A lot has happened in Fort Worth in six days of the World Championship. We’ll work through the most important storylines from Dickies Arena for you.
In the past, a World Championship was a relatively simple equation: as long as non-Europeans didn’t play against or with North Americans, there was a smackdown. Fortunately, that no longer applies in the modern era of RLCS. All teams in the seven RLCS regions have delivered spectacular performances and have been very competitive. Four regions were represented in the top six, fighting epic and long battles in front of the spectators. In terms of play, it was the strongest World Championship ever.
Inspiring the audience
For every esports sport, the spectators are the heart of every event. Therefore, there was a novelty at this edition of the World Cup: each team was allowed to play in front of the spectators. Previously, only the best eight or eleven of the 16 teams present enjoyed this privilege. Some were able to use the energy of the audience to their advantage.
Oceania had both of its representatives, PWR and Pioneers, in the final round of the Swiss stage for the first time, although it was not enough for the last victory and thus the first play-off appearance in a World Cup since 2018. Both teams showed strong performances and each took upset victories against the nominally second-best team from North America, Gen.G.
Sub-Saharan Africa also made further progress in front of the fans. Although it was not enough for a victory in a series, they were able to win a game against the strong Pioneers. For the first time, a team from the region did not finish last in an RLCS offline event. A good development for a region that has only been part of the RLCS for three years and has only been allowed to compete in majors since this year. It is undisputed that the region still has a lot of catching up to do, but improvements can definitely be seen.
A fairytale comeback
And then there was another Cinderella story: Oxygen Esports. The Europeans didn’t even qualify for the World Championship. But because the second team from Saudi Arabia, Twisted Minds, ran into visa problems, Oxygen was invited as the number five team in the EU. Back at the Winter Major 2022, a team from Saudi Arabia also had visa issues, so the rate is now 40% for tournaments on American soil.
Oxygen accepted the invitation, with less than ideal preparation. The players only found out a week and a half before the start of the World Cup that they would be competing, had to cancel vacations and had not touched the game for a while in the sense of the off-season. ‘Joyo’ and ‘Archie’ came to boot camp with five and four hours of play in the previous two weeks, respectively, while ‘Oski’ had at least 20 hours past two.
Oxygen got rid of the rust in boot camp so that they were at their best at the World Cup: In the Swiss Stage, they sent the reigning world champions Vitality home, and in the play-offs, the Major winners from Copenhagen, Gentle Mates. In the top six encounter against the Falcons from Saudi Arabia, they were stopped, but this result is still amazing for a team that was looking forward to a vacation just a few weeks earlier. It also speaks volumes for the depth and skill of the European region.