TGH Staff Writer, Connor “GoopyKnoopy” Knudsen, has partnered with Chase “Syphyt” McKenzie of Triumph Gaming and @Contenders_OW to put together the first-ever complete OWWC power rankings. These rankings will feature all 46 OWWC teams field and will include blurbs from various contributors across the competitive Overwatch scene. These contributors have a more in-depth knowledge of the team(s) they are covering and this is a great opportunity to spotlight that expertise.

Each team’s final rank was determined through a three-part process:

First, the number of professional (OWL) and semi-pro (Contenders, Trials, Open Division) players on each team was taken into account, as well as each of those players success on their respective team. Each contributor was given the chance to give their ranking of the team they wrote for. Those were taken into account, although each contributor’s potential bias was considered. The final landing spot for each team was decided collaboratively by Syphyt and GoopyKnoopy after using the steps above to narrow down the results.

Note: The previous ranking in this complete set can be found by clicking on the following link: #46-#30

29: Colombia

Colombia is an exciting, yet very much unknown, team to watch in 2019, fielding a couple of players with lots of potential. In particular, keep an eye out for Jason “Circci” Rangel Valderrama. A former console player, Circci has risen as high as rank one on the competitive ladder using a hybrid controller/mouse setup. Both he and Cesar David “Bokk6” Nunez Mejia are the two most well-known players on this team. – Connor “GoopyKnoopy” Knudsen

28: Austria

With the loss of their star Flex Support player Oliver “ecLipse” Nguyen due to age restriction, Team Austria has me a little worried. Fortunately, their second-largest change leaves me less so. Bernhard “Minimi” Hartl has transitioned this past year from Main Support to Main Tank and has blossomed into one of the best Orisa players in EU. Playing on Clockwork Vendetta this season, his incredible game sense during Contenders matches will lead Team Austria to strong wins this year, especially in a metagame that is required to have a strong Orisa. – Chase “Syphyt” McKenzie

*27: Latvia

*On July 10, Latvia released their 12-man roster featuring Normunds “sharyk” Faterins of the Toronto Defiant and Gia Huy “Chris” “MirroR” Trịnh of Uprising Academy. When ranking Team Latvia, these two players greatly affected the placement of the team. However, sources have indicated that neither MirroR or sharyk will be on the 7-man roster due to time constraints and needing to rest.

Without these two players, Team Latvia loses much of their competitive experience and leadership. Now, the team will look to Viktors “Forsak3n” Bernevs, a former player for FaZe Clan and the 2017 Russian OWWC team. There’s no doubt Forsak3n will be able to lead this team of players with little competitive experience, but will it be enough to cover for the loss of their two, star players? – Connor “GoopyKnoopy” Knudsen

26: Singapore

Singapore is coming back onto the world stage after not being seen in the World Cup since 2017, where they didn’t perform well in the qualifiers, going 0-1-2 in a group with Canada, Russia & Turkey. That may lead you to believe Singapore is a weak team, but that could not be further from the truth.

Singapore has built up an impressive roster this year consisting of many Contenders level players. Most notably, Muhammad “Xenofly” Syafiq and Hao “ZeonFlux” Haiyang from Global Esports, their off-tank and flex support, who recently came second place in Pacific Contenders with the team.

Unfortunately for Team Singapore, Global Esports DPS Tan “Lilraxx” Shawn Lee is ineligible to play, as he’s under 18. Figo “Azalea” Chua has stepped up to the spot to take over from Lilraxx but it’s unclear how well he will do given his previous team, Xavier Esports’ results in Pacific contenders, only making it to the group stages before dropping out.

Another strength is in their main tank and projectile DPS, Mohammed “Sachokk” Asri and Timotheus “Bubblekitty” Yeo. Both are coming from a strong showing in Pacific Contenders with a 3rd place finish alongside Far East Society.

Overall, there’s a huge amount of talent across team Singapore coming from different teams. For that reason I’d rate them at a pretty decent mid-tier team with the potential to bring an upset if people sleep on them from their previous World Cup showings. The Team Singapore of 2017 is not the same as the one in 2019, and that’s for the better. – andygmb, Team Ireland GM

25: Poland

Team Poland are having their third crack at breaking out of the qualifier stages for the OWWC, having fielded a team in every world cup since 2016. The “Birds of Prey” roster have a couple of highlight players, most notably Karol “Danye” Szcześniak (Paris Eternal), Maciej “Mesic” Natzke (Formerly of Team QLASH), Mikołaj “IDxD” Brydak (Formerly “IDK”, and formerly of ex-Contenders Team We Have org).

The team is also hoping to utilize some of their existing synergies, as Danye, Xyzano, Duku, and Dxtr all played for Team Poland 2018. That, and the injection of OWL and Tier 2 experience, should help propel them out of the group stages this year. – Phill “BiggHungryPhill” Moxley

24: Israel

Israel’s strengths lie in their support line being very strong. Dany “awkward” Novak has years of experience in the role. Behind him, they will have a very strong base to build the team comms structure off of, which makes or breaks a team. Dany “awkward” Novak’s Contenders experience with Triumph alongside their coach, Andrey “FrAgOn” Katz, means we can expect some really solid team play from Israel starting from the support lineup.

The DPS lineup from Israel is not as strong as it has been in past years with Josh “Eqo” Corona and Elad “KAFEEEEEE” Vaknin deciding not to trial for the team this year. Out of the DPS in the Israeli lineup, inferi looks to be the stronger player on the hitscan role compared to Aviv32 who will, presumably, be playing projectile for team Israel.

If there is to be a carry to come out of Team Israel, it’s going to come from their tank and support lineup and how well they work together. Shon “ShonP” Trikisha has contenders experience with We Have Org. Combine that with the fresh blood of Amit “Darkartas” Kimchi on main tank and Tzor “Knasen” Dahan on off-tank, who have both been grinding it out in the Tier 2 and 3 scenes in Europe, and you’ve got a Team Israel that have the bloodthirsty energy behind them to provide some upsets.

Overall, I would put Team Israel at a mid-tier team if the meta in November revolves around DPS instead of tanks. But, if the meta is about your tank and supports, then they have the potential to be a dark horse that will cause some upsets. – andygmb, Team Ireland GM

23: Argentina

Argentina did not compete at the last Overwatch World Cup. This year, it’s their opportunity to show everyone what they’ve been missing. Flex support Renzo “Searchy” Castagnaro is one of the brightest talents in South America, excelling on Ana. Argentina’s DPS triad is spearheaded by Nicolas “Klaus” Ferrari of Uprising Academy, as well as Contenders champion Nicolas “LeviataN” Brosio. Off-tank Julien “BEAST” Lauandos also provides previous OWWC experience. Lastly, whilst these players are spread across many teams at this moment in time, most have played together before under the Isurus Gaming banner. If one of the major nations were to suffer an upset, Argentina just might be to blame. – Ben “BendubzGaming” Wright

22: Hong Kong

This team is spearheaded by their two leaders with Contenders experience. Chi-Yeung “Moowe” Yip plays for Nova MS and fans may remember him from his epic duels with Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee last year. Additionally, Kin-Long “ManGoJai” Wong is part of the undefeated Talon Esports team that is used to winning.

Other than that, all of their remaining players are in Open Division, which means they have competitive experience, but perhaps not at the highest level. They might put up a fight against some solid teams, but don’t expect too much from them in the long haul. – Jing Hao “Avalon” Liang

21: Thailand

This team is really strong. Main tank Teetawat “Teetawat” Teerayosyotin plays for Uprising Academy, Pongphop “Mickie” Rattanasangchod is well known to everyone, and Ubon “oPuTo” Dara plays for Talon Esports, who dropped just a single map in PAC Contenders this season. They probably have the best chance to make it to Blizzcon of their group, just off of sheer talent alone. The other players either aren’t in Contenders at all or are on Xavier Esports, which finished 7th out of 8 teams this past season. Because of this, they’ll need to rely on their best players to lead the team. It has to start from the top. – Jing Hao “Avalon” Liang

20: Chinese Taipei/Taiwan

This team is pretty strong, overall. Most of their players are with Nova MS, so they will have some pre-existing synergy which could really go a long way in the OWWC. Chen “ATing” Shao-Hua (main tank) and Lin “ShaiuLin” Keng-Yu (flex DPS) are my picks to watch of those players with Nova MS. They impressed at last year’s group stages and may be able to do the same this year.

Also, it is impossible to miss Lo “Baconjack” Tzu-Heng on this roster. His OWL experience should prove very valuable to this team and should give them the ability to experiment with some different DPS compositions. – Jing Hao “Avalon” Liang

The next few sets of rankings will be released over the course of the next two weeks. Stay tuned between now and then to see where your country finds itself in our rankings. Until then, check out our other Overwatch related content over at The Game Haus and find your country’s social media accounts on our comprehensive list.

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The Game Haus would like to thank all of the contributors for their time and effort towards putting this list together. We are so thankful for this amazing community of experts from all over the world!

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