The third phase has initiated! After a plethora of votes and even more decisions, Blizzard Entertainment has announced the group stages and committee members for the Overwatch World Cup in which 32 nations will participate.
These community members will scout rosters from their own countries, picking based on skill and not popularity, which will then compete in pool play throughout the summer of 2017 to decide which teams will make it to the eight-team playoffs in November at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California.
During the first phase, the contenders were selected, with China pooling in a first-place position with an average competitive rating of 4,550. This being followed by the remaining top three South Korea and the US. All of the top 32 qualified nations have now been given a trio of committee members, thanks to votes from the community
With the conclusion of phase 2 also comes the placement of the respective 32 nations into group pools. These groups will be held during regional tournaments in the areas of Shanghai, China; Sydney, Australia; Katowice, Poland; and Burbank, California. Each tournament will showcase two individual groups.
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Group A - Shanghai, China • China • Hong Kong • Norway • Romania |
Group B - Shanghai, China • France • Denmark • Thailand • Argentina |
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Group C - Sydney, Australia • Sweden • Australia • Italy • Portugal |
Group D - Sydney, Australia • Finland • Japan • Spain • Vietnam |
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Group E - Katowice, Poland • South Korea • Netherlands • Poland • Austria |
Group F - Katowice, Poland • Canada • Russia • Singapore • Turkey |
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Group G - Burbank, California • United States • Chinese Taipei • Brazil • New Zealand |
Group H - Burbank, California • United Kingdom • Germany • Israel • Belgium |
These matches will be run in a round-robin style with each team playing every opposing team in their pool. In the end, the top two teams from each group will make it to the regional single-elimination round. Once here, the top two teams from each region will process forward, this time progressing to the eight-team finals known as the Overwatch World Cup.
Currently, a detailed schedule for the cup has not been released yet, but we will share it with you once it is.
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