After dispatching Canada and the U.K. in the Semi-Finals, China and Korea face off against one another with the Overwatch World Cup title on the line.
Both teams are undefeated heading into their showdown, as they won every qualifying match as well as every game at BlizzCon. Leading the way for China is the lights-out play by their DPS star Huang ‘leave’ Xin who completely eviscerated Canada with his Doomfist and Mcree play. Leave is joined by a stellar main tank in Xu ‘guxue’ Qiulin, who has shown a knack for bursting through enemy tank lines, especially in the team’s 3 to 0 sweep against Finland.
On the other side, South Korea is coming off the most closely fought match of the World Cup thus far, as they were narrowly able to defeat the United Kingdom by a score of 2 to 0. This team features an embarrassment of riches across the board, but it is the DPS duo of Byung-sun ‘Fleta’ Kim and Jae-hyeok ‘Carpe’ Lee that will be key in this showdown with China. Also worth watching is the play of Overwatch League MVP Sung-hyeon ‘JJoNaK’ Bang, who is averaging over 8,000 points of damage per match to go along with some serious healing.
Korea is a team full of Overwatch League stars, while team China is trying to prove that they are the next great power in competitive Overwatch. Will Korea continue their Overwatch dominance, or will China start a dynasty of their own? All answers will be revealed tonight.
Map Number One: Illios
Korea comes out of the gate swinging, as they manage to capture the first stage of Illios in decisive fashion. Carpe’s McCree looks simply unstoppable, and for the first time in the tournament, China looks completely overwhelmed. China needs to rebound on stage two.
Stage two starts out with both teams running the same characters: McCree, Brigitte, Orisa, D.vA, Zenyatta and Lucio. South Korea takes first control, and after a bit of a lengthy fight, the Koreans manage to crush the Chinese counter play, led once again by Carpe and his McCree play. China has no response as they lose the stage 100 per cent to zero and Korea takes the early 1 to 0 lead.
Map Number Two: Kings Row
China’s start on Kings Row is far better than their previous effort on Illios, but South Korea still finds a way through their defence. The Koreans push through checkpoint ‘B’ as JJoNaK continues to pop off, doing more than a third of his team’s total damage while playing as Zenyatta. South Korea manages to make it all the way through checkpoint ‘C’ without much of a challenge, taking an early 3 to 0 lead heading into China’s attack.
After being held for the first two minutes, Chinese DPS player Cai ‘Krystal’ Shilong manages to pick up a trio of kills to take checkpoint ‘A’. However, Krystal’s heroics are not enough as Korea smothers the Chinese attack and captures the map to go up 2 to 0 in the series. If China is going to mount a comeback, it will no doubt be the biggest comeback in World Cup history.
Map Number Three: Anubis
On what is the potential second to last map of the 2018 Overwatch World Cup, Korea is off to a fast start as they capture point ‘A’ in a matter of seconds, before snowballing and capturing point ‘B’. Heading into their attack, China needs to put up a monumental effort.
After getting stymied a little, Krystal once again steps up and completes a couple of Genji kills to capture point ‘A’. With five minutes on the clock, China needs to capture the point and break through the imposing Korean defence. With just over two minutes left, China burns through their ultimate abilities, as they try to scurry onto the point from a side room, but Korea manages to cut down the Chinese attack. Going into their final attack, China has their Earthshatter and Graviton Surge abilities online. Unfortunately for China, they’re unable to make the attack work and end up dropping the map and going down 3 to 0 in the best of seven series.
Map Number Four: Watchpoint Gibraltar
Facing elimination, China needs a monumental effort if they are to keep their championship hopes alive. Korea manages to push through point ‘A’, but China finally seems to be showing signs of life as they manage to survive a three-kill DragonBlade by Fleta. Still, Korea manages to push through checkpoint ‘B’ eventually, with 1:34 left on the clock. And once again, in overtime and with their backs against the wall, Korea manages to push the payload all the way through point ‘C’. It seems like nothing can stop Korea, and with China about to attack they will need a miracle to keep their hopes alive.
And so far, China’s off to a good start, pushing through checkpoint ‘A’ with four and a half minutes remaining. Guxue manages to put on a display, as China manages to make it to the final stretch. But can they make it past the Korean defence that has stymied them all game long? Apparently so! China manages to capture the final checkpoint and not only that, but they do it with an extra 1:19 left in their time bank. This is going to be one heck of a finish!
Korea attacks with a minute left and are being picked apart by China’s snipers. Korea manages to push the payload under the bridge in overtime, but they step off, leaving China with over two minutes to push the payload a mere 89 metres. China rolls out with the surprise Bastion as they approach the point of victory. They’re 0.06 metres from winning the map, but Korea kills their Bastion and collapses on China. One final attack left and Jun-ho ‘Fury’ Kim hits a massive D.vA bomb for Korea. China cannot recover, and Korea wins the 2018 Overwatch World Cup! They take the series 4 to 0 in spite of a determined effort by China.
This is the third straight World Cup win for South Korea as they once again hold onto their title of top Overwatch nation. The Overwatch World Cup 2018 MVP is also a familiar face, as Overwatch League MVP JJoNaK has been awarded the title. As for the other teams, China takes silver, while Canada gets Bronze with the United Kingdom placing fourth.
Competitive Overwatch action will return when the second season of the Overwatch League kicks off in February of 2019.
Liked this article and want to read more like it? Check out the article on Whether the Overwatch League Can Survive Expansion and our Interview with Overwatch Voice Actress Lucie Pohl.
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