Beginners guide to the 2023 Overwatch World Cup

Similar to football’s grand four-year making event, the World Cup, Overwatch is seeking a return to its own version of the tournament in 2023. With its most anticipated sequel released in 2022, it’s time for another round of chaos! 

The Overwatch World Cup has always been a prime show for fans and players, and it looks like the tournament is waking up from a 3-year slumber. What can you expect from this long-awaited competition and which teams will rise to the occasion? Here is everything you need to know about the Overwatch World Cup for the 2023 season so you can find out why this game’s esports scene is worth betting on and start placing your bets: 

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Overwatch World Cup 2023

Just how similar is the FIFA World Cup to the Overwatch World Cup? One of very few similarities both share is its name. Unlike football’s World Cup, Blizzard’s tournament occurs every year while FIFA only happens every four years. 

Another aspect about the Overwatch World Cup that borrows the concept from FIFA is the worldwide attrition-based brackets where each country will vie for the title. This means that countries like the United States or South Korea will have a national team ready to compete in the tournament. 

Countries joining the tournament 

The Overwatch World Cup will have national teams competing against each other for the eventual championship. Normally, there is a bracket stage where the usual elimination Overwatch World Cup games will take place. Soon after, the definitive national teams will be placed according to their brackets to see which squads will compete in specific rounds of the tourney. 

In 2023, there has already been a selection of teams that will compete in the Overwatch World Cup primed to win in esports betting markets. Below is a list of countries who will play in the tournament: 

Direct Invites 

• South Korea
• Canada
• France
• China
• United States 
   

Preliminary Qualifier

• United Kingdom 
• Finland 
• Sweden 
• Germany 
• Netherlands 
• Denmark 
• Russia
• Spain 
• Australia 
• New Zealand
• Japan 
• Taiwan 
• Thailand 
• Singapore 
   

How does it work? 

If you’ve watched the Overwatch League before, the World Cup is similar in a few aspects. There will be a preliminary stage for teams to move forward to the deeper rounds of the tournament. These are teams that need to prove why they should be invited to the World Cup just like the direct-invite teams that have won their matchups to qualify for the competition. 

Once the select few winners of the preliminary rounds are selected, the following Group Stage will commence. Here, 10 teams will be split into two groups of five. The top six teams of the matchups will then go through a hectic Medal Round. 

After the top two teams of the Medal Round are crowned, they will automatically proceed to the semi-finals stage while the other four teams will fight for the remaining spots of the semis. By the end of the World Cup, the final three teams will all receive medals and prize money where the top team will be crowned the champion. 

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Overwatch World Cup coming back after 3-year absence

The last time the Overwatch World Cup occurred was in 2019. This was the year before the pandemic hit in 2020 which momentarily halted any plans to organise a 2020 Overwatch World Cup. 

Fortunately, the World Cup is eyeing a grand return in 2023 and Blizzard Entertainment has officially announced that this competition will be bigger than ever. Intricate details about the tournament have yet to be revealed but Blizzard promised that they will uncover what’s coming soon. 

They have provided everyone with a little sneak peek of what they can expect out of the tournament’s stages which are given a few constructive changes. There will be three distinct stages that will set up the World Cup’s more advanced stages. 

Below is their timeline of events and how the World Cup will be conducted throughout the whole year: 

Stage 1 (January 2023)

• Competition announcement where Blizzard reveals the 36 countries that will be participating in the World Cup
• Committee application for candidates who want to be a part of the World Cup 
   

Stage 2 (February-June 2023) 

• World Cup Trials or Open Tournaments for teams to guarantee a spot in the Regional Tryouts
• Blizzard will be releasing press release and news about the Competition Committees
• World Cup Qualifiers where the 36 teams will compete for the Regional Qualifiers
• Top 16 teams will advance to the World Cup Group Stages 
   

Stage 3 (Fall 2023)

• Group Stages or Overwatch World Cup playoffs will commence where the top 16 countries will compete in a LAN round robin competition
• Top 8 teams will proceed to the finals rounds
• Single-game elimination Overwatch World Cup matches will be played and eventually crown the top 3 medalists by the end of the tournament 
   

Overwatch 2 characters you will expect in the World Cup

The new format and structure of the Overwatch World Cup are a lot to take in, but what it all boils down to at the end of the day are the players and who they’ll be playing as. If you’re a seasoned Overwatch player, then you’ll know that characters get buffed and nerfed all the time every game patch. 

This is why there are meta characters for every Overwatch World tournament that became a trend in future iterations of the game. Essentially, the meta game is where the player base repeats an efficient and effective system and mechanic that gives them a competitive edge when playing. 

Some characters are used in such an optimal way that increases the likelihood of a team winning a matchup. To learn more about which characters are going to be the meta for the Overwatch World Cup, below are some of the best characters you can expect to see during the competition: 

Genji 

Genji is a character that becomes a nightmare to match up with quickly if the player is skilled enough. Considering the fact that the players who will compete in the tournament are highly skilled, this hero easily tops as one of the main characters you’ll see in the World Cup. 

Since stuns or disables are nerfed in the current 2023 patch, Genji is an excellent damage-per-second (DPS) character to use. He can easily dominate the arena where very few heroes can counter during the game. 

Kiriko 

Since DPS characters are the craze right now, Kiriko quickly silences and damages bursting hero down where teams have to adjust bringing reliable support to take him down. Kiriko’s healing ability makes her the perfect support for the World Cup. 

Due to her utility, her teammates get added health points (HP) during teamfights which means she has to be killed first for the team to go down. Unfortunately for opponents, Kiriko is extremely evasive which makes her one of the best supporters in the game. 

Orisa

As mentioned, DPS heroes are extremely useful in team clashes. However, most of them die rather quickly because their playstyle asks them to stay at the backline and hit enemies from afar. 

On the other hand, Orisa is a different type of character where she has the ability to cause havoc in the arena while also being a tanky assassin herself. She is extremely difficult to take down and has one of the best abilities in the game that causes other opposing characters to get pushed out of the map.  

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Top Overwatch teams to look out for in the World Cup

There are 36 squads who will vie for the top medal of the tournament but only three can truly be crowned as the reigning champions of the World Cup. The following countries are the best teams who are most likely to be the runner ups of the upcoming competition: 

Team South Korea

South Korea is the most prolific Overwatch World Cup team since the inception of the tournament. The team has won all three of their past Overwatch World Cup appearances. They have amazing talents of Minho ‘Architect’ Park and Jae-hyeok ‘Carpe’ Lee who all contributed to the team’s success over the years. 

Team Canada

Team Canada has slowly turned into a top contender in the Overwatch World Cup as they finished second and third overall in the recent tournaments over the years. Some of their best players are Lane ‘Surefour’ Roberts and Liam ‘Mangachu’ Campbell who are all strong shooters. 

Team United States

While they’ve been underwhelming in the recent matchups of the World Cup, they are still strong contenders for the title. They finished 5th to 8th place and have a better and more revamped Overwatch World Cup roster with Corey ‘Corey’ Nigra and Kyle ‘KSF’ Frandanisa to compensate for their lack of DPS users. 

Are you excited for the upcoming Overwatch World Cup? As the new sequel of the game has garnered a lot of attention, the 2023 World Cup will be a show for sure as the best teams vie for the championship title. 

FAQs

How are maps picked for Overwatch World Cup?

It entirely depends on Blizzard’s prerogative. In the 2018 Overwatch World Cup, Blizzard included all the maps in the tournament. 

Can you bet on the Overwatch World Cup?

Yes. Just visit a bookmaker like Gamdom and you can see Overwatch as an option to bet on. 

When is the Overwatch World Cup?

The World Cup will take place from January all the way to the fall of 2023. The Overwatch World Cup Groups Stage will take place sometime in June. 

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Words: Vonn Consul