Overwatch World Cup recap: US dominates, Thailand steals hearts

Group play for the Overwatch World Cup started this past weekend, and it has been thoroughly entertaining to watch.

For those not too familiar with the pro gaming world, it’s a rarity to see a tournament with teams formed by country instead of already established pro teams. In fact, some pro teammates will have a chance to play against each other as the tournament continues.

But that’s also the great thing about world cups, and Blizzard pulled a genius move by organizing the Overwatch tournament that way. Now more than ever, you can make the connection between esports and physical sports. And just take a moment to reflect on the fervor and borderline hysteria that revolves around the soccer world cup. Alluding to a sporting event of that caliber is a powerful thing.

Going into the World Cup, South Korea and Sweden were huge favorites. Spain and Finland were also considered contenders. For the group stage, the United States has been grouped with Russia, Germany and Chile in what is widely known as the Group of Death because of the great rosters that these teams boast. It’s also probably because it’s tradition to call whatever group the US is in the Group of Death, always.

Two rounds have gone by so far in the Overwatch World Cup, and here is a recap on some of the highlights:

The United States are dominating the competition. The undefeated US team has played Chile and Germany so far, and has utterly swept their opponents. And by swept, I mean they have literally destroyed the entire opposing team in one fell swoop.

Members of team USA have spoken about their versatility being one of their strengths. Every single person feels comfortable playing any character and any position. Another strength is their obvious teamwork.

Seagull, team captain of USA, has made clear that they don’t just want to win, they want to win with style. “I want to be creative. I want to be artsy,” he said in the United States team bio video. “I want to make the fans cheer for us. I want to put on a good show.” A classic American mentality, to be sure.

The United States and Russia are at the top of Group B, each with two wins and no losses.

Moving over to Group D, Thailand has become somewhat of a fan favorite. They are 1-1 so far in group play, which means they are still in the hunt for a spot in the final tournament. But even if they are not dominating the competition, there is something they are dominating and that’s hearts.

Thailand has shown themselves to be a team that smiles and laughs in the face of both victory and defeat, earning them praise from fans that wish more people played with their attitudes. Fans are also actively hoping that Thailand makes it into the tournament.

China leads Group D with an undefeated record. Both Thailand and France sit at 1-1. The results from today’s matches may very well decide who takes the number two spot in group play, and thus moves on. Otherwise, Thailand and France may find themselves in need of a tiebreaker.

In the other two groups, everything has played out pretty much as expected. Sweden and Spain sit undefeated at the top of Group A while South Korea and Finland do the same in Group C.

South Korea is composed of a group of extremely confident players, representative in the fact that they even use Symmetra effectively in their gameplay. But they have also shown that they are susceptible to overextending and making mistakes.

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Today for both groups will be the battle of the unbeatens. Sweden will be taking on Spain at 3 pm EDT, and South Korea will play Finland at 9 pm EDT.

You can watch all the action on BlizzCon’s website or on Twitch.