5 Storylines for the Overwatch World Cup 2019

BlizzCon 2019 is right around the corner, and with it, so is the Overwatch World Cup main event. Heading into the World Cup, you might be wondering about the chances for each individual country to win it all. Here, we tell you five countries that you may want to look out for heading into the Overwatch World Cup.

5. Team South Korea

South Korea comes as no surprise for anyone to watch out for. They are arguably the strongest nation in the world when it comes to individual Overwatch talent. South Korea has won the last three Overwatch World Cups, and the team is comprised of seven incredibly strong players. All seven players on the team, as well as the coach, are from the Overwatch League, and six out of the seven players played for a team that placed in the top six. Will South Korea be upset during the 2019 World Cup, or will they continue to boast a 100% World Cup winrate, and further cement themselves as the strongest nation in the world for Overwatch?

4. Team USA

The American team for the Overwatch World Cup had an upsetting performance last year. Poor preparation and cockiness saw them losing badly to Team UK, who admittedly performed outstandingly during the tournament. However, the Americans are back, and this time, they have arguably their strongest roster yet. The United States have enlisted top-tier players for the Overwatch World Cup team this year, three of which are from the San Francisco Shock, who won the Overwatch League 2019 season, and four of which were selected as being rolestars for their position. Team USA is the strongest they have ever been, and they might have the best shot to defeat the Koreans.

3. Team China

China is another big name to watch out for. In 2017, due to visa issues, they were unable to bring their top talent to the main stage. However, in 2018, they showed off how strong of a country they really were, going 5-0 in the qualifier, and then defeating Finland during the playoffs, which at the time, was considered an upset due to Finland's caliber of players at the time. They then defeated Canada, and played South Korea in the finals. With a strong roster of seven Overwatch League players and a coach, Team China might have one of the best chances to defeat South Korea, and put Chinese Overwatch on the map.

2. Team Canada

Team Canada is an interesting team to look out for because their final roster of seven is the exact same roster that competed during the 2018 World Cup. The team formerly won 11 games throughout the course of their World Cup runs, and lost only two games total in the past two years of competing. Even more interesting is that the team's main tank player, Félix "xQc" Lengyel, no longer plays Overwatch professionally as a full-time job.

He is primarily a streamer on Twitch, as well as a substitute player for the Los Angeles Gladiators academy team, Gladiators Legion, which competes in Overwatch Contenders. However, xQc still plays Overwatch frequently, and is still top 500 player in the North American leaderboards. If Canada can win it all with xQc, it would be a legendary victory.

1. Team UK

Team UK shocked the world last year with their incredible win over Team USA in the quarterfinals. They managed to draw two maps against the South Koreans in the semifinals, putting on an incredible show. This year, Team UK brings improvements to their roster, as well as a top tier coach. If Team UK can pull off the moves they were able to make last year, and even surpass it, they could do extremely well during this years World Cup.

Photo courtesy of Blizzard