Each week we get you ready for this week’s Korean Contenders action by recapping what happened last week. If you want to catch up on the previous versions then you can check out these links: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 & Week 5.
So what happened last week?
Well, with the group stages over the competition shifted into ENDGAME with the Inter League stage where teams from both groups paired off against each other to decide the seedings for the final gauntlet style tournament. We saw the best team from Group A and B go up against each other for the right to sit atop the gauntlet and be the final boss of Korean Contenders for this season.
The step ladder structure is quite fun becaue of how it focussess on potential cinderella run for each team as they knock of the higher seeds on the way up the ladder. The Inter League week also acted as a sampler for just how close these games might be with multiple games going to 5 maps which bodes well for this tournament weekend.
So how exactly did the step ladder end up looking like this?
Let’s start at the top. In what could be seen as a potential preview for the Grand Final, the two group leaders faced off to see who would get the first overall seed. Talon Esports and Team CC had been excellent throughout the season so far but in their first matchup it was Talon Esports who prevailed with a 3–1 victory to secure the top seed.
The opening map on Nepal saw both teams engage in a Reinhardt based brawl across two maps with Team CC looking more and more comfortable on the composition. Lead by player coach Seok-hyun “Innovation” Oh’s excellent Mei and Jeong-wan “SOMEONE” Ham’s free swinging Reinhardt, Team CC were able to quickly dispatch of Talon to put themselves ahead. That would be as good as it got for Team CC as Talon promptly answered back with 3 straight maps wins to secure the win. If you’ve read any of the previous editions you’ll know i’m in love with Talon’s support line of Flex Support Jun “vigilante” Kim & Yoo-min “CH0R0NG” Seong. I’ve heaped plenty of praise onto Vigilante for his excellent Ana play across this season but today I want to give Ch0R0NG the spotlight. CH0R0NG is so good at all the small things you want to see out of a main support but it’s sequences like this on Tobi Bridge where his ability as a playmaker stands out also as he lands final blows onto Team CC’s Main Tank and Flex Support:
In the battle between the two second place teams from both groups, T1 were able to secure the 3–1 victory against O2 Blast. The game was tight between both teams with T1 showcasing some very nice play on Reinhardt and Orisa based compositions. T1 had some great performances from the likes of Damage Dealer Jae-hee “MN3” Yoon & Main Tank Gyu-tae “Belosrea” Hwang but for me Gun-hee “Clestyn” Cho deserves some credit. Clestyn’s D.VA is known for being very smothering to McCree’s in the rush matchup but how Clestyn takes off angles to pressure out members of the enemy team. In this engagement he swoops in behind the on rushing O2 Blast Reinhardt to burst him down with his Mirco Missiles. This immediately forces the Baptiste on O2 Blast to use their Immortality Field before Clestyn catches 3 members of O2 Blast perfectly with a well placed D.VA Self-Destruct.
For WGS Phoenix and Runaway the step ladder offers them both a chance to get hot at the right time and seriously challenge some of the higher seeds. Before that though they faced off in what was the best game of the Korean Contenders season so far. Both teams went to 6 maps with WGS Phoenix eventually pulling of a 3–2 victory thanks to a heroic first point hold on Dorado and this double Graviton Surge sequence by Seon-hyeok “Vulture” Im & Shin “Kalios” Woo-yeol to put Runaway to bed.
Our final match was a knockout affair between Team BM and Team Diamond with the loser of this match being knocked out of the step ladder. Despite the best efforts of Team Diamond’s Kim ”BECKY” Il-ha and In-hyeok “INHYEOK” Jeong, Team BM were able to close out the series on Illios for a 3–2 victory. Team BM leaned heavily on their star damage dealer duo of Sang-jun “Babel” Park & Je-min “ILLICIT” Park really gave Team BM the extra boost they needed to overcome the rowdy upstarts.
TEAM OF THE WEEK:
Damage: MN3(Talon Esports), Vulture(WGS Phoenix)
Tanks: Clestyn (T1), Belosrea(T1)
Supports: CH0R0NG(Talon Esports), Vigilante(Talon Esports)
What should I watch for this week?
The playoffs kick off with Team BM taking on Runaway today with the winner immediately playing WGS Phoenix. For all 3 teams any matchup in this part of the bracket is going to be closer with all 3 of them having relative power. WGS look the most put together of the 3 but Team BM have shown a penchant throughout the season for pulling out scrappy wins. Our first real chance for an upset might come on Tuesday when Round 3 of the Playoffs begins and O2 Blast will take on the winner of WGS Phoenix vs Runaway/Team BM. O2 Blast have looked very human the past few weeks and WGS Phoenix has already played them close once this season meaning that if a team can make O2 Blast uncomfortable then they is a real possibility that they might get knocked out.