The Overwatch World Cup predates the OWL and was one of the first major eSports endeavours for the game.
Being hosted at Blizzcon in California, the world’s best sides are now ready to face off and see who can be crowned world champions.
There are a total of eight teams representing nations from around the globe, including The United Kingdom, United States, China, South Korea, France, Canada, Finland and Australia.
These teams have already been tested during the lengthy qualifying stage and stand as the best national Overwatch squads available.
The question fans have been asking themselves is if South Korea can defend their title in the style they did last year?
They’ll face stiff competition from the other higher seeds in China, France, and the USA, with the four lower seeds: Australia, Finland, Canada, and the United Kingdom—still strong enough to put up a good challenge.
WHAT IS THE OVERWATCH WORLD CUP SCHEDULE?
The United Kingdom kick off proceedings today straight after the Blizzcon Opening Ceremony.
This will mean an Overwatch World Cup start time of 7pm in the UK, with the other matches scheduled to begin straight after the others end.
These matches will be available to watch in English on Twitch, YouTube and MLG. The UK faces the United States first, with this match followed by another three other qualifying matches today.
Match schedule and times Friday, November 2:
UK START TIME 7PM GMT
- 12:15-2:15 p.m. PDT—Quarterfinal 1: United States vs. United Kingdom
- 2:15-4:15 p.m. PDT—Quarterfinal 2: France vs. Canada
- 4:15-6:15 p.m. PDT—Quarterfinal 3: China vs. Finland
- 6:15-8:15 p.m. PDT—Quarterfinal 4: South Korea vs. Australia
UK END TIME 3AM NOVEMBER 3
Saturday, November 3
UK START TIME 4PM GMT
- 9:30-11:30 a.m. PDT—Semifinal 1
- 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. PDT—Semifinal 2
- 1:30-3:30 p.m. PDT—Bronze Medal Match
- 3:45-6:30 p.m. PDT—Gold Medal Match
UK END TIME 10PM GMT
Match Format: The quarterfinals, semifinals, and bronze-medal match will be a best-of-five format. The Grand Final will be a best-of-seven contest.
Map Pool: All! Each match will begin on a predetermined control map: Nepal, Lijiang Tower, Ilios, Oasis, or Busan. Starting with the second map, the loser of the previous map gets to pick the next map from the following types:
- Second map: Hybrid
- Third map: Assault
- Fourth map: Escort
- Fifth map (tiebreaker): Control, but must be different than the first map
Details of the UK vs US Overwatch World Cup clash today:
“The first quarterfinal matchup at BlizzCon should be a high-octane clash. Team USA swept their way through the Los Angeles Group Stage with a hyper-aggressive, flexible playstyle that did not allow their opponents any breathing room, and it’ll be up to the Brits to try and put a stop to that.
“Team UK, who finished second to France in the Paris Group Stage, made one major change, replacing main tank Christopher “ChrisTFer” Graham with Fusions, who should have preexisting synergy with two of his British Hurricane teammates.
“It’s a hard task to go up against the American tank duo of Muma and Space—one of the strongest combos among the eight qualified teams—but the UK will have to find a way past Team USA’s frontline if they want to pull off the upset.”
United Kingdom Blizzcon World Cup Roster of Players:
- Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth (Contenders EU: British Hurricane)
- Eoghan “Smex” O’Neill (Contenders NA: NRG Esports)
- Isaac “Boombox” Charles (Philadelphia Fusion)
- Harrison “Kruise” Pond (Contenders NA: Toronto Esports)
- Michael “MikeyA” Adams (Contenders EU: British Hurricane)
- Finley “Kyb” Adisi (Contenders EU: British Hurricane)
- Kai “KSP” Collins