The Overwatch World Cup 2023 proved to be one of the most entertaining final days ever with every series going to five maps. The grand finals were no exception, but it was a reverse sweep that left China in an all-too-familiar second place.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the Overwatch World Cup 2023 champion, defeating China 3-2 to close out this era of competitive Overwatch 2 in incredible fashion. This makes Saudi Arabia the first team to reverse sweep an opponent to a World Cup title, earning their first World Cup championship.
With this loss, China has now finished in second place twice at the World Cup, losing in a 4-0 sweep to South Korea back in 2018. That run sparked the popularity of Chinese players in the Overwatch League and was a catalyst for the Hangzhou Spark to sign their lead tank, Xu “guxue” Qiulin, who helped them to the finals once again in 2023.
With the future of the Overwatch esports scene unknown at this stage, Saudi Arabia’s chance at defending their title is up in the air but they earned this win in an underdog run for the ages.
Saudi Arabia caught the attention of fans and analysts alike after an undefeated run into the grand final, sweeping the United States and only losing maps to Finland and eventually China.
Down 2-0 against the perennial runner-ups, the team shifted compositions with a focus on Bastion to capitalize on China’s lack of flexibility. It would put all the pressure on China’s DPS players to hit their shots, and while there were moments of brilliance from Zheng “shy” Yangjie and Huang “leave” Xin, Saudi Arabia came out on top. It wasn’t a dominant reverse sweep, as China kept the final map as close as could be, but they couldn’t stop the momentum.
Heading into the final day of the Overwatch World Cup 2023, there were two teams that looked to be the dark horses of the tournament. Finland proved their mettle in a third-place victory over South Korea, meaning that this is the first-ever tournament where South Korea hasn’t landed a podium finish.
As for the champions, this was a breakout tournament for two notable former Overwatch League players Alhumaidi “KSAA” Alruwaili and Majed “SirMajed” Alrashied. Their play on Sigma and Illari respectively was the catalyst for their dominance throughout the tournament.
With Overwatch 2’s competitive future possibly lying in the hands of a Saudi-backed pitch from ESL, there wasn’t a better time for a Saudi Arabian-team to claim a massive trophy in the esport, and they’ve done just that with today’s final victory.
The Overwatch World Cup symbolizes the end of the BlizzCon 2023 convention weekend. We’ll know more about Overwatch 2’s new competitive era in the coming weeks.
