The three-day Pacific Showdown will bring together the top six teams of the Korean, Chinese, Pacific, and Australian Contenders Divisions for live competition in Shanghai, China today.





The first of three new live Contenders events, this tournament, mirrored by the upcoming Atlantic Showdown, will set the best teams in the Pacific region against one another in a double-elimination bracket.





The victors of the four represented Contenders regions, as well as the second place qualifiers from Korean and Chinese Contenders will compete, culminating with the Grand Finals on May 26. Each day of competition starts at 1pm Chinese Standard Time, or 1am ET.





While these teams compete for a $125,000 prize pool, there is even more at stake for each Contenders region. Performance in these Showdowns determine representation in the ultimate battle between the best of the Pacific and Atlantic in the Gauntlet. This event held from Oct. 9 to 13 will invite 10 teams to determine which team is truly the champion of Overwatch Contenders.





With six teams being invited to each showdown, there is a risk of being disqualified from the Gauntlet. Teams that place 5th and 6th will lose an invite for their region, while the 1st place team will earn another invite to the Gauntlet for their region. For example, if ORDER, the only Australian region representative , places 5th or 6th, there will be no Australian teams invited to the Gauntlet. However, if ORDER is victorious at the Pacific Showdown, Australian Contenders will be able to bring another team to compete at the Gauntlet.





Upcomer asked Chinese Contenders caster Gai "Alan" Yandahan, Korean Contenders casters Jennifer "LemonKiwi" Pichette and Harry "LEGDAY" Pollitt, and PAC/AUS caster Kevin "AVRL" Walker to share their insights and predictions ahead of the inaugural tournament.





Australian Contenders Representative: ORDER





ORDER, the single team representing the Australian Contenders Region, is known for being a powerhouse on arguably the most viable composition in Overwatch - GOATS. This mastery was tested in group stages of Contenders, where they placed second before playoffs, losing only to the Sydney Drop Bears in a 0-4 defeat. However, after sweeping Blank Esports 3-0 in the semifinals, ORDER got their revenge, defeating the Drop Bears 4-1 in the Grand Finals and qualifying for the Pacific Showdown.





Although caster Kevin "AVRL" Walker notes that there is a lack of flexibility in ORDER’s compositions, their mastery of the triple-tank, triple-support GOATS composition, what he describes as the “default best and most flexible composition,” gives them the edge.





AVRL is also reminded of the dominant Vancouver Titans while watching ORDER.





“Main Tank Sam ‘Quatz’ Dennis will often be in the enemy’s face and is able to get away with plays that would get other Main Tanks killed, giving you the same feeling of what happens when Bumper goes in and somehow doesn't die, “he told Upcomer. “The level of support he gets from his team is crazy.”





The comparisons with the Titans do not end with Quatz. Dale "Signed" Tang stands out for his high-impact Zarya, leading some to compare his play to Min-soo "SeoMinSoo" Seo’s due to quick graviton surge charge and consistency in damage output. While opponents are preoccupied with Quatz’s aggression, Signed is allowed to beam down enemies from afar.





GOATS remains a dominant composition within Contenders, but AVRL believes that ORDER’s experience in playing against Sombra-centered compositions will be integral to their success.





“All teams going to Showdown minus ORDER and O2 Blast will be somewhat Sombra and DPS focused, so outside of the Australian team’s opening match vs O2, win or lose, both GOATS-focused teams will immediately need to transition their game plan to deal with the rest of their opponents.”





ORDER and Talon Esports, the representatives for Pacific Contenders are the sole teams for their respective regions. AVRL recognizes that Chinese and Korean Contenders teams are favored going into the Showdown.





“Element Mystic and LGE.Huya are the easy favourites with Element Mystic sitting in first for pre-tournament placements. Realistic pre-tournament expectations for the Australia and Pacific teams are likely sitting around fourth/fifth unless Korea’s O2 Blast are upset, putting Australia or Pacific in third or fourth.”





Chinese Contenders Representatives: LGE.Huya (#1) and T1w (#2)





The representatives of Chinese Contenders, LinGan e-Sports & Huya (better known as LGE.Huya) and The One Winner (referred to as T1w) have extremely different play styles and expectations. The champion of Chinese Contenders and the Chengdu Hunters’ Academy Team, LGE.Huya went 5-0 in the region’s group stages, only losing a single map before playoffs. After defeating Hangzhou Spark’s Academy Team, Bilibili Gaming 3-1, LGE.Huya went on to defeat T1w in the Grand Finals in a convincing 4-0 victory.





Caster Gai "Alan" Yandahan states that “LGE.Huya is a unique team with Sombra-GOATS mastery. There is heavy resource input into Zhong "Haker" Haotian, which he turns into aggressive playstyle and fast ultimate charging. They seldom use other compositions.”





Haker has become well known among Chinese Contenders fans for his Sombra play, with Alan calling him the team’s core player. “Sombra-GOATS is the best comp for Haker to amplify his understanding of this strong hero. He went into professional play with tons of questions, but proved his outstanding mechanical skill.”





While LGE.Huya’s strategies are predictable, Alan says that T1w, the runner-ups from Chinese Contenders, are more flexible and diverse with their compositions, running GOATS alongside 2-2-2 and multi-DPS comps. Like LGE.Huya, T1w left their region’s group stages undefeated. Although they overcame their playoff opponents Lucky Future and LGD Gaming in 3-2 victories, T1w was swept in the Grand Finals.





T1w had the difficult task of moving forward after DPS player Cai "Krystal" Shilong joined the Hangzhou Spark. Alan acknowledges this, saying that “Even though they did have some pain after Krystal left, the unchanged frontline and backline ensure that this team’s synergy is still in good shape. And as we all know, chemistry is extremely important in this meta.”

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With such an array of compositions available at their disposal, Alan believes that stability is the key for this team to succeed, referring to the steady presence of main support Tan "illusion" Li as vital for the rest of the team to maintain their strength.





Alan is confident that LGE.Huya and T1w will have an excellent opportunity to move forward to the Gauntlet, maybe even with an additional invite. “I would like to say China will have some advantage over AUS and PAC teams, but we’ll find a bloody fight with KR teams, just like old times. But you heard it from me first, there has never been a better chance for a Chinese team to be the champions of the Pacific region.”





Image via Blizzard Entertainment





Korean Contenders Representatives: Element Mystic (#1) and O2 Blast (#2)





One of the favorites for winning the Pacific Showdown, Element Mystic, the champion of Korean Contenders, and their runner-up O2 Blast intend to live up to high expectations. After the Round Robin style Group Stage, Element Mystic and O2 Blast placed third and fourth, below the Seoul Dynasty’s Academy Team Gen.G esports and RunAway.





However, Element Mystic swept Gen.G 3-0 in the semifinals and O2 shocked the world by doing the same to Runaway, disqualifying the top seed from the Pacific Showdown. Ultimately, Element Mystic asserted their dominance and defeated O2 Blast in a sound 4-0 victory.





Caster Harry "LEGDAY" Pollitt says that “Element Mystic puts huge value on their unique skill sets, having potentially the best Doomfist in the world in Yeong-han "Sp9rk1e" Kim and a competitor for the hotly contested title of best Sombra in the world in Dong-ha "Doha" Kim.”





While Sp9rk1e’s Doomfist play stands out, LEGDAY predicts that due to D.Va player Han-been "Hanbin" Choi having to switch over to Zarya, Sp9rk1e’s hero pick in the GOATS composition, Element Mystic could be put in a difficult ult economy situation if the Doomfist must be switched off of in the middle of a round. LEGDAY praises Hanbin, however.





“Hanbin is the lynchpin of this team though, he has a standard level of Zarya, Brigitte, and D.Va play that is good enough to allow for Doha and Sp9rk1e to flex freely while maintaining a solid tank/support line.”





Sp9rk1e’s Doomfist may be directly countered if Element Mystic meets LGE.Huya in the Winner’s Final, as both teams have received a first-round bye. “If Element Mystic meets LGE.Huya and Haker is that good of a Sombra, it's likely Element Mystic will try to 3-2-1 against them with their own Sombra and rely on Sp9rk1e’s Zarya instead of playing risky with Doomfist,” LEGDAY concludes.





While Element Mystic’s DPS stand out, O2 Blast often play GOATS compositions, often running triple-tank, triple-support. Caster Jennifer "LemonKiwi" Pichette says that “O2 Blast looked their strongest in their semifinal vs RunAway. When Sang-hoon "Kaiser" Ryu is at his peak, it seems even the untouchable Runaway squad can't stand in their way. O2 Blast could force teams away from Sombra-GOATS comps using Ki-cheol "Cr0ng" Nam on Hanzo and Sang-min "Myunbong" Seo’s Ana.”





LemonKiwi identifies Reinhardt specialist Kaiser as the player to watch, especially after his performance and victory against his former team RunAway in the semifinals, ultimately removing the fan-favorite from Pacific Showdown contention. “Kaiser is aggressive and can charge his earthshatter faster than anyone else. Rather than using his ultimate defensively, Kaiser will always find a way to engage early and often win fights for his team with quick decision making.”





With such strong competition coming in from China, LEGDAY and LemonKiwi are still confident in Korean Contenders teams’ chances of victory. However, LemonKiwi has a few reservations regarding O2 Blast.





“We could give O2 the advantage in a mirror 3-3 matchup, but I worry that against teams with strong multi DPS comps such as Element Mystic and T1W, O2 Blast will struggle like they did in their Grand Final match.”





Pacific Contenders Representative: Talon Esports





Caster Kevin "AVRL" Walker holds Talon Esports in high regard. “Talon are the first 2 time winners of the Pacific region across Contenders and the Overwatch Pacific Championship. I regard them as easily the most flexible team in the region, being able to play every composition from GOATS to DPS-heavy comps, to more niche strategies that only a team like Talon would have the confidence to do.”





AVRL shared that it was not clear that Talon would be able to be a dominant team at the beginning of Season 1 of Pacific Contenders, having been eliminated in the Quarterfinals of 2018’s Season 3 after achieving a perfect record in the group stage. However, Talon Esports managed to overcome their playoff disappointments from the previous season, sweeping Nova Monster Shield 4-0 in the Grand Finals.





Ubon "oPuTo" Dara is the standout player for Talon. “Oputo has been instrumental in making a lot of their compositions work. If Talon is running Sombra-GOATS, he's the Sombra, if it's Mei-GOATS he's the Mei. While in traditional GOATS Oputo runs Zarya, it is important to that that when he runs DPS, it requires the D.Va main Ji-Yoon "Gogora" Lee to play Zarya.”





Similarly to Hanbin on Korea’s Element Mystic roster, Gogora’s flexibility on multiple Off-Tanks allows oPuTo to perform on his favored DPS heroes, while still maintaining the security and capability to return to a traditional GOATS composition if necessary. AVRL emphasizes this flexibility as key to Talon’s success. “Having multiple players on your roster that can play multiple roles is a prerequisite to even attempt plays like that. This is what separates Talon from a team like Australia’s ORDER, who are rigid in their positions.”





AVRL believes that Talon’s opening game against T1w is “extremely winnable” due to the difficulty of preparing for the Pacific team. “Talon’s playstyle seemed to change between weeks which made it hard for other teams to prepare for or predict, leading their general style to be extremely fluid. The concern will be whether they can master something to a high enough level to beat the rest of the competition or whether being a jack of all trades team might end up costing them.”





The Pacific Showdown will showcase the future of competitive Overwatch and help answer the question of which region is truly supreme. In the Overwatch League’s April announcement of the Showdowns and the Gauntlet, it was stated that “these events will be live during the Overwatch League mid-year break to maximize viewership and player recognition from Overwatch League scouts.” Viewers could be watching the rise of the next Jjonak, Carpe, or Fury as they continue on the Path to Pro, and more immediately, towards the Gauntlet.