OGN’s APEX playoffs bracket drawn!
Tags: Overwatch, Esports, Gaming, Video Games

OGN’s APEX playoffs bracket drawn!

This is mirror for people who use only use medium; for better formatting you can check out the original on twitter.com/RadoNonFire or directly here.

With the group stage of Korea’s first premier Overwatch tournament concluding today, we also had the draw of the brackets play out.

After both Kongdoo Panthera and Lunatic-Hai won 3–0 today the first seeds for the draw were:

Rogue — the European powerhouse came trough group A with the impressive score of 9 map wins and 0 losses, clean 3–0 sweeps versus all 3 of the group opponents. With 3 of their players being some of the very best aimers in the world and Reinforce’s agressive tank play, the new patch seems to be made just for them. Barring any surprising meta shifts it is hard to see them failing to get to the finals.

— the European powerhouse came trough group A with the impressive score of 9 map wins and 0 losses, clean 3–0 sweeps versus all 3 of the group opponents. With 3 of their players being some of the very best aimers in the world and Reinforce’s agressive tank play, the new patch seems to be made just for them. Barring any surprising meta shifts it is hard to see them failing to get to the finals. BK Stars — they came through group B 3–0 in series, on the back of some serious carrying done by their star DPS — Bunny. Unlike Rogue however they had 2 map losses. And despite the impressive 9–2 score they are looking like the weakest first seed in the playoffs, as a result of the lackluster group they were in. Will be interesting to see them perform versus the other top teams of the tournament, but they are definitely not impervious to losing in the Ro8.

— they came through group B 3–0 in series, on the back of some serious carrying done by their star DPS — Bunny. Unlike Rogue however they had 2 map losses. And despite the impressive 9–2 score they are looking like the weakest first seed in the playoffs, as a result of the lackluster group they were in. Will be interesting to see them perform versus the other top teams of the tournament, but they are definitely not impervious to losing in the Ro8. Lunatic-Hai — coming with 3–0 in series play and 9–2 in terms of map, from group C, Miro’s men were the second team that is favourite to reach the finals. They didn’t show as much versatility as some of the other top teams, but have definitely proven that they are one of the best teams in the world. It’s worth noting for casual viewers that despite coming second to Rogue in the APAC finals, they defeated the Europeans twice in series before that.

— coming with 3–0 in series play and 9–2 in terms of map, from group C, Miro’s men were the second team that is favourite to reach the finals. They didn’t show as much versatility as some of the other top teams, but have definitely proven that they are one of the best teams in the world. It’s worth noting for casual viewers that despite coming second to Rogue in the APAC finals, they defeated the Europeans twice in series before that. Reunited — despite slow group stage start they ended up finishing first in group D with 6–5 maps score and going 2–1 in series. While they have not looked too hot overall after the roster change, they’ve been getting better and better every time we saw them play. That and the fact that they are one of the more experienced rosters makes me consider them as a possible upset team.

The second seed teams, all finishing 2–1 in terms of series:

Afreeca Freecs Blue — losing maps only to Rogue they finished in group A with 6–3 record in terms of maps. Excluding nV they are the best of the bunch here and with the new change to ultimates generation they might even be one of the best teams in the tournament. In addition to having experience in tournament play outside of OGN they also got what is shaping up to be the premier Korean DPS duo. If ArHaN and Recry can both play near their best they can easily upset both BK and Reunited and advance to the semi-finals, despite being second seed.

— losing maps only to Rogue they finished in group A with 6–3 record in terms of maps. Excluding nV they are the best of the bunch here and with the new change to ultimates generation they might even be one of the best teams in the tournament. In addition to having experience in tournament play outside of OGN they also got what is shaping up to be the premier Korean DPS duo. If ArHaN and Recry can both play near their best they can easily upset both BK and Reunited and advance to the semi-finals, despite being second seed. KongDoo Uncia — surprising many viewers from all over the world they came in over NRG with 8–3 map score. Despite the best second seed scoreline, Birdring looking like one of the better DPS players in the tournament and the rest stepping up as the group stage continued it will be hard for them to do much damage seeing the calibre of opponents in the first seeds. If both Birdring and Dnce can keep up their performance versus the top teams as well, there is a chance they might upset someone in the quarter finals, but it is quite slim one.

— surprising many viewers from all over the world they came in over NRG with 8–3 map score. Despite the best second seed scoreline, Birdring looking like one of the better DPS players in the tournament and the rest stepping up as the group stage continued it will be hard for them to do much damage seeing the calibre of opponents in the first seeds. If both Birdring and Dnce can keep up their performance versus the top teams as well, there is a chance they might upset someone in the quarter finals, but it is quite slim one. Team EnVyUS — not so long considered by most the best team in the world, now they find themselves third to Lunatic-Hai and Rogue in most’s rankings. And even with the recent losses they do remain the most talented line-up in my opinion. It seems to me more a matter of when, rather than if they can make this combination of players work. With a new meta looking to follow the new patch it isn’t impossible to see them upset either Rogue or Lunatic-Hai. However, as they have displayed a tendency to crumble when facing other elite teams they do remain a dark horse team, rather than favourite.

note: since this nV have announced that Talespin is leaving the squad, which makes them heavy underdog in the Ro8.

— not so long considered by most the best team in the world, now they find themselves third to Lunatic-Hai and Rogue in most’s rankings. And even with the recent losses they do remain the most talented line-up in my opinion. It seems to me more a matter of when, rather than if they can make this combination of players work. With a new meta looking to follow the new patch it isn’t impossible to see them upset either Rogue or Lunatic-Hai. However, as they have displayed a tendency to crumble when facing other elite teams they do remain a dark horse team, rather than favourite. note: since this nV have announced that Talespin is leaving the squad, which makes them heavy underdog in the Ro8. LuxuryWatch Blue — they came trough group D with 7–5 map score. Even this, not so big of a feat, required great carry performances by Saebyeolbe. And despite him being the best player on the server versus Reunited LW lost the game. With that in mind it is hard to see them going past the quarter finals, barring surprising improvement or opponents crumbling, based on the new patch.

In the beginning of the draw it was revealed, by the lovely host, that the first seed teams will draw numbers. Those would be representing the turn in which they get to pick their opponents from the second seed pool; and then their place in the bracket.

The result of the draw was: Lunatic-Hai with the first pick; BK Stars — second; Rogue third and Reunited would get whatever is left for them, as they got fourth turn, after Kruise unwisely switched his ball with aKm, before they opened them.

EscA, Lunatic-Hai’s representative, having the first pick chose to go against Kongdoo Uncia and put themselves in the furthest right side of the bracket.

BK’s pick was LuxuryWatch Blue, looking to take revenge after losing a game to them in the qualifier for APEX.

aKm, surprising everyone, picked his team to play versus EnVyUS. What was even more surprising, he put them on the same side of the bracket as Lunatic-Hai, meaning if both Rogue and LH win they’ll face in the semi-final for a rematch of the APAC finals.

Without having a chance to choose, Reunited would go against Afreeca Freecs Blue in the first match of the Ro8.

This is what the bracket looked like after all the draws and picks were done.

The matches are to be held as follows

Reunited vs Afreeca Freecs Blue — November 18, match-up 1

BK Stars vs LuxuryWatch Blue — November 18, match-up 2

Rogue vs Team EnVyUs — November 21, match-up 1

Lunatic-Hai vs Team KongDoo Uncia — November 21, match-up 2

The bracket is single elimination and the semi-finals would be the winners of the ‘groups’ will be meeting: A vs B & C vs D.