OWCS Champions Clash 2025 Day One Brought Thrilling Overwatch 2 Gameplay
The first day of the Overwatch Championship Series (OWCS) Champions Clash has come and gone. Only one series had more than the minimum maps played, but all the games had unbelievable moments. In this article, we recap all the day’s matches and what viewers can expect heading into tomorrow’s Champions Clash matches held in Hangzhou, China.
Team Falcons Versus Al Qadsiah
The opening match of OWCS Champions Clash saw Asia’s number one seed, Team Falcons, take on EMEA’s second seed, Al Qadsiah. Team Falcons entered the series as the favorite to win, and Lijiang Tower supported that statement. While it was not pure dominance, Team Falcons was almost always in control. LBBD7, while on the losing side of this map, was a standout, being the reason Al Qadsiah won as many fights as they did.
Off the back of LBBD7 and the supporting cast of Tred, Al Qadsiah took a dominant 2-0 lead on Suravasa. Through some composition and hero swaps, Team Falcons were able to fight back to a 2-2 but fell short on the final point. With a brilliant use of Ultimates, Al Qadsiah closed out the map, bringing the series to a decider.
Runasapi is the final battleground of the series. It was a quick drop back to reality for Al Qadsiah as Team Falcons put up over 120m before Al Qadsiah regained some control. However, Team Falcons never let them make significant progress, only allowing 7m while almost completing the map, winning the series 2-1. Proper dominated throughout the series, especially on Genji, earning series MVP.
Virus.pro Versus Once Again
It has been almost ten months since we last saw Chinese Overwatch teams in professional Overwatch. Once again, arrived on stage and began the series dominantly. The first map saw Virtus.Pro’s attempted counter of Once Again’s Winston composition without D.Va, and they seemed second-best. Save for the elimination of Shy on Control Center, Virtus.Pro never had a footing on Lijiang Tower.
Map two took us to Circuit Royale, which saw a fightback from Virtus.Pro. However, it was not enough against the Once Again powerhouse. LiGe replaced Guxue for this map with Once Again, preferring to play the D.Va. Many of the Once Again players are possible nominations for MVP, but in the end, the honors went to Leave.
NTMR Versus Team CC
As North America’s number-one seed, NTMR must perform against China’s second seed, Team CC. Ilios was a statement performance from NTMR. While Lighthouse was a back-and-forth going to the final possible fight, Well was in NTMR’s favor. Their Hazard composition seemed unbreakable on Well, with the OG Chinese composition struggling to find the crucial picks.
Suravasa was much of the same for NTMR. Team CC had some fights that went their way, but ultimately, NTMR dominated with a 3-0 score on Flashpoint, taking the series 2-0. Zeruhh’s Tracer received MVP, always in the ideal position to secure his team’s crucial kills.
Crazy Raccoon Versus Spacestation Gaming
With NTMR dominating Team CC, Spacestation Gaming looks to continue the NA dominance. Crazy Raccoon played a similar composition to Team CC but showed why the Ball composition is their comfort as they dominated Ilios. Spacestation Gaming tried with Seeker’s Sombra to deny Junbin, but it was not enough, and they left Ilios with a little total percentage.
Esperança was a better map for Spacestation Gaming, especially in the opening moments, with Sugarfree and Seeker putting in carry performances to earn a significant meter advantage. Crazy Raccoons found their footing on the map and completed Esperança off the back of Junbin’s Winston, winning the series 2-0. Lip’s overall performance during the series earned him the MVP.
Virtus.Pro Versus Al Qadsiah
With both EMEA teams falling in their opening matches, they meet each other in a do-or-die Lower Bracket match. Virtus.Pro showed why they are EMEA’s number one seed on Lijiang Tower. Al Qadsiah had some won fights on Night Market, but once they went to Control Center, Checkmate on the Pharah struggled to find value compared to JaeWoo‘s Venture. Fixa also established himself as the more dominant Brigitte.
The Virtus.Pro dominance continues on Suravasa. The first fight somewhat went in Al Qadsiah’s favor, but that was all they got, as Virtus.Pro closed out the map 3-0, stunning the Al Qadsiah team.
Ziyad’s entry into the series on the D.Va gave Al Qadsiah the much-needed aggression and set up an 81m push before Virtus.Pro responded in a big way. They not only stemmed Al Qadsiah’s momentum but also took the lead for themselves. A couple of nail-biting fights went back and forth between both teams, but Vestola clutched out in the end on Esperança, to win the series 3-0. The loss sees Al Qadsiah bow out of the competition. Fixa’s incredible performance, especially on Lijiang Tower and Survasa, earned the MVP honor for the series.
Team CC Versus Spacestation Gaming
As the only Eastern team to lose their first series, Team CC has plenty to prove against Spacestation Gaming. With the Wrecking Ball ban from Spacestation Gaming, Team CC must now play the Winston composition. The teams battle tooth and nail on Well, with the final fight win decided by incredible support play from Cjay and Bliss to keep Seeker alive, with a Sleep Dart and Rally, respectively. Lighthouse is more of the same. Team CC got the early advantage, but Spacestation Gaming clutched it to take the series lead.
Suravasa held possibly the best map on the first day of the Champions Clash. All but the fourth point went to the final possible fights, with both teams somehow finding ways to win fights they had no business winning. In the end, Spacestation Gaming won 3-1, moving to match point.
The spawn hold for Spacestation Gaming on Route 66 was semi-successful, but the follow-up fights went Team CC’s way until midway through point two. Team CC could not push any further. Team CC’s defense crumbled at the hands of Seeker’s Sojourn, winning only one fight in total and bowing out of the tournament, not winning a single map. Sugarfree won the MVP award for the final match of the day.
OWCS Champions Clash Day Two
After the first day of matches, plenty of action awaits on Day Two of the OWCS Champions Clash. The day begins with the featured match of Team Falcons against Once Again, followed by NTMR battling Crazy Raccoons. The losers of those matches will drop to the Lower Bracket. Virtus. Pro awaits the loser of Team Falcons, and Once Again, while Spacestation Gaming faces the loser of NTMR and Crazy Raccoons. The winners of the Lower Bracket matches will battle it out to play on the final day of the OWCS Champions Clash!
