This was a week of completing and staving off comebacks in the Esports World Cup. In Team Fighter Tactics, Weibo Gaming found themselves down in multiple rounds of the tournament, yet they persevered and eventually claimed the Teamfight Tactics Esports World Cup title. Twisted Minds needed a dominant day 2 in the Grand Final to win the 2025 Esports World Cup PUBG Battlgrounds tournament. Then, Ulsan had to qualify for the playoffs using the lower bracket and defeating an opponent who had beaten him earlier in the tournament en route to becoming the Tekken 8 Esports World Cup Champion. Finally, in Rocket League, Karmine Corp had to stave off an in round comeback from NRG and the comeback story of Geekay Esports in their quest for the 2025 Esports World Cup crown.
Teamfight Tactics
Weibo Gaming started the tournament off rocky, losing their first match against T1. However, they bounced back well, defeating T1 in the next two matches to win the first round of the Group Stage. Weibo Gaming then carried this momentum into their next round, sweeping Team Vitality en route to winning Group A. In the Playoff Stage, Weibo Gaming kept their dominant streak going, beating EVO Esports 2-0. Then, in the semi-final, Wiebo Gaming stumbled once again, losing their first match against Aegis, but history repeated itself as Weibo Gaming won the next two matches to advance to the Grand Final to face Virtus.pro. Up to this point, Virtus.pro has put on a dominant display in the Playoff Stage. However, in the Group Stage, Virtus.pro lost multiple games which led to them needing to qualify using the lower bracket in the Group Stage. It was this Group Stage weakness that Wiebo Gaming was able to exploit. After splitting the first two games, Wiebo Gaming took over the Grand Final, ripping off two straight wins to emerge victorious in the 2025 Teamfight Tactics Esports World Cup.
PUBG Battlegrounds
The A-C Group Stage round proved to be some of Twisted Minds' best work. In the six matches, Twisted Minds came out on top in both the second and sixth matches, as well as having an additional top 10 placement allowed them to finish second overall for the A-C group round. The B-C group round would prove to not be quite as fruitful for Twisted Minds as they would only win the second of the six matches. However, placing top 10 in four of the five remaining matches allowed Twisted Minds to steady their rank and still place a respectable fifth place for the A-C group round, which was more than enough for Twisted Minds to advance to the Grand Final.
Consistency was key for Twisted Minds on day one of the Grand Final. Of the six matches that were played, Twisted Minds placed at least 6th place in four of the matches, including a win in game four. It was this consistency that allowed them to capture the fourth spot on the leaderboard heading into the second day of the Grand Final. In great position to win the PUBG Battlegrounds tournament, Twisted Minds came out of the gate scorching, winning the first match of the day. Twisted Minds then struggled in the next couple of matches, not placing inside the top ten. It was in match four where Twisted Minds recaptured their momentum, placing seventh and then first. In game six, Twisted minds put up yet another top five finish which pushed them over the edge, allowing them to win the 2025 Esports World Cup PUBG Battlegrounds title.
Tekken 8
Ulsan of DNF Freecs had a tumultuous beginning of the tournament as he would nearly lose to JDCR in his first match of Phase One. This pattern would then repeat in the second match of phase one against Rangchu as the match went all three rounds. However, in the final match, Ulsan found his groove and comfortably advanced to Phase 2. However, this comfort would not last long as Ulsan would get swept by Natus Vincere’s Kkokkoma, sending Ulsan into the lower bracket. In the first game of his match against Arslan Ash, Ulsan got beaten handily. However, with his back against the wall, one slip up away from going home, Ulsan responded with back to back dominant performances to defeat Arslan Ash. He would then have to once again face Kkokkoma with a chance to Phase 3 to the Playoff Stage on the line. After losing the first match, Ulsan once again responded when the pressure was on the most by winning back-to-back games to advance to the next stage
The first round of the Playoff Stage was relatively easy for Ulsan as he would defeat Pinya in a 5 to 1 bout. Ulsan would then have slightly more trouble with CBM; however, he, too, would be dispatched in a relatively competitive 5 to 3 match. Now, after having his back against the wall a plethora of times, Ulsan was in the final with one last challenger in his way: LowHigh. And this had been a great tournament for LowHigh. His first loss came in the Playoff Stage, and he had lost three total games in his quest for the Grand Final. However, Ulsan came out of the gate swinging, winning the first two games. Then LowHigh responded with a pair of victories of their own. It was there in the pivotal game five that Ulsan found yet another gear and ripped off three straight clutch victories to pull off the upset and climb to the top of the Tekken 8 Esports World Cup mountain.
Rocket League
In the first round of the Group Stage, Karmine Corp made a statement as they swept Virtus.pro and jumped out to a 2 to 0 lead on NRG. Burt NRG did not lay down as they fought back to tie the series at two apiece. In the end, however, Karmine Corp’s talent won out as they took the deciding fifth game and advanced to the Playoff Stage. In the quarterfinals, Karmine Corp easily took care of Team Secret in a 4-1 rout. The semi-finals proved to be a tougher challenge, as after four games the series was tied. Yet, in the clutch, Karmine Corp delivered once again, winning back-to-back games to advance to the Grand Final to face Geekay Esports. Now, Geekay Esports had a rocky Tournament up to this point. In their first round of the Group Stage, they lost to Team Falcons and had to qualify through the lower bracket. Even in the playoffs, they nearly lost to Team Vitality by almost blowing a 3 to 1 lead. And early on, it was clear Geekay Esports was no match for Karmine Corp as they lost four straight. Geekey Esports then put up some fight in game five, winning 3 to 1. However, Karmine Corp stopped any comeback attempt down, shutting out Geekay Esports and being crowned the 2025 Esports World Cup Rocket League Champions.
With one week left, the top spot for the Esports World Cup rankings is still up for grabs. In first place now sits Team Falcons, looking to repeat after winning the 2024 Esports World Cup. In second place, Team Liquid hope to recapture first place in the home stretch. Then, with a long shot at the title, Team Vitality is looking to have a dominant final week to claim the 2025 Esports World Cup belt. Then, rounding out the top five, Virtus.pro and Twisted Minds are also lurking attempting to climb inside the top three. 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.