osu! World Cup 2017 Round of 16 Recap

Sixteen teams took to the stage last weekend in the trials of the Round of 16! It might be the only round of the tournament where nobody gets knocked out, but the stakes have never been higher with each team sizing one another up for weaknesses and advantage. Here's what went down!

As we approach the end of November, the winter winds keep getting chillier. However, the Eliminations Stage that just began this past weekend only further fueled the BURNING LOVE of these players for their circle-clicking madness. Whether you were busy celebrating Thanksgiving with your family, or too involved in some shipgirl game's event, here's what you may have missed from the OWC 2017 Round of 16.

The South Korean-Taiwanese rivalry has been among OWC's longest-running ones. For many old players from the pre-2015 era, they can recall the stage that once belonged uniquely to Dungeon, Sayonara-bye, Cookiezi, hvick225, Rucker and Dabanlong, to name a few.

Over the years, South Korea has been the favoured team as they won against Taiwan in OWC 2013 Finals 6-5, OWC 2014 Semi-finals 6-5, and OWC 2016 Semi-finals 6-2. It almost seemed like fate has been toying with Taiwan. Prior to the match, Rucker recollected these past engagements on Twitter, voicing that Team Taiwan 2017 would like to end this streak of defeats.

(A veteran's only wish...)

The Korean roster this year is certainly no joke, as we have not only the returning powerhouses like firebat92 and Yaong but also new blood carries like Pring and Pray.

However, Team Taiwan, charging behind Rucker and Flask – the old and new generation captains, managed to punish the Koreans severely every time a mistake was seen. The match came down to a 6-2 in favour of the Taiwanese fighters, and Rucker was more than happy to announce to the world that he could finally return a blow right back at South Korea for Taiwan.

(...is to finally draw a conclusion to a year-long curse.)

Both Hong Kong and Netherlands are no strangers to OWC, and seeing each other in the multiplayer lobby means a chance for both teams to score their first win in the Eliminations Stage. Team Netherlands, rallying behind Captain n0ah and veteran carry jackylam5, quickly took 2 points to start the match off.

Team Hong Kong quickly returned favour and regained momentum by taking the next 3 in a row. Both teams came from the low-seed bracket, but both teams are also heavily underrated. As a result, the match came down to some very close moments, such as when Netherlands squeezed a win out of Pop It by a mere 13,990 points. However, Hong Kong was able to emerge as the victor when DenierNezzar, MinG3012, and – G I D Z – delivered their share of carrying and locking the match at 6-4.

(Too close for comfort!)

In the Denmark-Germany match-up, a noteworthy name is raser1234 of the Danish roster, who topped his team's scoreboard in almost all maps. However, his lone efforts were not enough as the battle-hardened German players were able to summon multiple carries to defend and counteract accordingly. Dustice, Neliel, and imagaK maintained composure and did what they would do in their best conditions – click the circles, to the beat.

While the Danish spears were sharp and pointy, the German ironclad wall proved to be too hard to penetrate. As the last note of Kyouran Hey Kids!! gets clicked, the match came to a win of 6-3 in favour of Germany.

(Dustice, imagaK, and Neliel – the fearless "Deutschen Stahl" trio)

The osu! rivalry between Brazil and Canada is a beautiful one as well. Both teams often scrim with each other for different occasions, and therefore they know each other's strengths and weaknesses. This match-up, therefore, became a battle of out-consisting the other team, especially when the mappool difficulty was still manageable by both sides. Canada's roster has no "lone star carry" and instead features players wielding a wide range of skills to complement each other. Azer's reading skills, MiruHong's rhythmic mastery, Ignite's speed, and FunOrange's consistency – they are a versatile and well-rounded roster.

Meanwhile, Brazil does have veteran carries like MouseEasy and Mystia, but they are not alone as the rest of the roster has shown to be able to keep up and support their main powerhouses. The direct face-to-face clash came down to Brazil winning 6-3 through displaying the better consistency.

(MouseEasy demonstrating he's also SSEasy)

Nonetheless, we are not saying good-bye to anyone just yet! Do remember that OWC is double-elimination, meaning all teams that make out of Groups get a second chance. Next week, we shall witness more intense circle-clicking action from these players. Some will reach for definitive victories, and some will fight to remain within the tournament. Don't miss out! We will see you at our stream over at Twitch on Saturday the 2nd of December at 11:30am UTC!

—Evrien