With Semifinals delayed until this morning, the arena was filled with expectant fans once again as North America’s last hope took the stage. Canada were coming off the back of a reverse sweep over Australia to take on the dominant Sweden. What followed was a thrilling back and forth as Canada surprised Sweden in one of the biggest upsets of the finals.

Nepal

Sanctum: Mangachu started on Junkrat and was unstoppable as Canada cruised to an opening stage victory.

Shrine: Once again Canada took the first fight and the Orisa, Roadhog, Junkrat composition just could not be dislodged as Canada made it 2-0 in surprisingly easy fashion.

King’s Row

xQc continued on Orisa, but found less success on first point defence as Sweden swept over them. Canada made a lot of time back in the streets stage but Sweden continued to battle forward, eventually finishing the map with 11 seconds left despite a strong performance from Surefour.

Canada wasted no time on their offence, aggressive Roadhog play and some great hooks from Agilities opened up the first point and allowed significant progress on the streets stage. It all came to a halt following a series of Graviton-Pulse Bomb combos from Manneten and snillo that allowed Sweden to regain control of the map. From there the Swedes held aggressively to shut out Canada. The series was tied 1-1.

Hanamura

Canada attacked first and captured Point A swiftly, following a flurry of frags from Roolf. On Point B Sweden stabilised with an aggressive hold on the high ground. TviQ’s Genji continually shutting down his opposition. The Canadians, however, refused to change their approach until their final attack. A push through main looked like it had finally unlocked the point for Canada as they gained 75.1% progress, but a Mercy masterclass from chipshajen kept the Swedish players alive and allowed them to hold.

TviQ and snillo had made it their personal missions to shut down Surefour throughout this series, and the pressure kept coming as a snillo Pulse Bomb onto the Canadian Soldier 76 opened up Point A. xQc played aggressively on the Point B defence, often sacrificing himself to deny the high ground. It worked well until Sweden eventually found a way through, with TviQ gaining crucial kills on Soldier 76. Sweden took the lead for the first time in this match.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Surefour started on Widowmaker for Canada’s attack, but it was xQc with a Primal Rage triple kill that allowed them to take first. A succession of scrappy engagements followed in the hangar phase but Canada could not be stopped: they took both second and third point with 2:20 remaining.

Sweden struggled on offence despite consistent damage from Zebbosai on Widowmaker; Mangachu and xQc had everything covered. Sweden were forced to use most of their timebank taking first. Sweden had similar troubles in the hangar phase, reaching overtime before securing second. In the final third xQc continued his reign of dominance, shutting down Sweden and forcing the match to a fifth and final map.

Oasis

City Center: Canada took the first fight and secured the second thanks to a trademark Agilities Dragonblade. As Canada neared 100%, Agilities could not repeat his earlier heroics but it made no difference to the result as Canada held on and won the round regardless.

Gardens: TviQ went Pharah to go head-to-head with Managachu and despite the Canadian's notoriety on the hero, it was the versatile Swede that won the battle of the air. As Sweden neared 50%, Mangachu switched to D.Va and with a bit of help from Agilities Canada was able to gain control. Sweden already had 99% of the objective though, retaking it on their first attempt. It would take all three stages on the fifth map to separate these two teams.

University: Agilities started on Pharah and Sweden had nothing to contest him as Canada took first control. TviQ countered by switching to McCree and it was just what the Swedes needed. Canada had 80%, but Sweden had taken the point. TviQ seemed unstoppable but Canada still downed the mighty Swede. It would come down to one final fight, both teams close to 100%, and it was Surefour who stepped up, fragging Zebbosai twice in quick succession to win the series and send his team to the Grand Finals.