Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans bang thunder sticks during the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports Crazy Raccoon, ZETA DIVISION and Virtus.pro completed perfect runs through group play at the Overwatch event on Thursday at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Twisted Minds emerged as the other group winner. Those four teams all clinched byes into the playoff quarterfinals.
Four teams were eliminated after finishing last in their groups. ROC Esports, Mkers and Bleed Esports all went 0-3. In Group D, NTMR lost out in a three-way tiebreaker with Spacestation Gaming and Fnatic after all three sides wound up 1-2.
Crazy Raccoon secured the top spot in Group A by posting a pair of 3-0 sweeps. Against Gaimin Gladiators, Crazy Racoon won 2-1 on Lijiang Tower, 1-0 on Shambali Monastery and 123.31 meters to 64.36 meters on Runasapi. Crazy Raccoon then rolled past Toronto 2-1 on Ilios, 3-0 on New Junk City and 3-1 on Circuit Royal.
ZETA DIVISION topped Group C by winning a showdown with ENCE 3-0 after each team went 2-0 on Wednesday. ZETA downed ENCE 2-1 on Ilios, 1-0 on Shambali Monastery and 1-0 on Midtown.
Virtus.pro pulled off a reverse sweep to defeat NTMR 3-2. After NTMR captured Ilios 2-0 on Shambali Monastery 2-1, Virtus.pro prevailed 3-1 on Suravasa, 4-3 on Hollywood and 142.03 meters to 100 meters on Runasapi.
In Group B, Twisted Minds finished in a three-way tie at 2-1 with Team Falcons and LGD.OA.
Team Falcons beat Twisted Minds 3-1, prevailing 2-0 on Lijiang Tower and 2-1 on Circuit Royal, falling 3-2 on Suravasa, then taking Runasapi 139.32 meters to 23.16 meters.
LGD.OA swept Mkers 3-0, winning 2-0 on Lijiang Tower, 2-0 on Circuit Royal and 3-1 on Suravasa. LGD.OA then handled Team Falcons 3-1. After Team Falcons won 2-0 on Ilios, LGD.OA prevailed 2-1 on Midtown, 82.04 meters to 76.36 meters on Runasapi and 3-2 on Circuit Royal.
Twisted Minds bounced back to defeat Mkers 3-2. Mkers won 2-1 on Ilios, and Twisted Minds responded by taking Suravasa 3-1 and Runasapi 144.86 meters to 23.45 meters. Mkers extended the match with a 3-2 triumph on Dorado before Twisted Minds won the decisive fifth map, Midtown, 4-3.
The 16 teams in the $1.05 million tournament were divided into four groups for a round robin of best-of-five matches. The top three teams in each group earned spots in the playoffs.
The winning team will receive $400,000 and 1,000 Esports World Cup Club Championship points. The runner-up will get $160,000 and 600 EWC Club Championship points.
The single-elimination playoffs start on Friday, with all matches best-of-seven. The first-round matchups:
–Spacestation Gaming vs. Gaimin Gladiators
–ENCE vs. Fnatic
–Team Falcons vs. M80
–Toronto Ultra vs. LGD.OA
Overwatch — Esports World Cup final group standings
(Team, W-L record, map differential)
Group A
1. Crazy Raccoon, 3-0, +9
2. Toronto Ultra, 2-1, +2
3. Gaimin Gladiators, 1-2, -2
4. ROC Esports, 0-3, -9
Group B
1. Twisted Minds, 2-1, +2
2. Team Falcons, 2-1, +3
3. LGD.OA, 2-1, +2
4. Mkers, 0-3, -7
Group C
1. ZETA DIVISION, 3-0, +7
2. ENCE, 2-1, +2
3. M80, 1-2, -3
4. Bleed Esports, 0-3, -6
Group D
1. Virtus.pro, 3-0, +5
2. Spacestation Gaming, 1-2, -1
3. Fnatic, 1-2, -2
4. NTMR, 1-2, -2
Overwatch — Esports World Cup prize pool (with monetary winnings and Esports World Cup Club Championship points)
1. $400,000, 1,000
2. $160,000, 600
3-4. $80,000, 275
5-8. $40,000, 60
9-12. $20,000, 0
13-16. $10,000, 0 — ROC Esports, Mkers, Bleed Esports, NTMR
–Field Level Media
