THE USA team is a beast and by the looks of it seems more balanced than Canada, but I don't think they'll be able to Overcome Taiwan/Flash Wolves with them being a full team and how strong they seem to be.
I don't know if a sweep is in the cards but I think a Taiwan victory is likely, though "surprises" aren't totally unexpected.
Jake is scary. Not as in mechanical or smart scary, but like you watch the guy play or hear him talk, he has charisma given how young he is. His mindset makes him a huge threat I think. Good thing he's team captain.
Also, I never thought I'd say this, but CoolMatt's Dva play was sick on FNRGFE. Rawkus is comfortable on Lucio if they decide to pull a Pharamercy as Adam's Mercy is arguably the best in NA. And Sinatraa is Sinatraa, kid's nuts.
And FCTFCTN is still the best tag I've seen. Ever.
As Ygritte would say, I know nothing about Taiwan so I won't say anything. But this match is promising.
So the second in this group plays Canada in the playoffs, the first plays SK, assuming they win against UK, Germany or Belgium, am I right?
This would mean that Taiwan had to play SK again and also that the 3 best teams would all be in one side of the bracket.
That's my order of teams, from strongest to weakest:
Obviously this can easily change until Blizzcon, but from what we've seen so far (+considering Taiwan and the US play how they are supposed), I think it's pretty accurate.
edit:
I would have put Russia on 5th-6th, as I still think they are better than Canada. Who knows, maybe the US won't make it to playoffs either, Brazil definitely has the potential to upset this group.
Asjtbd [#10]Both teams will throw to avoid facing SK.
If the UK can show its strength, I think this may not happen.
With both of these teams having performed like they did I don't think we can call Taiwan the heavy favorite, maybe a slight favorite, but team USA looks extremely good and very flexible.
This will probably just come down to execution and who can punish the other more whenever possible. I still think Taiwan has a slight edge given their more reactive play style but I can see this going either way.
KuroiRyuu9625 [#13]With both of these teams having performed like they did I don't think we can call Taiwan the heavy favorite, maybe a slight favorite, but team USA looks extremely good and very flexible.
This will probably just come down to execution and who can punish the other more whenever possible. I still think Taiwan has a slight edge given their more reactive play style but I can see this going either way.
Sinatraa and Jake are going to eat Realment alive, and then USA will keep them staggered and roll through the payload maps. I think Taiwan will look stronger on Control and 2CP - but I still think USA wins 3-1 with Taiwan winning Horizon Lunar Colony.
From what I've seen I would say the USA seem stronger than Taiwan. Both games for both teams have been stomps though, so I suppose we really haven't been given a proper idea of the potential of either team. Right now I'd go for either 3-1 USA or 2-2, but really it could also end up being 4-0 to Taiwan.
PotatoKing [#19]It can't be 2-2. It's a Canada vs Russia situation where one of them has to win to decide who takes first and second in the group. I'm predicting 3-2 for US. I hope they lose, so we can get Canada vs USA at Blizzcon, though.
Agreed, I'd much more looks forward to a good ol' NA showdown than a USA vs SK and a CAN vs TWN.
victococoblazin [#21]Us needs to lose here and uk beat germany so i can get my US vs UK
One question being if a team would actually throw to get a more favorable match-up at Blizzcon...It would defeat the spirit of the games so I'm not convinced but I honestly dunno.
penda [#24]Throwing to get a more favorable spot isn't bannable.
You sure? I feel like it very well could be.
penda [#26]No throwing is only bannable if you have some sort of monetary gain from it. Blizzard can't ban you for not trying your hardest in a match but it you were to get something in return for throwing then I'm sure they would ban you.
Do you really believe that ? Let me put it another way then. How about the respect they lose throwing a game cause they wanna make it deep in a tournament they, as you said, get no monetary gain from.
You think a serious org doesn't care if a player throws in a friendly game ?
I mean I get your point, but if it was an amateur tournament then maybe. Not on pro level. Anybody throws to avoid Korea gets called a pussy for as long as they play. Such is life.
Involv3r [#30]Do you really believe that ? Let me put it another way then. How about the respect they lose throwing a game cause they wanna make it deep in a tournament they, as you said, get no monetary gain from.
You think a serious org doesn't care if a player throws in a friendly game ?I mean I get your point, but if it was an amateur tournament then maybe. Not on pro level. Anybody throws to avoid Korea gets called a pussy for as long as they play. Such is life.
The ultimate karma would be throwing to play against the UK and then losing to the UK. As a Brit that would make me laugh. Nevertheless both teams will be playing to their maximum as they're wanting to prove they're the better team.
If they were to throw they could lose respect but there's no real proof they threw unless they were to physically gain something from it. Otherwise they could just say "we were trying something out" or "we just weren't feeling it".
I'm not advocating for anyone should throw but unless they get something for it Blizzard can't really do anything.
BigBad [#39]This is probably the most exciting Overwatch match I've ever seen. So much back and forth!
Agree, but it would be better if Blizzard use another bracket for Blizzcon playoff.
penda [#34]If they were to throw they could lose respect but there's no real proof they threw unless they were to physically gain something from it. Otherwise they could just say "we were trying something out" or "we just weren't feeling it".
I'm not advocating for anyone should throw but unless they get something for it Blizzard can't really do anything.
Or that Blizz would somehow be able to prove that they intended to throw, discord chats or otherwise. Like you say I think it would be close to impossible to prove but honestly pride and exposure might be worth more than more favorable seeding.
Pixelfish [#47]Overwatch community before the Los Angeles group stage: USA LUL USA LUL
Overwatch community after USA takes 1st in group, defeating an extremely high-regarded team in Flash wolves:
U PogChamp S PogChamp A PogChamp
Hindsight is 20/20 so I'm not even sure what your point is. Fact is Team USA didn't look like they'd be the favorites to top the group. Even though their squad looked good it didn't look great and they just showed that there's far more to them than a lot of people, myself included, initially believed.
It's really easy to be that "I knew it all along" guy AFTER you've seen the results. I hope they make it far, heck I hope they take down SK for some good ol' NA pride, but when trying to predict results like this you're bound to get a lot of them wrong.
BenTylerOW [#29]According to SK OW committee, Flash Wolves (TW) had a needle match vs X6-Gaming when SK was having some matches with KDU and Ardeont.
Waiting for Taiwan making good match, but US would win this if TW don't get a significant improvement, I think.
US lost one point to TW (Flash Wolves) that had a needle match against KR 2 Tier team X6. Disappointing.
Although I'm sure that they would go to Blizzcon, but also sure that they would have tough time in there.
Been pleasantly surprised by the USA. On paper they aren't world beater individuals but their synergy has been outstanding in every game. It's a shame they'll be facing South Korea should they win their qualifier as they could have probably done alright on the other side of the bracket. Unfortunately I can see them getting the same treatment that everyone's received when they've played SK so far. You never know though, maybe they'll surprise us all again.
I'm not saying I knew it all along, I'm just writing out what twitch chat pretty much was in a nutshell.
I did however, believe much more in the potential of the USA roster than a lot of people did. There was a reddit thread a few weeks ago and a majority of the comments were discusssing how they all found it unlikely that USA would even make it out of groups. I'm just happy that the roster proved everyone wrong, :)
BenTylerOW [#50]US lost one point to TW (Flash Wolves) that had a needle match against KR 2 Tier team X6. Disappointing.
Although I'm sure that they would go to Blizzcon, but also sure that they would have tough time in there.
When did Flash Wolves play X6, or am I reading this wrong?
lazycalf4247561 [#54]hes from finland
If I'm reading into this correctly he might be referring to one of the (YourOverwatch?) guys putting Taimou in his dream team USA roster before the squad was known.
I don't know if it was an intentional meme or not, but yeah.
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