Half of the Esports World Cup is now in the books as this week's action has concluded. In PUBG Mobile, Yangon Galacticos snuck into the Grand Final and stole the show, and with it the Esports World Cup Crown for the event. Team Liquid showed dominance in MLBB to capture a crucial victory for the club in the EWC, Magnus Carlsen reminded the world why he is the best player in the world with an amazing showing in the Chess tournament, and Team Falcons caught fire in the final two of the OWC to capture the Overwatch EWC trophy.
PUBG Moblie
Yangon Galacticos started off the Group Stage strong with a third-place finish in the A-B group round. However, this strong start was not an indicator of what was to come for the team in the A-B group games, as they would not place inside the top five another time, and only placed inside the top ten twice in the remaining five matches. However, their collective work was still good enough to place them fifth at the end of the first set of group play. In the next phase of the Group Stage, the A-C group round, Yangon Galacticos once again came out of the gates swinging, placing third in the first match for the second straight round. Yet, in the remaining five matches, Yangon Galacticos would underperform again, not placing inside the top 10 for the next four games. Then, in the final match of the A-C group round, Yangon Galacticos went on a tear and won the final match, which helped to propel their overall score to the end of the Top 10. These finishes forced Yangon Galacticos to play in the Survival Stage, where it was more of the same. Yangon Galacticos would show flashes of brilliance, but overall, they were middling. However, these flashes of greatness allowed them to keep their heads above water and advance to the Grand Final.
On Day 1 of the Grand Final, Yangon Galacticos had a rocky first match, finishing in 12th place. But in match two, Yangon Galacticos found their groove, winning the match. They would go on to place inside the top 5 in three of the remaining four matches and win the last match of the day to take the overall first place lead on the first day. Yangon Galacticos carried that momentum into the second day of the Grand Final, winning two of the first four matches. However, Yangon Galacticos would hit a rough patch in the back half of the day, leading to a second-place finish for the day but still first overall. With one day separating Yangon Galacticos from the PUBG Mobile Esports World Cup Trophy, they was slightly underwhelming with only one finish inside the top five, but they played well enough to tread water and place seventh for the day, but more importantly, Yangon Galacticos held onto the lead they had built in the first two days and claimed their spot on the PUBG Mobile Throne.
Mid-Season Cup Mobile Legend: Bang Bang
Team Liquid came out of the Group Stage on fire, only losing one match and advancing straight to the Playoff Stage through the upper division bracket after defeating both Ultra Legends and Onic Esports ID. In the first round of the playoffs, Team Liquid kept their hot streak going against Aurora, sweeping them en route to the semi-finals for a rematch against Onic Esports ID. In this case, history repeated itself, as Team Liquid lost only one match against Onic Esports ID and advanced to the Grand Final on the back of a 3-1 series victory. In the Grand Final, Team Liquid faced off against the Selangor Red Giants OG Esports, who had overcome a great deal of adversity to get to the Grand Final. In four of their five previous rounds, Selangor Red Giants OG Esports had taken their opponent the entire length of the series. Early on, it seemed that Selangor Red Giants OG Esports would continue this trend as they split the first two matches with Team Liquid. However, that day, Team Liquid was just better. They would rip off the next three wins to complete the 4-1 series victory, taking the MLBB Esports World Cup Trophy for Falcons Esports.
Chess
Magnus Carlsen, arguably the greatest chess player of all time, showed why he deserves that title as he went undefeated in the group stage, defeating both Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Jan-Krzysztof Duda en route to qualifying for the Playoff Stage. In the quarterfinal, Magnus Carlsen showed a similar level of dominance, winning two straight after drawing the first game against Nihal Sarin. Then, in the semi-finals, arguably the two best chess players in the world faced off against one another. Hikaru Nakamura had not been quite as dominant as Carlsen during this tournament, as he was nearly eliminated in the Group Stage after losing to Alireza Firouzja. Yet, he had battled back and was here to put up a fight against Magnus. This clash of heavyweights did not disappoint either, as in the first three games, Hikaru and Magnus both won a game with a draw sandwiched in between. The next three games were more of the same, with Magnus winning the first two, drawing the second, and Hikaru coming out on top in the third. This led to a game seven to determine the overall winner and the person to move on to the Grand Final, and once again, the pattern held, leading to Magnus winning game seven and the series to advance to the next round. Even though he had overcome that hill, Magnus Carlsen still needed to face Alireza Firouzja for the Esports World Cup. However, that would prove not to be much of a challenge for Magnus, as Alireza would only win one match, leading to a 5 to 1 Magnus Carlsen victory.
Overwatch Champions Series
Team Falcons had an up-and-down Group Stage. In their first round against AG.AL, Team Falcons took care of business, winning in a 3-0 sweep. The next round was quite the opposite, as Weibo Gaming pushed Team Falcons to their limit, forcing the series to go the length, with Team Falcons barely pulling out at the end for a victory and advancing to the Playoff Stage. The first round of the Playoff Stage was equally as tough, with Geekay Esports leading the series 2 to 1. Yet the resilience of Team Falcons shone through as they won two straight to advance to the semi-final. Team Falcons found their groove in the semi-finals, only dropping one game to T1 as they advanced to the grand final, where Team Falcons faced off against AlQadsiah Esports. It had been a relatively smooth tournament for AlQadsiah Esports so far, with their only real challenge being Twisted Minds in the semi-finals. This lack of adversity would prove to be their undoing as Team Falcons punched AlQadsiah Esports in the mouth with two dominant early victories. AlQadsiah Esports would never be able to recover as Team Falcons would sweep the Grand Final 4-0 en route to the Overwatch Esports World Cup Title.
With half of the tournament in the books, the overall rankings for the Esports World Cup has begun to solidify. Team Falcon has taken the lead in the standings for the first time this tournament with 3500 points, thanks in large part to their win in the OWCS. Team Liquid has surged up the rankings to a clear second place with 3200 points thanks to their win in the MLBB tournament and Magnus Carlsen’s victory in Chess. To round out the top five, Team Vitality, Gen.G Esports, and AG.AL are all more than 1000 points off of first place, but not completely out of this race yet. To check out the events for next week, go to the Esports World Cup website, and for recaps of each week's action, come back to the Sporting Tribune.
