World Cup 2017 Katowice: Viewer's Guide

It's been ten hazy days since we left Sydney in a cloud of dust. Sweden and Australia had fought tooth and nail to join France and China in the ranks of BlizzCon invitees in what was the most exciting Group Stage event to date. Then things fell silent...

The World Cup world tour was put on hold as we, the loyal fans, had a prior engagement in Seoul with Lunatic-Hai and Kongdoo Panthera who were determined to show the world what the pinnacle of Overwatch esports currently looks like. The APEX Season 3 Grand Final was one to remember and gave us chance to see some of the defending World Cup champions' stars in action.

Team South Korea are set to steal the show in Katowice, Poland over the next three days of action. We will still be on the pre-Doomfist patch here for the sake of fairness, as was that APEX final, so you had best limber up for the dive... and perhaps even those elusive anti-dive comps you've been hearing about.

Junkrat or riot.

Once again we have collated all the vital information here in one mighty list of lists. Be sure to check out our event page if you want to dive in to the detail and the spoilers.

Schedule

Friday 4th August

Saturday 5th August

Sunday 6th August

Format

All matches in the round robin Group Stage are played as 4 map sets featuring a Hybrid, Control, Assault and Escort map.

Teams are ranked on individual map wins and losses, not series results. Head-to-head results and tiebreakers will be used to resolve any potential tie scenarios.

The top two teams from each group advance to the best-of-five playoff matches. Win your playoff match and you have booked your ticket to compete in BlizzCon's World Cup extravaganza.

Maps

Hybrid: King's Row, Numbani and Hollywood

King's Row, Numbani and Hollywood Control: Ilios, Lijiang Tower and Nepal

Ilios, Lijiang Tower and Nepal Assault: Horizon Lunar Colony and Volskaya Industries

Horizon Lunar Colony and Volskaya Industries Escort: Dorado and Route 66

Dorado and Route 66 Tiebreaker: Oasis (best-of-three)

Broadcast

Talent

Soe " Soembie " Gschwind Penski

Soe " " Gschwind Penski Alex " Goldenboy " Mendez

Alex " " Mendez Malik Forté

Malik Forté Christopher " MonteCristo " Mykles

Christopher " " Mykles Erik " DoA "Lonnquist

Erik " "Lonnquist Mitch " Uber " Leslie

Mitch " " Leslie James " jamerson " Lee

James " " Lee Jonathan " Reinforce " Larsson

Jonathan " " Larsson Matthew "Mr. X" Morello

Streams

Teams

Below you'll find our team cheatsheet with groups, rosters and profiles. You might also want to check out Blizzard's official event preview.

Group E

Hwang "Fl0w3R" Yeon-ho (DPS)

Hwang Yeon-ho (DPS) Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong-yeol (DPS)

Park Jong-yeol (DPS) Kim "zunba" Joon-hyuk (Flex)

Kim Joon-hyuk (Flex) Kim "Mano" Dong-gyu (Tank)

Kim Dong-gyu (Tank) Yang "tobi" Jin-mo (Support)

Yang Jin-mo (Support) Ryu "ryujehong" Je-hong (Support)

Team South Korea profile "The Korean overlords return in search of their crown"

Eric "TwoEasy" van Hoorn (DPS)

Eric van Hoorn (DPS) Jeffrey "Vizility" de Vries (DPS)

Jeffrey de Vries (DPS) Ryan "CrusaDe" van Wegen (Flex)

Ryan van Wegen (Flex) Jonathan "Jona" Stelma (Tank)

Jonathan Stelma (Tank) Thomas "Morte" Kerbusch (Support)

Thomas Kerbusch (Support) Dante "Dante" Zegveld (Support)

Team Netherlands profile "Team Netherlands hope to paint Katowice #OWranje"

Mateusz "MATTH" Prymas (DPS)

Mateusz Prymas (DPS) Karol "DANYE" Szcześniak (DPS)

Karol Szcześniak (DPS) Aleksander "setrox" Radecki (Tank)

Aleksander Radecki (Tank) Mateusz "Matwoj" Hołtyn (Flex)

Mateusz Hołtyn (Flex) Adrian "ślepajstos" Pieper (Support)

Adrian Pieper (Support) Krzysztof "Tank117" Sapoćko (Support)

Team Poland profile "Team Poland look to the home crowd for inspiration"

Emre " Kabaji " Dincer (DPS)

Emre " " Dincer (DPS) Sebastian " iki " Egger (DPS)

Sebastian " " Egger (DPS) Patrick " Sensotix " Thonhauser (Flex)

Patrick " " Thonhauser (Flex) Patrick " wat7 " Marwal (Tank)

Patrick " " Marwal (Tank) Oliver " Itzeru " Endler (Support)

Oliver " " Endler (Support) Paul "ub3rb1ng0" Pachner (Support)

Team Austria profile "Team Austria come from a land down under... the Alps"

Group F

Brady "Agilities" Girardi (DPS)

Brady Girardi (DPS) Lane "Surefour" Roberts (DPS)

Lane Roberts (DPS) Liam "Mangachu" Campbell (Flex)

Liam Campbell (Flex) Félix "xQc" Lengyel (Tank)

Félix Lengyel (Tank) Randal "Roolf" Stark (Support)

Randal Stark (Support) Joe "Joemeister" Gramano (Support)

Team Canada profile "Team Canada looks to drop the competition in Katowice"

George " ShaDowBurn " Gushcha (DPS)

George " " Gushcha (DPS) Stanislav " Mistakes " Danilov (DPS)

Stanislav " " Danilov (DPS) Ilya " Txao " Makarov (Flex)

Ilya " " Makarov (Flex) Normund " sharyk " Faterins (Tank)

Normund " " Faterins (Tank) Viktors " Forsak3n " Bernevs (Support)

Viktors " " Bernevs (Support) Ruben "Rubikon" Zurabyan (Support)

Team Russia profile "Team Russia invade Poland despite visa woes"

Harley "JUNGEUNJI" Ng (DPS)

Harley Ng (DPS) Wayne "NeonTears" Neo (DPS)

Wayne Neo (DPS) Benjamin "Zest" Seet (Tank)

Benjamin Seet (Tank) Jared "rageoftofu" Chew (Tank)

Jared Chew (Tank) Muhammad "AJEN" Nazryn (Support)

Muhammad Nazryn (Support) Haikael "Cup" Ong (Support)

Team Singapore profile "Team Singapore: New year, new faces"

Şahin "h3x" Latifi (DPS)

Şahin Latifi (DPS) Emre "Yaga" Yenilmez (DPS)

Emre Yenilmez (DPS) Alp "Alfred" Kocabora (Flex)

Alp Kocabora (Flex) Ata "Edwin" Özevin (Tank)

Ata Özevin (Tank) Cem "Nycto" Yigit (Support)

Cem Yigit (Support) Bartu "Suretler46" Uzun (Support)

Team Turkey profile "Team Turkey refuse to chicken out in Katowice"