The ‘Great’ Overwatch Contenders Playoffs Weekend

Just when you thought that you could not get enough of Overwatch after the Overwatch League stage 3 playoffs, Blizzard has presented us with a special treat for this OWL-less weekend. The Top 3 biggest Overwatch Contenders (Korea, EU and NA) will have their grand finale this weekend, which will also showcase a special NA vs. EU showdown match.  There will be plenty of action this weekend, and this simple guide will assist you in understanding on what’s coming up this weekend.

Don’t forget to check out the official Overwatch Contenders website, overwatchcontenders.com and make sure you follow the official Overwatch Contenders Twitch channel twitch.tv/OverwatchContenders.

Day 1 Matchups – Saturday May 12th, 2018

The Overwatch Contenders Playoffs weekend will start with one of the biggest matches of the season— the Overwatch Contenders Korea Finals. The OWC Korea Finals will be exciting for people wanting to see some fresh faces, as the underdogs 02 Ardeont narrowly defeated the undefeated group stage champions Element Mystic in the quarterfinals. On Saturday, they will face off against X-6 Gaming, which showed dominance throughout the group stage and crushed Runaway in the semifinals.

Team Seed and Roster:

02 Ardeont (Group B – Seed #4) – Ivy, Whynot, Climax, stellar, HOOMBAB, Yakpung, Viol2t, RaiN

X-6 Gaming (Group A – Seed #2) – Roki, Glister, Bebe, GODSB, Ria, bqb, NOSMITE

Premier’s Recommendations: I highly recommend you watch this match. If you would like to see what the best of tier 2 scene has to offer, look no further than the OWC KR finals. The Korean scene has mesmerized Overwatch fans throughout the year with their fast-paced playstyles and highly disciplined teamwork. If you would like to see a glimpse of future OWL superstars, then check out OWC KR finals.

We will be kicking off the EU Semifinals with the British Hurricane against CIS Hope. The British Hurricane is coming into the semi-finals (and finals) as the team favored to win the tournament; it’s not hard to see why. The players of British Hurricane have cleaner dives and more coordinated executions. They have incredible team synergy, and their DPS duo has really showcased their prowess throughout the series. However, CIS Hope is a serious contender for the British Hurricane. The flexibility of their players and their adaptability will definitely give the members of Hurricane a run for their money.

Team Seed and Roster:

British Hurricane (A – Seed #1) – CrusaDe, Kragie, Fusions, Hafficool, FunnyAstro, Kyb, bock1

CIS Hope (B – Seed #2) – Txao, kensi, Engh, MayN, sharyk, Unfixed

Premier’s Recommendations: I highly recommend you watch this match. British Hurricane is considered a favorite coming into the playoffs and CIS Hope has brought excitement to the tournament with their adaptability and flexibility. You could not ask for a better match.

Former OWC EU Champion, Team Gigantti, is seeking to continue their legacy in 2018. Even though 5 out of the 6 players from the 2017 roster have moved onto Overwatch League, Team Gigantti remains strong with players like Davin, Ripa, Masaa and lhcloudy. Team Gigantti can pull off some scary triple/quad tank compositions that will surely put the Angry Titans to the test. However, one could argue that the Titans do have an excellent strategy to counter Team Gigantti’s tank compositions with their usage of Sombra, a tactic which they seem to have almost perfected.

Team Seed and Roster:

Team Gigantti (A – Seed #4) – Ripa, lhcloudy, Davin, rCk, Masaa, nil

Angry Titans (A – Seed #2) – Erki, Lick, Luddee, iPN, ONIGOD, ELLIVOTE, LullSiSH, AFoxx

Premier’s Recommendations: I highly recommend you watch this match. If you have been bored watching dive compositions for the past year, you are in for a treat. You can bet Team Gigantti will whip out their triple/quad tank compositions and bet that Angry Titans will bring strategies to counter it. If you want to see some exciting Reinhardt action, be sure to check out this match.

This weekend’s first OWC NA Semifinals will kickoff between Toronto Esports and EnVision. Toronto Esports arguably has the best dive in NA with Axxiom, the main tank, leading the charge. Their DPS duo, Dalton and nero, has consistently performed well with their coordinated dives and deadly aim to secure kills.  However, EnVision will not go down easily as they also have top players from OWC NA. Players like Jaru and Buds have consistently allowed EnVision to seize victory, and their tank duo iShiny and McGravy have been playing decently as well.

Team Seed and Roster:

Toronto Esports (A – Seed #1) – GuardiaN, nero, Axxiom, Shu, Dalton, Kruise

EnVision (B – Seed #2) – iShiny, Jaru, McGravy, Crimzo, Buds, Fire

Premier’s Recommendations: I highly recommend you watch this match. At first, I wanted to rate this match as just “recommend” rather than “highly recommend” because both teams did bring out anything special to the table. They are both good at dive, but that is starting to become a bit stale. However, they are REALLY good at dive and I would say that they are pretty equal in strength. This could be an exciting match for those wanting to see some good ol` dive action.

The second OWC NA Semifinals match will be between Fusion University and OpTic Academy. Fusion University cruised their way on to the semifinals without losing a single match in the group stages and stomped Mayhem Academy in the quarterfinals. Fusion’s deadly DPS duo, WhoRU and ZachaREEE, along with their fragging Zenyatta, Alarm, has made Fusion a top contender for the NA championships. It doesn’t appear like OpTic Academy is going to stop their momentum either. Despite a surprising victory against the Gladiators Legion, much of OpTic Academy’s performance has been inconsistent throughout the stages and in the quarterfinals. However, OpTic was able to compete with Fusion University back in Week 2 by narrowly losing with a score of 2-3. Perhaps OpTic Academy will finally get their revenge.

Team Seeding and Roster:

Fusion University (B – Seed #1) – Elk, Beasthalo, Alarm, ZachaREEE, crakinlakin, WhoRU

OpTic Academy (B – Seed #3) – Aid, Greyy, Kellar, smurf, SharP, Voll

Premier’s Recommendations: I recommend it, but it wouldn’t hurt to miss. It would be a joy seeing WhoRU and Alarm pop off in LAN, but I am not sure if OpTic Academy could be consistent enough to put up a good fight. This match might be a ResidentSleeper.  

Day 2 Matchups (and Speculations) – Sunday May 13th, 2018

The final day of this week’s Contender Playoffs Weekend starts with the Chinese finals. On paper, the Chinese finals will most likely be a faceoff between the full Korean roster of Lucky Future Zenith (5-0) and LGD Gaming (5-0). However, one could argue that Team CC (3-2) which consists of a few players from Miraculous Youngsters, a Tier 1 Chinese team that was disbanded because they failed to join the Overwatch League, could make it to the finals by defeating LGD Gaming.

Premier’s Recommendations: I recommend it, but it wouldn’t hurt to miss. To be honest, I really wanted OWC China to consist of all Chinese players and teams. I was afraid that LFZ would steamroll the tournament and it appears like they have been doing so. However, LGD Gaming has been showing good performance throughout the series so it is possible the finals could be pretty exciting. It is a hit or miss. If you are a hardcore fan of the Chinese scene, I would definitely check it out.

The winners of the European semifinals teams will battle it out against each other to be the crown kings of Contenders. It will be hard to speculate who will come out on top at this point because every team in the semi-finals has proven to be very strong. However, many do speculate that the British Hurricane is quite likely to win. On the other side, Team Gigantti and Angry Titans can easily go to toe to toe. It really depends on which team can execute their strategies and counter-strategies better.  

Premier’s Recommendations: I highly recommend you watch this match. Battle of the European Contenders is definitely going to be a treat to watch. In my opinion, EU has the second-best players and teams, and this could be as exciting as the Korean finals. If you want to see a battle between teams of highly skilled players and good teamwork, I wouldn’t want to miss this one.

Who will take the crown for the Overwatch Contenders NA finals? With so many skilled players in all 4 different teams, it will be hard to tell who the finalist will be. It’s not hard to imagine Fusion University beating OpTic Academy, but both Toronto Esports and EnVision look like they have a fighting chance, since both teams have an amazing DPS duo and good team synergy. One could argue that Toronto Esports has a stronger tank line, but EnVision has better teamwork, so in the end it’s difficult to predict who we will see in the finals.

Premier’s Recommendations: I highly recommend you watch this match. Although, many of the NA games have not been exciting as their EU or KR counterparts, there are big household names in NA Contenders. The finals could showcase some of the best NA has to offer and NA teams are not a joke. This could be a good one.

The ultimate ‘Atlantic Showdown’ will take place after the end of the OWC NA Finals. This final battle is possibly the most the anticipated battle of the weekend, as the two eternal rivals, NA and EU, will finally get to battle it out to see who will earn the bragging rights. Will NA finally end it’s “NA LUL” legacy and start a new era of “EU LUL”? Will EU finally put NA in their place and engrave “NA LUL” in our communities forever? Don’t forget to tune into this epic battle of the Atlantic Showdown!

Premier’s Recommendations: This is a MUST WATCH. This is like Avengers Infinity Wars for Overwatch. All of the best from both regions in one single match? You would be crazy to miss it. Be on the lookout for a well-coordinated EU team battle against mechanically skilled NA players. This should be the most exciting match of the weekend.

Disclaimer: The following article was written freely based on the author's opinion, and it may not necessarily represent Inven Global's editorial stance.