Quarterfinals

After three days of hard fought groups stages eight teams qualified for the single elimination finals at BlizzCon. Each server region is represented, five of the six European teams, two of the six APAC teams and one of the four Americas teams made it through. It has been a great event so far; the Overwatch itself has been fantastic, exciting and close. The production has been on point too, good observing and stats for the first time is a great step forward. I imagine Blizzard have some big plans to surpass this at the main event itself, there is already a lot of hype around the stage from those who have had a glimpse:

The match ups look great too, all of the top eight can take maps off of each other and with it being single elimination you know the pressure cranked to the maximum. There is no room for errors as the titans from each region clash. Let’s take a closer look at the match ups.

Russia vs France

Russia were fortunate in their final game to get the win in a very tight series against the USA. Russia by no means played badly, but a couple of individual moments changed the course of that map. That win has gifted Russia an easier draw. Meanwhile, France played better than I expected them to but still struggled in what was the weakest of the four groups.

ShaDowBurn personifies the toughest test yet for the inexperienced French roster, especially AlphaCast and Kitty. The French supports will need to be on top form to prevent Russia's Genji god tearing apart the back line. Do not be surprised if we see Kryw on a pocket McCree to help out his healers. Perhaps Mickalow on Winston instead of Reinhardt too, in order contain the Russian Genji.

While France will make Russia work for their victory, I can see no other result than a Russian victory. The Russian supporting cast is much stronger and more experienced and the DPS players are the strongest France have faced. The only way I can see France winning is if they manage to shut down ShaDowBurn and Russia make mistakes. The biggest thing in France’s favour are that the first two maps will be Eichenwalde and Temple of Anubis, maps prone to upsets. Though saying that I still fully expect Russia to win.

Spain vs Finland

This is going to be a great game. The Spanish were on fire in the group stages, taking down Canada and Sweden while Finland struggled through to second place. Every player on team Spain is playing well and they have shown great flexibility, especially their DPS players. Spain also seem to be actively thinking about their picks and are trying to stay ahead of their opposition tactically.

Finland, however, are very rigid in their line-up. Reluctant to take hymzi off Roadhog even though he has previously had experience on DPS before NiP took up the tank heavy playstyle. This in turn puts Taimou in a difficult position where he is the only player who can change to adapt Finland’s approach. Often meaning Taimou is not able to play his strongest hero, McCree, as he is the only player Finland are willing to flex. This limits Finland tactically and makes them very predictable to play against.

While you have to favour Spain to win this given the form of the opening three days, Finland has had a couple of days to regroup and think about what happened in the group stage. Finland have a host of intelligent and mechanically gifted players, with the two day break they have the opportunity to adapt. Finland need to change away from the three tank set up and give Taimou more opportunity to play the game he wants as he has been on fire the brief periods he has been on McCree.

South Korea vs United States

The USA were unfortunate to lose to Russia in the group stage, they are even more unfortunate to find their first game in the knockout stages to be versus South Korea. The USA has the right ingredients to go far in this competition. Gods and Talepsin have been in great form, MESR is one of the best tanks around at the moment. They have a top level support in Adam and ster has proven himself more than capable on Ana. Not even mentioning captain Seagull who is great no matter what he plays. They also have the home team advantage and will have the crowd behind them at BlizzCon.

I would favour the USA to win against almost any other team in the Quarterfinals, even if for some reason it was a rematch against Russia. It’s a shame they will be facing South Korea as the Koreans have looked so dominant, sweeping aside the Finns and the rest of Group C. With Temple of Anubis and Eichenwalde to be the maps this gives the USA a chance. The maps provide inconsistent results; though South Korea destroyed Finland on Eichenwalde. So perhaps the stars will align and the USA will overthrow the South Koreans but it would take something special.

China vs Sweden

While China eventually conquered Group D after a tiebreaker series and Sweden faltered against Spain. Given the quality of the Swedish roster you have to see them bouncing back. They have superstars on every role and a well rounded team to boot - though guilty of overconfidence at times, costing them points and even maps in some cases. They will certainly tighten things up as we move to the single elimination part of the tournament.

Sweden’s come back from their poor result against Spain will be made easier by getting China as their Quarterfinal opponents. While China won their group it was a struggle against less recognised and experienced teams. They do not have the star quality to go toe to toe with Sweden and if China continue their form from Day 3 this will be a fast game.

Sweden got lucky here, avoiding any of the stronger teams despite coming second in their group. This will give them a gentler test; a chance to regroup and raise their game to the level this roster of superstars should suggest. I think we have far from seen the best Sweden has to offer at this event and on the big stage that is BlizzCon I can see a revival.

Predicted Semifinals

Russia vs Spain

If my predictions come true we will see one all European Semifinal and it would be a cracker. This match would all come down to whether or not Spain can keep their form from the group stage going. Spain and Russia play quite a similar game, aggressive but often lacking discipline. This would make this game chaotic. When this happens Overwatch can become difficult to predict, and this is what to expect if these two teams clash. It means the eventual winner is harder to determine but I would give the edge to Russia as they have the greater experience and as the USA learnt the hard way you just cannot contain ShaDowBurn.

South Korea vs Sweden

If this Semifinal is to happen this will most likely be the game of the tournament. The best players from the West and the best players from the East. Based on the group stage form you would have to comfortably give it to South Korea as they looked unstoppable but I still believe Sweden can bounce back from the disappointing result versus Spain.

The winner of this game will most likely be the winner overall. I think South Korea are the favourites given tournament play so far but I believe Sweden are the only team that have the calibre and composure to beat the South Koreans. I think Sweden will do it in this instance and give us an all European Grand Final of Russia against Sweden.

It will certainly take good performances from the Swedish roster but they have such strength on each hero and a great shot caller in Zebbosai. They will have to be firing on all cylinders but they have the all-star roster necessary for this upset.

Catch all the action on the official BlizzCon Overwatch World Cup page as well as here on over.gg where we will have live scores and links to the stream on the match ticker.

Xavier 'CommanderX' Hardy is a former top level Team Fortress 2 Caster and Analyst.
Follow @Xavierhardy8