab, so to speak.
and then you have three outings for FD God. We talked about this a lot and yeah at this point there's not many people that can boast the same thing. He has seen every era of French national overwatch. In 2019, he beats our career in the group stage.
They got swept in the bronze
match. 2023, France were a
factor, but they never really made the impact. Not like this team could.
But the desk was saying, we used to, we talked about FD Goddess of Rookie. Young, hot-headed,
aggressive, all in. We watched him grow up in this game.
We watched him mature as a player and also now someone who takes
on a leadership role, a veteran voice on the team. He's kind of seen it all.
voice that's critically needed in a moment like this. You came in with such
incredible momentum and for an aggressive team, that's the perfect
kind of high to be riding towards a victory. But when you get stopped in your
tracks like what happened on map three, it takes a veteran presence to try to
retain that confidence, to try to rekindle the fire that brought you
already and still so close to a series victory, so close to an appearance
in the gold medal match, a high watermark for your nation,
for the family assuredly watching with pride from home.
And yet the opponent sitting across the board,
however the score, baby favors France for now, up against South Korea.
You can take nothing for granted.
You must earn every single moment.
If you are joining us over at the Play Overwatch Channel,
come join us at Overwatch Underscore Esports,
O.W.U.S.Sport eSports to continue journeying along with us here as the
playable channel is heading over the quest watch in the interim. Stick with us
the courses we are just around the corner for what could be the final map in
this series but the Jetpack Cat Band certainly raises questions. It means that
we don't see these Sky Noons being abused as aggressively by Keo. It also
means that Crocs has to do a little bit more legwork and I mean that
literally to actually get into the fray to find purchase on these backlines.
But that doesn't mean that five will feed to Jetpack Cat one way or another.
It really calls the tank pick into question here.
DeNan is available, but so far we've seen her so often in coordination with Jetpack Cat,
fitting in incredibly well to that style.
But how well does she function on a region city without that vertical mobility,
which is really what she's missing in her kit.
Right, her critical weakness that is in some ways solved by the Cat.
maybe a straightforward rush here or here but for the Koreans I think they're
gonna be happy with anything that forces the French out of their comfort zone
that forces them to go deeper into the snow pool because in that regard the
veterans you know the Korean squad has to give them yet. France are on the
precipice of going further going deeper into a world cup than ever before
Team South Korea come here with the expectation that they would be amongst these teams.
The expectation that stand amongst the podium, perhaps many of their fans thinking it was only right for them to stand at the top.
The front stand of their way with a one map difference.
New junk city beckons.
The site where it all began in Prussia where France slowly rested control of the series back into their favour.
And now they wish to use the map as a springboard into our grand final.
Chorong, here's performance from him on the previous map, rolling out with Wooyoung again.
What can he produce from this support wall for the French?
They have to catch these Koreans off guard.
They have to take the fight to the opponent.
We have Wooyoung again for Chorong.
It's after me a lot that we're able to get out of this player and hear a combination
of these Barats where they're going to lean into it again.
It carries its own vulnerabilities though.
Alliance would look to exploit that if they can. They're on a QV Lucio backlight, so they will be susceptible to sustained poke damage.
Francois, quick fights in and out. Punch in, punch out, honest work.
South Korea want to drag it out, make it excruciating, and eventually win the war at Trishin.
Great rotations from Team France, but now Jutman in on the backlight. It's the branch who fights for his blood.
But Jutman, without a jetpack out of his own, is in no man's land. There's so much of that engagement, and still, the blade drinks blood.
Croft's now de-suited. Well, drag's jumping down to his level.
And behind all of this, France are able to get the first point cap.
The French in these closer quarters.
Luccio Curey able to fight much more effectively.
A tough first point.
14-South Korea, but this is a confidence scale as well
into the surrounding points of the map.
So for Team France, it feels like he must win start the new junk city.
drunk here again operating is a bit of a soul trader on the map
Crox is aware of Junji but doesn't seem to want to fight him, he's looking for something else
A backliner? Yep, he'd love to disrespect Junji if he can
but he dals back and takes the fight
Kyo's big damage, look at how his health bar on South Korea suffer
He's a limit break from Junji, they claim their D-Coff, but it's gonna take more than that
Fortunately, Sojun delivers on the Tracer, finding his second kill off the fight
Krox are down to dip and Krox alone and the latter needs to patching up.
A lot more health here on Korea, Krox making his final stand to keep him getting low.
He's leaving a limbrake, deep stretch to the fight.
Jodbit does get desuited but Krox is low on health, that's still an issue.
Krox have also stored out long enough now that they need to win the fight to claim the flashpoint.
Krox is ultimately desuited.
It's a big commitment of an ultimate to keep him relevant in the 5 minutes.
Chorong falling after he got up to his own tricks.
What does it again?
The Kunai Lobotomy!
The last France to win the fightouts.
Sonjun is dangerous but puts to bed.
And it's a 1-0 score line.
Both teams looking for the clutch.
It's Korea.
Come out the loser here on that first blast.
Might now have some more space to work with though.
It's Hufford Test for Team France.
It's FD God's sound barrier that has to be perfectly played here.
Korea with a few defensive tools if their backline is compromised.
Jumping on the pressure, who's gonna help the guys?
Sander and Alpha France to let them go that much further.
Sorka stays off the trace with some rail gun shots, but Junbin is completely besieged.
Look, D-mon to start the fight.
Korea still want to commit to this, but that seems inadvisable.
Tidal Blast knocked down, looking for Efti, got unfounded, but Soobjun can't stay in this fight.
Korea a spectator to start the next Flashpoint 2.
fighting their footing back with some signature aggression showing that they
may not need the cat to make their style work and once again what's range
aggression this time to catch a saunscher in off guard this configuration of
South Korea doesn't look comfortable in fact they look shaky Junbin's positioning
is looked at all with the rest of South Korea and France are making that
worse by being decisive taking fights and driving a wedge between their front
and backlights they're already half-weight with a second flashpoint
Closing out the series here feels more than possible now for the French.
Jürgen been trying to get in, pulling the tension through himself, but see France laser focused on this enemy backline.
They're doing this with a Kimi-Muccio setup. It's beyond counter-action.
Sasterich is free, claims one at least. Kyo eventually brought down, but Stalker out of the mix is a big blow.
Mal, dips steps up to the plate, tries to pressure.
FD got past Fallen. That's simple with the Nannabuse for Jürgen letting him go further than from Ford.
But France have already good enough to 94% they're okay with this exchange. In fact, they're trying to get Korea to commit more
I'm the rush from Syria going all the way through the break as well. France going through a wild clutching with this one Korea
Maybe they didn't see it coming with the reaction solid so far. Crocs is a life-threat they've been able to get him back to safety
They're gonna keep him up and that's gonna take time. Crocs is still low
Sonjun finds Kyo across the map. It's an easy pick off the healing resources of France are being
tested to their very limits here. It's hard enough to look at that is that a
hubris from Team France that was a fight they had no business retaking on. They
go for the rush, they go for the limit break and in the end what did they get?
They already had 99%. This doesn't move the needle for them. It just drains the
resources for Korea. Another gift, another chance back into this map and
into the match overall. title-blast for Chorongmin. Sundryun can get deep
here and find a big knockdown might not be necessary though because he already
accounts for dip that is a straight up one versus one Zanjin getting comfortable
on the server now looking to turn the tables on the French
Junbin taking a bit of progression but just holding space for these deadly
supports in the backline that's two nanos built in two fights for simple
Junbin's gonna get it yet again gets his shamaness off to the races
XT got once the pressure, Cholo in the back line, he has the time to blast himself.
Ah, how I missed you.
Oh, XT going back in the flesh.
Stalker finds him in a rail gun and punishes that aggression.
Pardon, Jeff, for Depp. One that he is eager to return, but...
And off to be the next fight. Korea, pick up a flashpoint and...
For Team France, any mistake is costly.
pretty enlightening exchange there on that second flashpoint. France have to bring the Juno into the mix.
They also go on the door to Bastion. Pospetio, a rather dip, doesn't find connection.
Jumping, being forced to fight for space in the choke in Kyo now.
Gets in a wheels mode to stave off the demon. A little suspicious of this Bastion.
Good match of the soldier and the backlight supports from Korea.
Okay, Limber Break game, you, Zerion, staying safe off of that high ground as Crocs is doused
with a Biotic Grenade.
Franco over to Backway, but it's gonna flip with a point quite yet.
So the high ground is in his power flow as otherwise it would be.
It's a safe place, sure, but it doesn't advance your game plan.
Crocs, he's Jim Bin, some free poke here with a burst outshot.
And now out of the back line he goes. Pressure is on.
Limber Break, an option.
Oh!
Interrupting! Krux put to sleep that D-Mec is key on false to Sgt. Polskom!
South Korea are putting the pieces together!
Oh, skinball. Holding that sleep dart was amazing.
Were they still?
Lose a suit for Jun, Big Butt.
In exchange, they're getting some significant stagger to kill Sgt.
He even denies the escape from Syria with love and additional fine on the FD god Majuno.
A little too slippery and stalker. Oversteps the mark.
Finally an opening here from France.
The question of whether it can be exploited or not remains.
Jumin's out of med though for the foreseeable.
Frans about window, but they've got to make use of it now.
Spirming it up so fast, giving it back into the suit for the fight.
Artillery straight, cold comfort in a fight such as this,
and Kyo, focusing on the frontline pressure for now.
There's the wields mode, forced out by Jumin.
He doubled back to the rest of his team as Choron keeps the pressure on via this poke damage.
Tidal Blast also dispensed, this one for Jumin.
He goes deep, looking for the Bastion Kyo, though knocked knocked over.
Choron keeps him standing, Zerion falls back, flip-step,
not available by the looks of things, and somehow he's still alive!
Still, France is struggling, bleeding out, there's health bars are low,
and if he goes over to Wraith, could be crucial!
Choron though eventually is found, France bend, but they don't break!
And they'll get their chance to get a second flashpoint themselves.
And in contrast to the previous flashpoint, it's a phenomenal decision regarding the ultimate economy.
They hold onto their DPS ults, they've got a rush as well in tow.
Oh, now it's time for the Koreans to siege this defensive position for France.
Little low on tours, Sanjoon's Portman could be huge, but it could just as easily go by the wayside.
Artillery barrage here for Kyo.
Korea might be trying to starve them out. Draw these ultimates away from them.
But respect the Artillery barrage here. Let Kyo create that bit of space.
Holds under each of those border shells. Just long enough that South Korea have to give every extra bit of percentage.
Oh, you've got to get those.
Sif was able to fall back around the corner on back safety.
Dremben is in there like swim there with a limber break to boot.
Bill Swing and Keo will collapse.
Franza down to three.
Nazarian does commit a continue rush to the final.
Cox is going to go deep with a limber break of his own.
Suzy Biserian trying to stay alive, but he is cut into.
Stalker's found by Crox. He's going to double back to the point now.
Tartaria down to just four players, but still very much in fighting shape.
Crocs has been de-metted. It should be a simple task for South Korea to get within striking distance of their second map in this series.
Geo-Jun Issue will be respected, but eventually, we'll capitulate to.
Simple, providing overwatch from range here, makes this fight my unreadable war of the French.
And Korea will close it out on the cusp now of forcing a map 5 of threatening a storybook revenge.
There's no way.
reverse sweep or reverse sweep it's starting to feel like destiny. Not even Shonda Rhymes
would have dared write this kind of storyline. Here comes our Korea. Pulse bomb, with Ingrasp,
Versongian. Round start with point priority here. You'll notice here that these demons
trying to get towards back lines at the top of the map. Jumb is going to find his
way into just a moment but Crocs has already struck gold. Anyhow he'll find another
the backline had nothing to do.
The most powerful heroes ever to touch down in Overwatch,
Crop shows us how good she can be!
That's Sohnjin! Headbuttable at mid-flight!
That's a big fine for Crocs.
Sohnjin and Chobon were able to stay alive in that position.
They can continue providing a lot of resource.
Now Chobon alone is just going to be run down by Crocs.
Give him an inch and he takes a mile.
Better enhance your Crocs, looking comfortable.
That's a kilometer to you, sir
Limba break here on deck
Hey, Proxel continue to take liberties. Jinbin might have to double back and respond but that leaves opening one click
Felt like we were getting there
Sutton spends the recall though will take a backseat for a moment
Kind of last now. Sutton can go that much deeper. Polspot should be an easy stick here
But he finds himself in the open and Kyo's having to find him. Deep power, but got great use out of his Polspot
France now heartening towards that Magic 100 to take us to a decided flashpoint.
Finding a bit of momentum now.
It's been the textbook.
Four clocks. Now he's getting low, getting punished for the back to the sports he goes.
The bin, they're going to keep him in back. They've got another woman yet, simple.
Let's it go straight away.
There wasn't a limit break available to jump in, but he's going to save that for a rainy day.
It might be about now because Cox has done it yet again.
He's got him in the cookie jar and no one can stop him.
No healing left for South Korea.
This seems impossible for them to avert. They get a flip. It is just Junbin
sat on the point as his team has cut out under him.
So Junbo's coming back into the fight. He always handled that. Crox though quickly snaps to attention.
Frasky tests in the point and Crox will gun Jun down. Junbin now forced to fight for his face.
He actually back-cast earlier. Limit break comes through but that over shield has cut through rather fast as well.
Five out for Frask. Kitsune Ross now being committed to the fight.
Krox has put to sleep somehow, it's that ultimate, jump enough, can fight, he can look for the backline, shield is strong enough though and he will be surrounded, it's a de-shoot.
Fran's in control of the point, Krox has to give up, he's back as well, but Xerion gets into the fray and deals with a de-shoot, it's Fran's back in the game, backlit in striking distance as they snatch the flash point away.
Korea showing that you can battle them, but they will not give up until the bitter end
But it's come to that niche a decisive flash point
What's called upon here for both teams for the French a way to here ends the series puts you in gold metal contention
and for Korea a
Fall to the third place match almost unimaginable for a team of their strength
to start with your overclocking. K.O. has done it!
Torum taking down another brilliant start. A dream beginning Keeper France.
One at the side of Flashpoint.
Junbin is pursued by Royal Gun Shops. He'll be de-mechanced and forced to make a quick exit to avoid this stagger.
This is still the perfect beginning for Team France, especially in a fight where they're still building up their support ultimates.
It feels so free.
Pulse Bomb V title blast, playmaking ultimates. Which tracer can find more?
For the French, though, but Boc is now in their favor, holding that point control.
Don't get isolated. Don't get the benefit of the title blast. Takes it to Crocs.
Crocs not knocked down though. Didn't get a trans-circle, but another Pulse Bomb, and now Boc is slapped up.
That is an on-the-face indeed.
Chorong somehow stays alive. As simple as just pumping him with those heels.
Thron's gonna have to give up the points here, whichever way you slice it.
That was a brutal fight for them.
This map has been night lawless from Simple. I mean, an honor performance for the ages.
And one that feels necessary given how close the match remains.
For Korea, they need a win to stay alive here.
But in point control, Miss Ana, the Luoyang can really dig their heels in and play the space comfortably.
Jorong's having another map where he's putting out DPS level numbers in terms of damage.
There's that nano foot jump in, since we've been building him constantly, there's just no escape.
You think? How did Kira get out? What a slide.
Jorong doesn't want to sort of pursue him, but he gives the orbital ray out.
That's a good result for France.
Neeson might get a good shot now.
Now Stalker's having to jump away from the limo break though.
his dip is dealt with yet again having a dark spot here on this tracer and if I
be too late to save the map now my process to offer is
even though that was named even crooks cost him a long enough in South Korea
and determined to give us maximum of watching this semi-final
Korea they split across the map they know dip has to touch for this
overtime and he's already been found getting they can know it'll be
exact opposite so far. You need to win three maps to win the reverse sweep.
Sartorye though have gotten themselves in position to do the unthinkable.
I mean what an embarrassment of riches in the Flex DPS department for Korea.
Kisang and Saonjin going blow for blow band for band in this series putting
back-to-back map wins brick by brick building towards a reverse sweep and to
be the team coming into that map five with momentum yes impactful bands may be
off the field but it's undeniable the change in vibes the emotional tenor
for this Korean team as they look now hunting for the win rather than trying
to escape that loss. Jake there is a certain pachyderm in the room that
That needs to be addressed.
Sanjun has the lowest deaths on his team with seven.
Has a great tracing game in general.
Dip dies 12 times on the tracer, gets exploited,
ends up having a really tough map,
one in which he cannot express himself
to the level we've seen over the course of the series.
The pulse bombs weren't hitting.
In fairness, he didn't have the title,
the title blast help, but he struggles,
gets caught out in the open, gets slept.
It's just top level play from players like Simple
Chorong that makes it so difficult for Dick, whereas Saundred gets to spread his legs, spread
his wings and cause a heck of a lot of headaches.
Geo, still firing on all cylinders this map, but I think it's only fair to talk about the challenges
that he faced in that map. I mean Saundred found him first in the 1v1 way too many times in this map,
way too many opportunities created for a South Korean team that needs little advantage to close out these fights.
And now the series the pass it fades away. There's only one more map left to play one that will decide the fate of these teams
Every time we spoke with our French players in the lead up to this tournament, they were convinced there wasn't just bravado
I'm certain it wasn't just for show
Coming out of boost arm
They truly believe that they would be the next team to hold the World Cup trophy aloft, but now
Now the doubt starts to creep in
All that bluff and bluster you walked into the arena with there's been enough time for
that to dissipate.
It's been enough of a drought since a map win.
You start to question whether this really is the series belonging to you as you claimed
it.
A hugely consequential decision right now between these two young men who will be
the ones to carry the flag into a map five that can either live on in vaunted memory
or the one that you remember all too often as you go to sleep.
It's after a 2026 defined by a reverse sweep loss in groups, into a failed reverse sweep
at the World Cup itself, well, I think that would leave a scar that on a cold day would
certainly twinge many years into the future.
And it wouldn't be a Team South Korea series if it weren't wholesale retooling the team
in between every map.
Looks like Son Jun and Jun Bin are stepping aside.
Team France, it is map five, but they will have map pick control.
They will be able to set the tenor with fans.
However, the banning against Korea, how much mileage does that really give you, right?
You will see Max coming in, knowing, okay, maybe you can attack that hero,
but the D.Va is protected now, crucially, right? You used that for the win on Route 66.
Well worth it, right? You can't argue with a map win, but on Ikevall it's a very relevant pick,
one that could be highly consequential. By the same token, is there any other map where the
Cassidy and the Cat can do more? I think that Korea has to mirror that. I really, we need to see
a big game out of Stalker because Keo for me has been the better Cassidy in this series.
Stalker may be showing more depth down the stretch, feeling very comfortable on options
like the Emory and the soldier, but Kio's Cassidy on the eye test is more than those
finals. He's producing kills of a singular variety, right? Head shots out of the sky.
Those are few and far between for many other players, not for Kio in this series.
And he's been doing it honestly the whole time out here in Anaheim in the matchup against
Australia where Kuffa was basically filling up 85% of his monitor for the whole game.
He was still able to find elimination, still at least trade his life, even when
and a demon was barreling straight towards him.
Team France had to hold on, try and land the plane,
but all of a sudden, things are getting a little shaky.
Still plenty of energy and the French continued,
no, it's great to hear, but we're being reminded now
exactly why no one wants to count South Korea out.
Exactly why our desk all felt that even though
they were beat in Busan, they would come back
with a vengeance, but I'm not sure if we expected them
have to dig so deep yet again. This time they do it with the knowledge of they know exactly who
this French team are. They faced it once, they approached this game with respect, maybe some
degree of reverence, alleged appropriate for a top four stage at the World Cup. And they are having
to use seven players to answer this tour de force, this French outfit. So far in these last
couple of maps they've had the answers. What I wanted to raise is again, I brought it up
early in the series. In order to reverse with your opponents to win a map 5, you have to do it
without access to bans that let you attack your enemy's strengths. You don't have a cat bait anymore.
You can't go after the demon. Cassidy, forget about it. Those aren't options. So now France don't
have to deal with the wars of trying to play a Lucio-Kiri backline and struggle against
Pope-Coms. Need to win fast fights, have to take bigger risks, have less of a buffer
to come back after, you know, taking big burst damage or losing a player.
Frans at least get to go out of this game one way or another playing what got him here in the first
place without outside interference, without bans compromising their ability to play their game.
Conversely, could say the same for the South Korea team. They got one chance. They put their
best foot forward. They show us the very best of the undeniably best region in Overwatch ever
since 2016. They get to make their statement and say we still belong in the head of the
table. We belong in that top two game. We deserve a crack at Saudi Arabia. A team that
evaded them in 2023. They never really got to have that grand finals match up against them.
In fact, they languished in a third, fourth place game where Finland went to town on them.
It's more recycling. Don't ask too many questions. Just take it as it comes. This board is freighted
with meaning, Jake. We really need to see Junker Queen coming on that fight. I mean.
Well, Winston, nice to see you in Australia. Good to see you in Australia in the top
I can't be the only one, man.
France made sure of that.
Both these teams were squeaky clean
against everybody else in the competition.
And again, they're pitted against the only team to take maps off them,
and they're doing it again.
He's one of the few members who doesn't come in now
who has called upon to show up in every map,
map, who's been through the losses, now on the wins, on the way back to this map five.
Hard to imagine more pressure on a hits game role that is star studded with talent in this
day and age.
I mean what players can do at this level of competition, it beggars belief.
And for Stalker he's called upon to show no less than perfection in this final map.
We talked about this often, but for the Korean squad the gold medal is the standard.
It is the expectation. those stars over the flag.
They don't give those out for free.
Those are earned blood, sweat and tears.
And of course over long periods of time,
10 years of overwatching sports.
We're celebrating that with you.
We don't make up mythic skim.
Certainly one of the most iconic heroes in that early era
of the heroes responsible for some of the most
astounding moments in overwatching sports.
Perhaps though that sports can take you by honor.
what we saw on Route 66, but hit that QR code and check out the boy dancer.
Widowmaker's skin looks fantastic. The right way to celebrate.
We've been doing this for 10 years, man. You as a player, then as a caster.
Ten years, Mitch. A decade of our lives and I gotta be honest, standing here today
wouldn't rather be anywhere else in the world right now.
It's around about a gang we love, people we enjoy.
But I beg you, if you come up and say hi, don't tell me you've been
watching me since you were a kid. I feel old and confused.
I like to think I've been doing this for two, three years, Max. Max. The lines on my face
tell me otherwise, but I like to think if you live and breathe e-sports, you haven't
aged a day since 2016. I'll tell you that to your face. I'll lie to you if you want.
When you start cast playing Soldier 76, that's when you know you're in trouble. So I've
Now, good questions.
Well, I've got one, really.
Who in this room thinks that Frats are getting all the way
and step into the grand final here in Anaheim?
Make some noise.
There's believers in the heartbreak.
Good be done.
And there's one thing more satisfying than the reverse
is it's the heartbreaker to stifle that reverse suite,
finish it in the fifth.
But, who in this room feels like South Korea
will return to the throne they carved out in 2016
and he's South Korea fans in the room.
There is a reason they have been an institution
in overwatching sports since its inception.
And the fans have turned up in force today.
It's great to see we are moments away from our Kiro bands
here in this last map of the series.
We've come to a fork in the road.
Only one of these great teams walks out of this match
in the grand final against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Iconvolder will be our final battlefield
in honor of our first ban.
Got to put some respect on simple's name.
That sleep on Crox's limit break in the last map.
Oh yeah, they're gonna respond by taking out the Eressa.
Crox was masterful piloting that.
And it does limit some of your options
on that first point where Eressa
can really close the gap,
swing those corners with huge threat potential. Still, feels like cold comfort, right? We more
or less know what to expect out of Team France. It's Team Korea who need to show us the right
adaptations to get us through. And I can wall the map with twists and turns, recently reworked.
Hard to think of a better battleground here for these young players, these newest generation
of Overwatch talent to show us just what they can do under the lights.
The path to the podium is fraught with pitfalls, tracks for the unwary.
And South Korea, if they want to make their way there yet again,
are going to have to show us that they can beat the best look from Team France.
They can beat the Cat Cassidy, the Demon. You name it.
France have access to their full suite of tools to try and deny avert Stifle.
This reverse suite from South Korea.
not a position they often find themselves in.
That's what the scoreboard reads.
Arisa and Arnavain, South Korea set up a defense here
with the diva in their composition.
Gonna try and play this defensively, but with the bastion and the cacity
that is a monstrous amount of DPS throughput
for Crocs to have to worry about. He's managed it well through the
course of this series, but perhaps a new level of
challenge and with Max on the other side it won't be a
comfortable mirror. It'll be one in which France have to take the aggression. They have to find the
kills because the clock in these long fights will be against them. Straight away. France has signed
themselves to the bridge over the Overpass. They're lying South Korea, the chance to push up under it,
but they've got the flexibility of Max, who cannot afford to fight Crocs, but any length of time.
Not a matchup team is going to win here. And Zarian just naturally is about a Plex store
Now South Korea got no choice but to go forward, no choice but to commit.
But to this bastard, he damages Stifle by the shield of the demon,
and he's like 5th himself surrounded on all sides.
Dip on the vendetta of all things.
Hurdles forward into him.
A spam killed from Xerion,
injects a breath of light into the French one.
They'll be happy to take breathing in deep now,
because a fast tap like that, an icon bomb is a rarity.
Korea gonna fight for it though, won't give it up for free.
Free damage though here, but dip trying to card strips off Spondering, but Stalker's
gotten back into the fight, and if he got us full in by the wayside, it's Crox though.
It's always Crox! Simple and Stalker! Handled comfortably!
And Crox will fall back to the point to be topped up.
France will not be denied his first point.
Love the choice of depth to bring up the vendetta here.
Calling some questions into Max's hero selection, and the demon mirror is gonna be the response.
where he's sitting on this Bastion, he's got to find damage, he's got to be able to crack the shield of Brox who's been mitigating that damage so effectively so far on this tournament.
Dead ice has been erred by Kiyo.
Gonna be here pretty instantly to clear the room, drawing instantly, dubs out the tune, he's second, caught up somehow.
Kiyo though he's gonna be the trade. Franco one for one, trying to get into the map.
the map. The Cassidy though is still going to be a problem for the high ground even in
the absence of the Bastion. The Corks is happy to get any attention. He's happy to draw
Max down, fight him out of the bridge, out of line of sight of South Korea's backline.
Rodgers with a faster limit break, huge threat here. Dick pushes smart, pulls the attention
of the team up, but now it's Stalker's turn for the moon over the top.
France mostly, keep the hatches back, keep the heads out of the game.
The very young Cards deny the second shot off the peacekeeper.
Estalker is free to do as he pleases now.
They've turned it into a trade-off.
Both DPS have gone down here, fourth career.
FDGOT is still in the game, still able to keep the top top.
The Cards being unattended for the time being
as a catnap comes through.
And FDGOT catches simple out.
Dangerous prospect to fight this guy, but he had help.
Team backs him up and there goes the Kiri
into the drink potentially key of four trucks.
Let's go.
Get him!
Get him!
Are you kidding?
Turn around, we just wrecked the map, bro!
We made that change!
He takes the wrong side of the bridge, and Croc knows exactly where he's brought his butt,
and he's back in the game.
Off the bounce pad?
Huge fight for Team France, now barreling towards the end of second point.
Korea, have to pull something out here, but it's looking so grim.
The Chokes are brutal, the Sundering plate over the top.
Sparkle from behind, can he do something? No!
The scumbling, faltering, Stalker trying to lure himself in the backside,
but it comes in and it cleaves him out.
Max from the mech is done and this is a monumental time bank for France to leverage
in their campaign to get the map done and get into that final.
Swat's going to drip down the ground now, clear third point, they have to make a final stand.
They need a better defense than this.
France with a ridiculous time bank to work with, but at the most difficult push of the map.
Every God trying to stay safe with the back, but that's gonna get tough.
And now the Katsune rush in play.
Derriott, cool, under pressure, keeps the offender coming.
And there is a cut-down attempt, he's saying get caught out.
And it's not coming back from that.
Cross, double dips.
The South Korea are a smear on the carpet.
One last chance on this defense.
Four minutes, you cannot allow the French a margin like this
in the first round of this bulls**t map.
Cross-blank close to the choke, in the face of Father Skydonk.
Zork is trying to get out of the pain, protected by the defense matrix.
That is stunning.
Now of course, a fan in the hammer, for a bit of flair.
Father quickly repelled.
They got flagged, Jake.
Oodles of.
And at the same time, there's a point match where I've seen those time banks drip down.
I've seen those five minutes bleed to nothing.
Nothing guaranteed here for the French.
They've got to earn this.
The limit break for Crocs.
It's been massaged so many times before,
and the dip able to connect on the vendetta, it could be huge.
Here's the cannon barrage.
Now it's area under some pressure,
but it's nimble enough to avoid the shrapnel.
There is a catnap third patrol.
You have to know you're walking in these. It's quite destructive.
A knock back there is a pain, Chorong trying to line up that ultimate.
The All France respect the real fight. Oh my goodness!
There comes Kiwadam, essentially nowhere, and picks up Chorong.
This has got all the makings of a winning fight here from France,
but they still have to stick to the landing.
So they're taking their time, conservative approach here to the final stretch.
Big Olds coming up for Korea. They're digging their heels in, starving for time.
With each second they come closer, he's decisively on Skyrim over the top,
And there's no deal to protect.
Stalker's building these ultimates very quickly.
He's having to dispense them with impunity.
Another big dead-eye kill on the Keogh.
He's been waiting for his start to build that up.
Why are we committing ultimates here? This is so aggressive.
Stalker getting picked off.
Frantz want the win. They want it now.
It's going to take more than that.
Tori and Sympa are sitting back on these support ults.
And Frantz have not been able to force them out yet.
Seen this a couple of times in the series,
a risky gamble clutch for the French.
They need to close it out now,
but the bank is completely against them.
Korea holding to the corners here playing so slow it's gonna do change anything
I know it's risky business for Keyon!
Jock's the least ever fine stalker am I gonna trade up Cassidy's but he's set
is an issue the best team is still at large
Crocs finds him, he's missed a fixer but this is more than just a DIY project
France need to get to the end of the map
Crocs though is blown to smithereens by the micro rockets and France will again
be sent back to Lumbridge
This is so brutal, France, throwing away two key ultimates, an absolute streak through
the first 95% of the map, but here at the final hurdle, under the pressure, it's the
Koreans who are standing tall, there's only 90 seconds left.
As usual, Cox hurdles forward, this time takes full damage to the back and forward
Max never to force him back. Sundering Blade is dip, waits in the wings to make his grand entrance.
Time continues to drip down. Max try to reposition now as the Sundering Blade being called upon.
He sang! He found him! Chorn picked up by Kiwis Chorn! Dip over extend, go dangerous in the stalker,
but if he got there, they would have turned into a trade. 55 seconds on the clock,
and Korea have got to do a bit by bit. They need a touch here, drop Max.
But Crocs is hunting, blood in the water and he's hungry.
See, simple.
Two slashes get the Suzy, but the Bastion damage is too much for the Suzy's got a back up.
Dead Eye! Sky Moon again!
Stalker flies one, but it's again an instant trade.
Crocs is low though, he needs help, big deep-hunt enemy.
The Eye of the Suzy came in too late from Xerion, but the Katsune rush is in play.
Self-destruct, please, we're in for a time and our dip's trying to get in there.
Max takes a ton of damage after he rematches, but there's no help for the Vendetta and Frantz.
Again, a force to step back.
This time will be the last time.
Time and time again, they're above. Can this moment be different?
Max pulled in, but saved by the rest of the team.
Korean now surging forward, finding advantage.
Will they come to evict the French from this final castle?
10 seconds on the clock, they choose to play it slow.
But simple, Sparsh, how can you beat it?
I think God's had to go over to Winslow,
Lucille here to get into the fight quickly enough.
Kitsuneirats has got to be tough.
Croc Snowgood and still he commits, still fearlessly.
Into the breach he goes.
He'll be taken to task.
Kira McGagan, a bleedback for South Korea.
And a man to get mental for the defenders, hold to the hold, back at the breach.
It's been a tale of great joy and great sorrow here for the French team.
One of the faster pushes through this first two-thirds of the map that I have ever seen on
Iconbob, one of the fastest possible, virtually untouched in these first phases of the map.
He was saved. He was saved by a FD guy. No, it was a bounce.
A bit of control, maybe the Columb B maybe. Get back out and it automatically latches you if you're over a pit.
Could have been a bit of both there, but either way, I was sleek.
Oh man, 10,000 damage for he saying here, stalker as well, putting up the numbers.
I mean, in those fights it just feels like Max and Symbol could not go down.
Even able to find a ton of kills the other way friends starting off some of those fights so effectively seemingly on the cusp of
Completing the map that they worked so hard for but Max just falls onto that self-destruct backs into the corner
Kariga using that strategic depth of the Ikemaw third-point spawn to great effect
It's a it's a place. I found myself all too many times before
But for Korea to battle back and set that marker on the map
They have cleared the way for a win condition. There will be no draws today on map five
One last chance to earn your way to the gold medal match and for the French it's got to start here on first point
And they're sticking to this diva look
When the France tried to ban earlier in the series to the certainly aware of it
But at this point you are gonna be exposed to your opponent's best look one way or another. It's about five
Again much the same way that France approach you take that bridge control
He's looking for a bit of a fight. I'm deep but not be ready for the shot
The proper real mode instantly he's saying takes a face full as well both jetpack cats wisely pulled their charges out of the fight
Crock's is able to get back just back around the corner healed up. It's gonna take a minute
And that minute is what Korea want to make use of now
He's saying those gotta be careful to big damage up in the sky, but Crox is trying to hold that space
Here's Dick real smoke now. He's a wisely plays that corner
Stalker gives his life, but it's well worth it the French now
Browning on the retreat staying alive the support as well as cross means there's a retake possibility here dip on the vendetta
Could make it a reality
Max takes a bit of damage crocs will eventually be allowed to get the touch but he takes perhaps too much to keep himself in the game
still France in this fight 95% and counting on here they come there might
be something here simple and he sang a deal with the mature one out of the game
they have done it France fighting back in the final seconds and this is
valuable time they're bleeding off the clock we are 90 seconds into the round
and South Korea still haven't kept any aerobics from vendetta to bring that
one back some critical kills from Kyo all of them critical to success and it has
turned what would it be me crippling loss on first point into one that is
respectable on a defense but can they win another yeah the ultimates are
completely stacked against them Korea have every advantage coming into this
next boy the star of the cannon barrage here for he's at sky noons for both
castes is every all got course that you cannot afford stalker fighting a
The second year, Kio's got a lot more work to do if he's going to salvage this fight and he's hunting.
Look at the stalker, just a little too slow.
This is the point of fighting for an aid connection.
Stalker stays alive amidst this, and South Korea come back to complete the job.
He sings fashion, proving to be a real problem, putting out so much damage to that crocs.
Struggling to show the trademark attraction that has brought France to this point.
There's an array of damage now lined up against him and Max, playing his mobility with great effect.
Like a demon, frankly, gets a little high ground, big knockdown there from that catnap and it converts into true big eliminations.
Max, sure, he's throwing into the breeze, the damage has already been done.
Drugs trying to hold this space, but that backline is basically black and blue.
And it's a mirrored commitment of ultimates from the French. They throw both support ultimates in.
Korea route them. Gonna take full control of this top castle now. Moving the
cart as much as they can in the interim. But now, the Dedekin struggle is a lot of
open space, open air on this point where he's thinking, put his deadly damage to
work. This D.Va player is marvelous. Max is able to hold his owner against
Francis Colton. No other team really could answer, including D.Va. This time
those things seem a little different. On this map, anything can happen.
Sundering Blade being held on to a dip probably in the best spot he could be, but still subject to storm his pressure from below and now above as the Skyrim comes in.
Ultimately unnecessary, Akira's going to be brought down with Sundering Blade, doesn't find any connection in the end.
Enki got his low, barely alive, has to give up some of that high ground space, but the Kani is being contested.
Croxel's got no help, he is indeed troubled, trying to get away as the Kanan Barrage pursues him eventually.
Eventually, he will be dragged out into the center of the fight, gentlemen.
The Max would love them to stew in it a little longer.
Stagger hurts.
Couple French players still out on the map.
They choose to regroup to their teammates rather than fight on in desperation.
But desperation certainly the only way I can describe the French in this moment.
Korea, full map control, taking every position they want.
Little sloppy on the drop though.
Max gets low because of it.
Yeah, somehow I'm gonna stay alive.
He doesn't ring that opportunity should be required.
and he's having to still fight elimination this fight.
That is marvelous.
Derian with a rush just won't have time
to get to it at this rate.
A dead-eye for Keo.
Oh!
Oh!
And the three pieces complete with simple's head rolling.
Again, it's individual heroics that keep France
in the defensive effort.
The slimmest of margins that hails South Korea
off at the gates.
FD God and Kyo pairing together to keep them alive.
It's been these two who have put them in position here on the Cosmo potentially
a gold medal contest for Korea once again, the economy in their advantage.
And he's saying, opens up onto the cap.
It's dire strength for the French.
I felt so free for you.
Kyo had teammates up there.
They sang out of the board getting taken down by that catnap.
Dips have a fine stalk but that doesn't fill enough against this tidal wave of South Korean aggression.
Locking at the gates this time, they'll not be denied.
They will breach into the final phase of the map and fight for their spot on the podium.
He's exiting back in his can of Barrage. That's scary to play into in his next phase of the map.
He's under no pressure flourishing here from the back line.
And France is trying to fire every second they can, every moment that can hold South Korea off.
They'll hope to make use of.
And this is it.
Two minutes and 13 seconds for the map.
The expectations, the hopes, the dreams, two nations now, hanging in the balance.
One to be disappointed, one to fight for the throne.
The ultimate prize at the Overwatch World Cup.
If I can about as we talked about earlier, dangerous now.
Look at those big hits coming in.
France have it at withstand them for the time being a scoreboard.
So come forward a skynaree, it could be a problem.
But Q's having to get back around the corner.
Oh, and Q got it down.
Yeah, crocs out in the open.
He's chanceing here for a limit break and get stalker,
but he needs more than that.
He's not going to cut it.
Now he doesn't want to be staggered,
but he might not have the choice.
This is where South Korea, cold, calculating, and calm
are going to put the thumb screws on you.
From there, close to the end of the map.
There's a dead eye here for Kira, but it is mostly malifed.
And DC, not Max, there was something you could work with,
but Crocs is also looking to suffer the same fate.
They've done enough.
One pick, the Diva, is enough to have Korea turn tail for now.
Desperate on the difference here.
Max holds the self-destruct,
chooses to save it for what is very likely the final fight.
Now the French though, battle back into a position
where there are many ultimates in play.
Dipped with this sundering blade in an enclosed space,
could be devastating.
Korea has so many threats to worry about.
Stalker though, no dead-iron here.
Kyo just used his, it's going to be a story of backfire and ultimates in this fight.
Katnab could be crucially cut, but the consumer has to start things off.
He said the white brickmorrow paved the way for him.
They're a grand final perhaps.
Zerion taken down, Max ever to bring him out of the fight
and Diff is going to be dragged away into the sub to answer.
Max with a self-destroy.
No, we back!
Diff is done with.
Crocs is going to touch.
It's always Crocs.
Come forward now, simpler, under some pressure.
Stalker was low.
South Korea have to take the beat.
Stalker is down.
Here comes France, forcing them away.
Truly last chance to lose now for South Korea.
Croxus has to avoid overextending here.
He's late by the door.
This could be dangerous, Jake.
Keo, a flanking dead eye, but he's got no options now
for doing the old-fashioned way.
Fight simple as a trade.
No carry.
FD goes out of the mix and Croxus is looking for the best team.
could be risky he's off the card right now Jake did I hear for stalker
The pressure of the Roman opening up
fissures in both teams both
both of them are in the middle of
the ring.
The pressure of the Roman opening up
fissures in both teams both
Both squads pushed to the absolute brink.
But Korea, from the deep doldrums of a zero two start to a series.
With that reverse sweep in Busan playing in their mind,
they somehow find a determination to claw their way back through.
Along three maps of battle, France contested every step of the way.
But it seems like destiny now, the gold medal match.
between the veterans, the legacy, South Korea and the hardest new kid on the block, the current Overwatch World Cup champions, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
You don't want to miss that one.
There are rivalries on multiple levels to be played out in our grand finals here in Anaheim.
South Korea never had the chance to face off against Saudi Arabia in a match where they thought they could show what their nation was capable of.
But here in 2026 they will have it.
And they reach that game in the most poetic fashion possible,
inflicting to France that they themselves were forced to endure
on home soil in front of a home crowd in their own backyard.
This is going to go down as one of the most legendary World Cup series
we've ever seen from insane sleek darts from Zerion
against a flying high noon to a wild scaffold at the end of Iconvolder where
the cart ultimately is left behind France. Pure passion, pure instinct at the
wheel in those final moments at a South Korea with the composure and with the
caliber to convert and find victory. Insane stuff. Maybe another star to be
replaced on the jerseys after this one.
Well, for Korea, Saudi Arabia, it will certainly be that.
And for the third-fourth match, two teams that need to write a sinking ship,
right, for both teams taking painful losses.
Another huge test of a squad who can pick themselves back up after crushing
defeat of hopes squandered to now come back into a third-fourth and
still show that you are here, that your country deserves a place on that podium.
A ton to fight for, still for France and Sweden.
They head down to the stage with Danny Lim
with some words from our victors.
Thank you very much, Mitch.
I am here joined by Chorong from Team South Korea
after their victory.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Chorong
and Team South Korea!
Amazing stuff!
Chorong, I know you guys wanted this victory.
You know, the funny thing is you guys got reversed
swept by France in Busan for the qualifiers
and you guys reversed them today.
So how do you feel?
Congratulations on your victory today. It's a very fun story.
In Busan, you were defeated by the Yaksui.
You have successfully won the Yaksui, so please tell us how you feel.
It's my first time trying the Yaksui, and I think it's my first time trying the Yaksui.
So it was really fun. France is really good.
Interesting because in my professional career, me getting reverse sweep was the first time for me,
and me getting a reverse sweep on the enemy team was definitely the first time as well.
So it was very fun to play, and I just want to say Team France was definitely, definitely a great team.
And now you guys did get the victory. I feel like you guys really wanted this revenge.
I feel like I talked to you guys yesterday too, and you guys really wanted that revenge, and you finally got it.
How did you prepare for this match against France?
When I asked him about the game, he said he really wanted to win the game and succeed in the box game.
But he finally made it. How did you prepare for the game?
I think it's because France is really good at playing with cats.
So we did a lot of research and talked a lot about the game.
I feel like the biggest strength they had was the cat and the demon and we sort of focus on that
And we sort of use that as a counter and sort of came up with our own solution
And also with that we really wanted to focus on the bad picks and because we were successful in that
That's how we got our win against team France. All right, Chorong one final match
You guys are going up against KSA. Can team Korea do it? Can you guys win it all?
It's the last game. There's only one game left.
There's only the final game left.
Are you confident that you can win the fight and win the game again?
I'll make a fun game for you guys before the final game.
Please watch it.
Please keep watching because that finals is going to be a great match.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Chorong one more time.
Thank you so much. That is it.
Sohee, take it away.
Thank you so much, Danny.
Thank you, Chorong. What a script! The writers have been cooking with that one.
Being on the receiving end of a reverse sweep in Busan in front of the home crowd,
and now they got to do the same to France. We couldn't have scripted it any better.
No, I encourage played Unreal those last three maps.
In that final fight, I mean, we've been giving France obviously so much props
for how aggressive they play. They just find themselves so far away.
Yeah, you can go too far it seems is that's that's one that'll stink for a while there for friends absolutely
That's something to take away. I should look at the series as a whole though Frans at the upper hand in those first two maps
When did they start to crumble? Oh?
What that's a good question so I feel like for this team friends again
It did come down to that aggression which is such a big key for them
But overall there were those moments where you did see them kind of scrambling wanting to almost close out that
Third of map in the way that they're trying to win out on that New John City is just not quite
What you wanted to see from them right now like overall
It's not like they're just trying to end the series early on
As a player and a coach I've been on the receiving end of a reverse week
I think that is twice in my career and like I think the really rough part is like you go up to oh and
You lose the map like oh well, you know we have another one
We have another one then all of a sudden the crowd is going absolutely insane and we're into game five
I think there was just too much pressure for France at the end of the day
Like I think they would have needed to finish this in three or four if they were gonna take it
But that's it's up a pretty epic final
It really does. It really does. I mean, we know and we love France for those high-risk, high-reward plays every once in a while, unfortunately, it does not pay off.
But while they are not in contention anymore, of course, for our first place match, they can still get that third place in a decider against Sweden.
Sweden, but first we are treated to some good stuff here because in our half time we have of course
You'll also be playing live here at BlizzCon and everyone at home gets some updates on Overwatch lore with a deep dive in quest
Watch so you don't want to miss it lots more to come of course the grand final as well because we got to crown some
Champions today this a more after short break. See you there
My squad always comes first
That all you got?
I would also like to assist her with my arcane sense to see if there's any danger of magical
It's fair enough, alright, so you're keeping your concentration and attention up while you go ahead and sneak around.
So I have a 5, 8, but you have a 1d6 advantage because I assisted you.
You assisted me plus what?
1d6 for advantage because I assisted you.
Great. So we have like 14?
We'll get the roll of d6 to add that.
Oh, please.
Got?
Six!
Yes, so currently I had 11 plus six, thank you.
That's a success.
With hope? An eagle?
There you go. Take that hope. That brings down from a 3 to a 1.
You are actively moving through the forest quite...
I propose, because you're sneaking.
If you keep an eye out, two things you notice is you're creeping through.
One, some parts of these tree canopies you see shrouded figures with strange masks, long hair.
You see these yokai-like expressions on them.
It's bearded demonic faces, and they haven't quite noticed your presence...
...directly.
But they're stalking.
They hear sounds they know the rest of your friends are about.
You come upon Grigor, who's gotten a bit lost out there...
...as you also hear another sound, another figure who's tromping through this forest.
You see, a clank.
Older clank, a bit rough, one of the earlier models.
as some leaves hanging from the chin like a beard has a satchel over his side and a big
toe mother with shoulder and seems to be with a walking stick just slowly making his way through
the forest. What do you do? Uh, they're ahead of us. They are at the moment. And they have
not seen any of us yet. Neither of them have noticed you yet, though it seems the strange
roguish figures in the woods are searching for something they haven't found yet. There is
There is a distinct possibility that they are searching for him.
Oh, because he seemed like he's, uh, you said he looks elderly?
Perhaps an older versus...
Yeah, who puts a little older as walk and stick, making a path through what looks to be a small walkway in the forest?
I think we should proceed cautiously and see if perhaps they attack him.
It might be interesting to come to his aid and see what he is on his way to.
At this point...
That sounds really horrible, but yes, let's do that.
Oh, what do you want to say?
Continue.
I was going to say, as a sly born,
I do have a little extra advantage
roles to negotiate with criminals.
So maybe if we do chat with these dirty guys with the beards,
they might be of my people.
All right, you want to go ahead and type it?
I also have a question.
I want to see what happens if I try and smash some
of this mask you're talking about along the way.
Well, me? Keep your weapon at the ready. If anything get close, you can get the jump on it.
Okay.
All righty.
So you go ahead and approach this figure.
How do you, uh, how do you engage with this elderly clank?
Um, I very carefully walk up and say,
Buenos noches, amigos.
Oh, hello, my friend.
It's been a while.
What is your name?
Oh, they call me Deckard Bane.
I study various difficult things in a realm beyond.
I don't quite know how I got lost here.
Are you walking by yourself?
Of course. I've walked everywhere by myself.
I don't know how I've survived this long.
While you're talking, I'd just like to take a look at these shadow beings
and their reactions to what's going on.
They are starting to gather in the woods near you,
starting to close in and keep a very close eye like they're preparing an ambush.
I move closer to this personage, and Rigo looks at him, points to his chest, says,
You're the one that carved this lesson, but always be heard on my arm.
Actually, yes. Many years ago, when I was following the Herodram, I was appropriately
Parking your armor as a means of giving forward a great message of unity.
We might be on an adventure, but for some reason I have a hankering to stay wild and listening.
While this is going on, I would like to cast a minor illusion to create the look of a similar plank walking in a different direction.
Pretty much, as if they were twins, per se, coming up upon him and then walking in a different direction. Is that possible?
Certainly. Go ahead and make a presence role to see if you can deceive. Actually, presence or knowledge, which was on this one, I'll say.
See if you can manage to convince them with this minor illusion for a moment.
And I'd like to spend the hope to add a plus-two bonus to the role.
With my hard light just giving it a little bit of a sparkle so that it attracts more attention to the illusion let's go
That is so far of 14 plus hope a 16 plus hole a
17 plus hope you get a hope of that all right that is a success you watch as all of these matched figures are about to
Collide at this space suddenly there's the flash of hard light in the secondary figure
They begin to shift their position as they're now confused as to who the actual target is now in this moment of distraction
You can either try to engage or try to run and use this to get free.
What are you doing?
I believe it would be wise for us to move farther faster.
I don't think so.
We shouldn't ever run. I've never run from a fight.
Vendetta, sometimes you just move along, okay?
You don't always have to fight.
Also, Vendetta, if you save your strength, at this moment,
it will be ready for the larger fight that I'm sure will ensue when we visit the point.
You might not like this, friends,
but I'm protecting him.
If there's something going on here,
you carve something into me, something deep,
and I have the urge to protect this man.
Then we bring him along?
You want me to stay alone?
No, I want him to come with us.
Would you come with us, partner?
Oh, no, I stay put.
I never seem to move anywhere,
but it would nice to come to me for some reason.
But I am on my way to sanctuary.
It's a realm far, far away.
And they tell me in the long run, it's going to be fine in about a hundred years.
What if I told you to carry on my back?
I will take that burden.
Because I feel a kinship with you.
You hear what I'm saying? A kinship.
I'll say it one more time because I like doing it.
A kinship.
Alright, I think now he's making fun of me.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
The plane goes...
Oh, maybe that is where I want to go. Where are you headed?
Uh, we are headed further into the forest,
seeking a special item of great value to our friends in Yalta.
Oh, where are you looking for it? I'm good at identifying items.
Oh, it is a... uh, splax...
It's all... something sparkly... and mysterious.
It was stolen from the library.
I've been to these woods a few times. Where would we find it?
We are looking for a being named Moira.
The shape which?
A shadow.
Apparently, it was stolen on her behalf and we need to get to it before she does.
Absolutely not. And he goes running after us.
At which point, the roguishokai that had been waiting there in the trees
swooped down on you because you were waiting.
I'll go ahead and let you make an attack roll to see if you can keep an evade.
I knew that we're coming, and I was ready to protect my temporary allies.
Okay, it's, uh, 9 plus 3, so it's a 12 with Hope.
Hope? Fantastic. Go ahead and take that Hope.
That is a success. Go ahead and roll damage on that.
Can I really hit them, even if they're just shadowweavings?
They look shadowy from a distance, and when they rush in there, they're people in offense.
They are physical for creatures.
Okay, good to know.
11 plus 8, 19, 19.
19 damage.
Wide swing.
You carve through them, and you watch as a bunch of them take the brunt of your blade and get thrown back into the trees and spin off at the shadowy, yelping loudly.
They weren't prepared for such an immediate offense.
And it looks like the rest of them kind of curl back for a moment to read us out what they want to do.
You have a moment, what do you want to do with this?
You better run!
Yes, if you want to run, this is the moment to run.
Oh, I meant them. They should better run, but we can run too, yes.
Oh, yes, sure.
As they hear you and some of them begin to run back, you also continue to run.
And for a brief moment, there is just a scattering of the battlefield.
With that, you go charging through.
You with your hammer up front, clearing bits of wood and trees, getting in your way,
begin to head on further in the northwestern direction is that the very shadows themselves get darker.
The scent of the wet birthings, the smell of slightly rotting root bark just gets deeper and stronger.
This sort of accurate air begins to fill around you before the treeline comes and opens.
In this clear end, the overhead portion of the canopy is so dense, almost no light makes it in,
even though it is high.
The sun's high in the sky.
Oh, again? I'm sorry?
I'm the sky.
Okay. Great. Thank you.
Here you see before you, a massive, clustered center of roots that gathers into what looks like a natural-looking hut.
A faxed roof covered moss, dangle, and vine.
Looks like a singular doorway made of stitched-together planks of wood.
Two small, round windows that are carved into the exterior of the roots
give flickers of green energy from inside.
As you all stare forward, the door opens on its own, and a sourceless voice fills the air that says,
I knew you were coming. I'm curious as to what your business is here, friends. Please enter. I'd like to ask you some questions.
Oh, show yourself.
It's not good manners to talk to your...
Some people coming to find you and not even show your face.
I think it's rather bad manners to be invited in and not take up the invitation.
Wouldn't you say so, Fanta?
Can we take a look around and make sure there's no traps that we're going to walk into?
Yeah, I don't trust them.
By all means, go and make an instinct roll for me.
Okay, but I'm adding my sneaky experience because I have spidey senses for it.
Yeah, it's been that hope and not that bonus. Go for it.
Instinct, right? Not finesse.
Oh, well, now if you're looking around for traps on this, let's say this is an instinct to sense if you're in the space.
Okay, six, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen!
That's great.
Oh, with hope, baby.
All right, give that hope back.
That's a success.
You don't sense any traps in the way.
You glance forward and you can see
the path is almost in the fire.
Amongst the dark woods of this area,
the path almost seems to grow flowers
at your very eyes, like time itself is inviting you in.
It's beautiful.
The smell of the swamp air seems to almost subside
to the smell of sweet heavens and honey summer.
Remember, friends, we were told that she
I'd tend to seduce people with her mental capacities.
Be careful where you go.
And I would like to use Arcane Sense,
to sense exactly where the magic might be
and if I might be able to sense our magic items
that we've been using, that we've been looking for.
Your Arcane Sense, this whole area is magic.
And it is like a fuzzy blanket of energy before you.
What would be a pretty acute sense
is certainly being obscured, obfuscated.
I learned that word last week.
Off you escape.
So, you enter.
Yes!
We follow right.
By myself!
No.
I will go in first.
Uh, you will not go by yourself, yes?
Yes, that's how tanks work.
They go first.
Friends, you gonna take on this?
You gonna risk your lives?
I've lived a long time.
I fall you know what's in that hut you take up arms and you solve whatever you
need to solve I was trying to find out what happened here on my chest and that
opportunity is lost from me the way I lost everything so I got nothing to lose
here friends let me go in there and take whatever is waiting for us if it
means my death I take it and I take it willingly okay but I'll come with you
no no you don't have to do this alone okay you don't need to die today baby I'll
do you don't know my life while these two are trying to out brave each other I'd
like to walk around to the back of Reinhart and speak to the skulls that
to strap to the back of his head.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
It seems that we are in a predicament.
And we may have come upon the home of your employer.
Can you tell us anything about her
that we need to know, besides that she is very dangerous?
I mean, we were just told to wait outside.
She's kind of scary.
She's working on some sort of project.
Oh, any kind of particular kind of project?
I don't know.
So there was some sort of dead body just wrapped in black material just in the middle of her house.
Seemed to didn't know if it was dinner.
Ah, that doesn't sound shady at all.
Um...
I mean we're used to dead bodies. That's our whole gang!
Of course, and I'm sure you are the kindest and most polite of your kind.
Perhaps we should send in my floating knight to check before you go in.
I don't want to lose you today.
All right.
I'll give you one chance.
And I'm busting in that place.
Find it out what I need to find out now at this point in time
Because we invited a lot of these fine folks to be part of this story
I'm gonna ask a question that you all get to participate in
There will be a QR code if you haven't already scanned it and a question
Who amongst this troop is the shade which Moira feel is the biggest threat?
so go ahead and
Bring up your phones and let's see who amongst his troop
She receives is the most dangerous
Can I use an experience to hack them so it helps us? I don't think it works that way
Again, I'm having an identity crisis. I'm not really sure what I have any
I'll give you the number of my therapist
Grigor I
I would like to apologize. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so direct with that gentleman. I knew you were trying to...
You gotta be the way you gotta be.
But I promise you that when all of this is over, I will open the path to find him again.
As we are teammates.
Yes?
Deal.
All righty.
So we sing a song while they wait while they vote or what?
As you were having this conversation, the air around you grows dense, and suddenly,
the litter...
I knew it, you choose wisely.
Yeah, sure, tell me.
You feel a grasp of magic around your shoulders and the rest of you watch as she suddenly
gets lifted and pulled inside the hut all by herself.
Shoo!
What are the rest of you doing?
I think perhaps it is time to go in.
And we are the other. We need to save her, whether she's someone we like or not.
She's our teammate, no matter if we like her or not.
She's family.
In.
All righty.
May I use my shadows, Yadver, to get as close as possible to where they're taking her?
Sure, you go ahead and step into one of the nearby shadows.
Plenty of shadows around here to dive into when you're shh, apparating inside.
As you all enter this chamber, you feel the grasp on your
shoulders of sigh.
As you look around, there's all manner of hanging threads,
bits of heavy twine, whole trinkets and bones,
strange little magical charms that hang in the air.
There are iron cages that contain folks who look withered
on the cusp of death themselves, sighin' outward.
Above you in the roof expanse, a black shadow moves, drifts,
a wraith-like being with a stupid skull mask.
Just a really poorly made one.
He looks kind of dumb.
Sounds like a real butt head.
Don't worry about him.
As you see behind the table, indeed, there
is a corpse wrapped in a similar black fabric
and stretch out on the side.
You see the face in the shade which moira.
A fraction of broken skull over one eye.
A shock of red hair that goes in front of the face.
Shoulders that are wide and swollen.
And a large plump on her back that
moves under its own wheel beneath her rose.
How unsightly.
She glances over at you and says,
Now, Dee, I want to ask you some questions, and if you answer them correctly, and honestly,
I might have a gift for you and your friends.
I might even tell you what it is you're after.
Answer incorrectly.
Don't take what I want anyway.
If you wanted me so bad at your house, you might just have invited me to dinner, Moira.
She thinks for a second there's...
I suppose that's also possible, but not as much fun.
What do you want from me?
What is it that you miss about your father?
I...
I'm not sharing this with you.
Then this information and gift will not be yours and the shadows begin to swell.
You know nothing about my father!
That's why I'm asking.
What is it you miss about her?
That it loves me more than anyone else in this world.
Strong ties it might carry you.
She holds her love to green gem, and you watch as a bit of green energy drifts out of your mouth as you speak those words and into the gem.
And out of some of the bodies the caged figures that wither even further to with them passing out
As the gem post its she chuckles
Now of your compatriots here, which one do you think is going to betray you first?
First.
Noche.
Noche, you feel this cold thrum in your chest.
As it hits, you will watch the bit of green light emanates from your mouth and into the gen.
Two other bodies wither and collapse.
I appreciate your honesty. One more question. Just let me go now!
Soon, my pants. She holds the gem close to her face, laden it from underneath. She leans in.
And when do you plan to betray them, dear?
I'm not planning to betray them!
Why would you think that?
Honestly, you must answer me, dear.
Honestly.
I... I...
As long as I need them, I'm not going to betray them, okay?
The boy's eyes flicker back between her compatriots for a satisfied grin, seeing the threads of mistrust beginning to brew.
The gem flickers once more. You watch as faint bits of green energy pours from each one of your friends' mouths into the gems and thrones one last time.
She smiles.
Very well. I made a promise.
I will keep it.
So, the Skull case was not for me.
I was contacted by an ally of mine to retrieve it for her.
This gem was my payment, and you've all charged it for me, so thank you very much.
As I seek to bring one of my friends to a more useful state.
She looks up to the roof where you can see that stupid Skull mask rave again goes blubber
I was hired by a figure that hides within grace Grimstone.
The deepest, the most dangerous of prisons here in the Overland.
Hell no!
Sorry it was involuntary.
She's been hiding there for months, building her network of criminals, the activity spreading
far and wide all across the Overland.
It's a dangerous prison, and the scroll that she took was one of ancient, true form transformation.
It finds the seed of something powerful in your past, your bloodline, your aspirations,
and it unlocks it.
I know not what she plans with it, but you have in much time,
as I'm sure she has her goals enough.
So if indeed you wish to stop her, rush to the Grimstone.
She laughs.
Places the gem there on the middle of the table.
You watch as she and the figure, the body,
getting to shift and move, swirl with shadow.
You hear the laugh, the good laughter.
I would like to use my runes, my hard light technology, I'd like to use it to wrap a beam
of hard light like a lasso around the gem and yank it towards me.
Go ahead and make an instinct roll for me.
I want to use the fear here.
Make it a disadvantage.
Can I move like now?
Can you?
Am I free to move?
You've been released here.
Okay, I've been released then I would like to spend a hope to add a plus three to this role as well
Go ahead and roll for me critical role
Alrighty double ones
Go ahead that hope I got the stress if you got it
You all watch as Asymmetra reaches out and ganks this gem from the center of the table.
There's a shriek.
The shadows swirl even deeper and in a matter of instantaneous intensity, the shadows subside
and vanish.
The wraith, the shape which Moira and the bodies themselves brought to some far-off
place.
the gem that they had taken which now sits in your grasp. It grows quiet. This
hut is now abandoned for the time. Then you have your target on your mind.
Domino. Domino. Of course it's her. That spoiled crout. Yes, of course. Well, bring
in his own keep, yes?
Yes.
Off we go.
Vendetta, even in a game, even when
we are trying to connect, you would betray us truly.
It's just a game.
It's not like it's real life.
I mean, it would be fun to betray someone in a game.
No, don't you think so?
Moira is just trying to...
I know that you think so, Sanbrakaman.
Moira is trying to rape us apart.
So you can't believe that we're going to betray you.
And also, if you are simply operating by logic,
we are very useful to you as a team.
Not split apart and not betrayed.
That's what I said.
In this game, no matter what happens,
I will protect Gary.
Side of this game.
Cannot promise I would protect you.
And that hurts me.
That hurts me.
Deep thing.
Since you would do this when we were together!
It's just a game.
No, no, you don't have to take it this seriously, okay?
Don't! Yes! No, no!
I do!
It takes us very serious.
OK, well, just let's go ahead with the story.
We don't know where it's going to have, no?
That's true.
OK, I'm home.
Reinhardt, I appreciate you taking this as a serious thing as you do.
I like when my players are invested, but we invite it.
Go to the table.
We'll see how this story plays out before we lay any judgment down.
Everyone, it's belt.
I'm going to pocket this gem and walk out.
Uh, once again, would you we know where the glimstone keep is?
You've heard of it.
To the eastern mount ranges from here, it lies buried deep within.
There are all manner of soldiers and keepers that are guardians in the inside.
Only the most dangerous prisoners all across the overland are locked in there.
built in the base of a volcanic expanse.
Now Queen Domina had been thought to have been imprisoned there for some time.
But if she's taken over from within, who knows how deep those tendrils reach,
what her aspirations may be.
As this pours in your mind, here's that necrotic gem that you managed to receive.
You want to go ahead and grab that there.
Oh, thank you.
You're welcome.
Oh, thank you very much, friend.
If we know where we're going, perhaps once again I shall use the path as open and see if I can open a path towards where we are headed.
To move us faster.
When can we set up the car wash?
I believe we should probably save that for when we have multiple enemies, although unfortunately it would not be as functional as it was when we had six.
Ah, the good old days.
Fair enough. Alright. So, go ahead and roll an instinct roll for me to see if you'd go ahead and cross that journey.
Great. And I'll spend a hope to add another...uh...uh...
How many hope you got there, girl?
I keep erasing inside my roll at four.
That's great. Just check.
No, no, no, no. I was at four right now. I've spent four right now, so I have two more.
Well, you started with three.
No, I know. And then I gained hope back to the part of the process.
All right, all right. We'll just check it.
Oh no, look at that math, I promise.
There's a lot of marks on this page.
All righty.
Oh, I really need it.
That is a 17 plus three for 20.
30, 20.
Really?
Oh.
Dang.
This is the whole battery over here.
I gotta start spending some of this fear to take it down a peg.
Playfully, it's a collaborative experience.
So now you versus GM, what aren't you talking about?
Of course, cowboy.
Indeed, you go ahead and cross that bridge.
You concentrate with your allies,
and you see there's a dangerous expanse
to get out of these woods rapidly.
You go ahead and concentrate your hard-light activity,
and with that, you open a path between your arcana.
The rest of you step beyond that doorway.
You reappear on the opposite end
and make a charge to the base of those mountains
themselves.
You carefully begin to traverse the rocky landscape.
Eventually you push towards the outside and there it is, you see the terrifying
visage of the stone prison intro.
Massive gates, the parapets, you can see soldiers walking back and forth from the top keeping
an eye.
I ask you here at Grimstone Keep, are you planned to make your way in?
Are you going to push him?
Are you going to sneak in?
What do we know about this Queen Domino, you said?
She's a... She's a being completely built from aspiration.
She has created a wonderful network from her mindset of businesses and guilds that work underneath her.
She has incredible intellect and an endless lust for power.
You might have a little history.
I mean, if you say so.
She's, uh...
She sounds nice, I like her.
She's, um, she is nice.
Yes.
But some people don't have the natural talent to be able to achieve.
And so they have to find other means to, uh, find their way in the world.
And so they buy a carriage.
Sorry, sorry.
Ah, Ahsymetra, uh, can you remind me, where do you leave now?
Do you have, like, a key or something?
Bendeta, just relax.
Let's focus on the task at hand, please.
I didn't tell her.
I would like to check out something specific.
Yeah, well, we'd like to check out.
Sombra loves to leave herself a backdoor,
so I was wondering if I could use my uncanny disguise
to turn myself into a soldier
and walk right into the keep
to look for a backdoor to let my friends in.
Yeah, by all means.
That's a good idea.
Not bad. All right.
So you go ahead and you watch over one of these soldiers here.
Go ahead and study their outfits, study their physicality, their walk.
Go ahead and use your midnight magic to transform yourself.
So go ahead and mark what you need to to spend it.
But I also believe I have to mark a stress, which I don't like, but okay.
Go ahead and mark a stress?
You all watch as no change, changes are exterior in one of the soldiers.
You go ahead and march up, one of the front gate guards kind of turns to...
Hey! You!
What are you doing on your watch?
Uh, I was walking around the outside of the perimeter of this so-called castle,
and I'm making my way back in.
Sir.
I want you to go ahead and make a presence roll to try to save it for me.
Thank you. Hey, I think the tone of voice is working really well.
You get advantage on this because of your worth of skies, so how to be safe?
Oh, sorry, but I, uh, I, I mark it, I, I roll a normal one first.
Yeah. Well, you... you better have a look at me.
Sorry?
Go ahead and add your D6 to the roll.
Oh, thank you. Okay.
I'm... I'm learning by still people.
Okay, so we have a 9, 10...
11...
Ssss...
...5th gear.
I love that.
As you talk to the figure, he goes...
What's your name?
Jonathan, sir!
Ssss...
All right, Jonathan.
I'd like you to talk to the supervisor.
I just had to take a leak, and I'd forgot where the bathrooms are, so I just went...
That's okay. Many of us do out here. It's high altitude.
Um, looks to the other soldiers.
Why don't we go ahead and escort our friend here in to meet with the supervisor?
Yes, sir. Sir, yes, sir.
You see a look in his eye where he doesn't seem as trusting as you were hoping.
The rest of you watch as the soldiers escort Noche into the cave.
I would like to send my floating eye, just a hair behind her, to keep an eye on them as he escorts her in, so we know if she's in danger, we can follow.
Fair enough. Go ahead and send the eye, follow it in.
Follow in the shadows in the edge of the mountains, try not to be seen, and it tries to swoop in from behind before anybody else notices to keep watch.
You head down one long hallway and then another into a sub-basement level.
The rest of the soldiers are quiet as they're holding your shoulders and you get the sense
they're likely going to try and lock you up, or put you in interrogation.
What do you do?
Well, I also realize I forgot to add three for finesse, so maybe I'm becoming a little
more charming currently, so that would have been a 14.
However, I would like to look to see if there are any lights shining down so I can
make a stealthy escape.
Alright, go ahead and make an instinct roll for me.
Gosh, these rolls. I really wish I could hack them.
Okay, 14. 15.
I haven't let my players help infuse me.
So, that is the success. As you're walking through, you can see there are a few grates where some spaces could be snuck through to get here.
However, as you're being slowly pushed further into the escape, you see more and more soldiers are starting to gather.
Suddenly, I spend a fear here, you hear a voice come over these little arcane orbs that are fixed throughout.
A voice that sparks through with a heavy echo and goes,
Soldiers, I believe it's time that we prepare for the ritual.
Please, head to your spaces and show me your allegiance.
You're not quite familiar with that voice, but you hear it from outside.
This Queen Domina seems to be preparing for an event.
Sombra is not safe in there.
No one is safe with Domina.
It's time for us to go in.
It's time for us to do something to take her down.
Like I've always wanted to.
Do you think we have the capability to take her down on the mill?
She seems quite capable.
Now you don't want to fight?
No, no, no. I do want to fight. Yes, of course.
I think together we have the power to do much more than we do apart,
and so rising there alone.
She may not always agree with everything that you say,
but she is a smart person,
and I found her to be honorable.
Okay, so we need to save Nautia first.
Yes.
Now you, in looking through the eye and following the eye line,
You also scoped out some of these internal vent pathways to try and escape.
What? The vents?
Yes.
Great. We should be able to enter through the vents.
With my eye I'll be able to guide us, and kind and benevolent Game Master.
I would like to use this moment to, well, cash in, cash in, cash in, no hold that, never mind.
The eye I'll be able to guide us. Shall we climb through?
All right. Well, you are escorted what was once to go to the prison instead
You're now being escorted to a different area of the chamber after this announcement
Become a cult member
Maybe
Now the rest of you are trying to sneak it. I need to do a group finesse role for me
So who wants to leave this? I have a question for you called KCD. Yeah, what's up?
I am a very large individual. Yeah, how big is the vent?
Pretty tight
It's gonna be a tough role
I don't want to go in a different way.
Going in a different way?
But where are you going in?
The front door.
As the rest of you are moving to sneak,
you watch as your friend Grigore just charges
through the front gates.
We're going to have to move quickly.
OK.
How's your finesse?
Eh, zero.
OK.
I got one, so I guess I'm going to leave.
All right, so you go make a finesse roll first.
It's a reaction roll.
Oh, reaction?
OK.
I'm going to mark a stress as an L-form
to gain advantage on this roll.
Marked.
OK, that is a 16 plus 3 and 19 with fear.
Fear doesn't matter for a reaction roll.
That's a 19.
Like I said.
That's a success.
So I'd make a finesse roll and add a plus one for your friend.
Plus one.
Oof.
Can I?
Yeah.
Use one of my hope to get, since I'm a noble daughter,
I feel like I know these castles, how they work.
Maybe when I was a kid, I used to sneak around.
So, can I use this to add my plus three experience being a noble daughter?
I'll allow it, you know, but some kids hang around prisons when they're young, I guess.
That's, uh, you tell me.
We don't judge.
Okay, it's, uh, 15 plus, uh, 16, 19 with hope.
Great, take that hope back.
back ends plus one there for 20 that's a yes with hope both of you rush into the
greats and begin sneaking through you can hear the sounds of soldiers moving
about and more and more of these echoing calls of Queen Domina shouting for the
rest of her troops and the other prisoners that she's taken into this
space you also begin to realize no chase you're walking around most the
space inside is open most of the prison cells have been relinquished it
It looks like all the soldiers walking around in uniform
were likely the people held within.
It's a full topsy-turvy interior
and Grimstone keep us fallen to the queen.
As you get pulled past a long secondary portion
where you can see a bunch of weaponaries being set aside,
all the other soldiers are gathering,
air's getting hotter before you're brought through
a gateway into a central chamber within.
This is the core of the keep, and of the mountain.
Streams of molten rock pour down and glow with an orange, ember-like light.
You can see a massive structure held out of the loft over the loft flow into a molten floor far beneath it.
This platform acts like a massive hexagon-type shape, where you can see a bridge crawls across to it to a central platform.
There are three holding cells across it,
and massive, high-hanging, chain-affixed hooks
that dangle for moving different prison cases around.
Whatever the central, deep-set prison chamber is,
it looks like it's been retrofitted now
to be the center of what Queen Domina wishes to achieve.
As she stands in the middle,
the rest of the soldiers gathering on the outside,
by looking at the windows within.
The two of you charging in can hear the shout
of your allies from inside.
Grigor, as you go barreling from within,
do you just keep running
or do you try and fight what comes across?
I'm going to keep running straight ahead.
I will not stop.
All right, I need you to make an agility roll for me
to see how far you can get without anyone
and any sort of retribution on you.
That's what makes it fun.
Mm-hmm.
That is 15 with fear.
All righty.
Go ahead and take that fear for me.
Thank you.
That is a success.
So you go charging through and it takes a solid minute
before anyone's even ready to hear the shouting.
They're giving commands and orders to each other
but they're also distracted by Queen Dom and the shouting
through the various devices that fix the route.
Some of them try and swing at you wide, but you're already pushing through. Others get knocked off under their butts as you just continue to push through.
You follow where all the other soldiers are going, and by the time they turn over their shoulders, you're barreling past.
You're knocking them from end to end. A few other bolts shoot out towards you from behind.
That's going to be a 13 to hit you, is that it?
Yes, but I would like to use an armor if I could.
Well, let's see how much it does. It's going to heal. Nine points of physical damage to you.
Eh, I'll take it.
All right, you mug your hip when you keep charging through.
As you all sneak in to help your friend,
you hear the sound of Grigor tearing into the space.
The soldiers are shouting, but Domina comes over the thing
and says, stop this and come witness the glory.
Everyone turns away from where this anger's happening.
The soldiers hold still, fearful.
You all begin to sneak into the central chamber
where you can see.
Noche is being held by their soldiers.
As you're brought forward, Queen Domina steps forward
Wait, I've heard of you. Aren't you one who steals things from my expanded troops?
From my network of well-earning thieves?
I don't steal them. I just take back what belongs to us.
Well, always happy to have a guest here to witness history.
free her for the moment, and have a seat, and she points at the edge of the platform.
With that, Vendetta and Asa...
Oh, sorry. Marta and Asa Metra.
You've snuck into the exterior of this chamber where other soldiers are fixed, looking inward.
The loud sound of Grigor begins barreling through, and the soldiers turn as Queen Domino goes,
Let them in. I'm not worried.
At the very least, some intruders will make
for some interesting audience members.
You go barreling in and watch as the soldiers step aside
and let you into the chamber.
Just as the two of you kind of step in as well.
There's a long, broken bridge,
chains on the side that leads to the central platform.
There's Queen Domina's dance.
Eager, arms crossed.
She goes,
Ash, are these the ones that you saw earlier?
She steps out.
Ash, withered, annoyed, screechy voice, says,
Why, yes, that is the ones who try to take this from me.
What do you think we should do?
Want me to shoot them for you?
No.
If they make any rash moves, well,
I'll deal with them myself.
Oh, huh
Can I just while she's delivering a very long speech this boring to me?
I would like to look and see
What exactly this setup is you said there were three cages that were hanging from why don't I show you?
Can I get some help here to unveil the map for me? Oh?
She talks too much
Simetra. Inhale, exhale.
I suppose I...
You don't have to deal with her as much as I do.
She may be my boss, but she's hardly my superior.
Let's go ahead and bring the stocks for me to go back.
Oh, I don't know what to do.
Thank God.
All righty, that's my many.
I'm just going to set this aside for the time being.
If you all situate yourselves here at the edge,
set to watch what is called as history.
Queen Domina takes the center stage.
Her undead hash sits, watching at the distance.
She holds forth the scroll case and opens it.
The runes flicker, like some sort of an internal trap
is about to be set.
And she shakes her fingers across it and dispels it in this.
As it cracks open, steam escapes.
Pfft!
And she pulls forth the scroll and she holds in her hand.
My new guests.
My soldiers, who turn to the right side,
and all of my sweet prisoners who have been battered back
by the system this kingdom keeps on us,
I am the way in the truth.
Truth's over to you, Waste-Metro-Ghost.
And for those who weren't thankful,
may you now look upon your betters
and see what true future power has to say.
She takes the scroll and she will unfroze it before her.
She begins to read from it a language you do not understand.
In Vundar, Timurah Katsi.
As she begins to read, you watch.
That's red energy in his affair at her hands. What do you do?
My giant cowboy looks her dead in the eye.
And this giant cowboy says, it's high time I end you.
He's a giant cowboy!
I heard you. I heard you. That sounds great. I appreciate it.
While he says that and distracts her, I would like to use...
She is not, similarly, undead to all of the other soldiers and bachelors.
No, no. The only ones who are undead here are the undead gang, the deadlock gang.
Everyone else here appears to be of a whole swath of backgrounds.
Wonderful. Sometimes it's good to have a little bit of chaos.
I would like to use this green gem, this necrotic gem.
And I would like to use my staff of light.
So, between the two, I would like to mark a stress and shoot out a ray of light, far range, which I believe she is at,
and make the target at a far range take a little more magic damage than I might have with my...
Go ahead and make that roll with your instinct to see if you can strike her in the middle of this attack.
Ideally, I would like to hit the scroll to be able to burn it up.
Certainly, I give it a shot.
So stress marked and last hope.
No, cashing in my floating eye.
I have a channel raw power ability.
So I am going to gain hope equal to the level of that card so I get two hope back.
There you go.
That is an 18 plus 333 with fear so 21 with fear and I'm going to do 1d8 plus 3d12 damage.
15 plus 12, 27 bounce.
27 damage to Queen Domina.
Alrighty, that's going to be a severe wound to her. She marks three hit points on that.
What I'd like to do is pierce through the spell scroll with my beam and straight into her chest.
Your technology is flawed.
It strikes the scroll while it doesn't destroy it. It's protected by some sort of internal enchantment.
This is an ancient power, but it does not get free from her hand and skitters back to this part of the battlefield.
From there, he watches the impact, blaster in the chest, smoke after HG.
Close backers, you ungrateful gaits.
The soldiers go, wait shall we just close the doors?
They are mine to play with.
Ash?
Now that the spotlight comes back to me, I'm going to ask the audience once again
to vote for me.
Who does Queen Domina sense is the biggest initial threat
amongst this troupe of four.
So go ahead and put in your vote on who she targets.
They come from Italy.
Just say it.
I
I
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Welcome back everyone and to the Overwatch World Cup finals here in beautiful Anaheim, California.
We're at BlizzCon Day 2 and we are getting ready to crown some champions here with us.
We have Jake, we have Ash and they will be setting the stage for our bronze medal match at first.
Absolute heartbreaker, we just got to witness between France and South Korea.
They played it so close, but South Korea did the funniest thing
in reverse swept them in turn.
A little revenge match there.
You got to cast it.
Jake, how are we feeling after that?
Yeah, I mean, it's a beautiful textbook revenge story book,
in fact, for South Korea.
That'll put them on towards the gold medal match.
But for now, it's a test of resilience.
Who can stand tall enough to reassert themselves,
to get back on that podium?
There is still one medal remaining.
It may be bronze for both of these teams
that have come so incredibly far this year
with historic World Cup performances,
there's still a lot to fight for.
Now, of course, a big question heading into this
is the mentality for both of these teams.
Because France just had to play, and it's a heartbreaker.
If you're playing a serious disc close
and you end up losing,
based on some pretty egregious mistakes
right there at the very end when things get hectic,
now you have to recover.
You had a half-times worth show,
basically to get ready, like,
leave that behind you and dip into this match.
Sweden they got kind of flattened in their previous series of mentality wise Jake
Which side would you rather be on here?
you know I think as as
Painful as it is to suffer or a verse sweep in the end you still put up an incredible fight that may feel a long way away from the French
Squad, you know having been so close to a chance of the gold medal match
But the proof was in the pudding right Kia was putting up huge numbers crocs came together the support line was fantastic
So for France, there's a lot of great things they can build on.
For Sweden, though, they've had some time to recover,
and that might be their advantage.
So it's kind of hard to say who's got the edge coming into this third-four.
Yeah, Ash, if you're looking at Sweden's performance thus far,
obviously they've been great throughout the World Cup,
but KSA, they made them quiet real quick.
It was Kevster, of course, trying once again to save the day in that last map,
fighting back, but it was not enough.
No, it wasn't. It's so hard to, I think, get a read heading into this matchup,
considering the fact that for Sweden,
We didn't see as close of a game as we were expecting.
We thought that there'd be a little bit more biteback,
but it was so clean out from KSA.
We knew that KSA were going to want to have a very clean sweep,
that 3-0 for Sweden.
The bounce back is going to be key.
And you also have to think about the Willys on team spinning.
He's going to be going up again.
There's squad there within team peps here versus France.
And I think we can play some mind games there.
He's going up against his fellow Tang and Kroc.
That's right.
Like, are they playing for the starting position on Team Peps now?
And they're so, I don't know, just throwing it out there
will be really funny.
But if you're from, obviously, again, heartbreak.
I saw them outside.
They took that loss really, really hard.
Jake, what are you focusing on heading into this match now?
Because, surely, you're still going to stick to your playbook
with such a short turnaround.
Yeah, I think both teams have to stick to their guns.
But, honestly, for Team France, they've got some things to worry
about as strong as they were up against Korea.
I think Dipp started the struggle down the stretch.
Now he's going up against Kevster.
No reprieve on the flex DPS roll.
From the support line, I think Admiral
is going to be a key performer for Sweden.
The question for Francis, can they find their composure?
Their composition, their whole style
relies on hitting this perfect middle ground
between incredible aggression and the perfect moment
to pull things back and keep things in control.
Will you be able to ride that line
under this kind of emotional stress and pressure
only the match can tell?
Those were the cracks that we were seeing in that last matchup up against South Korea.
The fact that that over at Russian, you could see them desperately wanting to close out certain,
not even just maps, but points at times too.
Really rushing into things that are mental reset after an emotional loss
is going to be so important for France.
Absolutely. Now, I had a really hard time predicting this one.
Not gonna lie. I feel like honestly, there's a lot of great things we can say about both of these teams.
both have some odds stacked against them.
Jake is starting with you, for going for predictions,
who did you take care of for this one?
You know, I maybe have cooked a little bit on this one,
but I actually had to go with Team Sweden.
I'm sure the French fans and the crowds
aren't going to be too happy to hear that.
But ultimately, I think Sweden are the stronger team on paper,
and I think the French are going to be reeling from that loss.
I'm worried about their ability to stay focused down the stretch.
And on the other side, I think the veterans of a player like Kevster
is going to be worth its weight in gold
in this kind of a crucial moment fighting for a podium finish.
Did you hear that, Ash?
Jake, Overwatch got booed.
How does it feel?
Yeah, how does it feel to be one of us?
Oh, you know what? I'm no stranger.
I've been in this game a long time.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
I am gonna have to oppose you, though, Jake.
I'm gonna go with Team France on this one.
I think the emotions run high for this squad,
and they're gonna want revenge after the last game.
I'll wait you on this one.
I went for Team France.
I think they want to redeem themselves a little mistake there at the very end
but they played it so close against a team like South Korea.
Man, if they can play this one so close, they got this one in the back against Sweden.
I want to see a close match, but we will find out what these two teams bring to the table
for the bronze medal match.
But before we get into the action, I'm hearing we have Gavin Dunn on the floor
with a very special guest who you have with you, Gavin.
Thank you, Zoe. I am here with Sally Amaki, the voice of Kiriko.
Hi, Anaheim is under my protection.
Inaka, konnichiwa. I'm Sally Amaki. I'm so excited to be here.
How do you say, Genki desu ka?
Mitza Genki desu.
So, how has your BlizzCon been so far?
This is my first time. I haven't been on this ghetto.
I see so many, like, Kiriko cosplayers and they gave me, like, badges and Ofuda's
food eyes and I feel so at home. That's amazing. So Kiriko definitely has been all over the floor
with our cosplayers as well as in the game. We've seen tons of Kirikos played in almost every map
that it isn't banned. Who has been your favorite Kiriko player? I gotta say Skyle from Sweden.
He's been treating her well, don't boo.
The France fans are always that very much.
Yeah, he's been treating her very well.
Okay, well, so we have the match coming up.
It's going to be France vs. Sweden.
Who do you think is going to win?
Who should I say?
France? Everywhere but France, yeah.
Okay, the France fans are definitely going to appreciate that.
that. Thank you so much, Sally. And we got to get this game started. So Zoe, take it away.
Thank you, Gavin. Thank you, Sally. But the Frank Fons are ruthless. They're booing. Here we go.
But that's wild, guys. That's wild. But you know what? I appreciate the relentless support you guys
have for your team. Ash and I are with you on this one. Take the loan over there. But you might be the one
gloating at the very end of it. The proof is in the pudding, though. So one more time. Blizzard Arena,
Are you ready to get our bronze medal match started?
All right, so are we.
So let's see, Sweden or France,
one of them is going to bring home a medal today.
I'm going to show you how to
play this game.
Here and how they got to this
third place match, but it is up to
them now to decide how that
chapter reads that last one,
Johnny. Now look, Sweden, they
got thrashed, kind of three
two very different scenarios in the semifinals and now we find ourselves in a third-place match
with a rematch from the 2017 Overwatch World Cup. That time it was Sweden coming out on top in
four-two fashion. France looking to claim the bronze medal here today. So I was going to be the first
map here as we dive into the game in just a moment and the whole second, France, I mean look
is Jake correct Johnny? Is like the power and the energy that everything that went into
to that map 5 series against Korea, is that going to be their downfall here?
Because Sweden, they have a relatively quick match against Saudi Arabia,
it being a 3-0, very different levels of temperament in both series.
France have definitely been the aggressor.
They've made their reputation playing the steamer composition to RT.
But playing in a match to the very final team fight,
like they just did in South Korea, it just drains the adrenaline.
You just feel fatigued afterwards.
And I, similar to Jake, I worry about going into this match now.
Can you find that energy to once more, keep going aggressive,
to find those picks where you really need them?
Sweden, I think they've had some more time to prepare accordingly ahead of this matchup.
And that could be something they look to abuse now, that extra preparation.
Players are locked and loaded already on the stage and we see a Freyja band straight away.
France getting that away from Zoro.
Yeah, this has been Sweden so far, this tournament.
Patient play and then the Freya navigated by a sorrow of course
Spent a potent threat landing a couple of boats together
Opening things up and then kept their following up on the tracer in turn
So that being removed especially a target found towards sorrow
hoping for more capacity or bastard flavor
Can hear the French guy already
And that's still got to give you a ton of energy, the boost that France maybe need to
finish on that podium.
It was 2017, the last time the Swedes managed to make it there.
Beating out France, like you mentioned in 2017.
A tale of two teams with one ending chapter.
or Sweden who is going to emerge the hero.
This is one that gets added to the resume.
You build your legacy in Overwatch, eSports, Kevster, a superstar, household name, can
he look to claim that bronze medal for him and his country here at the Overwatch World
Cup.
Crocs dip.
Can they step up?
Make proud of this one.
Have they got the energy to continue? I imagine they do.
Kevser forced a prequel very early. Barely got a half a clip off, and Chase still
down. I mean he's still super low. 4HP manages to scurry away, but Krox turns his eye towards Zoro who
is left. I mean Skyline and Abra were playing so much attention to Kevser there, trying to keep
up their superstar trace that they forgot about the Cassidy waiting in the wings.
Esperant, taking early position on the point.
But Sweden's still in this one. Pretty neutral fight so far.
Skyle with an incredible biodecrain.
On top of FDGAR, that Bansai critical blow is going to be fast-catching the point,
but Sweden getting the picks required, looking to turn this teamfight around and become victorious.
Skyle was doing the most that he's silly. Tags, he got just people trying to
look at the point, get some damage in, he was popping everybody.
Zara takes down FDGold, and Kenny basically only just came back from spawn.
And look, Adrel's whole charge now compared to FDGold.
70% already on the catnap, versus 44.
Yeah, it's going to be a duel between two very competent jetback cat players, Adrel.
It's been a standout for Sweden so far, and a big reason why they've had the success.
Kevster, cold spawn in hand here. No Kirikos on the battlefield, so can't be soothed.
Can he have an instant impact here?
Dibs gonna try and do him one better, only 10% away, Willis is getting bullied off the
point now, just for all fun to assault from France, he's gonna get Lele for the time being,
Crocs, oh he's got it, well, little break up, he hit Willis, and that postmortem top
two, that means that Nanook was basically useless for Sweden, and now it's Crocs' turn
to get in the mix, a quick jump pad for Zoro, bombed his little head, that was
A little unlucky from the Swede, only 47% gain from Sweden, not too bad on your first assault.
That was a heavy investment from France.
Yeah, France do a great job there of just absorbing all that pressure coming out from Sweden
and dip them combined with the pulse bomb on top of Willis.
That just kind of halts the frontline for Team Sweden, and France are able to turn with their own momentum.
Give a break from Willis coming up, Sky Noon too from Zorro, we know how this chapter ends.
Oh, Serion! Shacedown, Catnap comes in, steals away Willis for the time being, but Zoro,
knight in shining armor, takes care of the Cat.
So far, and really even between Sweden and France, these are two teams who have flourished
playing this team of composition, first at the group stage in Busan.
And now here in the playoffs as well, looking to wrap things up.
Willis here has a limit break but really difficult to get the value immediately going to deploy it here at the other cross
Looking for a pick early. What a sleep though. Uh-oh. Keo getting shot on the side looking for the honor
Skylar taking down for the post about the garden. Oh
A little too for there for France should be a fairly easy cap now as Keo is just
dominating this front line. Even if you know what fight though is Avril and Willys
are trapped behind France behind enemy lines. Oh okay, Avril is cooking. He got
way too. He did get away. There's definitely something you can do in
this matter. You can wait out for a little bit. You can try to stall out and
then look for a couple of combinations in the back line. Not necessarily
five man yet so to speak in these team fights but that's actually just get
Staggered a little bit and now looking at potential last fight snorrior here for France.
Bronx is building forces with a break.
Miss Lee Goodnate though really quick, like decisive aggression there from France.
Throwing Crocs in early and then putting Xerion in a ridiculously forward spot is the honor.
Yeah I mean this is the aggression we've been talking about in Crocs there.
Finds the first pick required.
Sorro here has the Sky Noon but needs to find a good angle for it.
Here he goes.
Sky noon, swinging in, sleep dart misses!
But that dead eye did not!
Very on now down, Sweden go on the pursuit.
Wanna try and make a saga here come to life?
Crocs is on the point currently pressuring Kevser, forces the Regal.
Has the limit break, sure, the stick's gonna come in.
Oh, and FD gone goes down!
Crocs dashes into the cat!
82% of building, Sweden in the lead almost.
Crocs then trying to peel away to try and reset.
said but if they got killed in the process here kill though has to sky do
this is a great engagement tour for France Sweden know this is coming though
nano catnap available wheelies are backing out slowly skull deletes the
shield and there's the nano on to sorrow you mess with the best sometimes
you're gonna die like a rest sky takes down crocs fd got as well this
backlight for Sweden hard carrying them right now a disgusting round for the
That's right, the back line doing tremendous work for Sweden so far, doing a good job absorbing
all this pressure from France, Kevster finding the upper hand against Dip, a few times there.
Just finding the smallest of edge means that they get away with the first round capture
here on Samoa.
No crazy changes here for Sweden.
Second round off the very first close.
Close one.
Teleports out, dip on Tracer Kevster to match.
Okay, mirrors coming in and we see Kevster being dropped off.
either tricer here on the teams have the potential to have a lot of impact in this one
Kephster forces that recall early here, drop it low, this is going to mean the retreat for France already in this one
That was a really good health pack camp there from Kephster, dashes onto the health pack begging Dip to come in
I mean look at this guys
And look at him, determined to go for this 1v1, forces the recall on Dip and he says you know what?
Chop's done! Chop's good!
Dam town made from style, no cereal.
And now Sweden in control.
Kevster's securing that pick by the way. After all that hard work.
Going to be Sweden to an early lead here.
And typically we'd say of course Kevster is the favourite.
He is the superstar here for Sweden.
But Dit, you know Dit tremendous work against South Korea.
Just moments ago here as well.
So Dit is actually going to swap over to the Bastion here.
over to the Bastion here. This is the competition we saw from South Korea, doubling down pink, both the Cassidy and the Bastion.
We've seen this from OWS teams, like Chris and Minds as well.
Giving them options is always important. Keds are already really low, forced to recall early on.
That's been the thorn in the side.
Hillnade over the top, no problems for Dix. Going to get healed up in a moment.
Going to get healed up in a moment. Anyone? Heals? Alright.
a free kill for sweden and now they can just limit break straight on top of good sleep but kevster
doesn't want better i mean kevster is just running amok so far in this series he's free he's being
the difference maker 100% oh empty god why he's trying he should be good
france desperate here to find a way back into this round now plenty of ultimates available
for them but even if you go for a sky noon here sorrow might even play like an
anti-air sentry with their own dead eye
so the skull on the cat he was looking for a both cat end up going down to dead
eyes but dip is gonna get better of the frontline in the bastion sorrow down
should be a France cat it's just interesting how this composition for
He just changes the dynamic of the game of course.
Sweden has to be so wary about that sky noon and all that aerial threat.
But meanwhile, in that turn formed for the Bastion,
has so much damage on the ground as well.
So Willis has to have a lot of responsibility to try and get on top of this Bastion.
Make life difficult for both hitscan players.
I say a small one, he's got an under HP, now to boost up.
Oh, Kevster, that looked like it was supposed to go on Willis though.
That was a missed opportunity right there, and Sweden has to reset.
Keeps the percentage building here for France, they can generate some more ultimate as well.
on at 48% here on the Ana but we know how quickly you can generate that Nonna Boost and that will
obviously be a critical tool here as well. France best hope here. It's really two great team
fights here. First it needs to be Croc's getting valley with this little break.
I think I'm putting cells on point first. This is really low on the side. A good cut that
straight into the dash and CLA had it. FD God's going to do hit the same though and
Straight into the drink. However, sweet. It's been Johnny. They do cap the point so this thing a little bit of percentage away here from France
As we see April. Yeah. All right straight into the water
96% so little bit of percentage there's gonna give them another fight maybe a half a one and
Crucially as well. It's been captured a pointer with 96% over time needs to be triggered right away from France
But France, they got a good open advance going now because FDG has secured so much value already.
Limit break already. Super early on from Willis there.
Oh, the post for one dip. Kevser found the Bastion.
And now, careful, whoa!
Gonna get taken down by Zerion.
An unlikely kill feed there.
I'm not entirely sure Kevser was expecting all that damage coming through from the Ana.
And now in France in a winning spot.
Skygriot, Sorrow again, Sorrow takes down FDGOT, Keeho's gonna do the same thing to Adrel,
but Sorrow, because he fell on the ground, kind of easy pickings for Dick, and Ana boosts
up Willis as he chases down Keeho, straight onto the health bag, and now back to the
point to keep his team alive in this round, he's so damn low and 180 kills Darion, gets
the call, gets it done, but Franche is still holding the points.
Admiral to buy some time here Soros back on the sheon needs to be the difference maker
Admiral's in the sheon is dead. It's up to Admiral to get yet another touch
Dip lying in wait waiting for the cat to once again go in for another one
I mean, he's just too little too late for Sweden
France tie us up on some hour. I mean these teams are neck and neck. This is unbelievable and
And FDGOT with a critical catnap there to buy France some extra time
for that final fight when they built up all those ultimate Syrians
finding that pick on the Kevster as well.
Truly individual playmakers making sure that France
get an opportunity here to stay alive in this Samoa.
Taking a look at the scoreboard early here.
Kevster always stand out 14 and 7,
But it's a team effort from the rest of France
Then the damage from Willis to 12k
I mean he's doing a lot right now Willis and cox are essentially doing the exact amount of impact
Yeah, both I did with the equaling each other. It's it's crazy how well matched these two teams are
They've all changed you coming into this a couple of days ago like it wasn't that long ago
still just pumps out so much damage. A big DPS. Alright, a little swing in from
it, no problem. This order goes down first, okay. I got a second chance for
Sweden to kind of react, but they've reacted a little bit too hastily. It feels
like Willis dashes in, gets instantly naded.
Crocs, so good at finding early impact in these fights. Has developed such a
great sense on this demon to know when you can make hard comics when you can
really engage with the mobility that demon has to try and find those opening
picks if you can get on top of sorrow on that cast of you should have a good time
fighting an early pig and Crocs does so time and time again.
Alright, so there you go a little bit. As soon as FD got felt fresh in there, he ended up
backing out way to the Bastion. Although Willis is unfortunately quite low so
Can't manage to take any space and Kroxas couldn't take
Prime advantage of that, free real estate for him.
Walk straight up and now Willis is out of mech.
I mean, Willis is getting dominated so far in this round.
He said actually who fights in a row that there's just too much damage for him.
And when that frontliner is gone for Team Sweden, they just buckle.
I mean, Dib is playing like, well,
Balloon's tower defense is sitting up on the high ground,
just shooting Kroxas soon as he comes in.
Yeah, they've been uncompressed so far. Yeah?
If you're Sweden here, you can't play the damage trade.
You need to look for these poor little dives and Kevster trying to get something going.
He recalled already. Doesn't see him out of that.
Confidence at an all-time maximum here for Kevster.
Geo dead. No Pogsbomb needed either, I'd imagine.
Although DIP is now though. It's still pretty scary on the wheels, Moe.
Always missed it. Oh, Kevster! He gets dragged off the map.
DIP ends up getting a kill. A kill credit with the mate.
And now France sitting at 70% while Sweden are forced to reset.
Will is contesting here on this D.Va, so he needs to wait for the rest of the troops here.
Sweden has a couple of ultimates, if they can just wait for their troops to get back
in this one.
Sky noon, and the broad, I mean come on, this isn't fair!
But Zoro still takes down Q and a D.God, just spiked it, also using his ult.
Zoro, I mean that's dirty work, you've done enough, you deserve a rest.
the rest of Kevstar. But it's such a heavy position to be in France. 99% in Sweden have
to be perfect from here on out if they want to get away with a math win here on Samoa.
Kevstar and Willis now look at the combined, the Diva and the Tracer. Can they find the
picks required on the Keo, on the Xerion in that backline? They need to be the
first one to land the opening frags.
Oh, I mean, are you kidding?
Just cannot happen.
Mistake. I mean, I'm serious.
Crocs is painting a picture right now and he's a masterpiece.
France have already kept the point.
I mean, that is it.
That is Crocs all day, every day.
Get another one to off the back of that Zoro down.
FD got high in the sky.
deep in the 1v1 versus the Tracer and unfortunately Kevster has got the back up.
Skal takes him down the sleeve dart on the Crocs. I mean surely surely he's done
enough for France to win this fight. He's so down low the limit break ends up
missing Kevster. He dashes out the way. This is Sweden's field staying alive here
and looking to build this that I asked well for potential sky known. France
keeping things contested for now but Sweden's hopes restored until now.
Cross gets yet another. And FD got an ult in a minute too.
Oh, DPS down and oh, DREV.
FD got, finds the mech of Willis.
He's trying to get out. FD got Bsterillo 2.
Surely Skullcum be kept alive here.
Zoro is in his own little battle too.
It's a 1v1, v1, v1, v1 across this map.
France get the flip again.
Kep's in good touch.
Stalling for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Jeff Paquette and Ana
are getting back for Sweden candid by enough time didn't recall to maybe this is
a fight France don't want to win full reset full regroup they're still at 99
swing in sorrow gets the shot off eventually kills Pio but they still have
a long way to go power Sweden still in this one facing overtime time and time
again and they're still in control of this objective France though so many
on the board here. Sky noon, Nano boosts across the side as well.
Kio, oh, it's just not even fair when the cast is Nano tier.
Another shot in Skarl's life, that's all you really need, surely.
Willis is going to try and go for a trade.
Xerion down, the cat comes in, the double flashbang does connect.
Bavril, a little bit too slimy, slippery, gets out of the way.
Kedsa with another touch, the self-destruct comes out for Willis,
for Williston that the baby diva is dead.
The polk smurf on the mech of Crocs.
He does get ejected, sure.
Number still in favour for Frant Avril.
Does land a nice little catnap actually on FDGOT.
They're gonna die again.
They're gonna end up killing Crocs.
Surely they don't hold on yet another time.
Sweden refuses to go down.
They just find pick after pick
and once more they recap to the objective.
This is such a ridiculous round.
I mean, this has got to be one of the longest rounds
control of all time but they used so many ultimates to get there everything
they got in the hopes of staying alive but this is last fight territory now
kevster recall force early crocs with limit breaking in hand who can make the
difference it may break a small dash away there from winners but he is
vulnerable susceptible now to crocs he finds wonder and the sword much more
mightier than the pencil here Sweden they're gonna get a couple of pigs of
their own and still in control.
Deep getting chased out.
Kevster, couple of blinks left.
Get straight back to the point.
Three versus the Luzonario.
Cooks by the pick of the style.
FDGov's got the catnap as well.
Kevster goes down.
The polk's bomb still connects.
Is that enough?
Is there another touch up?
A wrecking ball of all things Willis gets back.
Zoro's in the fight as well.
A catnap for FDGov might be all they need.
They're going to drag the ball back into their net
and score.
France are in control, the Sky Noon, the final nail in the coffin, Sky O'Dead is back on the Moira, surely this is it!
Surely France make this work!
It's Kevster vs. Vaughn, but even the greatest can't get it done!
France finally get the job done at the very end, going the distance on Samoa
and it's laughter from France, recognizing how absurd of a round that was.
But they finally get across the finish line, secure the 1-0 in this third place match.
I mean, that was so impressive.
We had to stay alive in the first place to give themselves a chance to really hang on to that map.
But it felt like every single time it was an uphill battle to start getting picked repeatedly.
France finding the openings and then that that I from Keo. It's a big difference maker. I mean look at the stats
17k damage from Willis
Croxing on a clean cool
20k damage next close. This is here 16k on it on the cast as well
That Matt Johnny felt like this series France just had versus Korea
It had the same energy, the same clutch, the same kind of vibe.
And that was only three rounds.
They differently just want one easy match.
Can we get a full hold going somewhere?
Can we get a full hold?
Why does it always have to go the distance?
And like you say, that might have been one of the longest some of us we've ever seen
because of how Sweden so well delayed the inevitable in that one.
No team leaving two dejected after that one
Trading back and forth both teams having their moments in this one
That was well for the future here for Sweden don't feel like they have to win one. No immediately
They get the preference of map choice now
Given that they are the losers of the very first map they get to choose the first van as well
Who did it want to get rid of?
So many demons. It's just so chaotic. And the amount of like trading of the cats as well
in the in the sky. It was a little silly. We've got enough highlights for the to roll
the whole thing. It feels like really nice from FD. Got an Ambril. I mean you picked
up an Ambril at the start of the series. Like I think the desk was kind of chatting
about it too. Ambril's cat is just so good. People have gotten better and better
and feta with the cat especially the catnap. I think gfd god had the more impressive cat in this
one and I feel like gfd god has just been so good at frame-making when he comes to this death
act cat. Like it's a big reason why france has been so successful because obviously croc is
thriving playing this really aggressive demon finding the right opportunity to go in and get
those picks but it's all built on the backbone of fd god being such a great support player
They're managing the back line, managing the front line.
Putting both his demon and his capacity in a good place to feed.
Are you scared, George?
Are you scared?
A small sense of frustration there,
it felt like despite him letting it rip.
Hey, times have old, people were doing battle rise, war
chance, everything, right?
That's just Francis in 2026 in a war.
It creates very motivating energy like the rest of the team can easily rally behind that feel comfortable
I love what Cropx is doing for this team
It's a Vibes guy, but he also is sick on tank which helps
I think with like you said having a leader like that really kind of
Pushing yourself and pushing the rest of the team to really build up into something special
And that is with the tail of France
throughout groups
Reverse sweeping Korea and even in that Korea game just now. They're coming off a map 5 heater and they're still putting up numbers
They're still putting this level of energy in
What's up to love
So happy for crocs to us
Found the right meta the right hero that works for him so well a player we were kind of introduced to back in 2024 in older bless
Yes
Making it all the way through the open qualifiers to competing in the greatest upper world esport circuits
And now here a spine found a home playing the demon for France and
you
you
you
you
you
You see this come on the roadhog
Okay pigs can fly
Here we go
He's ready for some roadhog action on Ruthie the sixth defense. He said in Korea. He would play a blizzcon and here it is
Here it is indeed buying for a bronze medal crocs brings out the revered road of this
See if you can get the job done they're like oh
It was just the thumbs up a motor around the corner no honor. Sorry, buddy. Yeah
Okay
Straight over the top we're getting a little fancy
What's up with this?
You know they practice this in a scrim or two.
OK.
And hooks on.
Come on.
You're a little wide.
All good.
No problem.
Take a breather real quick.
All right.
Now, what do we do?
He just stands there.
What's the game plan?
He just stands.
The patch hasn't come in yet.
The patch.
The new Roadhog's not in yet.
Nice hook.
There it is.
Keds to down.
FD God is going to get traded though, sad.
He's airing on.
You've got a TP, buddy.
Unlucky.
All good.
Hawke can hit himself though.
OK.
Well, just like in rank, the road
is still alive that's for sure yeah the support is dead for the roadhog still alive
now it's a matter of how do we win the team fight needs to be an opening thing
when I crouches the road around the corner and yeah the life of a roadhog
sadly did it is unsuccessful nice kills from sorrow this is gonna be a quick
swap from crocs I'd imagine but it was fun while it lasted there it is we
tried we can say after that we did try going to be the orisa here instead
Which has been the backup hero for some of these tank players.
We obviously saw in the previous series that Krox has a pretty good performance on it.
France, looking for the Reconcast here.
Keo could build this Dainu.
It would be such a great tool now for France to look through and engage.
I'm gonna go straight in with this one.
Everybody dipping under big ults.
Uh-oh!
And Keo straight down.
Oh, not quite.
Flashbang's good for one though.
Scarlet falls, and you know what?
France might be able to hold this one.
Even with that kill on Zakiya, it shouldn't be too difficult here.
This is winnable actually for a Fida.
But even if it's just for a scenario, but they got the matrix to get off Sky Noon,
if they could just buy enough time, they couldn't engage here.
There you go, straight over the top.
That's got to get away.
Straight in the caves, my word.
I'm surprised he didn't pull the trigger earlier on.
And that is a lot of damage on Crocs.
Not going to build up.
And yet that'll be the cap.
That'll be the cap indeed.
And Sweden gets his payload moving forward. Really good job, they're staying alive as
a trio utilizing the defense matrix from Willis. They buy enough time and then go for Soros
and we engage. All of France's troops has to disperse, hide away from that dead eye,
it's so potent. And now Sweden, four ultimates on the board here. They get to set up accordingly.
He's just, like you said, so many ults. I think it's going to be, again, up to FD,
got to really open this up with a catnap. It's exactly what he's going to do, but it
goes wide, missed. So now they're going to try and banish that wound with a rush.
That spear's been doing so much to deny character of any space and damage. And now
Now Winister's separated from the team. A self destruct in the back pocket there as Crocs tries to pick him out.
Unfortunately, a remit comes in.
And Crocs is just keeping the momentum going here. Really pushing B even Keo.
Utilizing all this space to get the pick onto Admiral. It should be France cleaning up here.
Who's gonna kill onto Skar? They do lose Keo, but it's all good.
Taxi's coming in.
Where'd that Uber driver go?
Sweden got a look for the re-engage here. Having to put a lot of those openers. Now you really have to take your time here.
You can see them navigating throughout this left side, trying to put pressure on towards the point. Willis going for a deep engage here.
Forza teleporting from Seryon. This is also established for positioning early on here. And Sweden doing a good job at it.
I see it was stunned there on top. It went really low. Willis probably low. Lost the mech. That's terrible news though.
Really bad news and a pulse bomb straight on top of the dying mech is in a free kill onto the baby
And now they're hoping to finish us without using any extra alts. That's both supports gone for France though
Yeah, Kyos
Gonna have to be the light of the tunnel
For France, but looking pretty different right now takes a bike to the face
No tie mark. He's one HP.
He's so desperate to heal this high ground.
Oh, and FD got dized.
The sky noon, sent to the ground, sent to the grave.
Kyo 10 feet under.
A Sweden take control of the point.
And his croc is fell.
That was a really impressive fight from Team Sweden.
To establish that advantage, to begin with,
wrapping around, finding the picks onto the back line
in a scenario where they had no ultimates and that means that they can capture this payload and now getting it to the third point
they have so many ultimates available at their disposal
this is the perfect ultimates back counter to them to try and capture a really difficult third point
Has it been now for Crocs?
Alright, not happy with the Orisa
And the Vendetta as well
Against Athiva
Heavy engage
Basically in order to just get straight in there
and that's exactly what has happened
Apple, FDGOT, gonna try and trade places here with these cat naps.
FDGOT Manchester's sneak Willis away out of their self-destruct still in his back pocket.
Kepster down, 4v5 for France.
So we've been looking to hold on here, see if they can find an opening pick
but going to choose to withdraw here instead.
Had to deploy a couple of ultimates there, and because of that France
now able to set up more comfortably on the defense.
What more hazards than I thought we'd see, I'm gonna be honest.
Both of these players are very happy playing the hazards, then go to Heroes of Ido these
times here.
An honorable matchup.
Okay.
They've been used on top of each other there, Williams going extremely low, the Russians
gonna come in there to help him out in the frontline.
The increased healing there coming through from Rosariole and Skyle, that increased
attack speed.
Azora moves around the payload, and an easy kill with the dead eye.
Alright, now Crogs is trying to get busy trying to find an off angle to make it square
There's the spree from Kevster though picks off Serion and the payload can get on moving again
Prancel, bad thing until the very end if we got in Crogs, find them, you gotta die in this flank
You gotta throw out their picks. They do get a pick
Yeah, Q's already back. Nice little silver bullet shot on Tezoro
And realistically now, we didn't have to play pretty cautious because we didn't, or
France rather, found that pick.
It's a great job by France there, finding that extra pick earns them this defensive
positioning once more.
Now with ultimates, downpour coming in as well for Crocs, where it's not far behind.
Here we go.
Trying to take an aggressive angle once again is a dip, I mean they're all pretty
close to holes.
Downpour's going to come in.
Ah, Kevser gets dominated, Keo gets two, sure.
But they've managed to trade. It's a three on three. Two Swedish supports still alive, as Willis can only get sustained from one of them.
Gets walled in place. Gets up to the high ground though. No problem and leaps away to safety.
And now Sweden is looking to push the gas pedal. They're looking to push the momentum, but as soon as they go too deep, Kyo will look the capitalized.
Now it's going to try and swing in. Oh, the wall is kind of frustrating. Quick, break the wall!
Xerion does fall though and oh! Sundering blade there from Diff. End up killing two.
Sweden's struggling here on this third point came in with a good time bank but these crucial swaps from Diff over onto this vendetta
crooks onto the hazard has been so meaningful. Time windling down and Willys makes the swap over to the Malga.
10 seconds to go. Cart at a reasonable distance here to get the touch. This is actually the
first to four. Not expecting this Malga mentality coming through from Willis. And this backline
engagement here from FD got in dip. It's going to get way late. FD gots going to be
able to get out. Dip two by the looks of things. But Sweden are pushing. Dip has
to go for a touch and Willis takes him down a high noon as well to make sure they
can push forward with immunity and this rush is good but still Will is playing
behind the payload. Charge and come through at a moment's notice as well as
no kills have been available here. Spring into the back line are perfect by
section of the DPS. Krox is just so damn low and dip on the Reaper gets one
sure but you're dealing with the Mauga. Ain't no chance, ain't no way.
Zerion down, full cap for Sweden.
Willis and Sweden get the job done with that last second Malga swap.
Finding a good opportunity there to get a couple of kills onto France as they were pushing aggressive in those dying moments.
I mean that was how I can well they ended in the previous semi-final matchup for Team France.
really live and die by the sword. You just got to keep going aggressive and that time France, again getting picked in those final stages means that Sweden clean things up in a five versus three scenario.
A single death for Willis as well on the tank.
You do a great job of staying alive.
24-1.
Not talking the damage meter there, Johnny. You're talking the bronze damage. He was sitting at number three.
But still, yes, staying alive on the tank, there is just slow down at one end.
Quick swaps too to really make use of that last, what, like 15 seconds or so?
Switches to the mouth there to deal with the hazard, they pick the hazard, boom.
Momentum shift.
I mean, Willis just essentially sat on the payload for most of that.
Yeah, putting pressure on that payload.
But then the rest of the back line from Sweden, they withdraw.
They shy away from this very aggressive composition from France.
But once the Vendetta has deployed a lot of those abilities, once Rooks finds himself into that back-time and haven't got any picks required,
then they are a little bit more exposed and that's when Sweden turns things around.
Capping things out on Rooks is a really good achievement by Sweden here.
They should be favored now to establish this map with on Rooks' D6 spot.
They gotta maintain control now of this defense.
I'm gonna do it again, Johnny.
still has an action, who better get him?
still rock to the face
we've been seeing a lot of teams do this early on, come test the payload
try to buy some time
and then you can either choose if you want to get away like
we'll listen
admiral are doing right now
be careful, don't give it to him
oh, body shot bandit
yeah it doesn't quite find the headshot
He decides nice little jagged wall deck. It's gonna push with his back in
And crooks now finds himself pretty deep here perhaps looking to round this corner as a minute of the timers
We've been doing a good job just now from testing the payload buying time here. Look at the build ultimate
Oh, Kepsta's in really low there. Now his crops is time to act.
He's actually spotting an Abra, making the call.
Switching to Sigma.
Hasn't got the Jagged Wall not just yet, but this is in the corner taking a lot of spike guard damage.
Slowly, but surely they march on forward.
Take the wall.
Now the rush is going to come in too after you've gone way too close to the blender there.
And it's a three versus five.
Yeah, that's not a rush you want to see.
absolutely not. I mean he ripped that basically the same time he went down. Little unfortunate.
But it was almost like he was premeditated. He was so close to building that computer
watch book. Once it came online like the opportunity just wasn't there. That's a crucial
ultimate now from Xerion. And they can hold forward again. They got Flux too.
Sweden feeling way comfortable here now. Five ultimate on the board.
Sky needs to be one of them. Quick teleport, going on, dropping into tunnel. Oh, he's got
one, there's the recall. Oh, a little bit of damage. Not too crazy though, as well as
he's going extremely low. Kind of a hard fight there for the Sigma in that small corridor.
Ended up using the flux as well. Sky will now down two. Zoro's still holding on.
It's got the heals to match, but unfortunately not enough manpower to stick on that
point.
Admon's going to do a final contest here, but it did seem like lefty got got a good cabinet
They're onto Willis and force the error in positioning
That allows France to actually stay really competitive in a fight where they would have been at a disadvantage now
Rolling onwards here. Keo has this dead. I and this is such a good ultimate in this net of overwatch
Because you force the enemy movement so bad Sweden they have to be wary of Keo now
We come back with a wall as well to try and trap somebody
Downpour is going to come in, you're looking for somebody.
They're not trapped in the cave either, yeah, they're long gone, but the payload's moving.
Five meters to go, perfect time in there for Willis.
The rush is going to come out on the point as well.
Nice little teleport to the spree from Kevster, and it's got one already.
It's so dangerous for France to fight into this.
Rush, spree, there's just no sustainability on the side of France.
And now with 45 seconds to go.
Last chance saloon on Roo 66.
Croc's hovering around here, but that might be his end.
That's the rest of the team, France gets back.
You can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't.
This is the fight that needs to win.
Straight to the point as well, it's decent coverage here for France.
But Sweden can still use this giant rock and big girls to hide away.
Straight up to the mountain top, so go Crocs and FD got the high noon, the sky noon from Zoro.
sedented their plans 10 seconds and just not enough for France just no way
dip with the recall four stout and there it is Sweden full holding root 66
what an impressive showing from team sweden
a stay established dominance in that demon less matchup on root 66
their ability to stay alive against some of those engagement coming in from the
you
you
you
you
you
I'm curious to see how Sweden decides to navigate this map.
one now with the second band because they can pull off their style here. They're gonna have to
essentially opt into the demon duels, right? Maybe they feel like at this point they just
have to play more of the diva based on what we saw in Samoa earlier on. They want to shy away from
that way of playing. Oh, that is a sick megun.
Yeah, I think that's, yeah. I'm picking up what you're putting down Johnny. Here we go,
love it. Tell me man. We say every cast just like the Cosplayers, they're just so insane
at the show. No, right. Every players got to, every single one of the Cosplayers was
so sick. Cross all titles too. There you go, there's the Tracer Band from France.
We're really not that scared of the road.
Jokes aside here with the road of ban.
This tells you that Sweden are really comfortable playing the game.
They don't feel they need to get rid of some meta hero.
They want to opt into this matchup now against France, even if the Tracer is removed here
for Kevster.
It's going to be Xeon now from Biff from Kevster.
But still, the introduction of Xeon here maintains some pretty high tempo for the
flexed EPS player.
A lot of opportunities to have impact, we just saw Kevster with some really well
timed sprees of course on Route 66.
And so all hope is lost here for Sweden going into this as perhaps a map pick
of France. But I still feel like it's still Sweden here on the back foot. They're the
ones who have to deal with what it's going to come their way. Yes, they just want to
root C to six, but they need to take down France playing their own game. Man, Oxyron
I'll tell you that, putting in shift, Johnny, goes all the animals. Shout out the Ops team.
Now this is what we kind of saw previously from Sweden, Johnny. Even with another team
playing the Demon, Willis is like, okay, I can still play D.Va. It's a very different
We saw on the first of Samoa as we see dip once again on the vendetta
Kiriko for skyle
Sorry skyle on the honor
Zarya on the Kiriko and this is France very much knowing now what Sweden is gonna throw their way
They're expecting to be able to come out and then data such a great character with that sort to get up close and personal with that mic
So it's just a matter of adaptation now for Sweden. Recognizing France composition here.
How did it deal with all this inbound aggression coming their way?
It is like the double sword comp. The fury warrior comp, if you will, with Vendetta and
Timon.
And he got down though. Really early pick from Zoro.
A beautiful look so far for Sweden. We'll see if France can kind of settle the score.
Looks like Dip is going to make a mean go of it here, but has to retreat in the end.
And Sweden are urging forward here, taking it to France, but they're still expecting this guy to come through at any given time.
Oh, dearie me! Ketsu going way too deep. Here he grips his head off, and France have managed to come back in this fight, even though FD God went down early.
Yeah, it's almost like France had a little bit of a trap there. The health bar dropped really low, which kind of tempted Sweden to push forward, try to go for an engaged bot.
France they stay alive in that room they appeal for each other and then explode
out of there with dip getting that opening pig as you get this opening
high ground they're just way ahead when it comes to the ultimate Syrian already
with the Kitsuna rush ahead of the Narnabuz that is a huge discrepancy in
all that she should be taking so much damage and you lost someone you're
doing the only healing right she's Willis can get on the point now
I'm gonna shove Grogs back into the rest of the team, but they're still only rush.
Sweden can't do anything here. They have to back off.
They gotta think better of it, and France are in some extra middle-edge,
but the Kitsune rush is spelled here.
That's a big tool for France. Next up is Skynoon.
It's so hard here.
Skynoon, it's not that you have to flee, and it's just easy pickings.
Skyle, there it is. Now they have to deal with you.
Well, maybe not.
He's just been flown away, and Willys loses his life.
Another sharp shot there.
Checkpoint for France unlocked.
And France is starting to go away with the meteorite here. They're starting to build a lot of progress.
And it all comes down to them essentially having the earliest ultimate back here.
So Sweden moved the contest in this one, Toro. They pointed their eyes down, it was as well up to Willis.
It's good on to FD, god. At least you get one kill with it.
Toro's still gonna have to be fairly careful. Nano on to Willis, takes care of another.
Still with your flanks in this spot, 0, well close to 0 meters for Sweden.
You have checked with this early, only 3 minutes in, well that's a little unlucky for Willis, that's a very quick reset.
Going to take a little bit of time, still have a lot of mobility here, crocs down for France as well, so both of these tanks should be able to get back to next fight.
By the grenades followed by the Suisse from Syria here as both teams look to trade for a little bit.
Sweden's going to have the inferior positioning once more as France able to establish this high ground.
Pretty suck score, what is that, 2-2-2-2, they could have fought really early.
France had the priority score there, because they already kept check point.
Straight over the top.
Thunderblade here for D.I.V.E.
Straight through the wall, looking for Zorro, looking for somebody and Admiral.
Center off the edge, thanks to that flashbang.
And FD got takes care of Willis.
I mean, this is a slaughter right now.
France really running away with things.
As Admiral couldn't capitalize with that hat-nap, and France now, edging towards 100 meters already on his ground, so there's 4 minutes in, and they have a dead-eye.
They have the consumer rush. They could keep going.
Dead-eye straight to the back.
Oh, yeah, what do you do there? 100 meter advantage now at 4 minutes in.
You tell me how winnable this is for Sweden now. Willis is dead, sure we've lost Kio, but the bot is still moving.
124 meters, we're eventually gonna touch it if you swing, but you got no tank.
Nate comes in, hits to the bot, he's still going.
You got a question from fans?
They're just never going to waver, just gotta keep pushing the bot here.
As Sweden now desperate to hold on.
They're gonna have to deploy ultimates real early, just to stay alive in this one.
Willis is low.
Inter backing off, Crocs lifted to safety, the nano boost.
You have to get killed today.
Oh, and the limit break is just dirty as well.
And therefore the bodies, Sweden just being run over, as Dip places them in the guillotine.
And lets that blade slice them in twain, France, with a speed run win on Esperanza, Johnny.
And that is the joy in their faces that you want to see.
What a back and forth from both of these teams.
I mean, I can't believe how quick France just ran away with that one.
It felt like they had one wave of ultimates.
I mean, we had 60 meters, Sweden 5 back for a little bit.
And then France essentially go from 60 meters to 135, just like that.
Less than 5 minutes just taking control of Esperanza.
And if I'm team Sweden, I'm picking a moment.
They're just like, what just happened?
I think that happened.
We lost the opening engagement, they had open at the advantage and then it was over.
Didn't really have a chance to stand their ground on that defense.
The aggression with the Kitsuna rushes, with the dead ice, it was just too strong.
From France and now up 2-1 here pretty early in this third place match.
Obviously the start time is going to be pretty here for Sweden of course.
Zero deaths for Zerion too. You're smiling with that one.
that one. Yeah, just swing kind of crumbling in front of France. I think Kiyo 12 on one
is the one that really stands out for me there. Yeah, I felt like every single sky knew you're
getting that opening. Take whether it's on style on the honor or on cancer. And it's
a five versus four scenario like student just keep have to retreating right. And so
it just makes it so easy for France. If you can reliably just get a pick with the
It's like a mini chapter in this story Johnny a tale of two fights
I'd say the mid fight where they got Sweden got baited in after they killed fd God
baited into close quarters versus the demon oh and of course the vendetta who
is more than happy to fight you there and then the second fight where
Willis lost mech I think Zerion ended up throwing a kunai at the very end hit
the MEC got the D-suit, Willis had to jump off the edge, and then Frans had forward spots,
so they got back to mid-fight, they got on high grounds. If Willis didn't lose MEC there,
that is a very different midpoint of the game.
It sounds weird to say, but I don't even think that Sweden realistically have to
change anything on the back of such a dominant defeat in Esperanza, because their way of
playing the game has been to absorb their aggression, sit back, wait for Frans to
to commit with that aggression
and then look to capitalize on France's forward positioning.
But at that time, it just was the smallest of differences
that meant that France got those opening picks
and then France dominates from there on out.
So if I'm Sweden, I'm just looking to clean things up
the tiniest amount and then I'm looking to stay competitive
throughout that map.
So no reason to abandon what you're doing
just yet if you are Sweden.
You proved on Ruthie the Six just how good you can be
against a team like France.
And you banned the hog that last map too.
I would say it's a bit more of a throwaway ban.
Something to reflect on now.
Could you have done something there to make life a little bit easier for yourself?
Maybe, yeah.
But that's reflecting on the past, what has been.
Small break for the players.
Just quick little bathroom break.
But how quick that was, I'm like just get on with the fourth map, just running back.
All good though, no problem.
France now sitting one map away from claiming a spot on the podium.
Now look, they've been waiting for this moment a long time as well.
France, a historic nation in the Overwatch World Cup of course.
Early on, they were one of the big powerhouses.
wins, AKM, Anko, yeah, but of course they fell to Sweden in the third place match in 2017,
now looking for revenge to claim that once medal themselves. And so there's a lot on
the line here, for the players, for the nations. And Sweden have to dig themselves out of this
one-two hole now. Kind of going back to what you were saying, maybe digging a little deeper
here for Sweden and kind of ignoring that last map almost. Not much to learn, not much
to kind of go over. You've got to put it in the back of your mind. Yeah, you've got to
move on, right? Just take it out of the mind mate. We've had those ranked games. Yeah,
Gigi, go next. Gigi, go next. Quick exit as soon as that defeat screen comes up,
already got the escape, already got the... Boom, straight to the next one. Of course,
of course. The service to be mentioned, of course, that wasn't Tracer-bounded,
from France. And not that, like I said Sweden they can work without the tracer
but we also saw on Samoa what Kevster is capable of on a hero like that so
going into Uttis there's going to be our fourth map just so many angles for
Kevster to really work with to have the impact on that tracer and maybe that
could be the way back into this series if you are Sweden now. But then
again France they also have extra compositions up their sleeve they
They can play the Bastion, Catastrophe if they will.
And if you're a fan at home, Jaws,
you want this one to go to the distance.
You want to get some sweet drops.
Blue box there, obviously a couple of them.
Esports styling, with a six and eight hour mark.
Can you get some, the event currency too?
I think that is what Mark's right, getting some tacos.
It is, it is.
Our screen is picking up,
I'd hope you didn't break the ice, the spray.
for those who are watching on a phone, maybe you can see, I think it was the Overwatch Jacket
there, which is rather clean, I must say, it's nice, available for purchase, easy and
breezy nice pretty clean jacket I like the patches we'll have to ask almost
found that we found that suit later on we'll have to cop that for the world
finals of Odo VCS over in China she wear the same thing
we'll have to think differently in terms of people have been commenting on the
height by the way height diff as always I don't expect them not to but if we
show up in the same thing I think that'd be very funny okay we can
coordinator. Can't work on that.
Oh, that was just stage three.
Yeah, there you go.
In October.
Can't wait for that.
Bring yourself to work, then.
August.
Every time we leave an event,
I'm just circling the next thing on the calendar.
Please, one more time.
When's the next time we're getting
professional overwatch?
Yeah.
And that is stage three,
the final stage of the 2026 calendar year.
But we're here at Briskop.
We're in Anaheim.
And France are looking to close this series out to get third place.
All smiles, no frowns. Never.
Hey now.
I want to see some more Cuban from FDGOT too.
He's kind of a wizard with the Rubik's Cube.
We like him this series, what do we think?
I think they're enjoying it.
Yeah, it looks good.
Everybody's enjoying it, mate.
Especially the French right now.
Like I said, that French collective is very loud in the front of the audience.
Many flags are being waved right now.
Let's have a look.
Cassidy ban for Sweden.
Okay, don't hate it at all.
This is kind of a ban I expected earlier on.
So now Kevster gets to play Free Tracer
and a Malca ban for France.
Thinking maybe, you know what, Willis,
if you want to play something that may counter the demon here,
Get better on Atlas, get better on a Flashpoint, take Malphor away.
Force to take D.Va or D.Va.
That's right. I like the way you think they're the magas.
So good at dealing with D.Va if you don't want to opt in to the mirror.
Probably going to mean here that Willis might have to shy over to something like a D.Va,
but I think at the same time that could be quite exposed to a Vendetta or not this.
Yeah?
That could actually be a mashup that maybe Willis doesn't want to take in this one.
The favorite France.
And so they, maybe at the end of the day, you feel like,
I don't really want to play D.Va here. Maybe I do have to play D.Va after all.
And suddenly France, they found it in. They find something they can lean on.
Maybe a matchup, that is their advantage, right?
But it's going to be both teams here having valuable bands deployed.
Without Cassidy gone, it's going to free up Kepster to operate freely on the tracer.
And given that he is such a superstar player on that hero,
could be the opportunity to be the difference maker for Sweden to get back into the series and tie it up.
Diggin' deep. You've had some rest. That 3-0 from KSA. Long gone. Well, it looks like
we actually have a special guest with Danny. Let's check in with himself and let's serve
him. Jack and Johnny, thank you so much. Yes, we have a special guest. I just wanted
them to say hi to everyone. Hi, everybody. We're the Seraphim. We're so excited to
back here after three years and we're really rooting for everybody who's
playing today. I heard there's been a lot of good games and we're also going to
be performing tonight so please look forward.
Yep everybody, Les Seraphim will be performing tonight and if you want to check it out go check out their YouTube channel as well you can see it over there. Thank you. That's it.
Jack and Johnny back to you.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Danny. And let's say I've been looking forward to the performance a little bit later on. It's going to be a good time after some good overwatch. Perfect way to run at night.
We've got to practice our dance moves.
Yeah, what should we have it on?
Would you bust out on the floor?
I mean, I like the Winston a little bit, you know?
The Winston?
I've always been the Winston dance move.
I heard they mo-capped you specifically for the Winston one.
Yeah, you know. Not in front of cameras. Not when I'm working.
But at home.
At home?
Yeah, I'm busting out the Winston dashboards.
I heard Mac can do the worm very well, so we'll see if he will be busting that out on the stage.
Yeah, we'll make some kind of gloves for that to be revealed.
Yeah.
Get it closer on the social.
Alright.
Johnny, here we go.
Match point for France
Just straight chillin
Very comfortable spot until the point clicks to your side of the map and then you're like ah, no
Zulfan in games here, France up to two.
Kevser, Tracer, we're seeing their cat bashings on either side.
And Willis forced into this demon head to head.
Had a bit of a quiet moment here, but it's all action now.
Sweden going aggressive here.
Soro finds the opening kick onto Dip here.
With their life on the line, they need to call themselves back into this series.
And it's good to look to open things up.
Whoa, SD God, whoa, SD God, where are you going?
Oh my goodness, that was close.
There's a sweep, we're kind of confused
how it was going to happen.
It doesn't end up getting slain eventually.
Quick elimination there from Zora 2.
Drops down, there it is, point cap.
And this feels great if you're a team student now.
You're just looking at absolute speed on a frontside.
But you're already back in action here.
And you get the first point cap going for you.
Now, to keep this up, Tenu mirror this aggression coming out from fast cogs, he's going to look to get a grip on this one.
Man, they are just throwing added right into these little frogs.
Is our base team respect the Bastions are it for?
On either side, in fact.
Both of them in the middle.
Similar times.
So, Naive round the corner here as Farz make their move.
And this feels like a team shooting we haven't seen so far.
This level of aggression, holding the corners, always jousting in the front side.
Kester now and think we're the flank around looking for the back line rush as well
It's gonna be deployed the moment there style just kind of setting up for it
We're gonna try and trade places right now as deep end of coming down to a false bomb meanwhile point cat 70%
Persuaded but France sneak it away
He's out of point it's basically three places before right now Johnny and there it is nice
It was to do a telephone as well all the limit break is good, but Crocs the next
DMC indeed and Sweden they get back into the fight having to deploy a couple of ultimates 70% and touting
Franthir earning the capture point it is going to mean that they probably should get another fight going here as well
as both Kyo and Esligort look to stall things out for now
Sweden though they want to pound early they want to go aggressive themselves
make things difficult for Franthir to establish the positioning
I've been trying for a bit of pressure now. Oh, Sorrow. The Tuzo. It's a really good Tuzo
one, Dip. And actually, Kevster goes down. They were trying to combo there with Kevster
coming in with a flank. A nice combo again. The Katnap with the artillery blast. Just
Dip with the lineup. It's just such a nasty combo. She just can't move and it's just
an instant kill on the map. Really nice stuff there from France. And honestly, a
Little bit of indecision there from Sweden, perhaps it was deep in the backline early
and then the combination from Soro, but the Sussur was good enough for France.
But France able to get back into that fight and now 52% they could very easily just secure this initial point
after Sweden were the dominant one early on.
Alright, let's have a look now.
Keo can play kind of on an off-fangle, surprising them with the spree.
Gonna send the bike in first because he's just revealed.
They're gonna try and push in, but they are hesitant to do so.
Waiting for this turret bot to get a blind spur.
Although a postman from Kessler starts the fight off well.
Wiz with a dash kill onto Xerah.
That should realistically be it.
Although with Willis out of met, anything could happen,
but Grox is in a 1v4.
France, of course, getting close to things out here rather.
Kevster with a great shoulder with the post-bomb.
But that needs to be the standard now.
Kevster needs to be the impact player.
They spend time and time again for Team Sweden if they are to get back into this one.
Diff swaps over to the tracer, but it should not matter.
Kevster needs to be the one to sneak up at these flags, force the recalls early,
and create the win conditions for the Team Sweden.
There's the rush over the bridge, but point the point unlocks as well.
We have a chance to get back in, although maybe not anymore.
Good front load if they're damaged now, it's well as a smack, ejected, reset it.
Just getting a little bit cultured with all that damage from the outcome, France.
You could argue that it's an individual mistake that
earns France a relatively easy fight just then.
And now again, it's back to the drawing board for Sweden here,
as they have to joust in this positioning.
The tracer duel, trying to find an advantage.
A couple of ultimates online though, they can't deploy the K-16 or so.
Katnap, he's trying to drag someone away, but he's dragging the wrong target completely into the road, and just taking him out of the sky.
I bet Katnap too, from Sweden, removed the tank from the equation.
That's more like it, Joss.
Kitsune Rush, you find the value, FD God trying to make a play with the Katnap early, Rik-Max and that.
You can't really stand up for the Kitsune Rush, if you're friends.
So you want to go for an early start. You want to try to find that pick.
It does not happen that time around and now it's Sweden back in control.
Are they going to be able to find Zara? They kind of know where the bastion is.
Teleport away from Zaria. It's going to keep him alive.
Limit break. Pots on the point is Crocs.
Guarding, holding that shield almost behind Willis to make sure he can't get any healing.
Hebsley gets one with a pulse bomb and that was a nice Tuzu from Skyle.
Can they actually finish this fight though?
Might be a bit easier now without Dyrporast in the back line, as Kropp spends for himself.
FDGodg's gonna join the party, and unfortunately for Kropp, a quick reset is in order, but they've at least got one more opportunity.
They need to recover their troops and try to go for one more contest here.
But it does feel like Sweden, they are in control for now.
They're doing a great job playing this composition we've seen so far.
Swing in and a quick hide away, no problem there. Willis popping that shield up style so low, but they traded Kirikos in the chaos of it all.
He also got the artillery strike straight on the points, and yeah, not too much damage there.
He's going to buy a clock sometime maybe, but not enough time to get healed all the way back up again.
Tim now is going to have to chew through a lot more than this tank in the frontline here to try and turn this one around.
one around. Oh, a stick from Petch is good. Disgusting light from the tracer. Is he just
so difficult to take down? Even chasing dip away. And he's gonna keep having this level
of impact. He knows the touch is gonna come in from there. Looking for the tracer desperately.
Forcing depth recall. Another touch, another touch needed. Dip forced to recall. There
Here it is. And here we go. We have FD God with the bat map.
Get through there, sir. He needs to hit it.
Most of the portals available. FD God keeping the point alive.
Rush, difficult to fly on into Sweden, but 64% for France.
They can't give up a nowhere time here.
Katnab comes in. Sky always been stuck.
Dragged away, but it is sorrow.
That ends up going down anyway.
A team effort to win this and now one more fight here for Sweden.
But this is actually going to be difficult to get back in time.
Kester joins the spawn wave here, but it has to be someone else who's admiral, now needs to be the go-to, to just keep this overtime going.
Touches?
They just don't think they're gonna go for it at all, recognizing that their down men have to wait for their troops to spawn in France.
Tithing some of that ass has got a feel like Sweden, failing there to capitalize on a really good start to that second point.
They act forced to try and go for a Pogs bomb, but Xerion has the answer.
And France now in control of this third point.
They want to close things out here, and now on the off. They secured up bronze medals for themselves.
They're linked towards this get-to-rocks, which could be devastating and all the time.
And Cacophony of Cat Noises now is able to rag crops over the edge.
It's a good target, it's the perfect one.
It's a way to, uh, yeah, believe it.
On this, I'm serious, I don't have something to say about it.
It's 25-18, he's looking at trades.
He's looking at trades from the time that they've stolen, 54%.
Hey, now I've seen crazier things.
Yeah. We've seen a lot of crazier things from the rushes, but...
You never know what some of those do nice.
Crap, but I'm gonna put it all to the back here.
Sweden, look to draw out the people that's early.
Exactly what they're doing there.
They're trying to move in first to make Brantus ult.
Maybe Brant comes down from Winslet.
Look at that help bar.
Just gets absolutely deleted.
Same with the pilot too.
Sweden overplaying their hand.
Thinking they got a royal flush.
But it is France that have the ace up their sleeve for this fight.
But I still like the way Sweden played that though
because if Soonerosh gets deployed early for France,
while Sweden is dealing with the objective,
and to actually 70% and counting air for France,
we should have one good opportunity
to get back into this one.
Oh, 1v1 versus Kessler and Zip.
Oh, Kessler!
With a nade!
Just bonks Kessler!
Uh-oh, that and that, but why?
No problem.
We'll ignore that one.
FD got mischievous.
As long as you get the next kill.
Kessler getting traded there as Zora goes down,
this is making history in France looking good then they keep clean that's
another point under their belt Johnny one more to go and France were on their
first medal at an Overwatch Club Cup. And it feels like after a slow start it's been
all France now on this demon composition this is how they made their name
their bread and butter in the 2026 Overwatch World Cup Crocs revitalized
with Demo being released after going fighting a place on this jetpack hat now looking to make
the most out of it to claim third place.
This is a brilliant spot for them to be in a good stitch as well.
Very low, it's all right now. Every kind of healing resource is pumped into it.
I'm not opposed to it, but Kepster's done them all better. They've ended up losing the mix though.
So Kepster's got a lot more weight now on his shoulders to try and clutch in this fight.
Looks like he kill all of us there, we got a leash full, step in the bleeding for now!
A well-timed kunan, forces to recall from the epirna, and sweep, they get control of the objective.
They have a Kitsunoshin hand here, animal with a cabinet as well, they have the tools available,
but they need to continue making plays to keep them to stay alive here.
Again, these one people are just as good as they are, it is so terrifying.
Lil' Rush, disengaged no problem, there's the rush, re-engaged.
You use yours, we use ours.
Better timing though, there, the France, and a better position too.
Here comes the Bastion of FDGOT, he's going to drag Zorro into enemy territory,
It's a no man's land, but Willis and Ambrose were already in this fight and he got an Ambrose take to the skies and now it's Willis and Kragschis.
Just giving each other haymakers on the point, but it is Willis's neck that is lost in the frame.
Sweden up to 80 plus percent for Kragsch should get the cap.
It's a three versus three that deteriorates when Willis loses that neck.
Well, Sweden, like you say, they build all that percentage, which now means they're one teamfight away from at least tying things up here on Uplift.
But Brass himself's a couple of teamfights away. Going to be an early on killers right here from Keel.
I think we just forced some arrows from Sweden, but that's not going to be it.
They have to postpone in-hand here. They have to go against Kyrgyz to get the value, but this could make all the different stars they're in.
Turned into free ult charge there, the bashing up.
Deep looking to this pole, sees the Tyrico.
Sees a lot of people in fact, that bashing might be the target.
Straight on the floor, that's all good. Zora had to dodge out the way.
Straight into the waiting arms of Crocs.
And here we go, now Quad just head onto the medal.
They want to take it to Sweden's sport.
This could be the story of the year.
Straight onto the sky, 70 plus percent, Sweden need to reset.
Braskis continues to push the momentum, 80% and counting.
Sweden now, they have to wait for the truth to get back.
Admiral, feeling like he has to contest the point early for
the truth to get back.
He's trying to go in there, and he got Jason, he's chasing him down!
97, 98, wait for the truth to get back!
France do it in four, and when Pen is put to paper,
will be remembered as a band of unlikely heroes that push the world's best to their limits.
A third place on the podium for their first ever medal in the Overwatch World Cup.
A heart-breaking end to Ikebuki against South Korea, but they find a reason to smile and
to be joyous here in their victory against team Sweden.
In this historic tournament, the Overwatch World Cup, France,
they write their name into some medals here in Anaheim.
That's a name, third place, that you have worked on.
Revenge from many moons ago,
From 2017 Johnny, where Sweden stood on that podium, but it is this time France get there.
A hard-bored effort for Sweden.
Many no quantities on either side of the stage.
But France's test of will, test of strength, test of might.
taking Korea to map lives.
A place well earned.
And with so much fans support behind them as well
in the audience, that energy truly felt.
All that passion, all that enthusiasm
from the French abroad community,
resulting in a podium place here.
Let's jump down to sorry though, we can get some final words.
Thank you guys so much and with that France has earned their first ever Overwatch World
Cup medal and what a feat, what an achievement in the fashion they did it because they coming
off of such a hard breaking semifinal they somehow rallied within the time span of 20 minutes
locked back in and gave such a dominant victory ash.
How incredible is that I cannot wait to eventually be able to talk to the players and hear what
the conversations were maybe like to head into this third place matchup to be able to
bring it to Sweden. I think that overall we continue to see the demon cook there
for Crocs. He's great at the IRISA as well at the Hazards, but when it came down to the
bands that we saw, the map that Sweden was able to pick up did come off of that team
long band.
Yeah, you can tell for France just how much they rely on Crocs. He's been a real superstar
coming into his own in this event. I'm also really impressed that this French team
adapt some of the success that Korea had against them running the Bastion. Dip
pulled that up so much more often in this third place match and it paid dividends.
He was able to show that flexibility, going from the tracer to the vendetta to the bastion.
And for a player who we talked about potentially struggling down the stretch in that ROK match,
it's huge that he's able to bring it back and go up against one of the best to ever
do it in Kevster and steam that test of time, earning a first ever medal for France.
And making those kind of adaptations on such short notice, that just goes to show
how fearless France are in their approach.
They have angles, high risk, high reward place.
Absolutely.
Again, I know we talked so much about Cox, but it's because not only what he's putting into the server, but the communication with his team
He is that player that's able to just keep them strong mentally bring that energy back up when need be and I'm certain that
He was a huge part of today's success. Yeah, absolute heartbreak of course for Sweden that made it this far also somehow
We managed to put Johnny on both the games which we've lost. Yeah to cast so sorry about that Johnny
But you know what, still great to see Sweden in action here at BlizzCon.
Making it this far is already a massive achievement, Jake.
And we were talking about this backstage, but for players like Kevser,
who have been around for most of this incredible decade of Overwatch,
I mean, that is a ridiculous accomplishment.
The next generation of players are here.
They are monstrously effective, as we've seen throughout this tournament.
You know, young teams like those representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
have made their mark on Overwatch.
And it's a real testament to a player like Kevser, his mentality, his focus to stay with that level of competition year in, year out.
Summer's saying he still hasn't hit his peak yet. He's still showing better and better form.
Just a testament to his dedication, what he's brought and delivered for the Swedish squad.
France, they got that bronze medal in their hands now. That means we just have one match left.
And that is, of course, our grand finals.
Three-time champions, South Korea will be facing off against our current reigning champions
of the Overwatch World Cup, and as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, all of that is gonna go down
on this very stage in just a bit.
Short break before that, but we'll be right back if you don't wanna miss it.
3D OLED monitors, built to last brilliance ahead.
Gigabyte, upgrade your life.
Secret Lab, pro-grade ergonomics
for the highest level of play.
The 2026 Overwatch World Cup is brought to you by DHL.
All right, give us your thoughts
on the defending champions, KSI.
I think they're a super strong team.
I think as a region, they've gotten better at watching general.
They're really insane, right?
They have one of the best EPS in the world.
I just think when the cards are on the table,
Korts will just want to be nine every time.
I think...
I mean, we've been playing for a long time,
and people weren't really looking for cameras.
But after we got to America in 2020,
I think people will be thinking it's good,
and I hope they'll be looking for cameras.
Yeah, I mean, I think people will be looking for cameras.
I think people will be thinking it's good.
I think Saudi Arabia is good,
but I think if we prepare well,
I don't know what to say about that.
I think they're always good, but I have a feeling they're not as good as people think, but that's just my feeling.
I think they are a little better.
I mean, compared to the rest of the tournaments, I think it's closer than it was in 2023.
2023's better in the podcast was perfect for them.
Every other team has leveled up, but I think their power level is probably the same.
Symmetry has got nerve. Like, two days ago, they cannot play Ubi that much.
Juby is kind of insane on other heroes, right?
But you won him on the best hero he can play.
It's starting to win again without Symmetra in the World Cup.
Obviously super impressed.
I think they're still really, really good.
I think everyone thinks they're going to be first or second.
They're not going to knock a deep, that's for sure.
For sure, it's not unbeatable.
Everything can happen at the run, so we'll see how it goes.
I don't know.
I can't really say anything before they play because
When they play and match, they're really like different from the B-screens.
It's been a weekend for history books in the sixth Overwatch World Cup finals at
BlizzCon. Eight teams have entered the arena and now just two teams remain
fighting for a list trophy. I am Zoe Trim. Now the utmost pleasure of being your
hostess. We can join me on the desk to set a stage for our grand finals.
are my good friends Ash and Jake. Let's talk big picture about these two teams. Because this is a
clash of champions, right? We have of course the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the 2023 winners. They were
not really on anyone's radar back then. Obviously have been in a dominant region ever since.
And then on the other side, it's South Korea who have just been a dominant force always.
For as long as we've been playing competitive Overwatch, Korea has been fielding
Championship rosters in the Overwatch World Cup is no exception with a unique three stars on the journey.
They are the old kings of Overwatch, but Saudi Arabia have proven themselves making a huge mark on the map
Shocking everyone in 2023, but as the players themselves said it's no longer a shock to see them in the grand finals
They now have some of that expectation having sat across these stages in grand finals with many of the same opponents now playing
for national pride. So it's a moment of the old dynasty and potentially the
usurpers trying to take over and assert that maybe Saudi Arabia is the next
country we have to be talking about when it comes to the greatest nation in
Overwatch. That is a lot of pressure and I feel like both teams here Ash because
obviously for South Korea so much pride on the line they do not want to be
defeated by anyone any other region any other team. No and they're looking to
reclaim that throne right overall for South Korea again it has been this redemption run ever since
that upset up against team France and overall they've been absolutely crushing it we've seen
them come to life we've really seen how the swaps are working for this squad and they're
going to be heading up against a ksa that also don't necessarily like to play into the meta
yeah i also love that we've seen swaps of course in terms of their roster from South Korea
But KSA never had to pull those cards out of the back, Jake.
We've not really seen anything going on here.
Yeah, Korea has been relying a lot more on the strategic depth of their roster,
being able to bring in different players, play very different styles.
And in theory, that should play to their strength in a series such as this.
However, the Saudis haven't needed to push that deep.
They haven't been pushed to the limit,
been forced to show everything that they can feel.
And there are those threats waiting in the wings.
There's also just the raw force and power from this roster.
They exert their will on the match.
What they want to play, well, it sure looks like the meta
when it's these players piloting it.
You got somebody like Quartz.
Just about anybody you ask is gonna say
he's the best player in the world.
It's always hard to pick just one,
but lately that conversation has been quieter than ever.
It's easier than ever to use Quartz's name
and maybe just end the conversation there.
I think a lot of the Korean players
on the other side of the table
are gonna have something to say about that.
Yeah, they definitely will, especially when we've seen how good Sanjoon has been looking in the server.
But then not just that, it's that double hit scan that we see being pulled out on the side of South Korea here as well.
And it's going to be on soccer and he's saying to look to shut courts down.
Yeah, well, if we're looking here at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, throughout their journey in the World Cup,
they weren't really pushed that much, right?
I mean, South Korea just had to play it best so far.
That had to go the distance whereas on the other side the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had an absolutely flawless run in Busan
And they kind of continued on that trajectory on that trajectory rather here at a blizzcon only dropping one map to Spain
And that one map that they dropped they turned things around heading into today because they absolutely
Unfortunately for Team Sweden all
Beliterated them knocking them down into that bronze face matchup that we just saw just earlier now before the break
So overall for this team case, this is a squad that again, they're able to just continue on with that humility
Continue with that grind and take every single match so seriously
Their dominance really relies on that attitude and I think the key test for me from this Saudi squad is gonna be the backline
You know, we know what's loud that's yacht
These are some of the elite players of the world right now often finding themselves in these kind of grand finals matches
However, Zox and Majed coming from a bit deeper down the roster,
they're going to be up against two of the greatest to ever do it on the other side of the field.
Chorong and Sympil had to go lights out to be able to take down France,
and that's going to be really where a lot of my focus in this particular match is.
The tip of the spear quarts, he's going to be lighting up the kill feed.
You better believe it.
However, getting down deep into these fights, we've seen how scrappy things can get.
The lights are awful bright.
The crowd, the energy here in the round does tend to change things in those crucial moments,
And for both of these squads it's another opportunity to prove why they are the last two remaining in the Overwatch World Cup
Now the question for me here is of course for South Korea being able to pull off a reverse sweep should probably
You know get a lot of teams hyped up
But if you're a South Korea that might also just shake your confidence because you let it get to that point like for them
Usually it looks a lot cleaner than that. It definitely does
But I think the difference is though is going up against the team KSA. You're not getting the same attitude on the other side as
With France who are able to really get into their heads, but don't forget the way that they won that series was
The reverse we do still have that momentum on their side
Yeah momentum they're gonna need it you feel like you want to start strong
But one of the things about courts that makes him truly unique why it's so easy to call him the best player in the world
and really not add a caveat to that is he just doesn't have that game.
Every game he plays, the enemy team goes into it with thinking they're gonna shut him down,
putting every resource they can into slowing down his Cassie soldier whatever he wants to pull out,
but seemingly no one can stop him.
That's gonna be what's asked of a player like Stalker in particular.
The hitscan duel going to be a huge consequence in a series such as this.
Star started roster as we always talk about even a quote-unquote beating for
South Korea would be to any other team in the world at any given day but the
competition has leveled up they've been playing it close this is not going to be
an easy victory for South Korea should they take it out. It definitely won't
be KSA are not coming to play for South Korea though again it's been that
conversation about the back line but also not just that it's those swaps
between German and Max, and how that plays into the map pool that we'll be seeing.
Absolutely. Well, we'll find out very soon, of course, our grand final will be played
in the first two-four format, so more opportunities to play a little
strategic depth into it. For predictions, let's hear. I feel like I already know
you're probably going South Korea. I'd be shook if it wasn't the case, but please, Jake.
You know, it's been a long time since they've held the trophy here at the
Overwatch World Cup and for a team for which anything but that trophy lift is a
failure it's a ridiculous level of expectation to work under and yet despite
a challenging series against France I think this may be the year for Korea to
reassert themselves atop the world of Overwatch I'll take them in a 4-2 I
think this one is going to be a drawn-out battle though and honestly it's
anybody's game to win. Hey, Berenna I'm with you on that one Jake I had to
go with Korea on this. I think even though KS, they have looked so clean throughout their
run, throughout the OWWC, that fire is still lit underneath Korea. They've got to do it
for the fans back home.
Oh yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean, honestly, you can make such great points for both of
these teams. They have proven themselves time and time again over the last couple
years. But I'm going to give this one to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I, Jenny
They got to sit back. They got to really, really cater their strategies.
I know how hard these players work. I know how high their potential can reach.
I feel like there's something in the air. I think they're looking to have the second start to that jersey.
So I went for a 4-2 series. I love this fight. I don't know what it is, but I'm loving it.
I just hope for a close series. I want to see both these teams having to pull everything out of the back.
of the back. I want them to really see truly testing each other.
And honestly, I think anything else would shock me, right?
With the pedigree both these teams have, we mentioned, you know,
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but for as good as they've been ever since
that World Cup win, shocking the world in 2023, they have never stopped working.
These players have never taken their success for granted.
And that's why they've continued to appear in grand final after grand final
in the professional scene. These players, no stranger to pressure.
I think they're going to absolutely force the best out of one another.
This one I fully expect it'll go the distance.
It's the humble confidence that comes out from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
that really inside difference maker, it's just going to be an insane series.
Regardless, I cannot wait to get into it.
And I cannot stress enough how magical it is for these players to do that
in front of the crowd here at BlizzCon, which is such a historic event.
It's such a historic venue really.
being able to lift a trophy in front of these incredible people in here
have been supporting the players, the game, and Blizzard as a whole.
That is truly magical.
So this is going to mean the world to new players and veterans alike
to bring it on this stage here, Jake.
Yeah, you know, for me, I can really speak to that, you know,
that all of our journeys here today at this BlizzCon in 2026,
they all seem to intersect.
So many people have been here time and time again for others.
Maybe it's their first event in competitive Overwatch
or their first BlizzCon, and yet it's amazing to see how quickly the community comes back
together.
Having moments like this where the world is all watching families from both teams, certainly
glued to the screens at home, this event, it's freighted with meaning.
More than a cash prize or a first place trophy in the professional scene, in this
event you're competing for your country, your family, your friends, everyone who supported
you along the way.
And for all these incredible people here in the round at Anaheim, let me tell
your voice matters, your energy in a series such as this changes everything.
This kind of pressure brings out the best and sometimes the worst in players, right?
It really pushes you to extremes.
So make sure you don't hesitate to give your energy to these players.
Let them know what you're feeling.
That's right. I know this crowd can get very loud.
You guys can get loud in here, right?
I'm like convinced-ish.
Alright, we're going to try that again.
BlizzCon! Can you hear us?
CHEERING
All right, with that kind of energy, the crowd, the players, rather, can hear you too.
Ash, this has been your first BlizzCon ever. What's your experience been like?
It's been incredible thus far.
It's been such an honour to be able to join you guys on the desk for my first BlizzCon.
And overall, it's just been so exciting to see these teams compete for their national pride.
I cannot wait to get into the grand final.
Neither can I.
You know what I always love about grandfathers like this?
Yes, the home team is out, but in the end everyone in this room
really just wants to see good competitive Overwatch.
So eventually you don't really even choose a side anymore.
You're just gonna be cheering for sick plays.
You just want to see the players pop up
no matter who they're playing for, Jake.
I mean, after all these years,
I feel like my heart is somehow with every player on this stage.
You know, someone has to go home defeated with their head held low.
And yet I just have so much love and admiration for all the players who come up on this stage to put their absolute best in
front of the entire world with everyone watching under the incredible scrutiny and pressure and yet
They show us such beautiful things and really inspire us lead us to great heights in our own lives
So for me a moment such as this is a really special one one that I'll save it. It is indeed. I'm actually wondering
Who's got the first place come? Do we have any first-timers hands up?
First place, Conn. There's quite a lot of people, actually.
Okay, I love that.
All right, all right.
So, what a spectacle. You're not alone. You're never alone.
We're all family here. We're all in this together.
No, it's really so magical to be here for the first time
or for the tenth time. It does not matter.
We're here. We came to play. We came to be entertained.
And I know that's what we're going to get in our grand final.
So, it's time to meet our team's bucket.
Let's take it away.
Please John Arena, please make some noise for your two finalists.
Yesterday we started with the eight best teams on the planet for
many, tonight we're down to the final two.
It's my honor to introduce first, it's your brand new champion is.
Please make some noise for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
KSA had looked so clean throughout this growth gap and
of course in the previous team, the boys dominant through the slaying,
the support has been on point.
And this team knows that they are just one natural way from
limiting this bliss control once again.
Will the growth gap in 2026 belong to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia, only time will tell and only one team is left in their way.
Once again, give it up for KSA!
Our next team, they have three goals and
one prompt to their name.
Give it up for the best team to ever grace the world cup.
It is South Korea!
your 2026 Blitzkot World Champion.
Ladies and gentlemen, please make some noise one more time
and give it up for your team.
We have incredible players who are around the world
so they can the greatest level of Overwatch.
On the right, it's TSA.
On the left, it's South Korea.
This is your Blitzkot 2026 Overwatch World Cup 5.
Can he say five themselves yet again for the sport in the finals?
The strongest Overwatch country in the world, South Korea.
We're going to try and get the flag even when I'm running from Stalker.
It's a running riot.
I think we're going to fight well, but if we prepare well, we'll be able to win.
Saudi Arabia all that stands between them is this the 2026
Overwatch World Cup final. KSA trying to be the only other country in the
Overwatch World Cups history to go back to back right South Korea has done it
before and KSA has been unbelievable throughout the entire tournament right
I mean they dropped one nap to Spain a little bit earlier but other than that
they have been perfect through the groups and here at BlizzCon. And South
Korea could not have had a different story and upset in Busan at the hands of
France they had to fight that same foe to even be here they had to enact the
very same reverse sweep that brought them humiliation on the home soil these
two teams have never played one another in national Overwatch competition they
dodged each other yeah in 2023 it wasn't abuse the Kingdom of Saudi
made that revelatory run straight to the top and so it feels like they should
be unfamiliar with one another but these players at the club level have been
going back and forth for years. And KSA is not going to be phased by the moment,
right? I mean these players have obviously a lot of them have been your
kind of your OWCS world champions last year. A few of the players on this
roster we've seen Zod playing finals before. No pressure I think is gonna be
belt on the KSA side. I think for South Korea there is going to be some pressure, right? That is not
an easy game against France that they are able to pull out in the final moments. They've obviously
you know taken care of Team USA in pretty dominant fashion, but I even think the level from France
to KSA is going to be a big jump in terms of competition. Absolutely. Even if the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia haven't been tested to the same degree, you can see how clean they look. They
They have, well, sped absolutely no expense.
No mercy on any of their opponents they've got passed on their way here.
Let's no reason to doubt that they could potentially do the same disaster here.
I mean, look, if you have courts on your team, like for my money,
probably the best player here at this tournament, it's very difficult to beat.
They do a tremendous job keeping him alive, playing around him.
And I think obviously the supports, right?
That was like a lot of the talk with this KSA roster,
the really most unproven part of the team.
You've seen obviously them play in the past,
But not maybe at the top of the OWCS club level, and not at events like EWC, but here at BlizzCon, they always show up in a big way.
It's a jetpack cat ban here for South Korea off the rip.
But that support line for KSA can rise to the occasion, and you can keep court standing.
He's good for two, it feels like every fight.
For South Korea, this couldn't be a more different team to take on than France.
Because a tech like Ziad does not lean into the demon.
The guy's D.Va is incredible. He's got a pretty wide 0-pull.
So many options in this KSA team are no longer sort of cement rush merchants, right?
I was gonna say, that was kind of like the, oh yeah, they just kinda, it's like, just sim, once sims out, everything will go back to normal.
That has not been the case.
They haven't had to play Ubi at any point.
No, I mean not at all, right? I mean they obviously could, but sim not prevalent in the meta.
The ball ban is gonna be tough, I know, for pre-interview with, right? Obviously.
yet jumping and you'd love to see him get some action on the wrecking ball early.
Yeah on a map like Nepal we've seen South Korea bitchily trying to get wrecking ball involved
at least in some of the stages of these control maps. And there are certainly somewhere
wrecking ball is quite potent. Jetpack Cat targeted on the KSA side of things. Don't think
they're too worried. No, look at this. This is a team. This is how they're having roster.
They're kind of regional rivals, right? Yes, they all help from that same country,
But they're from top teams in EMEA, like Twisted Minds, GK, Al-Khatsia.
These guys have been fighting each other on home soil for quite some time
and come together for the sake of their nation.
Where's South Korea?
Mostly, this great Raccoon Core.
With Song-jin, simple Binyubishi, simple a teammate, of course.
Of some of these Twisted Minds players.
A lot of history, a lot of familiarity, despite the fact that these nations are never faced off.
And this is going to look much different from that France game, right?
KSA does not play any D-Mon really when you compare it to a lot of the other teams.
They want to play a lot of D-Buff, they want to play a lot of Maga.
Those are the types of comps they kind of want to work in.
Moments away now from seeing our first Hobbits.
The detention starts to build. It's been a long day in 14 South Korea.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had dropped a single map on their entire journey here.
One to Spain. It's likely to stop you from being sure, but Spain were plucky.
They have talent, they need to go further, they need to do more, they need to make these upstarts respect them, and the legacy the band brings.
Of course we'll be starting off on Village here folks, out of the gates, BlizzCon Arena. Let's get loud for the Overwatch World Cup Grand Final!
So it'll be a she on a fashion here for KSA just trying to put a lot of damage down on to really jumping right you get that
Orisa off interesting. It's actually South Korea trying to come out run a sim comp
So make sure now a range of a tp has been reduced and also the cooldown between
consecutive uses of the teleport has been increased by like a quarter second but
that was not a long lasted comp right we get one try out of the spawn
Sunjun over to the Xi'an as high ground control to KSA early on look at the
poke damage though Chorok stalker taking their hits as they try and
approach this short cause way on the high ground and Sunjun's already been
picked off Lampto is doing some serious work the joyride claims his
opposite number KSA with a speed ring and get a look to try and take the fight
But with the respect of finding change, Chorong here on the Mizuki is an interesting look for an interesting composition.
Well, it's really good against D.Va, right?
And especially in those close-quarter scenarios when you get onto the objective here is KSA, they get a little bit of percentage here.
It's going to be very difficult to play into Korea's comp though.
Yeah, I don't think he wanted to fully commit to the point at this stage, but Javelin kind of forced his hand.
Kitsune rushes out to play, but it's a K-5 sanctuary of play for South Korea.
No, this isn't bad for KSA though. They back off the point.
They're going to have a normal reign here to fight as well.
Now into the rush mines, you jumped in, gonna get taken down first margin.
Was looking a little bit low, but in general, KSA, which squeaky clean early on.
It's the ability of Ziad to just feel like he can live forever, right?
Korea's comp is a comp that is pretty gnarly for his team to play against.
They're able to get a kill, he backs up onto the point,
and then you just fight it with the orb already with the player advantage,
and you put that point right back pretty easily.
14, just gonna open up the encounter very quickly with the Cannon Barrage.
An early pick on a squishy or force a swift step before the fight begins could be extremely helpful.
In general though, it looks like it was shrugged off by enlarge.
No, the Bastion, of course trying to play towards that high ground but stalking down on that Cassidy.
Pretty impactful in that matchup against Bramble. All those sky noons were really crucial in terms of deciding fixes in fights.
Quartz gets the Susie down the back way around the corner, because if he sit on the Z-Add, it'll still be a self-destruct.
Almost preempted there by Jumping, but Stalker's down, not good. Lost to Cassidy.
Lacta yet to make use of the subterracuse free until now, tries to dive forward,
but a K-class Sanctuary is drawn out of South Korea, and all the while, KSA maintain point control.
But that's fine for KSA, right? You have a player advantage, Sanctuary gets dropped.
You can work your way back onto this objective with this Katsune Rush,
and you may not even need it. Nice headshot there from RJ across the point.
Majid Noboby sees the Orisa coming, sees them already low as Ziyad had been pursuing 80% and counting him for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
And they're sitting on a Kitsune rush to cap off the route.
This has been clean from KSA.
Stalker gonna get staggered out there, gonna jump off the side.
Jhunbin over the demon here.
They need to touch him the worst way. I mean, who's gonna get there?
Jhunbin has a touch at the very least. Kitsune rush not gonna come in and leave from KSA and they're looking to punish.
Punish is over extension, South Korea with no choice but to kick the round going.
Songjin's going to have most of that spring mitigated by the defence matrix, but Lactic is taken down.
Jyubin finds the march here on Vimon.
Corso is ready, again to go for wheels mode.
Seize the Shion coming his way and very quickly, Songjin tries to exit stage right, but he's not fast enough.
Canembarrage late in the fight, could be pretty powerful, little Zorn off the entrance to the point.
And S1mple got picked off.
That's three real estate for Corso, and Stalker is the next to fall.
with them in dead round of the game.
This is just the drags left for South Korea
is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Stamp their authority early on the series.
No other team does that South Korea, right?
Makes it look that easy.
That is a great round from KSA,
especially playing that even into like an Aresa,
Mizuki comp, and like,
that's the most close quarter point, right?
That's where like Mizuki can get those easy binding chains
onto Ziad and maybe you get some DMX.
KSA just deals with that, no problems.
You have Suzu, you have a healthy amount of healing
with Juno built into your composition there.
It's pretty hard.
You mentioned how first the yard is,
well, I mean, that'll tell you the whole story.
It also helps in courts get to kill
at the start of every fight.
I mean, it is every single fight.
It's really impressive what he's able to do
on the hitscan roll.
Like historically speaking,
in terms of Overwatch eSports,
not many others like it.
Back on the Bastion, after a very strong first round.
Don't be a much trickier.
A pick that sometimes can falter in the face of Bastion pressure.
The timing will be everything.
Timing for the Nemesis form.
Timing for Wheel's mode.
And Laptop's been no-two trying to flank around and you can see Korea as a response.
Try and push on in.
Sgt with the whirlwind now.
Looking at Laptop's direction. Overhead swing no connection.
But Laptop is still beat up and forced to pull out.
I'm not going to be able to get rid of Sun Joon-Doo.
If you do end up losing Chorong and Forts finds Stalker yet again,
if South Korea cannot get the better of that hitscan battle,
this may not be one that goes a long time.
It's a really nice shot by South Korea, right?
They push KSA all the way back to the choke,
but KSA will survive in that area.
Now we get a little bit of an interesting comp, right?
Now you're going to get Sojourned with the Bastion here.
Labda's an unbelievable soldier. I mean we rarely see them go double hitscan, but this is a really gnarly come
Yeah, the fact that KSA had this possibility with their setup is pretty impressive
We tell the story all the time but labdad used to be a Mifara player projectile
It's sort of DPS but pick up a hitscan and would you would rank labda as one of the better hitscans here?
Absolutely. I mean the problem is he sat next to court so it's gonna hard to come out favorably that comparison
But he's incredible
29% in counting rushes built for both carries
Jun been settling in on the demon now a bit of an analog for a matchup but again
can't be pretty punishable. Blinding Chain trying to come in this KK Sanctuary in play.
It's on Jun trying to surge your head but Ziad doesn't have a chance to get back at his mech.
The self-destruct creates a little bit of space and drives a wedge between South Korea's formation.
It's out of your head we aren't confident coming forward without that diva in the game.
No that was a nice shot by South Korea. You drop that Sanctuary you're able to have the Vendetta fight inside of it
even with the self-destructs, he are not able to get back in next.
A must-feeded fight went there.
Tox there almost got charged into by Jhin, Bimba, that's Songjin falling!
The pulse out torpedoes find the mark.
Yeah, that is a really nice opening kill.
The Orbital Ray right around the corner,
catches him off guard a little bit.
And even with South Korea, they should get something going in their favor.
It's just the next fight, KSA comes back, Orbital Ray,
and you just take out one player, just kind of barrelarm down.
Now do you know difference is real, if you can keep her protected, yeah.
She is going to be able to form that damage out, especially when the midi blaster can go full automatic.
There's a lot of damage for the Vendetta to try and fight into here, right?
Like, the Bastion alone is a lot, but also now the Soldier with like an overclock in the mix.
I mean, the Vendetta has pretty decent survivability for a DPS, but not infinite.
I mean, it's going to be very difficult to use the Vendetta alive.
This is the late career that kind of far out but not yet caught this
Wasn't even tending to find the elimination still like that has some work to do and he's good for it
So Grinch or I'm picked up on the point simple barely alive
Man the sojourn the flank angle turns the fight upside down. That's their second hits. Yeah
That is the
Collat that comes in there and that might be it
I mean it looks like we are going to have stalker getting back here with a dead eye
Nobody else can touch and just like that
It is KSA up 1-0.
A combined 50% on both points here for Team South Korea.
That is not going to be enough against our reigning Overwatch
World Cup champions, not by half.
So many teams have ditched these comps that KSA is playing.
They moved on to D.M.A.N, a lot of Orisa we've seen.
And it's like, OK, we're just going to keep playing D.M.A.N.
D.M.A.N. with a hitscan.
I know maybe it's Tracer.
maybe at Shia at that time, it's double hit scan.
They seem to have just said, you know what?
Like, someone's like the teams
that like South Korea used to have, right?
We're like, it's like, oh, they can just kind of play
what they're comfortable.
They just kind of beat everybody.
KSA kind of doing an imitation of that now.
We've been discussing a lot about how teams
respond to their opponents playing Dmon
after she charges in.
In Dmon mirrors, usually both 20 know each other
and just hit each other's back lines.
Ziad has the option to double back pretty easily.
You can peel, you don't want to fight the demon face to face, but you can certainly screen for your teammates.
I mean look, obviously Stalker playing Cassidy and the Bastion on the other side, Bastion's just going to pump out way more damage, but like, double the damage out of your head, scan player, I mean, that's just like...
15k over two rounds. It's not even a full three round match.
No, no, yeah, just absolute damage.
And you wonder why Ziyad stays alive, and Latan is alive to do damage to him.
Well, I also see, you know, you're playing the Mizuki here really trying to punish the greediness of the diva.
If that's not going to work, I think there's probably a discussion here for South Korea of, like, okay, are we, like, we haven't seen them play in a lot recently, right?
But we're going to get into, like, more Ramatra-type of compositions, like some rushed, really, like, hyper-aggressive type of compositions that we know that this South Korean team can play.
haven't been forced to here at the Overwatch World Cup. I mean in a way I think their demon comps are like that with the absence of jetpack cap.
Like they were ostensibly playing that rush style. In fact they even started the round with the rematcha.
But against the Bastion, especially with Quartzbombing, that damage out, it's still a problem.
If you don't have a way to really access that backline it's dicey.
But you imagine, no, Sadio Ravius eventually going to use the demon ban, right? Like they're not going to play it, right?
So they may as well just kind of get rid of it.
Do you have a map in your pocket and the demon band still waiting to be drawn upon?
Yeah, and I mean even with what we saw right?
I mean you could also get rid of the cat if you wanted on their side and I know see how that goes is
Looks like we got some players on it is much. Okay. My shock you tap career making substitutions. Yeah, you never seen them play
It's kind of like a hockey where they know that just a line change in between that sometimes but
We'll see what subs they decide to make we've obviously seen it from the DPS lineup, right?
They have a he's saying on this roster as well working him in and then the big ones to look at right
It's like Maxon jump in I do think though
Like we're getting to the point in terms of overwatch e-sports where like the ziyad can play so many different tanks
Seeing the sub is kind of a read right of like what they want to do that could actually like it doesn't form the band
Yeah, Saudi Arabia unlike the band right like they see jump in here at the start the maps to Nepal
They have a great idea. He wants to play ball. Let's get rid of it, right?
The one slightly confusing part is that the whole narrative was that
Jun Bin was the man up to play Demon to really big into it
but we've seen him from Max as well.
It feels like she's still that level of ubiquitous that both of the tank players need to sort of play out.
We know Jun Bin has maybe the more specialized level, right?
The Wrecking Ball is there. Max feels like a little bit more middle of the road
but the hero pulls between those.
Tank players also are starting to overlap a fair bit with those exceptions.
I actually wouldn't even be surprised if we see South Korea potentially get rid of D.Va in some capacity, right?
If you're playing a comp that's like D.Mon with Mizuki a decent amount of the time
I know even like a recent Mizuki on like close-quarter areas like you're trying to punish that D.Va
They were not able to do so there
So that would lead you to believe that even on maps that have better verticality than to Paul
You're gonna see even more success from Ziad on that D.Va
So I wouldn't be surprised to see South Korea go in that way at some point during the series
still can't really get over the score line we saw from the previous match. Zox didn't die at all.
If that's a three round game, Quartz is at like, you know, 20 plus K damage.
Yeah, quick match puts him at 22-23 K. And I guess the trouble is that like,
Sondra was playing to Vendetta. I kind of lack it as like a pocket pick right.
Soggy's also been going for it, but he dies seven times. Like, there's nothing in the
Saudi Arabian comp that strictly counters to Vendetta either. It just...
I mean, Vendetta is another hero, right?
You think of Vendetta against Sim, also against D.Va,
like tanks that also just really came and can't mitigate
that damage.
I know even SIG, right?
Connecticut Rastos, nothing against Vendetta's damage.
And even with all that,
Ziad is able to just fly around the map once.
Ziad finished with one death, right?
So not really able to kind of pick him off.
Going over to Neon Junction for the next map.
This is where you see a lot of like Ramatra play.
You see a lot of Sigma play.
We also see some Orisa here as well.
Yeah, Malga. Malga.
Mixed in.
I think the Eurisa component is pretty interesting,
seeing like defense side teams play it a fair bit.
So if you're in South Korea, right, I mean,
you could get rid of D.Va,
Zard's probably gonna play Malga,
and you can play some Eurisa in there.
Eurisa's actually been pretty successful
in terms of like, Malga matchups as of late.
I don't know how you feel about this,
but I'm not sure if this is the map to ban D.Va.
I feel like given it, there is some verticality
that's a little on this map.
That's true.
or someone like Zi-A, you're probably opting into playing something a little bit more boots
on the ground.
We're talking about it like, you wouldn't be thrilled to see Zi-A on Remacha pretty
nasty on that hero as well, not just kind of like a diva player, so to speak.
Zi-A has hero pool and preferences, I think more importantly, couldn't be more different
from Crocs' for example.
As a South Korean, it's hard to go up against two very distinctly different challenges
with the two-piece tank line.
It does give a really big opportunity for KSA, right?
Like, what do you, you know,
they can get rid of, you know, like,
Sermajed wouldn't mind playing Ana, right?
They could get rid of Kiri if they wanted.
There's a possibility to do something like that.
So a lot of different options from KSA,
especially if South Korea is really worried
about that tank pool.
Like, South Korea, though,
also you have to worry about quarts,
but like, you're not really,
you don't want to burn fans
I'm like fanning it's and DPS like that doesn't really feel awesome. So it'll actually South Korea who gets rid of Kiri
So we have seen like a South Korea play like Chorong in these like we and compositions we on
Plus Anna like really poke which could lead to like even like Sigma in the mix right Sigma we on Anna that starts to perform
Pretty nice composition for a map like this and well
KSA they they read that so they get rid of Sigma. Yeah, I don't hate this at all
I think that max coming in is a pretty big tell but this kind of look and the booyang has been very impactful against like the lower
throughput healing backlines
Well at the poke damage kind of sticks for a while
But it's a ton of ways that you can sort of play around this
Yes, we'll see now
With sigma out of the games probably gonna be rematcha with some of those poke type of
supports coming in or South Korea
Honestly though for KSA like you can you can play D.va and really try and punish that backlight that maybe doesn't have as much mobility
Obviously it's cool to uh
Seize lay seraphim out there in the arena earlier on the laser from skins are actually now out in game
And the new Overwatch track sounds pretty awesome
So for those here you can catch lay seraphim's blizzcon performance during the closing ceremony for those at home
You can catch it over on lay seraphim's youtube channel
always a cop these kids I don't know about you go but uh especially with
demon like just sort of getting into the game like getting my hands on a
blink out skipper always gonna be that yeah they do a sick job with this
to the music yeah I'm looking forward to that obviously
performance here for this car so if you are not here in the building
physically they Sarah from YouTube channel to check out that performance is
where you want to be Matt you're a big cable car I see you cop now we
other way. Sure. Yeah. I heard audible labs for the crowd behind us there. They don't believe that
at all. But just waiting to get this one kicked off where KSA looks dominant as ever. They are in
map number one on Nepal. The Sigma Band comes in. You also have a Kiri Band, right? So that
would lead you to believe for South Korea to play some Wooyoung on a composition. But it's
It's going to give an opportunity for Ziyad on the diva to kind of run just wild on him.
We're pointing out that obviously this South Korean roster is one we haven't seen before
at World Cup.
But for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, courts, Labdair and Marjad were all present in 2023.
Relative unknowns at the time, with I'd say the exception, obviously like Marjad had been
around our teams, courts had also started to surface, but it was really early days
for a lot of those Saudi players.
They turn up here and they're acting like champions, right?
This isn't like just some Cinderella defending her miracle.
These guys have been playing like they are still very much those champions from 2023.
Well, they won the last World Cup, right?
It's a reverse sweep there at the end.
They don't have to play against South Korea.
And it's, you know, people always wonder,
I go, what would have happened in that game, right?
But South Korea doesn't even finish top three at our last Overwatch World Cup, right?
Finland is able to get the best of them.
they hit the mental boomage in the goal and the bronze medal map.
Yeah.
Oh, those sick contacts.
The cosplay here at BlizzCon is always super impressive.
Everybody does a sick job.
Putting together a fit, it's kind of
repping their favorite hero.
And it's not just the work that for me
goes into these fantastic pieces.
It's also the logistics, like transporting it, getting it on.
All of it, it's a huge undertaking.
Yeah, we definitely finished product 3.
Genuinely is art. So huge shout out to everybody showing us the fruits of your labor there and the cosplay sense on the huge
front of it at the special bit of flavor that everything here a police from
The Unjunction though decades
And if you're wondering like why these teams never played each other
Just Saudi Arabia didn't make the main stage in 2019. They're just not a competitive nation in 2023
South Korea lost to China who then fell to Saudi Arabia. So they dodged each other
But they know each other, there's familiarity here in spades.
How do you feel about South Korea trying to play a diva hand-to-hand?
We have turned these pigeons into...
We need to blow up one of those pigeons to be a hero in there.
Just a massive pigeon.
Oh, a block and that's it.
Yes.
Jaws would like the pigeons to be blown up.
I for one, embrace our new avian overlords.
The question though gameplay related was how I feel about Max and the D.B.R.
I feel like this is a fallback from a potential signal.
I'm a big believer in giving the people what they want.
I'm going to try to see if they stay on it, so...
I mean this South Korea comp is something that you would believe the KSA team would be playing.
It'll be Juno Mizuki here with Symmetra.
A lot of space created with this comp here for Korea, nice shot there from Stalker up to the high ground, almost takes out Labda.
Can I tell you though, have the ability, the mechanism to get up there with a jetpack, cat and quartz is still getting first kills every single fight.
Alongside death and taxes is one of the most reliable factors in this series.
I also think, with your South Korea right, you know, a lot of these comps like, Seod, KSA has seen every permutation to try and play.
like think about it like they never move off of people like they have seen
every type of like diva counter you possibly can and know how to play against
it so well
protocols are there but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia again that TV for the
high ground but not everybody on career actually taking it
hands they forced to back away they've given up almost two ticks here and
eventually they're gonna have to put something on the line put some skin
in the game what's ready for it perhaps even calling for it over the
top the goal is quick spine and simple is in trouble
There's half of the little skulls all appearing!
That's a couple of little two-piece records!
Make it four!
Included with D-Mech of course, a max!
Yeah.
He might just be him.
I mean, some people may have been in denial for a while.
I think he's been the best hitscan for two, maybe three years at this point.
Has been that good.
So, I mean, now you have Catnap.
You have a nano here to potentially go on to Zion.
You have your spree.
KSE. They're putting together a pretty good defense this far, man. You get another fight
here for South Korea with a loss. You're in a right spot. How does life just knock on
the front door like that and get an instant elimination? None of us there is huge, but
it joy rides forward into a screen to make it inescapable. I mean, this is wild. South
Korea bringing out the sim here in the finals, like a KSE special, really. The
country they really really use the cementure at a high level. Catnap back
connects with you a bio grenade in the mix as well. Right that knockdown was
massive at least four people hit by the catnap knockdown. Korea punish the
plane so close together but it's because of this is all in a way they're
gonna make use of what causes everybody to get the job on stalker. Now
searching forward is Max close to a self-destruct a remake opportunity and
a wall here for He-Sang who turned the fight on its head.
Stalker is going to come back on the Vendetta as well as we are going to get below a minute on the clock here rather quickly.
PSA is just trying to survive and keep this contested through this wall.
It's going to be very difficult to do so. It'll be Ziyadu gets on against the touch.
Dine it again. You're going to dance this wall. Quarters in the right spot.
I'm going to jump in.
He had to dive in the sanctuary. No other choice but unfortunately comes up with nothing.
Simple deals with him.
And eventually South Korea will get to move our payload.
Let's see how long they stay on this with the vendetta in the mix so a very aggressive comp here
From South Korea, but you can see people have been dead in save some of that mobility
playing the vendetta around
That's him
Also now is the odd making the change over to the Zarya the hero that's the odds really good at
But we haven't seen Zarya really at all at this tournament. I does feel
strictly to try to limit max's
potential here I guess the look the vertical mobility is less important on
this phase of the map you are sort of grinding into this choke it's still on
surprises easy ad hoc out of the diva matchup it could be the binding chain
is starting to get a bit frustrating something you can't really mitigate
effectively as diva this had better work feels like a little bit of a
gambits. We are dangerously low though. A lot of damage trying to occupy this space.
Dan out here. Maybe it's for the Zarya is. A lot of damage being taken out. He's gonna
try and hit him when it's up to Ricky Spree here. Dead Eye first though. Cut through that
orbital ray. It's gonna be mitigated by an offense matrix. Ziart no deaths he's
and he's fully charged ready to hit the ground running and it's just nowhere for simple to go
Quick retort here for KSA and they've answered the orbital ray play
And now you're gonna have a graph right you're gonna have the ability to get like a grab off here
But yet spree as well you can uh, no double bubble the spree a lot of good utility here or KSA as
Below two minutes yet again here
South Korea though Mitch they're gonna have a lot of old minutes to work with
Max will need a mini-gauge to describe a Tom search. He is just free, in the bubble that you've called it.
Land of Oath is happy with what he gets here, which is not a whole lot. The symbol is in play.
That's an odd place for a crap to go. I won't lie.
Zoning, zoning.
Good response there for Heesar. Now here comes the second wave of attack to South Korea.
Stalker trying to push up. Overclock at the reddit.
Can I say doing a good job of playing out of that line of sight while the cart is not getting threatening a cap?
It is the ad needs to get a touch
He's likely
Big force to really ration out these bubbles. He's got none left and Torong just burst him down
Nice binding chain catch on the cat as well. We didn't miss that Torong notches up three
In the sanctuary so impactful for South Korea
They have a comp that can fight inside of it right with that diva and the sim the Mizuki as well
Nobody from KSA really wants to kind of take that brawl inside of that sanctuary
Been really important. It's gonna be a huge ultimate here towards the end of this map as well on the low key map
Chorong is putting out more damage
Right now
Then Sonja
Is a rather than he sank by me absolutely pumping it out
He's got a lot here on this MusaKin.
He's not getting picked off there by Corsair, that's half the issue for that sim utility.
Max is going to get popped, self-destruct, means he can remake in a pinch, simple there
with an orbital ray, but it's something that DeadEye can certainly punish.
Yeah, the Nano on to Ziyad, Max cannot stand there and fight him toe-to-toe on
the D.Va.
That's why we're going to see a Zarya-Mir matchup here.
TP up to the high ground, going to get Salker a nice vantage point.
Set him up for the position to make a play.
There's a lot of ground getting here by South Korea.
They're going to orbital rate.
Still keeping the party good eight now.
Cords has got a pretty good perch for this one.
Simple has to get behind that small pillar.
A little peek here and there.
A TP away.
Cords responds and Simple gets caught out still.
The risky play to drop guard into the purview.
Obvious opponent Zaya.
Docks needs safety.
Back up to the high ground he goes.
But South Korea start to look pretty menacing now.
and his card is inches away.
Two meters, he had very, very low spring,
and he threw in key by Latte to try and stem the bleed.
He has socks over the top, one for one,
but it's the end that goes down.
Marge is gonna keep this going.
Stalker might have fallen, but the Ketkai sanctuary
should get him home.
Last resistance of course, and then South Korea.
Post up three checkpoints.
Great adjustments from South Korea.
And we were talking about the Mizuki in map number one.
They run it here in our second map with some Sim and Diva.
The Nezaria swap at the end from Max was huge.
They finished with some time in the bank as well.
A huge bounce back there after map number one.
Again, this is a tough map to finish at the best of times.
We saw Ziad, the one that made that switch over to the Zaire,
and Max was happy to reciprocate.
felt comfortable for him to play into that matchup, especially with this, like, a He-Sang wall that appeared to block off that, that Graviton surge.
Torrong also was able to do a bunch of damage here in this round.
Well, it's also interesting that KSA's line-up in right now, you don't really want to matches him, right?
Like, KSA would probably be fine taking a SimMirror here, but, you'd be obviously not in the game, right?
have to really consider much of a Symmetra player.
Rion defense off Stalker playing Ash, so we see more Ash here creeping into the meta just
a little bit.
I think this would be, you know, obviously the known Mizuki on the other side, right?
But I think if they do play Mizuki again, I would love to see KSA train play some Moga.
I think that would be a really good alternative.
like we'll get the Ziad Magen here on offense.
30 seconds is the leftover time bank from South Korea.
It's a buffer to give you some level of confidence,
but that all depends on how fast KSA are able to get into this map.
Are we getting Zarya DiDi here from Ziad? It's going to be DiDi.
I think he probably feels more comfortable playing DiDi here with no Mizuki on the other side.
You also, without Symmetra, might need to be able to access the high ground, you're upon this playing Ash.
So you know that Stalker is going to be looking for a very safe spot, Joron can sort of get him perched up there, please be.
This time though, first it'll be Quartz to go upstairs.
Stalker off the side by that grenade, Joyride as well, he's going to whizz past.
Quartz is kind of committed in this position and fished out by the cat.
Defense matrix very well employed there by Ziad to prevent the loss of the bastion that eventually quartz will succumb
Yeah, one tick for KSA, but great defense there from South Korea
The dynamite takes just onto that bashing up on the high ground for its drop sound. It's actually able to keep him alive
Probably longer than anticipated, but nice follow-up there by Max stalker already building up towards his bar
Ziad close up on that corner. Bob can be thrown into one of these corners here on Sorgh's left.
Be pretty good at contesting this space. Sorgh also thinks about these side rooms. Dynamite
obviously is going to give him a bit of an edge here and that's going to be a Bob instead
thrown out. Bob is actually in a really scary spot forcing KSN to come forward and so they
will. Simple just gets rolled over instantly and Sorgh lacks the mobility to avoid the
purview of Seat. One tick and change and counting.
It's all South Korea have to buy their time
for a regroup briefly.
Katnap's gonna be at the ready in the Chorong,
but no, they feel like the fight is already over.
Yeah, the Nano there from South Korea doesn't get much.
His stalker now over to the Cassidy will match Quartz.
They think these console mids
who started to, you know,
move in the way that favors KSA.
We'll see, I like this from South Korea though.
I think you have to play aggressive up on this quarter.
You cannot allow this payload like this a really strong choke of your to hold on defense here
I like the decision to fight at this moment
Bought to be is
My god that is just a neutral elimination on an honorable things headshot randomly on he's saying drops him low
Somebody's got to stop this guy
Max eventually does but the damage might already have been done
Yeah, I mean max is gonna get staggered here
Well, they're actually gonna kill him because they want to move that payload on forward,
but in Quartz they will just peek around the corner to tap the Ana like that.
That's a position that's fairly safe, right, where S1mple is playing.
I mean, he's got an even front of him defense matrix there.
It's just Quartz is able to connect these shots so fast in quick succession.
Now you have the opportunity for Sky Moon here to potentially get this second checkpoint.
Let's bring in the hands of Heeson.
No need to make use of it until there's a commitment though from KSA.
This might resemble one though.
Can I do it on the top court, getting shot out by a simple and an offense matrix to the
rescue.
Tough for Kassi to get value in that kind of matchup.
Laptor ends up falling to the south to Ricky's free, but in general KSA trading
up and Seagrad has an opportunity to go after simple.
It's gonna take more than that though to get rid of that star player eventually a selfless
Remake gets him back to business. I mean they go all in to get rid of quartz
They finally get him, but the odd gets three on the other side, right?
Like what do you do of your max right? You either peel for your back line
And then eventually quartz takes everybody out you go after him and the odd just dominates the other end
available here nice angle here
Defense might take again crucial difference the odd but simple celebrity
will repeat on the laptop back to the high ground for Z out now
kick us out of here. You know this fight is essentially done. I think they'd like
to avoid the stagger on the diva. Z odd desperately trying to fall here.
Finally does. So will Sir Majed. Doc's trying to save him here with the lifeline.
Gonna be able to get him out. Two minutes and counting here for KSA. The
Defense has been pretty good here for South Korea underneath this bridge last couple fights ready solid that pick for simple
I think is the beginning of the end of that last engagement. Okay, so
Chorong here with the catnap could be huge just finding anything with this
Resulting in an early kickoff would be massive quartz has the sky and noon is taken down already and the fight is done
Chorong does make use of that ultimate at the end and it's easy enough for Zox to be dragged out and picked off
This is a very important time bank bleed for South Korea
A sick biograde there from simple that connects with three players and at that point they think KSA just decides okay
It's time to go again
Now use you mentioned the sky noon
Max has been a really nice job on the diva
Trying to get a lot that a lot of natural cover here as well. It's out for you to hide
Both looking for more that neutral pressure trying to force the defense meet yourself before they use it
I think that's worked. Max I think is out of juice at this point, but Quartz is out of options in terms of targets
In the midst of it, he stands out with a pick lab to off. Quartz was just not relevant, not dropped in a position to succeed
There's too many ways to break line of sight for the defenders here
I mean, Max and the supports here for South 3 have played this so well at this moment
Raleigh just looking at one more fight here to be able to get a map win
Margeants are getting very slim.
There is an Anubis who's going to be deployed straight away.
It's for Ziad, though. He's previously, though, hit with a biodecranate.
We dropped slow early in the fight. Defense makes it's going to be important to get that space,
but Max is doing the same thing to the backline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Quartz finds a right-click connection on the Heesun, though.
Max needs to get back in mech. He has to survive this moment.
But no, Ziad's able to run him down.
Zoxo is struggling. The last healer left hit for Saudi Arabia
with 22 seconds on the clock.
clock to stalker jock he's back he knows he had his love but he also understands
there's probably a remake opportunity for that diva and that stalker firing back
it's who's better it's a two player bio there that comes in from simple connects
with ports and he just gets deleted last chance to loon and not a lot to work
with on the smell of an already rad KSA have to come forward and look for some
pressure stalker backs up to take damage here on stock but it's the add again
falling. I'm not gonna say it. The Shion play for Heeson has been remarkable. Socks gets picked up
and now just the final moments for KSA. They realize they have pulled up short on Neon Junction.
Max and Heeson come on in. It looks like a completely different ball game.
simple was unreal on the honor as well time and time again on the defensive side of things when he
has some space to work with very Wednesday us to kind of breathe down his neck coming up with
some big kills but then also two three player bio grenades on the way in obviously with no
carry throughout that one no way to cleanse those up really punishing to that big difference
maker even though someone likes the others have it a thank you so that defense matrix to eat
many of those projectiles simple simply plays around those windows those when he
can hit a big anti-heal and that's huge when you see Anna's waiting hoping for a
nano boost from his honor much less value provided he is doused in the anti-heal
what's your play? I'm sorry I think absolutely stunning in that game winning a lot of his
peripheral duels against Laptop but also these big sprees that are either
drawing out key defensive ultimates just rolling over the top of it.
You know the Vendetta we saw in map number one it's a pretty good idea from South Korea.
Vendetta is a pretty good hero right now but it's one that KSA they know how to play against like Vendetta
D.Bekomps at 1A. I know they play against it with so much sim play right so they have a good idea
how to kind of counter that in action is you gotta take a look at some of the stats here.
I mean he's saying tremendous game stalker really came alive in terms of that hit scan. I mean
If you see that number going to creep up against Quartz, you know, and above it,
you're going to see South 3 win a lot of maps today.
Stalker is the one piece, one of the one pieces, at least on this roster that doesn't get rotated out
for other DPS players.
And it's a good reason for that. This guy is so consistent, so solid, and dependable.
Who better to go up against someone like Quartz, who this KSA team certainly is built around enabling?
But Stalker's role on this career roster might not look the same, but his output over the course of the unjunction there was comparable, if not better, than what Quartz was able to put out.
And I wonder if your KSA, where do you want to take this series? Obviously, I know a long one here, our first to four.
If you're thinking about like if you want to play like some diva comps, right like we've seen them
Obviously is sort of we go over and play like a maybe we do they play new junk and get rid of like a Missouki, right?
And I don't try and play that
That would be one pathway. I think for KSA is obviously it'll be their map it
Miski is definitely posed issues
He's four cores, for example.
He's dead eyes.
He's forced to drop into him from the jetpack cat.
It does virtually answer the threat of Skynoon.
It's kind of something we were discussing
in the previous series.
Like what's the counterplay to this?
You can't have your honor always sleep dart
and airborne Cassidy during ultimate to cancel it.
But we'll see you there.
There will be new John City.
This is kind of what I was talking about.
This is the map that KSA, the players on KSA,
been pretty popular from them in the past
and other tournaments with their team.
So I'm curious if you decide to get rid of Mizuki here,
really unlocks the odd on the Diva.
That is a hero that don't think KSA
is gonna mess with or out it.
And then also like look, if you get rid of Mizuki,
maybe they ban Diva, you can just play Maga comps
all day for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
I think they'd be happy enough with that.
Substitution here on the South Korea side of the stage
Or in fact, how many how many we got come out perhaps a perhaps a bio break
I mean you can't do it again. Generally they're trained the more transient than air molecules are different or people got up
Then they have some so they are going to play a full strength. We know that it's just
Who's coming in so I think John been going to come in here, right?
New junk is this going to be Marga potentially?
Yeah, Risa is pretty, pretty cool.
Risa, Marga, yeah.
I've seen Ramatra, you're pushed on this map.
I also, again, there's Twitch of Tank play here for South Korea, it doesn't imply anything
about whether or not they want to play D-monitors in both of them, playing at that role with
a decent amount of confidence.
So yeah, not really about it.
King of the Saudi Arabia team very traditional in their approach I think if I could still get away with playing Lucio Keri they would try at least.
Yeah nothing too complicated from them and it's a lot like when you watch Quartz play right like not you know the the craziest kind of plays and things like that right but just so consistent game over game map over map they just have it drilled in so well.
They looked at the stage actually. I think it's just courts sitting up there
I know you got the players subbing in and then you got courts up there as
Everybody on KSA they're taking a lap. Courts probably just getting into the game
I like the rest of these filler stimes on the stage courts understands that
staying seated being locked in is the most conducive to
Maintaining that flow state
But it's not know where to be. It's funny how this guy just always finds his way back to the biggest stages
the best hits game in the
world. I feel like this is not
a lot of debate about that in
this era. But in this matchup,
Stalker is giving as good as he
gets. So I don't blame courts
for wanting to double down. And
if we keep seeing these
musicy based compositions as
support designed to punish
specifically hits against
the players, the players
that are in the game, the
players that are in the game
and the players that are in
the game, the players that
specifically kids scans during the duration of kekai sanctuary
It might be half a course to assert his typical brand of dominance over the game
Yeah, without a doubt me. You see there our trophy South Korea's raised that three three times
We've been there for all of them Johnny put the the other graphic for the first blizzcon up. We looked on the talent announcement. Yeah
Much younger there. Yeah, you've met people here who have said I watched you when I was kids and they're they're full adults now
It's uh, it's a bit of sweet
You age worse than me, I mean, well, that's because I had children instead of working with one I created to yeah, there
Yes, a test piloted with me. You know, this is pretty cool
We are waiting for the players to get back on stage I
You know when we talk about the bands here for New Junk City, right?
I also think the reason why you go here is because on the escort pool
I think KSA feels fine whether it's root or shambali that's gonna be the pick there
Unless you get like yo, hey, we're gonna get jump in and play some ball and get crazy here and played no Junkertown
But I think KSA most teams could feel confident either. It's just root or shambali
So take your pick here out of the flash points because what would be a really nasty
The last scenario for KSA to deal with is an Atlas pick from South Korea where they can't
be on the wrecking ball and then Jun Bin just goes absolutely bonkers.
Now it's a tough start in a series for South Korea, but they looked a lot more joyful
at the end of that second map.
Let's listen to their comms and see what the vibe is like.
I'll concede that did sound like more of a relieved sigh than a cry of jubilation.
I think they knew they had that one locked up at that point. Nothing really to worry about in that final fight, so
Everybody from both teams getting back on stage here getting all situated is
Looked like at least we have a no jump in coming in. I believe we also have Sunjin coming in as well
so
That'll be coming in here for he sang
interesting like
New junk city, right? We can we do see some Vendetta like but you mentioned I mean he's saying was awesome on the she on to them out
Yeah, and also, you know
With this configuration wheels and a sunjuice like a really proficient trace of player. Yeah, right?
So you don't lose out on a ton of potential in terms of the DPS combos that you can put forward
I do think that like Vendetta here can be pretty nice. I just don't really know
Specifically what the Vendetta would want to be tired yet
I mean, Shian would be an interesting band for KSA as well.
Get into like a little bit of a tracer head-to-head, so curious where we go in terms of the bands.
A lot of options here for KSA, it feels like we're kind of due for a long series.
A lot of these games here, whether it was in Busan or early on, they have been kind of roles.
They think it's been mostly because these two teams have really kind of solidified
that they are just levels above everybody else.
I mean, in fairness, if you're a South Korea player,
you've been embroiled in all the five mappers.
They have, they've been involved
in all of those very long series.
It's been a long day for them.
They had a break.
We had a bronze medal match to sort of resolve.
It's still a concert.
They had a concert?
Yep.
Can't forget about that.
So both of these teams,
I haven't had to play today.
It's just that Saudi Arabia played three maps
to South Korea's five in very high stakes,
my precious scenario.
It's got like more of a warm up for the Saudis.
Sometimes that's like an adrenaline dump, right?
Like you just kind of have that moment
and then you have a little bit of a break
and it's like how hard to kind of get back
into the flow of the game.
But obviously South Korea, these players as well,
veterans of the game played in the biggest moments.
I mean, this is a battle of dominance versus resilience.
Saudi Arabia arrived almost untouched to this game
And Korea got here after scaring elimination in the face
for multiple maps and somehow surviving it.
Couldn't have dreamed up more different contexts,
more different paths into this game for these two teams.
And there's never any debate over what is better
to get maximum overwatch, get more maps out of the way.
But I feel like you'd rather be fresh
coming into a potential first to four match.
You'd rather be comfy, right?
You'd rather be the team
You know it's been really kind of consistent through the groups through the online to the groups then here in person
Then kind of getting here, you know, they're grinding it out a five map affair from France
Where you're down to oh you have to battle all the way back there for South Korea earlier today
Okay, so I thought it would be like I know a she on Ben the Suzuki she on a vendetta
And something along those lines.
This also ends up protecting a lot of the hitscan, right?
Cassidy now available here.
It'll be Maga.
So this is kind of the other hero here in Ziad's wheelhouse.
So if you really think of Ziad, you know, maybe we end up with a little bit of a mantra
here.
I mean, I think Ziad's going to play the horse, no?
Run it down, Arisa.
Yeah, that would be a good shot.
I mean, Arisa, for Ziad is a hero we saw him play a lot last year, right?
a recent was in the meta a decent amount.
But Dettor is a little difficult for D.Va though to deal with because D.Va likes those like
huge burst damage windows, generally speaking, doesn't have the sort of displacement that
you maybe need to interrupt Dettor, she's trying to execute a combo.
So that might be why we see that.
So Sanchin though, you know might go over to Tracer, so like that's a pretty reasonable
look on this map.
More likely I feel than Xiong.
Even though they fought back in this series, a strong showing on Neon Junction shows that they still have it in them.
Trying to reclaim the promised lands.
This feels like a huge map. Swing map in this series potentially.
Yeah, I feel like it is giving inflection points.
Because like, you know, the push pool, right, it seems like everybody's kind of aligned on like what map to go towards and like what they want to play.
Hitchens, Ducks, Shora, Rubber Ducks, if they are Iveyon, we cheer.
We cheer.
Yeah.
Then Escort, a lot of teams have decided that they would like to play.
The Outer Round of the Game and the Tanks here early, it'll be the D.Va here, going
up against Jumbin on the D.Mann and this is a support line I was talking about on
And now last map, you see it now with the honor with the William.
A lot of poke damage here, rather than South Korea.
It goes up against the composition, that's a little better at healing.
Now like a Lucio carry that we saw from France.
But still, it's super annoying.
Jorong is going to be able to pump out a ton of damage.
He also did so on Mizuki earlier.
And simple spyotic grenades are going to be important.
Marget has to hold his Suzu back for probably just that.
I have to already gas with it.
recovery note over the top he shot some stalker been very very good at stuff of
course to get where he needs to be but he still finds Torong one way or another
I mean they dropped ports into the back line like you would think he's playing
Reaper but Sunjin able to punish him Ziyan out of neck this should be South
Korea who's able to get control of this flashpoint first nice shot there
from Stalker, hugging thoughts out of the sky. Still more fight here from KSA but
feels like inevitable for South Korea to take this first Flashpoint, get
controlled it. What should watch the sidelines here for Stalker, who's aware
that Quartz is gonna be looking for him a lot of the time. He's just over to
the Bastion now but Stalker really clinical in that previous fight and
didn't have a lot of pressure on him. It was like Laptop never got into a
spot to command the attention of any of the back runners. Well I think you
go Bastion here the Bastion is like a pretty good no obviously no demon extremely
strong but can actually just kind of burn that demon shield out they've given
opportunity to follow up with some serious damage nano boost available here
already but like it's likely to jump in limit break too man really good start
here for South Korea and none of us necessary with so much of going down
the style of the fight stalker has gone from strength to strength over these
last couple of maps. In the end, South Korea can sit on so many of these
ultimates. The resistance from KSA honestly has been minimal. KSA has been
playing a lot of these comps that you see now the entire time and has not been
bullied back or pressured. Now you're starting to see South Korea though get
in a groove. It's gonna be this first flash point. Most likely going over to
South Korea it's gonna be a touch here at the final moments from lambda but this
is not a great set up for KSA they're gonna back out you can see the Arthur's
flashpoint and that's Ruzox at the point there I think just a stall but you
can see how impactful first picks are on this map in this game mode especially
usually they're to the tune of about 40% this could snow off pretty quick though
limit break over clocks free here you now get a second checkpoint there's a
a little break, comes on down.
Not the most impressive, though,
is KSES still able to push in behind this continued rush,
but there's Stalker yet again, and now the first pick.
Matt, you might have invoked a curse
when you said that every single fight
at that first map, it was Quartz getting a pick.
Stalker's doing just that on the Sojourn,
stay ultra safe.
Of course, it doesn't have that same capacity
on the Bastion.
They're trying to fight this year
as the odd gets on, gets a touch.
He does it himself, the shot, he's gonna use it.
Here's the Sprena coming out from Sondra,
but it's gonna be cut short.
Quartz has the damage to deal with him.
Catmap used there by Socks.
Unclear with the result was.
And I think it up has been done now
to get KSA back into this game to some degree.
Draw on the fighting.
Quartz left it, dragged him off the map.
Evens things up.
KSA down to four.
South Korea still waiting on Resports to come back through.
But this Nano has been sat on by Simple.
And this has not been enough reason to make use of it yet.
Yeah, I mean KSA, they can take a battle back
into that fight and kind of catch them off guard
they get an early kill but nothing after that South Korea also able to hold on to
that Nano like you mentioned you're gonna be able to just drop that on the
jumping drop in the back line and there we go
straight into the midst of the fight sliding down the ease of the route
and meanwhile again it's stalker just doing the work the guy never sleeps
never stops never falters and he's very well matched up against the
bastard it's not easy for course to find success in that head-to-head the
The Royal Guns, the boost damage output is a bit much.
They have a break here, look at Volante.
She on, and nowhere to go.
The Demon has been such an issue for KSA to deal with here.
Jundan, he will fall, but before he does,
ends up with two or three in the fight.
Just like that, it is a KSA map pick
that South Korea is dominating here at the moment.
It took them a lap on the Cassidy as well,
So just, they think the answer here is not a tank matchup,
it's just damage output.
Just raw damage to deal with this D-Mart.
Stalker has been delivering.
Putting his team in a 5v4 more often than not,
the beginning of these engagements.
Here's the rush though from Archer.
There is a bayonet on CF right now,
but it was cleansed off pretty quickly.
Jhin been dispersed down, it's a lot of damage,
but not before he gets rid of Lantar.
Quartz has also fallen to Sonjin.
That is Saudi Arabia starting off the fight
They continue to rush and coming up with very little.
Ziad, there might have been a double environmental.
It's unclear. Big pick offs though.
Now KSA in a 3v3.
Jon been out of mech now taking down.
That could have been ugly. Ziad just saved the fight.
That's how you see they want to play.
That's D.Va.
Ziad takes the perk where you're just going to fly on through, extend that.
Takes out two players there.
A moment where it looked like it was going to be South 3
who gets control of that point first yet again.
Run away with this map. Hero play from Ziad. At least give KSE a fighting chance at this.
Okay, Kors will be looking for simple here. The low mobility Ana can get caught out inside this artillery strike.
That's the pick on simple. That's what you want. You're using the lifeline of the cat to try and get a sight line here for Stalker.
You don't have anything to get the Ana out of the way. That's the trouble. Ana needs a little bit of an XL.
situations like that. So without that massive healing throughput, KSA Abaddo
Serole over the top, Stalker gets caught out, there's a war of attrition in the
end. Saudi Arabia are heavily favorited. Finally, showing us some pluck here in
this game, Quartz gets him a first pick in one of the more strange ways.
Well it's pretty difficult right? Jon Bin obviously wants to go get here and we've
seen him obviously go for the back line for Quartz. This is just a lot of
damage with that fast shift. It's going to be the nano there onto the demon. They do
finally deal with courts. Not a moment too soon when Saudi Arabia threatened to take the
map away. Lata fly over to get slipped. Oh, we see that happen a lot. Simple is that
guy. It's a life that's going to be run down. Charity of a South Korea to have themselves
a flash point flip and their DPS will back up. What Simple puts out. Simple has had
himself a series so far beautiful bio grenades and nasty sleep there on the
sky noon coming in from labda play advantage in terms of support
ultimate here for ksa he set up kitsune rush you don't really have a lot of like
heroes who they really love the benefits of the kitsune rush really just the
capacity here then obviously some extra support output
Johnson with a flyover, gotta be a rush here from Sir Marjad. Last time that was with this, it didn't go so well for the KSA.
A big limit break. Catches on the minion KSA, but they just burst Jumbin straight out of his mech.
Lantos found his way towards that major perk directly getting hard.
It's almost like the animation of the limit break just gives an opportunity where Jumbin doesn't have his shield available and they just mow him down.
as the odd also taking the perk on D.va that has the tighter spread right so some extra damage from the D.va, Cassidy, and Bastion
even with that over health of D.ma not going to be able to survive that
and so this game gets a little tight a little closer
there's a South Korea threat in the runaway with new junk city
Lambda on the Cassidy
So it gives them two options for fliers, right? Now you can actually use Sky Noon if you use the Bastion before.
So it can just blow simple up, then a half beat like that, that's reasonable.
Docs doesn't have anyone to go there, so we caught up on the terrain.
Sanchin's having to get in with a spree, and we're jumping, fighting and elimination.
We're in a straight up 2v2. Jumping is healthy on the point, he's ready to fight.
And Seat doesn't have the ability to hang. Still, self-destruct is going to buy some space in a remix.
There are Quarters coming back in wheels mode.
This force of Junbin to keep his head down for the most part, they have to let Saudi Arabia take the first flip and Junbin gets de-mecked after the fact.
And you see there, I mean just the raw damage output from Bastion and Cassidy, Junbin cannot survive that.
Puts up the shield, right tries to get around that corner, maybe he can get the kill on the Ziad as the Ziad is trying to rematch.
just gets deleted there does not start out great and he KSA's Ops gets killed early on
but South Korea is very good at managing that one it's artillery that comes up through
sure I love that
he's like simple is screaming help me first
well dead eye found him anyway
well he launches he gets launched right into the other lifeline into breaking it gets launched into the sky
six of one half a dozen of the other
the very thing that got him out of trouble from the Bastion Ultimate put him right in the crosshairs for the dead eye
the end if you do and go it this would be a crazy comeback right this look like a
map that South Korea was just gonna run through KSA KSA one bite away here
jumping the plane solo right now this is quite dangerous you might be trying to
bait something in decent catch him that liver break and court is felled
save off angle here for stalker to play from and his back line just sets up
on the point Sunjin's getting a flip happening right now with Laptor going
down but looks like a bizarre game but for Junbin and the loss of mech has
Just fight off!
Yeah, even though you lose, jumping back early on.
Here you can see what we were talking about before, right when the limit breaks,
he just dies in sleep.
He doesn't have the ability to put that shield up right after coming out of that animation.
The limit break happens, sure, you get that damage and some over health,
but this bow down by players of KSA, they do get quartz, which is quite fortunate.
Doc's an opportunity to turn the tide to you, Mitch.
Catnap coming on through, don't think that goes with anything.
No catch, Zock's trying to ambush Sathgaribah, that one now, simple as Nanna, who's could be the decider.
She doesn't even charge his forward, doesn't have access to the G-Targets though.
He has perfect damage in the direction of this Cassidy though.
Laptic gets a health pack, stays alive a little bit longer, but Ziad is picked off on the privilege.
How would he alive? I mean, he got healed, Majed was there.
Not good enough for Gunba, good enough for me.
I mean, he's got it, Nanna with the damage reduction.
Everybody in his face, Suraj here doing a great job keeping Laptor up, and you see Laptor...
Once to pay that off some shots as they move back on into the point sky noon gonna be available here for KSA
artillery barrage once again at the ready for court Sonju
Look at it getting good early down to my dinner. That's a week is free. He would a grenade nice for spot from laughter
Capture Sonju now they play through the damages good enough courses getting hammered while he sets his ultimate off
He has to be careful to look at jump in stalking his way up over towards the point speaking of which
The man with the name is picked up by Corsus Grenade.
Joram has his eyes scratched out and here comes Saudi Arabia, folks!
We're going to a decider.
I find the adjustment from KSA so fascinating.
They say it's not a tank issue.
We just need to just pummel more damage into the demon, and it has paid off.
Also, the benefits of having two players who can kind of play a lot of hitscan at a high level.
It's going to be KSA here who gets control of the objective first.
They're going to be able to set up here, take the fight of their own turns with this Katsune rush.
Stalker hasn't been able to find quite as many of those first picks as we saw earlier.
And I know the clock might make that much easier.
Good response there for Marjot.
Instantly cleanses off of Bioneg that caught on to multiple Saudi Arabian players.
This is for the disengaging of South Korea.
They've lost Stalker.
Latin describes true with the peacekeeper.
And now has to avoid this limber break.
Backing up, backing up here.
He has the damage and once again, Jumbin is being met before he can find the kill.
Can you just see how much damage Jumbin is taking?
Typically when you see a limit break and you're chasing down that capacity,
you're able to get that kill with these six support there from KSA.
Then also, Ziad going really kind of all in on damage in terms of perks on the D.Va.
Obviously the Bastion damage as well. Kiri contributing too.
Jumbin is very difficult to keep alive.
It's also really difficult to close the gap on that demon without that shield in play
We are reverse sweep in terms of flash points on this map here for KSA
What are you saying bounce back here the family after all hacks a simple strikes first
It's laughter one thing it's picked off simple as a nano send it a bit of jump in and then we have to fight here with see
I'd see us over yourself to strike the bailing out here, but that seems unlikely forces jump in backs
Seattle eventually is cleft into a clean South Korea take off the back of a pretty sick pig by simple
That nano boost used as well nano to jump in Chorong launches them up into the sky over to the high ground and simple finds one right after that
Skynoon here for KSA another Kitsune brush or serve a jet
doing a great job keeping some of these hitscans alive through a ton of pressure from Sunjoon and Jundit.
Look out for the Spree. Sunjoon is going to look to Joyride in and try and blow them up.
No Nano though to make the Cheon Nihon killable though.
Bionate on the three, that's pretty good. Labdip doesn't get the Suzu.
He doesn't get the cleanse. Still is able to shake it off and get back to fighting Fitba.
Not before Quartz is taken down.
Simple is the conductor on this train. The puppet master in these fights.
and apparently the executioner himself.
Zox tries to go there with the catnap, gets taken out.
You are going to have one more fight here for control of this point and this map.
KSA, who's going to be the one that gets the touch? It's going to be Horsier on the tracer.
The legendary quartz tracer comes out to play. He gets the touch, but this is less than ideal.
Abdomite will fall in, so he does.
Zuck's wanting to get there, but Jordan had other plans.
Had the catnap to seal the deal.
And with Ziad been cleared off the points,
a rookie mid-map for South Korea resolves,
and they'll go ahead in the series.
Got a little bit scary there for South Korea towards the end.
but they clutch up when it mattered most.
Symbolic, a two-three player bio,
and the fight that allows them to flip that point
really play tremendous throughout this series.
Even the map stat, I mean, just down to the wire
between these two teams.
Nice adjustment from KSA as well.
South Korea, it's too good.
I just gotta be said, I think that
the team on difference there,
I'm feeling it on that map.
Junbin,
bomb, it's out, damage over much of this encounter.
18.8k.
Zed obviously, he ain't built the same way.
He's playing D.Va, it's not really his role.
But he doesn't have a lot of ways to mitigate
the D.Mon's impact.
And even though Macho was operating
like a literal heal pot out there,
it still wasn't enough.
I feel like they would have played Marga there
if it was available.
I think that's kind of what they would have went for.
But the great read there by South Korea
gets rid of one of Ziad's best heroes
on the map that you want to play a lot of rush, right?
These like, MogaV's,
conversations on New Jump City,
they just take that option away.
Preparo's, dude, it's a very different strategy
in terms of bands and in terms of cops,
the South Korea against the Saudi Arabia opponent.
Then it was against France.
They are very prepared coming into this game.
They've got some great ideas.
Stalker kind of sets things up, right?
A big part of what allows South Korea
to get those first two flash points.
And then it's simple that steps into the frame.
Big bios, ones that couldn't be fully cleansed by Marjad, right?
Suzu has had its range reduced to like 4.5 to 4 meters.
Now that's pretty significant in situations like this.
So Lander was still anti-healed after the Suzu came down.
Free player bios are gonna win you a fight
more often than not.
But jumping was pretty sick though.
Looking more comfortable and maybe KSA getting punished here
for having that more traditional approach
composition building and also, yeah, the Malkaban strips them of that potential answer.
Now I think of your KSA, what is the response, right? You don't have a D.Van fan available,
I believe that was used early on in the series, but where do you decide to go into that?
Are you going to play like a route, which is like pretty good in terms of like
type of play
That where you want to go. I mean that's probably I
Know if I was I was up there out probably said we're gonna go root 66 really good for long-range hit scan really good for diva
I would probably say that would be the one to go. It doesn't mean that we're always guaranteed to see he's gonna come back into the lineup
66 is the KSA pick
that soundproof that's a good one.
Yeah, you're right. Make sure you're...
Got to be a coach.
Make a coach?
Mr. X, you don't have too much of an edge.
We've actually seen this about twice in South Korea, sort of here in Recency, and the
approaches look very different on both occasions.
I do not think that this is the opponent that gets the Winner-Maker's End treatment
necessarily.
Have we seen an Arnavian from KSM?
Not yet.
I also think it's the kind of band you might...
The problem is it's quite telegraph-y, trying to play Margaret.
Yeah, I guess.
Especially in little curies.
It leaves a hit-scam band available, which you could see maybe South Korea would get rid of Bastion at that point, right?
Trying to play Kat Bastion up in the sky a lot.
We did see Simple pull out some Zenyatta on this map in the past, but...
could be a really risky one, especially if they want to force
D.Va on the other side.
It's just kind of half the trouble, is that KSA really, really
want to put Quartz on the bastion.
And what we saw on the Junction was like Quartz really
able to just open up quite instantly,
but a couple of tacitly headshots,
and we're off to the races.
Well, it seems like they're just
falling back to a double hit scan look, right?
Like, Labda played the she-on early on,
but then since then, we've seen the Labda
sort of like dabble back until like maybe some of the Cassidy
soldier and like type of things with Quartz on like a bastion
just like maybe raw damage output.
But I don't know, man, I think some of these maps
you're going to have to figure out a way it's kind of if you're
going to allow demon and demon is going to be played right
like jump in is going to be in you're going to have to
figure out a way to like play against it.
What do you think you're like a recent match up into it
just like a recent just spam damage right just like kind
constantly trying to displace the demon in a way, but the demon has pretty good matchups
into everybody, but the same can be said for Moga. Moga, you know, I was on, you know,
with the rack and appliance, but yesterday it's like Moga, like, it feels like sometimes
people don't play Moga because they're bored of playing Moga, not because Moga is bad,
where it's like Moga has pretty decent matchups into like almost every tank.
Yeah, I think the one issue is obviously Arisa could walk out of cage fight pretty comfortably
Also, like sometimes the sojourn comms can like break that cage fight early
however
We'd also seem like she on use to punish cage fight like just like you know everyone sort of grouped up very close
And he's actually to come in here. It's actually forms
part of a question I had is
To to case they feel like they can take a tracer mirror and find success against he's done
I mean, Lab was pretty good on Tracer.
He said no is like, I think maybe a little bit above.
You would want to see a She-On mirror, right?
I mean, that's kind of what you would ideally like to see it get into where you feel like maybe that's where Lab can shine the most.
But last time we saw he saying in the lineup, obviously he was able to get the better of him.
So we also have Max coming back in here.
So it feels like every map,
we got changes coming in here for South Korea.
It's literally every map at this point.
And again, it's back and forth, chop and change,
unplug your peripherals, have the next player plug them in,
make sure your audio is working.
On the upside is that South Korea
are getting very good at making substitutions,
getting their players to sit and frankly Max and Juddman also are staying pretty warm
not on a bench for more than one map
does this eventually backfire though right?
like you're in, you're out, you're in, you're out
I mean uh, the Max obviously leading in terms of tank damage here
wait, what?
damage mitigated, is this damage mitigated?
yeah, pretend
but look at the difference between first and second
yeah, I do, what?
sorry?
yeah, what happened there?
I mean that is astounding frankly normally like you have good mitigation numbers if you're getting pummeled
Hawk knows all about that down there was sixth place, but
That was max it was maxing a ton in the the France series. I'm trying to recall every other map
There was a substitution Matthew. Okay, so was
Three of the five so yeah, I mean that's probably where it comes from a lot of that game against France, so
damage pretty good a pertain is a stat that all isn't always super illustrative until it's a difference of like 20k until it's like a 50% difference
At that point you start to wonder what the source of it is. I was over here trying to get a hat from Craig
With everybody going crazy the the Overwatch World Cup merch is awesome. Always good
I mean always like our event merch is really gonna stepped up to another level
I feel like I know the Kierigas plays have been out in full force feels like I know I'm you know
I don't have stats on it
But it feels like that's like the number one go-to hero at this point. Yeah, see you gotta watch out man
If you don't have those numbers, we didn't have the census data. It's pretty out there to make a claim like that
However, I am inclined to a career
Lots of Kierigas play
I've seen a lot of the pool party cosplay as well very appropriate time of year for that. No doubt about it's been rather
warm here in Anaheim
I did a right today, right?
I filled for the Browns, but that's football.
Okay, so he's saying Max, coming on in, the map is Route 66, another KSA pick.
We were discussing like a little bit what do we see in terms of ban.
Interesting enough, we haven't seen like, so here's the part where it's like a little tricky, right?
If KSA wants to play Diva, that's a band that potentially South Korea could use, right?
Get rid of the Diva, but see what KSA decides to do coming in here.
I dare you to address this.
This is a plushie, the Jetpack Cat plushie.
Available now is... You're a big plushie collector.
Right, my shrine does need another addition.
kind of cool to see the U2s collab there. So, get yourself to back out plushy, available now.
It does not come with the capacity to save you from the Bastion artillery strikes though, sorry.
You're going to have to ask your teammate nicely for that. Hit the QR code and check it out. Just
we're talking about the fantastic merchandise, the walk up jack parade, seeing the patches around
as well with the different teams, different regions. Which is what hardware broadcast
I'm just worried that instead. I mean these wardrobe never got cheaper for us. Yeah, I mean, uh, you know
Yeah, different whoever won the last series is the jersey they're looking for
Frank gets some cheap pops out there after
French fans booed us a little bit earlier, but that's all good. Ask is stretching. I think you predicted against them
I did Riley, but you did that's correct
So Saudi Arabian compatriots now re-turning to the stage and joining assistant if your opponents are gonna make substitutions
Every map didn't make use of the time. I agree
We are focusing up for Route 66 that promises to be pretty enlightening because we've seen a difference our career on this map every time they've played it this weekend.
It's a must win for KSA, right? Like obviously the last World Cup final, they're able to pull off a crazy reverse sweep.
But feels like you lose this. There is so much momentum. Is this a ban on deferral here for KSA?
Yeah, quite possibly.
It is South Korea getting rid of the Cassidy here, Mizuki.
I thought this would have happened on the previous map or one of the other maps, but it is a Mizuki band here.
It's been really nice from Chorong. We've seen him play that with other tournaments as well. Really good against Diva.
This Cassidy band from South Korea is not so much to target court specifically.
is to get the Sky Noon combo out of the game.
It's such a volatile thing to throw into the mix.
There's limited, I'm gonna say, now limited counter play.
And when you're trying to play for Sky Noon against your opponents who are always playing D.Va,
you feel like you're not favored.
You feel like your opponents actually do have a bit more of the capacity
to limit the ability of that just to take over the game.
So is this cat-bashing here with D.Va for KSA?
Uh, there's a lab to play Tracer's Shion, right? I think that would probably be the thing you kind of look at.
One thing we're seeing from Stalker on Neon Junction as well is the Ash.
Yep, seen it defensively on this map. Look, okay.
Pretty reasonable. I think, uh, even France were trying to bust that out.
Keio, uh, you know, was able to set up on big girls defensively, had decent sight lines.
There was the issue of being pressured though down by the demon, who I think is a bit of a nightmare for Ash.
One weakness or this KSA damage dealer duo, they're really kind of the only one where you really think about it.
It's like there's nobody who has the ability to play, you know, you would think like a Vendetta or a Genji or something along those lines.
I like that's not really kind of quartz at all and not really labda.
I mean, it's like those two players in this year of Overwatch have much more overlapping hero pools than perhaps they did three years ago.
Right, so you're in trouble if, you know, you're seeing a ton of in-dead on the other,
there's no way to match that, right? Lab does not going to play the sim. I mean, I know if you saw a sim,
it would probably be UB in the game, or if they wanted to play something like that,
whether it be sim or tracer, it would probably be UB. So, it feels like it's Shion,
and then maybe another hitscan if you want to go like a double hitscan long-range.
I mean, both of these teams have extended rosters, right? The big difference between Saudi Arabia and South Korea
that Dathger are actually utilizing theirs, right?
TVN team UB haven't seen any play here for this Saudi roster.
They've really wanted to stay very focused,
very streamlined in their approach to the game,
play to the strengths of Ziyad Tiropol,
play to the Diva as much as they possibly can.
Zox also was, I would say,
one of the least known faces on this team,
but it's honestly really impressive.
They're pretty good.
The greatness of the E-League in the past
was on Al-Khatsia this year,
actually sort of one out over
team. Uh and has been a play
who's developed really
impressively. Cassetta, same
for Zard right. He has garnered
a little bit more of that fame
obviously on GK who are always
a contender in EMEA and the
international tournaments. He's
had a fantastic year as well
but you know, despite having
three players that were there
in 2023, there's still an
infusion of new blood into the
Saudi Arabian Arabian campaign
to be back to back World Cup
champions. You know when you get to this level as well with these two teams so strong, just
those little things in terms of hero pool, maybe what kind of ends up deciding this is
South Korea obviously a deep roster able to kind of flip back and forth between maps
and how they would like to play. Kind of think of the entire Saudi roster, not really
They don't look like that.
So Saudi Arabia a lot on the line.
Obviously, two more maps for South Korea to be your champions.
But it feels like South Korea is not
going to take KSA lightly at all.
Not going to allow them to get back into this series
if they get control of this map.
So this is Zox, just as we were referring to previously.
newer face on the scene, part of the Alcancia roster.
And obviously been pretty impressed with what he's been
called upon to produce.
Now, he's not been the main carry player.
Outloots in Marjad, sort of in that role a lot of the time.
But obviously you need to fall back on reliable jet pack
cap play.
And Zox has certainly been the right call for this team.
Route 66 back in, folks, just around the corner.
It's our escort map in this pool.
South Korea threatening to get further out in front.
We said we felt that New Jump City was an inflection point map a potential turning point in a series
In so far as it gave a point to South Korea sure, but in the end it was a close affair
Very close down to the wire. I mean
Starts off dominant boy South Korea and then KSA battles back just not good enough in the end
Okay, well the South Korea here on defense and just like we talked about a little bit before
before, simple on the Zen, Zen Widow.
Okay, two years out of the Jake era of Overwatch
is a Quartz and a Widow duel, though.
Okay, so the thing behind this, I believe,
is that South Korea don't expect Tracy here
from Saudi Arabia,
because Tracy is going to be a problem
for both Zen and Widow.
Zen and Widow are kind of the same,
in terms of what their weaknesses are
and where their strengths lie,
where there's strongest in the game. Long sight line. Plenty of space in the back line.
Simple running it back is probably one of the best-seeing out of players in the world since the era where
Joannak struck fear in the hearts of everybody. Unlucky enough to go up against the New York Excelsior.
Swinging a miss there from Stalker, but next to the shot on to Ziad.
Interesting enough, there will be courts here on Sojourn. So Sojourn Shiong, 4KSE.
Max taking a lot of damage, starts to back up, gets to this corner.
And Stalker doubling back actually earlier than I would have expected.
Feels like something is brewing for Saudi Arabia, and he's not wrong.
He's saying he takes a big hit there from Khorz, who's not upset that Kastadi is banned.
He's sojourned, he's also freakish.
Not many people get filled by Max and hit slide and go forward, but something Khorz is willing to do is...
Nice pressure there by the diva. Simple does end up falling here early on so just your cat to support a lot.
It's socksable people that goes after the Zenyatta. Finds success there. Keyhole positioning now for Stalker trying to stay safe as he can.
But perhaps this is too passive. Not a lot to shoot at right now for the Widowmaker Stalker again looks to reposition.
Not really been able to find anything looking for every different type of sight line but
KSA has given him nothing to find.
You see kind of playing up in that high ground trying to beat players around the corner and
big girls.
Max is going to get de-mech tiered bitch.
This is brutal.
It feels like the beginning of the end now for this defensive setup for South Korea
and actually the end of this composition as well.
KSA pushed through and it starts with just trading right.
You've got the sport advantage, take the Zen out, he's going to be slow to get back into the fight and a decent fair on max is huge.
Interesting. Are they going to ditch Hitscan completely and go?
That's a big sum, Matt.
Yeah, I mean, you're going to get Ziad, but Ziad's going to self-destruct, he's going to be able to get back out.
They're going to play so, they're going to play in shape, Shion Tracer here, ditch Hitscan all together to get the Zen in the mix.
I think that's because he's close to transcendence simple might just want to make use of this now
There's no honor to ruin the day with a biodecrenate. So, you know, you're getting full value out of this ultimate
You can actually launch this in which we intended like into the fight there with the so true
Give an eye for that court here now with that overclock in play and he's gone
He's just gone simple blows him up and then he's cute almost in a celebratory fashion
Overclocked. So huge here from Quartz. And ultimately we see time and time again he's able to get a few kills which just gets taken out by right-clicks there from Symple.
Going to escort that Zen back up to that high ground.
Here's the problem. Symple might not die until he has another transcendence. So why would he switch?
Can KSA put some pressure down on his backline Zen? They still don't have a tracer. Zox had to do it last time.
Last time this time. I think that's asking too much from your jetpack cat
He's busy trying to save his teammates drawing negative taken down by Ziyad here comes out such a Ricky Spree and yes
He's saying
Fights the battle against damage fall off and wins but not before the last of the Ziyad comes after him himself
Trains here with the Divas Max and Ziyad both getting very active amidst this fight
And KSA will have to find the right winner for this Kitsune Russia's the pulse bomb will down Ziyad
Yeah, that's gonna team mix the odds send him back to small in his South Korea
I love the way they decide to play this deep it's really aggressive at that door because he gives us in yada so much extra space
To operate from lab that's not really been able to get in there with that spree
It's not really that is impact felt on this map just yet
Laptop always looking for a flank angle, but it's kind of dangerous to go alone
It's Mexican's then can blow you up at a moment's notice
Here's the rush, he's gonna give KSA a lot more space to work with, and note that Laptor is now moving up the map.
He'll wrap around towards the bottom of your screen, and simple as finally falling, quartz strikes at the heart of South Korea's formation.
It's the Glese-Brand center, so why would he switch? That's the question we raised earlier.
Majet down though, here comes Laptor, trying to answer with this screen. He's saying he's blown over in the middle of things.
Yeah, only so much defense matrix for the diva of South Korea.
There's a nice shot at keeping he sang and show on the live as long as possible
But I'm also holding the last burst of that spree towards the very end
How does KSE decide to play this here bitch, right? You have catnap right? Maybe you can catch one drag him out
But simple got this transcendence
Gotta be good for a retake. I might not be needed here though is all they have carried simple into the frame
Here's the transcendence that discord orb still persisting on corpse and that's gonna give the assist help with the elimination
Simple though indeed travel and eventually falls off the map socks would have come from anyway
Self-destruct throwing in wisely Chorong dumps altitude to get below that sight line
But eventually is brought down either way here comes max though still hail hardy and ready to fight to see that
Let's this fight end. Yeah, new. We had to jump off the side. They are not able to fight that
This overclock needs to be massive from Quartz. Nothing with the last one and with
time on the clock it might be the only big ultimate they get for the rest of
this round. Here comes Storker looking for Quartz now. Very low as a soldier.
Look at the double back from Seattle. He saves his teammate. Quartz now plays
in the low ground. It's not an ideal sideline but he still uses it to get the
elimination. Perhaps a little overheat there and overcooked for South Korea.
There's just another player behind. Oh, he just needs a pixel. That's all he
requires. And so the defenders will have to regroup now, belatedly though, if they
can't get Max out in time. Lampard did fall, self-destructive for Max to make
sure we isn't staggered out. Back in the mech, he goes. Margett has fallen now.
Saudi Arabia's starting to fumble a little bit on this offensive endeavor.
They're gonna have to regroup properly now one more time on the attack side. Yeah, I mean max able to use that self-destruct
Get back in mech and he saying comes back and finds two right off the spawn
Get simple up on the high ground here on sin
That could have been dangerous there is simple take a lot of damage up on that high ground ten seconds left here
for KSE's offense. Looks like Stalker are already going up blank here with a post spot as well.
They don't know he's here yet but they're about to find out. Discord all there on corpse.
Two backtrim to handle. All eyes from South Korea on the hit scan player. Torong a pardon
gift to Slash at Seattle now as it's all Korea in the kill feed. Seattle won't get a chance to
remake and that's all she wrote on his KSE attack side.
He's saying on she on really making his impact felt yet again here.
You just haven't seen that kind of match from lab to on the other side.
Quartz obviously under a ton of pressure.
You're going to need your she on that other DPS to come up in a big way.
It hasn't happened so far.
I think it contextualizes the question I asked at the start of this map.
Is there a world where there's a tracer mirror that KSA can win out in?
They don't seem to think so.
They tried to land on the she-on here while the damage was good,
dying six times and putting a limited amount of pressure on simple in that backline.
It's not conducive to success here on this map against the South Korea composition.
So a win condition here at map number four, pretty clearly set up by South Korea.
Looking for their fourth World Cup gold medal. They have set things up rather
nicely. They can move away from that Zen Comp now. They don't need to lean into it
as much. I'll be a simTP to get them going here, but they can fall back to brass
tax the fundamentals and probably get there. It would be a bit of an odd one. I
wouldn't even mind to see KSA try like bashing Sojourn. Like put laptop on the
like we saw a little bit earlier I mean doesn't feel as good as maybe having a
Cassie in the mix but if the Shion's not working and maybe we need to move off it
I also think it gives you more pressure on the enemy cat
Sojourn Railgun pretty poignant some scenarios talk here on the Sojourn
no true we're gonna get more changes here I think yeah her we're gonna get a
I think going up this bastion, getting him at the same time from different angles.
It's going to be important, but neither of those DPS has the ability to traverse up to that high ground easily.
They need to use the stairs like near mortals.
Already though, Max has tried to carve out a foothold on top of the girls.
Stalker's gotten deep. Playing around this mega health pack is really important.
Yeah, decent amount of space created here for South Korea.
If Suzu's you already out that's gonna be pretty dangerous here. South free of the
sides to collapse but still patient here Mitch trying to move on forward but
ports on the high ground deals with Choron. It's still about stalker in my opinion
this tracer has to do more than just mill around force the Suzu here and
there Max has done well to deal with the bastion but even with the line
share of the damage out of the equation for the defenders and put the
numbers. First fight goes in favor of KSA. Sports a lot that artillery use that up
in the high ground and serve a jet. Keep in pace with simple here in terms of
Katsune rush. It just feels like South Korea's got a lot of payload progress for
free. Docker throws out that pulse bomb just trying to catch the out of the
fly by. Spectator, it's always worth to go after the deeper with that but he
knew the defense matrix wouldn't be a factor.
Kitsuneirash here for both sides.
That's people of Korea getting ready for one big push for the checkpoint.
Latta's gone down, so that might have been simplified dramatically.
Here's the defense matrix coming into play.
Quartet's much of that wheels mode limited in output.
And he has to deal with, now in his face, a very angry Max.
Ziad can't actually get the mech off the edge there.
Maybe Chorong was debatable by that.
It's unclear.
for Majin and Kuo to down, and he sent just throws the spree in.
And that's more than enough.
Political here from South Korea.
First checkpoint taken over four minutes in the time bank.
They do not even need to get that second objective.
You see where that mark is on your screen.
It feels like KSA crumbling a little bit.
Oh, they got Laptor.
Yep, all of my down the way. Laptor is a long way from home.
Doesn't quite have the footwear to click his seals together thrice.
Still gets back to safety.
Troy here trying to just play under the lip of that balcony.
Not get picked up randomly by Quartz just emerging over the top.
In the toe of Zox.
You can see just how close South Korea are to getting a third map in this series.
It's going to be a South Korea-South Korea-South fighter for Laptor though most of it again.
Cut short by this defense matrix.
It's why both of these teams are reaching for the Diva in this matchup.
Stalker's got a pulse pump built yet again.
The last one was speculative and unsuccessful.
This one just might have to hit.
They're going to get him up to the high ground.
Oh, almost.
Did I miss that?
Yeah, he used his little ledge there.
Laptor still gives up the space, but it could have been an elimination
on the Sheon.
Had Stalker now to get a foothold.
You can hear Willsmote for the Bastion now expiring.
Laptop again with the target on his back just like that previous half.
But South Korea getting a ton of space here, bitch.
Right slowly inching their way up the map.
So if he gets in there, the pulse bomb doesn't give him elimination,
but he does serve his purpose.
Now rushing the high ground, you're going to see Max try and drop down.
This is a daydress for Saudi Arabia.
Quartz has already felled. Max doubles down.
And he'll go after Zox.
He knows where his bread is butted.
And the card is hurtling towards that final checkpoint.
Saudi Arabia are in disarray in the Daldrums.
Seattle desperately trying to commit to buy some time, some space.
But he's just a player, not a quantum physicist.
Gonna be asking for too much of the man, less than a meter left in the map.
A D-Sootie here from Max Puddy has the self-destruct.
It's the insurance policy to make him nice and comfortable.
That'll do it for Route 66.
In South Korea, a one step from reclaiming
Gaming once was undeniably theirs.
Trying to reclaim it in dominant fashion.
Hey SA came out and they threw a haymaker in map number one.
South Korea looks as good as ever there.
You see Max get up.
Wonderful.
See Jumbin here for our next map.
I believe we saw Heesang get up as well.
So Sunjit could come back in here as well.
An immense amount of pressure now on KSA.
The absolute perfect from here on out.
Not exactly a reverse sweep, but as close as you can get.
What a story here for South Korea starting to emerge.
Come in as the hot favorite in their group in Busan.
Upset, shock upset against France.
Get reverse swept.
I mean, 10 deaths there for Labda, that's kind of what I'm looking at, right?
Like, you know, you need that She-On to kind of be consistently in that fight
using his like a quasi Blanker slash hit scan.
You lose him a few extra times, you end up losing that damage output battle.
I wonder, like, do you just, can you get rid of the She-On at this point, right?
Just get a Tracer head to head.
You get rid of the She-On, maybe you're worried about them Blank and Getta.
Does not seem comfy here for KSA, at least in this matchup.
That's a decision you make after you see a substitution.
If he stays in, maybe your fears about them coming out are overblown a little.
But what's the alternative?
You want Laptor to play a tracer matchup?
You want them to hope Sgt comes in?
They already banned Vendetta in the first map.
That's not available.
If they see Sgt come in, they can't really do anything about the potential for that hero to rear her head against.
That is sick being able to save simple in that way from Choron.
But yeah, like you mentioned, right?
Like some of these bands now putting you in a really awkward spot of your KSA.
I mean, you're going to see the sub, right?
The lead we have push is our map here that we'll go to, right?
We haven't seen push yet.
Esperanza, right?
I probably believe it's like a Coliseo as well.
So yeah, Esperanza is certainly going to go to for our teams here at the World Cup.
Yeah, it's like the map that you can play a ton of Dmon on, right?
I mean, Shion's pretty good here.
Tracer.
Cassidy will be available here, but KSA feels like they're searching for answers at this time.
Our last look at Dmon here for South Korea was pretty flattering for them.
But they would just have to turn around and show us.
It's a pretty insane Diva plate for Max.
Two deaths over the course of the entire map.
a very healthy amount of damage being thrown in.
But yeah, just great damage mitigation, fantastic peel.
Their defense matrix has been very important not only to shut down the Cassidy play,
but also to the Sprees here from the Shios.
But the Saudi Arabia would have had hope here to shore up their claim for a dynasty.
Yeah, right. Take more championship and make it kind of obvious
that they come here in 2026 and pick up another one.
Come on, it's half career reminding us of why everyone thought that would win in every game they played so far.
Alright, I mean KSA, they win the last Overwatch World Cup.
Chris and Minds, most of KSA wins over OWCS World Finals, right?
So they were really looking at like, you know, three of our biggest events we have back-to-back.
Now they'll need to complete an epic comeback here. Esperanza, nothing too surprising here.
But it would be nasty on the other side of this, right?
We reset the map, there's this opportunity to go like Atlas, play ball here, I mean,
there's some, not really, I think it would be like Atlas, play ball, just keep jumping in, fly.
Hit, hit, hit, hit!
Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit!
Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit!
Nice! Nice!
Nice!
Nice!
Nice!
Just earlier today, this afternoon, your team was 0-2 against France.
Yeah, right.
And now they're on the precipice of being at O.
Yeah. One map away there.
And those maps against France were down in the wire, all of them.
From being out.
Now one map away on the other side of the coin right from being your Overwatch World Cup Champions yet again.
We do know the map. We talked a little bit about what potentially the ban is. You actually see the lobby there.
I actually believe, I wonder if we're actually going to knock it subs here from South Korea.
Korea and we're going to have he saying stay in alongside Max.
So looking down to the stage, the case. Yeah. Yep. I'm seeing he sang sat.
And I think that's probably the right choice for you. He's so effective.
She's been great. It probably does, you know, it plays into the D.
We're a little bit more, but he can pick up the tracer.
I think some tracer also is very, very good. Yeah.
Get her out. KSA just don't have an answer to a Tracer mirror, but this doesn't mean they're up to you to a Shion fight.
Yeah, a Shion mirror matchup here.
What does South Korea get rid of here?
I was going to say, is it D.Va? It is finally D.Va.
Oh man.
Just what a time to stick a dagger in the back of KSA and decide a map to go after it.
After probably their most definitive hero, the one that has been the key part of the formula that goes from here.
I will say, if they end up going towards a Maga, maybe that's also a little bit easier for a left that could have a play-around, right?
You know, Maga plays pretty well with Shion.
Maybe that is the option they decide to go to, as you see, you know,
coach of KSA talking to the entire squad.
Trying to dial in some of these mistakes, some of the maybe the errors
on some of the maps. They also think a little bit different, right?
KSA, they haven't really been challenged like this at all in the Overwatch World Cup,
their first real test. It feels like this game. I mean, they made Sweden look pretty poor earlier.
This feels like obviously that next level. That map's been close. They've been very close, but obviously South Korea getting the best of them the most.
I think that new junk city map, the one you called out as a potential inflection point. That was a pretty heartbreaking, I think, for Saudi Arabia to lose out on.
And they didn't have an answer to the Zen Comp really in Route 66.
South Korea somehow still have some looks in reserve to throw,
take their opponents by surprise, and it's clear that well in advance of this match,
they had already theorized that it will be Saudi Arabia standing in between them
and a fourth championship.
So they did the prep, they did the homework,
I feel like they had some comps that are well curated, they're going after this slight awkwardness in the Quarterm Lap to Heroic War overlap.
We're just animal lovers here.
Yeah.
Whether they are, you know, breathing or not.
It's turned down.
Whether they're dinner or not.
Away we go to the Street to Vespa Rapsa, for what might be the final map in this series.
It's going to be a Sigma look here for South Korea.
Yeah, typically these Sigma looks would be with like a, you know, a Mizuki in the mix, right?
But I think knowing that it's going to be Maga on the other side, the Mizuki doesn't really play great into that, right?
Maga, unstoppable when charging and just get right through the chain.
Korea do have the honor, which against the cardiac overdrive, it's going to be powerful, but it's always something you can cleanse off.
Accretion cannot stop Malga while he is charging.
So Max doesn't always have a good way to divert the potential for the stop that will come at him.
I like KSE though, going for it's that Cassidy Bastion.
It's not working with that Sheehan, just drop it is.
A lot of damage exchanged for both times.
Such a good answer there for Max.
Gets a shield up, it's dangerous to go for that first sort of flyover as the Bastion.
Because if you're unsuccessful then you're already overextended and a little vulnerable.
Good answer from axe to get involved might have been a kinetic grasp committed to that fight as well
Quartz getting closer towards that artillery it's he saying with a nice need on the flank here working with sure
Oh, he could be a problem. Look at this defensive
Quartz drops him down simple as able to draw a bead on the Bastion and help he's stuck out
Again, tough about back from now. Okay. It's a and see I taking far too much damage for his liking
There's not an easy target here with this artillery strike, frankly, but it gives you a bit more durability as he's up.
Zox dangerously low, has to get out of dodge. It's going to be South Korea taking the lead here.
Simple, under no pressure mid, able to just farm, nano at range, puts an extra damage down, take out ports.
The Blacks is one, catches two inside of it.
Goal to watch out for that malakat damage, but it's good pressure.
Put on your opponent's front line.
Labda, look at Klasik here on the Cassidy.
Has to go huge in this game and finds Max amid the windows.
We talked a little bit earlier, right, about how a double hitscan look could look for KSA.
Labda, phenomenal hitscan player in his own right.
They go to it here now with tournament lights on the line.
Sock's gonna go back, potentially here. It looks like for a second he's gonna pick up some players on the spawn, but I think Ziad gonna get back into the action fast enough.
The lead will be taken here by PSA.
I think at this point you just own the factory, you're a double hitscan team from here on out. He try and make it work.
He's starting to get the nano though, this is very dangerous for Ziad, but he knows he's got nowhere to run.
Hit by the accretion, knocked out into the street like he's been ejected from a restaurant.
And this will be another opportunity for South Korea to extend this margin.
A lot of kills here on the exit. You will actually get an extinction here. Now get the lead.
For South Korea, this is so awkward for Quartz to be stuck in this title position.
But because Quartz gets that kill on a max on the exit, South Korea, they get the lead and they back out.
They know Ziyac's charging back up the spawn.
No teams want to try and make use of the high ground as extensively as possible.
Socks here, just popping up and down, looking to challenge it.
Quartz trying to put himself up there himself, but it's dangerous.
He's looking for a barrage now, looking for simple.
It's one hit, just a glassy blow to the Audenade Arta, and here comes the reciprocation
from South Korea.
Glad to almost fall there, didn't have a wall, good interruption, good catnap,
But Zed's taking too much damage already. The Bionade makes it impossible to fight back.
Ana, again, the emphasis to Zed's happiness.
What I would want to see here, I think from KSA, maybe just go over and play Ramatra.
Play Ramatra here, do you play it? Okay, Shion and Cassidy, they'll continue here with the Maga.
By any of the Ramatra has a decent matchup into what we're seeing on the
Korea side. Ramatra obviously, it was a mainstay for a while, not really as much
in this tournament at all, but close, so close to cage you have to stay on the
market for now. Checkpoint on the line, Ziad charges in and South Korea back up.
They've got high ground again to abuse and backs his plane from a tight little
pocket there. His son's going after Ziad, cage fight, it's just not going to cut it here!
Up in the sky so I'm trying to pressure down, but he's done. He's killing release he was until he blew himself apart
Now KSA trying to fight back. They've got a foot holding this fight. They give him max enough reason to turn tail
Yeah, they finally get a fight win and half of the game off the clock
They'll continue to play the manga you talked about that a little bit earlier
You could go ram here, but the manga plays pretty well with she on now
Yeah, you have kind of like a duo right who can get past that six shield put a lot of pressure on the back line
Strong combination inside of this Katsune rush. It's gonna come down
Big damage on Chorong already zoxa being quite a nuisance there towards that back line
He comes here creation might as ever not your way from it the artillery strike with a lot of damage down on the
Kiri and stalker might have something to add to the tally
They're gonna wait for them KSA get the checkpoint in South Korea can't contest the bot and that seems acceptable
Here for South Korea perhaps until right about now big dead eye and a fight cleanup means that KSA do more than just get a butt scratch
They are well ahead
The nice job by KSA to flip the map there because you need Russia's kind of backs out Korea up into their own show even with
Some big damage coming down from their fashion
Not good enough to deter KSA. They put them out. They take the point
they moved through the choke. Now they've gotten themselves a pretty nice lead.
Yeah, an extra 75 on top, next to 23 meters in that last engagement. That's a nice bi-o, though.
You want a clean fight, Winnie? You're just not going to get it when Laptor is coming at you.
That is an insane crack back there for Chorong. It is a spring shield that he just stretches.
Yeah, clears it up. I mean, you see what they're trying to do, right? I mean, Ziad,
you're not playing that aggressive into a bash in wheels mode, unless, you know,
you got some damage coming from another angle. Max has to stop there. The rest of you see him out
with him, so he gets the bot back to parody. It's a nice forward spawn. Look at the core of this
right side. He has overextended into a bionade again. South Korea taking a leaf out of USA's
book here and giving KSA enough rope to chip themselves with Zadka's, just that on the
running. I think KSA got a little bit too over-regressive there. I actually think they
They thought that Max was going to be an easy kill on that exit.
He'd already used Grass, Shield is gone, and then they try and get aggressive over the
high ground, and they could not be any more wrong, right?
They would keep Max alive.
They had to give a bot scratch here.
Yeah.
They have to check point picked up, and potential at that for a Snowball, a South Korea Rebecca
4 Ultimates.
Well, this is going to allow a server chair to get this Shune Rush rather quickly.
artillery here from he's a come up with much
regionary out what are you kidding talk is ever to find two quick kills to start
off the fight is nothing's the ad can do to access him he is killing lit up like
a Christmas tree on the side of the road then KSA are flattened and all of
a sudden in the blink of an eye they give it up their lead you have to have
So much confidence in your sojourn at this moment of the tournament in this game
To nano overclock slide around the corner
Believe he's gonna come up with the goods and stalker delivers there under two minutes as well
It's getting so dangerous for KSA
Explosive by the biome
5G is able to fight backdokers, it looks like Max is in a compromising spot throughout that engagement.
Stalker eventually falls, here's Ziad getting knocked around, but Choron off the map finds he's elimination on Lapid, drags him out of the ocean.
But Kaisa is going to chance to fight back into the map now once more.
The blocks that Max tries to use gets hit with a cage, but Max is in an unreal accretion connection as Quartz is flying through the sky.
This is last chances for me man.
Minut 20 on the clock.
You have control of the bot moving into enemy territory. You have to be good from here.
That's actually a connection on the max. Can they finish him off?
Simple is down the quartz finally gets a bit of his revenge.
Looks like Max is able to extricate himself from that situation.
Gonna get his wattle hands on in that window.
Connected grass to limit the effectiveness of these projectiles.
The lab is coming back up on a spree.
on a spree, and he'll have to use it nice and quick.
And we've been highlighting Labdur right on the Sojourn,
really needs to come alive.
This spree could be that moment.
Right from the back left.
What?!
QWO doesn't have a roll to get away from that!
Nice set up there for Heesog, Labdur!
Only gets one off the back of that spree!
And South Korea are gonna hold them off!
Saudi Arabia have one last chance in this map,
in this series!
And Labdur goes forward there with the spree,
uses the burst dash, the second dash,
trying to track that player, believe it was Stalker.
He actually dashes into the tree, connects with the tree.
Doesn't keep his momentum going forward.
I end up wasting that spree on the flank.
Last chance, Saloon for KSA.
A second consecutive World Cup title would be amazing,
but right now that is almost unthinkable.
They are up against it.
It's our Korea looking to reposition here.
KSA, barrel forward now.
This is the Korea team in disarray.
They got a red group,
but they got the high ground to abuse.
first up, it's pressuring that back line.
Margeet is down, feels like the beginning of the end now.
Only Jetpack can't lean off for that healing.
So Quartz has to make the hero play.
The Jedi find nothing up in the sky.
Max are running down.
He's saying was taken down in the midst of that,
but Lattler's got nowhere to go.
Eight years after their nation, Lattler falls.
The crown comes prone.
South Korea are the kings of the Overwatch world once again.
The versatility of this roster is so good.
Able to answer anything that was thrown their way.
The tightest thing that defied an era has found its way back to the Summit.
South Korea against the odds, it took a reverse sweep, a bounce back from a devastating result.
And here they stand, the Royal Watch World Cup Champions!
A lot can change in eight years, especially in this beautiful game.
It's peculiar, it's fickle.
The South Korea with a fourth star on the badge has shown us the spirit of this nation
and the Overwatch world never dies.
A lot can change in a few hours.
Their one map away getting eliminated by France in the semis down 2-0 and they are
just lights out from that point on the rest of the day.
KSA obviously a tremendous performance out this tournament, but it is South Korea's world in Overwatch yet again
And it's a roster built from that crazy raccoon core, but with acknowledgments both to EMEA
Simple sporting of the fold a knowledge meant for North America
Son Jun is brought into the team and really finds his role especially in those first maps
But you've got two incredible tank players
players, especially these lying in different areas. This team has it all. And they've shown
us just what it takes to become champions. To get reverse left, then to reverse sweep,
to dig ever deeper. There's layers to this. There's levels to the kind of resilience that
the South Korean roster have had to show a young squad, a new face to come back
to reclaim the title, but the more things change, it turns out the more they stay the same.
The Michelin-Leslie Matt Morello on the call, a pleasure as always please come and
love you and head down to the stage, Chris Puckett, we get some words from our champions.
Congratulations to South Korea!
Chris Puckett here with Danny Lemon, Danny, they have done it again, a fourth gold medal
now going in the trophy case along with this World Cup trophy.
That's right, Puckett. Let's do a quick interview for Team South Korea.
Let's go with Choombin, please.
Come over here this side. Come over this side.
Like Puckett said, this is the fourth time South Korea won.
It took a long eight years for you guys to bring it back home.
How are you feeling right now?
Congratulations on your win today. It's been a long time since you've won the 4th trophy.
Please tell us your thoughts.
First of all, I think I've talked a lot with the guys while preparing for the national team.
I think it's really good.
Max, you were representing team South Korea, your home country, and you guys have finally done it.
Max, do you have anything you want to say to your fans, to your teammates or coaches?
What do you want to say?
I'm sure you're going to be the representative of Korea and you're going to be the first to come up on stage as a player.
Please say a few words.
First of all, I'm going to be the representative of Korea.
I'm going to win this.
I'm so happy that we all made a debut together.
It's not that much of a fight.
The last person who wants to interview.
The last person.
Come this way.
There are so many team South Korean fans that are watching all over the world.
Do you have anything you want to say to your fans?
Thanks to WDG, Nexon, and Crazy Raccoon for helping us out.
Thank you so much to the fans who came all the way here.
The fans have been amazing.
South Korea was amazing, but there was one player
that stood above the rest.
And to crown our MVP of BlizzCon in the World Cup 2026.
Please welcome to the stage the two-time Grammy winner,
T-Pain.
Oh, oh, oh, what?
What's happening?
Oh, oh.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for South Korea!
How's everybody doing tonight?
Congratulations, guys.
It's really good to see a group of guys that can show you just how bad you are at a game.
And I am here to give you guys the MVP of the night.
Ladies and gentlemen, your MVP for tonight is Sempo!
Get up everybody, get up everybody, get up everybody.
Congratulations, Sempo MVP of the night.
It is time to raise that trophy.
Let's get her done!
Bring it out one more time. The World Cup trophy for South Korea.
T-Pain in the building. Amazing to have you with us.
And our America's favorite gamer.
And the best team on the planet for Overwatch, South Korea.
Simple.
It's my first time becoming an MVP in such a big tournament and it really feels great
to get this win as well as Team South Korea.
Thank you.
Amazing stuff here on the stage.
T-Pain, thank you for joining us.
Any final words for the people here at BlizzCon?
Hey man, thank you guys for the community.
Thank you for being so accepting.
Thank you guys for being so cool all the time.
I'm in-game, out-game, you already know IRL.
Anytime you guys see me, it's all love, all the time.
Thank you so much, Blizzard Entertainment.
Thank you everybody for coming.
Thank you for crashing the party here
on the main stage for now.
We gotta go back to the desk to wrap this baby up.
Let's go.
Thank you so much, Pocket.
Thank you so much, Pocket.
Thank you so much, Dottie.
Thank you so much, Cheapane.
Never thought those words were gonna
leave my mouth anytime soon.
But yeah, we have our gold medalist winners.
South Korea, bringing it home again after so many years.
They're back at the top.
Last time, they were able to lift that trophy
on this stage, it was in 2018.
And what a way to do it.
This was an incredible grand final.
This was the performance we needed,
we wanted to see from them,
to really cement themselves at the top once more.
And for a lot of these players,
it's a new generation of Korean stars
looking at a young guy like Simple
to come really out of nowhere, blasting onto the scene.
Huge success with Twisted Minds now to represent Korea,
to earn this MVP.
It is so well deserved.
He carved his own path through this tournament.
I mean, whether it was the Kiri, the Ana,
and the Zen was a unique feature of his play.
The team always had the trust.
And for a young player, that's an incredible accolade.
And to hold that trophy must feel amazing.
I mean, he, you heard it from Simple himself.
The fact that it meant so much to get that
MVP at an event of this caliber and for Korea as well to reclaim the dynasty that they had built at
OWWC the first three years that this competition was happening. Absolutely. I love to see of course a support player getting the MVP
honors. It's really hard to shine or has been in the past, although I have to say in this meta, in this year
specifically, it was the back line that really stood out for so many of those teams.
They were kind of the backbone and the front bone and the mid bones basically because you needed those solid performances
In order to get your team across the finish line shake
Crucial difference maker is not just the ability to play what others expect you to play
But in this era of overwatch to be an innovator to go beyond to say to your team that I believe like this will work
I have the faith in my abilities to set a new course to chart a new meta
And this green squad has done exactly that through this whole tournament
Adapting to the modern meta it's a young team a team that is poised to maybe continue on to further and greater things another win after all
These years begs the question of is this the beginning of a new run a new streak for
South Korea in the overwatch
See that's not that's some team bonding trust exercises
After look away, okay, I'll get a little scared here the mom instinct is coming through
But, yeah, honestly, I feel like obviously seeing South Korea back on top, that's iconic.
It feels like back in the days where that has always been the case, but we have to talk about
how much the competition has levelled up. This year, the Overwatch World Cup treated us to so
many great surprises, so many new faces from so many different countries across the globe
that had an opportunity to shine and stand out for us.
There absolutely were so many of those moments. Again,
overwatch World Cup. It's been that opportunity to have players that we don't get to see on the
big stage all that often, that don't get those opportunities to have that kind of exposure.
And we've seen so much growth from those players here as well. And it's been so impressive to see.
We've seen also the upsets that have happened across the board, but the stories write themselves
looking at this bracket, have in Korea, have that reverse sweep up against France up in
what happened in Busan and then now to have the dominant performance that they just we just witnessed here in the grand finals
Yeah, what an incredible story this was this bracket particularly for them first up in the quarterfinals
They have to go up against the hometown heroes
They have to go up against team USA and they managed to do it so well in a convincing 3-0 victory
They move into the semifinals and this is where things got really really tough for them
They were truly tested this time around Jake
Yeah, and this is serious, you know, it was going long and with Saudis opening up strong
It looked a little bit scary at times 14 South Korea, but they kept the faith
They kept the hope it feels like it really came to get together on new junk city able to match and at times outplay
Even in this hard hits can set up that has been really a comfort zone for the Saudis in the recent history
It absolutely has been especially when you have the fact that with the swaps that we see coming in very much
So the identity that this Korean roster has swapping in their team swapping in their DPS
Also being able to pull out that double-hit skin within he thing and stalker there
Then you also have Sanji to be able to throw in the Vendetta
Whatever it may be on that flex DPS when you need him to absolutely the team has showed
Resilience and tenacity throughout this tournament and that started already really in Busan in the group stage again
It was not an easy ride for them to get here
Yeah maybe a better road that they take it this way that they have to go the long way
they have to find the weaknesses break them over and over again coming back stronger and
stronger each time as Matt said a lot can change in a couple hours I mean recently they
were down 0-2 against Grants on the verge of elimination and then to come back in this
series against a foe that really barely anyone has been able to scratch and somehow
some way they look dominant it is not close for one the final score line in
this one and as bronze has long and difficult as it was as close as it was
at times it really felt like this Korean squad had found their heart found
their confidence and their composure in those final moments it really is that I
think that wake up call there from Busan these terrifying things honestly
even heading into next season as well right for Korea to feel
re-invigorated and also you think about the teams back home watching this squad
representing them and their country they are going to want to show up more than
ever. Absolutely they will be having a target on their back as is always the
case when you end up coming first in the Overwatch World Cup. Obviously Simple
has received the MVP honors here today but which player other than Simple
stood out to you and that doesn't just have to be from Team South Korea
can be any player who wants to start.
You got someone in mind?
Do you look like it?
You know, in the group stages, I noticed Zorro as a player
who really impressed me, playing the USA very close
from Team Sweden.
I've got to think about Aaku on the cat from Team Germany.
She was a bit of a breakthrough this year,
not expecting her without having much OWS experience,
but she really played fantastic on this big stage,
which I think a lot of coaches love to see
so you can play well under the bright lights.
I mean, the entirety of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
team Korea. These are superstar squads, right? There's no unknown superstars coming out of
these rosters, but maybe the supports on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have to earn their
respect. We were asking questions and these players are a little bit out of that very top
competitive echelon, but they prove that they can stand tall with their countrymen
and really put up strong performances through the cup.
I think for myself, we've talked so much about France and we always highlight Crocs
and FD God, but it has to be Q who's been so impressive to me because the hit
skin player, he isn't being able to hang with some of the best of the best. That was such a
difference maker for that team. It really truly was. I think there are so many moments, so many
moments where a lot of the known players and unknown players really have a moment in the
light here on this stage and prove themselves. And I'm sure that a lot of teams were looking
forward to the OWCS stage three perhaps or beyond that. You know, this is the opportunity to
scout players. This is where people really shine because there's just so much pressure
and those mixed teams that are just formed for this occasion.
As you said, like that's what coaches are looking for.
Yeah, and it's definitely a moment where, you know,
certainly all the players who just played
on this grand final stage are gonna remember this moment,
whether they come away with the win or the loss,
maybe the losers remember things a little bit more clearly
when it comes to that next OWCS event
when you can expect to see those players facing off
once again on stages with incredible stakes.
So this certainly isn't the last word
in competitive Overwatch,
but it's a beautiful moment in the calendar
just to mark how far we've come.
I mean, 10 years of competitive overwatch,
almost unbelievable to think it's been that long.
Yeah, some of these players grew up with this, right?
So that's kind of crazy.
And of course, once again, seeing South Korea taking
the crown at the very end of it,
they now get to add the fourth star to their jersey.
Are we running out of space soon?
Where are we running out?
Where do you put the fourth star?
I mean, we didn't ask those questions,
but here in year 10, they're stacking them up.
I mean, this team is just head and shoulders above the rest of the world, an unbelievable history,
but it's no surprise to any longtime fan of professional overwatch.
Korea just produces star studded roster after star studded roster.
If anything, it's impressive that other teams have been able to compete so well these last few years.
It really is a statement of how close the competition has been getting about how the other regions have been able to close that gap
and start to stack up in this new age of Overwatch.
Yeah, and while this feels like business as usual,
South Korea on top, I do have to talk about how incredible it is
that we do get to see a team getting their first medal.
It may not be gold, but still I think what France produced
in this Overwatch World Cup has to be praised,
has to be talked about.
It absolutely is something that we need to discuss
because overall for Team France,
You could see how much heart they had up on that stage.
And it's you saw the heartbreak even not being able to get to that grand final
from France when they did booth and to be able to now at very least to get that
medal here is huge for a nation who has been such a big part of OWWC.
I love that you shut it up.
Kiyo asked because I really have the same feeling watching backstage like this guy
is here to compete on a big stage in front of some of the biggest names
that Overwatch has to offer and he's able to come up with the goods.
That is a rare thing, especially on the hitscan roll,
an unforgiving place to find yourself, especially in the current meta
with all of its tricks and complexities working around your jetpack cat.
But Key was fantastic. Also Crocs, I mean,
there has to be a household name now after this.
Like this puts him on the map in competitive professional Overwatch
in a way I think much more than we've ever seen before
in his relatively short career.
Yeah, I'm just so excited because we get to see these players compete again
very soon, of course, in the OWCS stage three.
Now the team PEPs has qualified again,
so we're gonna see Crocs in action once more.
And, you know, it just really makes me excited
to see these teams going back to their respective teams
and competing in a different environment.
All once more, of course, hopefully leading up
to yet another Overwatch World Cup at BlizzCon next year.
Of course, we would definitely love to see it again.
This is an event that brings everyone together,
whether you're an eSports fan
or just a fan of supporting your country.
It develops new fans and also welcomes in
the ones who have been here since the beginning.
Meshing into a really lovely family here.
It's been so great, I think, just being here at BlizzCon,
getting to witness it all in person.
I couldn't agree more.
And now we've yapped for a long time.
It is now the moment we've all been waiting for.
And that is, of course, our medal ceremony on stage.
So let's send it down to Puckett.
Thank you so much, Sully.
It's the moment a lot of you've been waiting for.
And thank you for everybody who stuck around the Blizzard arena
to see these gentlemen crown.
Bringing out first our bronze medalist.
Give it up for Team France.
France ultimately fell short of their goal at this event, but they do place on the podium
for the first time in World Cup history and look at the smile on FD God's face.
It's all smiles for the French squad as they're going to be walking away with some medals.
Give it up for one more time.
Danny Lim taking away.
Thank you Rocket.
Team France, congratulations, I just have one question.
This was your first podium finish, you guys placed third, getting the bronze medal.
That is not a small feat.
I feel like something, that's something that you guys should be proud of.
Crocs, do you have anything you want to say?
I want to shout out to the fans, they were loud as fuck.
Thanks everybody for supporting us.
And next year or in two years, we're coming back with the same roster and we're going
to win it all.
They're going to win it all.
I love it.
The competition for France is growing and we've seen it all year long.
Congratulations, gentlemen, on your bronze medal here at World Cup 2026.
We're going to let you get your medals.
Take a great picture here in the front.
In the meantime, chat.
What did you think of the performance from France this week at Dany Lim?
It was incredible.
It was incredible.
Wasn't it incredible?
Lefty God, did you have a lot of fun at BlizzCon?
Yeah, it's so much fun.
It's the first time I've ever played in.
I'm so happy right now.
Next time, is France going to win it all next day?
Next World Cup?
Yeah, next time.
Next time, we do it at this second.
It's like a third next second and first.
So we hope, yeah.
Gentlemen, I'll let you come down the stage here
in front of Nate in the meantime.
Blizzard Arena, please make some noise for the next team
coming out to the stage.
Grabbing a silver medal after the last gold.
It is KSA, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Horns and Labda crew put on such a show for us
throughout this world cup from the group stages
to the BlizzCon arena.
Ultimately, they are felt by South Korea,
but a silver medal is nothing to scoff at.
Congratulations, gentlemen.
And please award the medals as Danny Lim begins the interview
Labda quick question. I mean, I know you guys wanted to win it off. So let me
Thank you. I
Feel like you know everyone wants to win it up
But you guys were just a little bit short you guys play second
But I feel like that's still something that you guys should be very very proud of what was your favorite moment in the
Overwatch World Cup. I mean of course it's last time we went to 2020 so yeah I think
World Cup 2020 it was like the best moment. We couldn't win today but I
promise you guys we will win it all next time. Thank you.
Fernando pass it out the awards our silver medal is putting on a show for
us all and we expect to see them on the stage again I have a feeling
Sermajed, it's awesome to see you out here.
Is there a smile somewhere on that face?
Can you hear me, my guy?
It's great to see you playing again.
Is there a smile on that face?
I didn't hear you, sorry.
All good.
How do you feel about KSH's performance this week?
How do you feel about KSH performance this week?
First of all, I want to thank all my teammates
and the coaching staff,
Everyone who walked behind the scene
We wouldn't get second place without them. I want to thank the fans too
Thank you guys, but can I say it in Arabic?
Allah atikum nafya jama'a. I shakr Allah to support you
Ma'a, lala Allah to support you. Thank you
Okay say thank you so much Danny will take the mic back for now
Now you guys can step down as we have one more team to bring out.
Congratulations to Saudi Arabia, our silver medalist.
But now it is time to bring out the team that raised the trophy.
Give it up one more time for your 2026 World Cup Championship in South Korea.
the gold medal.
Liz Khan as they receive their medals one more time in the arena before security kicks
us out.
Give it up for South Korea.
And as the final three medals are presented, do me a favor in the middle.
We need you to lift this trophy in 3, 2, 1.
And that's it for the 2026 Overwatch World Cup Finals.
Eight teams entered, BlizzCon with a green, and they left it all on stage.
We witnessed absolute dominance, we made this heartbreak,
and history being made as brand new spots.
Steps onto the podium today as well.
None of this, of course, would be possible without our amazing staff,
and our sponsors, sir, a huge thank you to them.
A broadcast comes to an end here, but the show isn't over yet.
On behalf of all of us, thank you for watching,
and enjoy the rest of your BlizzCon!
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