Day one of the Overwatch World Cup Group Stage is complete. The day was filled with exciting moments, clutch plays and onesided victories all throughout. However, we do have teams that are miles ahead of the pack, while others have a bit of work to do. Can some of the teams at the bottom of the standings make a comeback? Or will the dominant teams remain in control for the rest of the group stage? Let us take a look at the day’s results for each team in Incheon.
South Korea (2-0)
The favorites to win the entire World Cup are starting off pretty well. Like we were saying in our Overwatch World Cup preview, South Korea is going to have great synergy together. This is because the majority of the team is from the New York Excelsior. As we can see, their ability to play as a team is coming in spades, as they were able to take down Taiwan with an easy 4-0. The whole team was playing very well through the two matches they played. However, it was Jae-Hyeok “Carpe” Lee from the Philadelphia Fusion who was the deciding factor for many matches. His ability to turn bad fights around by himself was invaluable.
'Welcome to Korea! 🇰🇷' @carpe_ow, probably #OWWC pic.twitter.com/3M4r7uKVWT
— Overwatch Path to Pro (@owpathtopro) August 17, 2018
South Korea did have a scare against Finland though, with some people calling their match one of the best of the year. However, Korea was able to come out with the narrow 3-2 victory. There was even a server crash on the game-tying map. There have actually been multiple problems production-wise with the Overwatch World Cup, but that’s another story. We will need to see if South Korea can continue dominating the competition, or if they will falter against stronger teams like Russia and Finland in the future.
Russia (2-0)
Russia comes out of day one with a convincing 2-0 of their own, taking down Hong Kong and Japan. They were able to defeat Hong Kong with a nice 4-0, but actually had a bit of trouble against Japan. They would lose their first map, Oasis, after some great play from Yuuma “dep” Hashimoto. However, it was all Russia afterward, with some great leadership from Overwatch League DPS players Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov and George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha. However, they do have tougher competition coming up, with Finland coming off what could be the best match of the year against South Korea. They will also face the defending champs in their last game of the group stages. They will need to take as many games as possible before Korea, to give them a shot at the next round.
Finland (1-1)
My goodness, Finland’s match against South Korea was probably one of the best matches of the year. That series was one of the closest we have seen, and it was against the best of the best. Finland may be one of the only teams to have a shot against this powerhouse, but for now, they are unsuccessful. Finland did take down Hong Kong with a decisive 4-0, but they are already looking ahead towards their next competition in Russia, another decent squad. Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin was brilliant for Finland on his Widowmaker, especially against South Korea. Also, Joonas “Zappis” Alakurtti was great for the team as well, especially on his D.va:
https://clips.twitch.tv/AthleticAgreeableCoffeeBCWarrior
They have Russia, Japan, and Taiwan next on their list of games. I can see this team taking all three series’, as they have proven that they can hang with the best the world has to offer. I am excited to see what the Finnish national team can do!
Hong Kong (0-2), Japan (0-1), Taiwan (0-1)
Although it is early in the group stage, I do think that these three teams will be at the bottom of the standings when the final match is played. Although each team has shown brief flashes of brilliance, it may not be enough to take down the more consistent teams in the tournament. I do believe the only team that could possibly make a splash later on in the World Cup group stage would be Japan. However, they are coming up against two of the best teams in the group in Finland and South Korea, so that splash may not happen at all.
What do you think of day one of the Overwatch World Cup Group Stage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! If you want more Overwatch content, check us out here!
