Breaking Down the Overwatch World Cup Groups
Winners, losers, and the group of death.
Alright! After weeks of waiting, we finally have groups for the Overwatch World Cup Online Qualifiers. Contrary to earlier announcements, which said that groups would be optimized based on location and latency, these groups have been assembled in a seeded draw.
Which group is the Group of Death? Who is breathing a sigh of relief? Let’s go group by group and find out.
Americas
Group A
Canada
Colombia
Brazil
Puerto Rico
When we thought the groups would be determined geographically, I felt very bad for Puerto Rico, who would almost certainly be thrown to the lions with Canada, the USA, and Mexico. But with Canada and the USA split between two groups, there are more opportunities for the Latin American teams to prove themselves.
Canada is not what they used to be, and while I think they have a strong Tank duo and a lethal backline for double Flex Support compositions, Colombia and Puerto Rico both have capable FACEIT Masters DPS who could go toe-to-toe with Noxious and Reyzr. I don’t see a world where Canada fails to make it out, but I do see a world where they finish second. Brazil will be many fans’ other favorite to advance, but I would caution overhyping them.
Group B
United States
Mexico
Chile
Argentina
The United States will almost certainly steamroll their opponents, but the battle for second place will be fierce. Argentina has been outperforming expectations, Mexico has some experienced talent, and Chile’s Support duo and overall synergy are top-notch.
A Chile-Argentina rematch will be exciting, and both of those teams could pose a serious threat to Mexico.
EMEA
Group A
Finland
Sweden
Denmark
Austria
Group. Of. Death.
Sweden appears the strongest on paper, with a scary DPS duo of Kevster and Zorrow, plus Admiral reinforcing the backline, but I would not be surprised by any of these teams advancing to Korea.
Getting three Nordic countries in one group will be fun for banter, especially the fierce Sweden-Denmark rivalry which goes beyond sports. Throw in Austria, another snow-capped country, and you have the most culturally contiguous group in the Online Qualifiers.
Group B
Great Britain
Norway
Germany
Portugal
Great Britain qualifying from Group B is the closest thing to a “lock” I feel comfortable predicting in EMEA. They should be much stronger than Norway and Portugal, and based on scrim results, they’re better than Germany too. Right now, I favor Germany for the second ticket to Korea, but Norway has reportedly been playing well in scrims, so they could prove why they got to skip the Conference Cup.
Group C
Spain
France
Poland
Ireland
Like Group A, Group C features a strong natural rivalry. In this case, Spain vs. France. Don’t count out Poland or Ireland either! Poland have a fraggy playstyle with several mechanically proficient players, while Ireland are coming off a red-hot Conference Cup run where they beat Austria twice. I expect to see a lot of Zarya and D.Va from this group.
Asia
Group A
South Korea
Japan
Hong Kong
Pakistan
I’m not sure how Korea and Japan ended up in the same group once again, but I feel bad for Hong Kong and Pakistan, who have a very, very difficult task ahead of them. At minimum, the battle for 3rd place in the group will be interesting.
Group B
Australia
Thailand
Philippines
India
Philippines really surprised me with their Conference Cup performance, but can they repeat it against stronger opposition? Only time will tell. In the interim, Australia is fielding the strongest roster they’ve had in years, reinforced by Breakthrough Player Sgy, who is one of the best DPS in the region. (It hasn’t been announced, but by process of elimination, you can infer who it is at this point.) India’s backline can go toe-to-to with anyone in this group, especially with Xten added to their lineup as a Breakthrough Player while Thailand’s DPS are terrifying. This should be a competitive, exciting group.
The Overwatch World Cup Online Qualifiers kick off May 29!