There is a certain level of pressure to be found in any sport, but it cane be argued that the pressure gets a little more intense once the prize money being offered begins to rise. Esports have been around for a while now, but as the audience grows, so does the prize money for tournaments. Right now, the Overwatch Contenders tournament is going on across several different regions, with the pot of gold at the end of each being one that every team wants to get in on. For today’s piece, we are going to focus on the 4 quarterfinal games set to go in the Korean region, where the prize pool is set at $175,000. Lets’ look at the matchups and make predictions as to who we think will move on so you can place your bets against their Overwatch odds.
Overwatch Contenders KR May 28th Matches
O2 Blast Vs Lucky Future
O2 Blast closed out the 4-week regular season with a total of 190 points, which was the best score registered through that period. They took the top prize in Week 2 and racked up over $16,000 in prize money along the way. Lucky future snuck into the #8 seed in the final week of the season by making it to the Week 4 semi-finals. They earned a touch over $6,000 in the regular season and amassed 110 points. I think Lucky Future are really up against it here, which is why I am on O2 Blast.
BATTLICA Vs Element Mystic
This might be the toughest match of all to handicap, as these Overwatch teams are in the middle of the pack as the #4 and #5 seeds. BATTLICA were not very impressive through the 4-week season, but their surprising win in Week 3 was enough to move them into a playoff spot. Element Mystic did not pick up a win, but they were much more consistent, finishing second and making the semi-finals along the way. It is that consistency that I think gives Element Mystic the edge.
WGS Phoenix Vs Gen.G Esports
WGS started the season strong and finished it the same way. They opened up Week 1 by getting to the final before losing. They then failed to make any sort of impact in Weeks 2 and 3, but that changed in the final week of the regular season, which they won to earn 100 points and the #2 seed heading into the playoffs. Gen.G landed in the #7 spot with 110 points, but they also failed to move beyond the semi-finals in and of the 4 weeks of the regular season. It’s doubtful that they will be able to get the job done here, so let’s go with WGS Phoenix to win.
T1 Vs RunAway
T1 looked as though they were going to be the team to beat here after coming out fast and winning Week 1 of the season. They failed to make any sort of impact after that, though, and while they are in as the #3 seed, that really does come courtesy of the 100 points they picked up in the opening week. RunAway appeared to get better as the season progressed, closing things out with a second place finish in Week 4 that got them 50 points. I think RunAway might just win as the lower seed here.
