The Overwatch World Cup Qualifiers came to a conclusion last weekend in Paris, with France and the United Kingdom filling the last two spots of the Blizzcon Playoffs Bracket. This is what it looks like:

Only one of these teams wasn’t present in last year’s Top 8 and that is Finland.

The roster

The Finnish squad is constituted by six Overwatch League players, with EU Contenders Davin being subbed in for some games. Their main roster is: Houston Outlaw’s Linkzr, Dallas Fuel’s Taimou, Philadelphia Fusion’s Fragi, Florida Mayhem’s Zappis (now free agent) and LA Gladiator’s Shaz and BigG00se. This is quite a convicing list of players on paper and expectations were considerably high coming into the qualifiers.

Incheon

Playing in South Korea’s home turf was a good first test for Finland. Out of six teams, only two qualified for Blizzcon, and the first qualifier for this year’s Overwatch World Cup was not an easy one. The two time reigning World Champions were the default first place team even before this stage started, but the second seed was not as easy to predict. The Finnish squad had a better roster on paper than every team in the qualifier except South Korea, but Russia could not be discarded and Japan was one of the teams to crush Finland’s hopes of going to Blizzcon in last year’s World Cup.

The first day in Incheon ended with the best series of the qualifiers, the South Korean titans facing a very hungry Finland hoping to erase any memories from last year’s disappointment. It was a Trial by Fire and no flames burned hotter than the champion’s. Finland took South Korea to a map 5 that was fought to the very last second, with the home team edging Nepal 2–1. After this series, Finland managed to win every map except for two: a loss on Oasis and a draw on King’s Row, both against Russia. The Finnish squad lived up to the expectations that come with having a full OWL roster and convincingly earned their spot in Blizzcon. But what makes them such a strong and interesting team?

Deceivingly flexible DPS line

If you watched the Overwatch League, Finland’s DPS duo might worry you at first. Linkzr and Taimou are both hitscan DPS players with a lot of their OWL playtime being spent on Widowmaker, McCree and a little bit on Soldier. Even their plastyles are similar with both of them being very agressive and streaky aimers. Isn’t this an issue? It can be, but the Finnish snipers seem to have embraced this aspect and used it to the best of their ability.

In an interview with Goldenboy after their game against Russia, Taimou adressed this worry with a very interesting logic: both he and Linkzr can play Hanzo and Widow to very high levels, so they choose who plays it based on “who’s feeling it on the Widow”. This seems smart in itself since both of them are agressive, streaky players and confidence is a very big factor to make that style work. It is even smarter than that though. Imagine this:

Widowmaker players have mastered the hero in every map they have played. They know where the opposing Widow might shoot them from when they peek a specific angle in a map. They know what peeks would be unexpected to their counterpart and more importantly, they analyze what the enemy is doing and react accordingly. But what happens when that enemy changes altogether?

Taimou and Linkzr might have similar playstyles but they are two different players and, therefore, two different Widowmakers. This is incredibly hard to deal with if you are the opposing sniper. While you were dueling Linkzr in King’s Row, he was watching your every move and analyzing your habits. So were you. What can you do when you are dueling Taimou in the following map, though? He knows what you were doing from what Linkzr was telling him and what he himself was watching and now, you not only need to try to change your playstyle to be unpredictable, you also have to adapt to the new Widowmaker you are facing.

This gets exponentially worse when Finland are running Double Sniper, forcing you to respect two long range threats that interchange their playstyles throughout the series. This was their most successful composition in the Incheon Qualifier stage. The Finnish DPS duo kept swapping who was playing Hanzo and Widowmaker, making it very hard for their opponents to adapt and counter their attacks. This unique trait contributed to making the Finnish squad one of the strongest Escort teams in the whole tournament.

Goats and possible issues

Double sniper was the comp Finland ran the most, but they didn’t shy away from the infamous Goats (read this article by Dreamcasts to learn more about it) and their own variation of it, with Roadhog instead of Brigitte. These two compositions show how flexible the DPS duo of Finland can be, while at the same time showing how much of a beast Fragi is. He seems to show pure trust in the team behind him and that allows him to charge his Earthshatters at an impressive pace. Linkzr also had a very convicing performance on Zarya. His ult usage seemed questionable at times, but his energy management was so good that he would compensate by throwing more Gravs than expected. Taimou was running the Roadhog in their Quad tank composition, a pick that he has been known for since his Apex days and that was working well for the team. It seems to be an intriguing pick against teams who run Wrecking Ball like South Korea was doing.

Finland played a total of 5 series, won 16 maps, tied 1 and lost 4. They didn’t drop a single Escort map, yet they lost 3 times on Control (two of them 2–0) and looked very shaky on the defensive side of Assault and Escort against Russia. King’s Row ended in a draw, with both teams getting to point C, on Volskaya Finland only managed to win on their second attack and the same happened on Dorado.

Although it looks like a purely negative aspect of the team, this is (as most things have been in this analysis of the Finnish squad) a double edged sword. They seem quite stubborn in their composition choices and tend to either not change at all, or change too late. When they managed to get into Overtime pushes or second round attacks though, it is a different story. They caught Russia off guard with their composition swaps at these stages of the maps and their attacks were extremely decisive.

Blizzcon and a rematch with South Korea

Finland were the strongest team in the Incheon Qualifier at running Double Sniper Dive Comp and Fragi’s exemplary performances on the Reinhardt make their tankier compositions quite solid. BigG00se and Shaz’s experience makes them a very consistent backline and Zappis has been an always felt presence on the D.vA. Their star DPS duo of Taimou and Linkzr are the streaky and explosive extra the team needs to crush their opposition with their fiery offensive rounds.

The first game the Finnish squad will play at Blizzcon will be against China, a very promising team that might surprise everyone at this stage. But Finland didn’t come for a top 8 finish, they are here to jump into South Korea’s flames once again and have another shot at taking the champions to their limit.

Since both the Dallas Fuel and Houston Outlaws missed the OWL S1 playoffs, Taimou and Linkzr are playing their first playoff stage of the year. The Overwatch World Cup is not at the same level of prestige as the Overwatch League is, but this is the time for a legend of yore to prove that he’s still got it, and for one of the West’s most impressive Snipers to show what he is really capable of. Finland, do not falter, the titans await.