osu!mania 7K World Cup - ro16 Recap

osu!mania 7K World Cup is fully underway, with 16 intrepid teams fighting their way to the top! Did you miss out on any of the action? Fear not, as we've got you covered here!

Navigation

• Mappool
• Tournament Matches
• Looking Ahead

Have you already forgotten the events that have transpired last week? Here's a video recap by our beloved Junihuhn summarising the highlights of the Group Stage.

This week in the Round of 16, we had 8 scheduled "Best-of-9" matches taking place over a Sunday. Teams this week weren't at risk of elimination, though their performance would significantly impact how they progress through the later stages of this tournament.

There were also some fancy new changes to the stream layout. For the first time in World Cup history, the tournament client resolution was not the standard 4:3, but instead an ultrawide 21:9. With double the width, you can be sure that the highlights were twice as exciting!

Mappool

This stage, we saw a total of 39 picks and 14 bans across 7 complete matches.

A word from our Mappool Selectors

"The mappool was ok overall, though we might have had a few problems with Ro16 quality-wise and it might have been more unbalanced than usual. We have received a lot of positive feedback and constructive criticism - this will no doubt help us grow as map selectors, and improve the mappools for the later stages."

—aitor98

"It's alright but the reception we got from certain maps (namely Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. - Phantasmagoria and a little from KOTOKO - agony (TV Size)) made me think that we didn't do so well because the patterns weren't really the best in those maps, so now we're aiming for something that can make tournament players be wary of a tough map, instead of having them ban a map outright because of it."

—Blocko

"There were quite a few problems with the Ro16 pool (more than what I could fit in a small paragraph) and I'm definitely not proud of it. Some of the problems I can quote are the quality of the maps used which could've been higher, and the primary SV map she - gum was a bit of a miscalculation - it was too hard for Ro16. Let's not talk about Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. - Phantasmagoria. Regardless, I can say we learned quite a bit from all the feedback we received and hopefully the QF pool is a lot better."

—spoonguy

Mappool Statistics

Picks were fairly balanced across the board, with the exception of Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. - Phantasmagoria and she - gum - both were banned a total of 6 times each. she - Is This Love [osu!mania Speedmapping Challenge #5] was the most popular pick this weekend, having been played in 6 out of 7 matches.

For full details, please refer to the statistics sheet compiled by Nwolf and deadbeat!

Tournament Matches

Taking place over 2 blocks on the same day, the majority of the matches ended up in sweeps, though some of the matches were a lot closer than you would think.

Sunday

Block 1 (03:00 - 05:00 UTC):

The first match of the day was between teams Canada and China, ending in a 0 - 5 sweep. China was first to pick, taking the lead with Kola Kid - Spaceman. Canada retaliated in turn with xi - Aragami, but despite a phenomenal 991K FC from Dawt), it was not enough to secure them the win - missing out by a mere 4.9K score. With overwhelming confidece, Team China then proceeded to win the match. A fine performance from both teams.

The next match saw the United States dominating against Australia in a convincing 5 - 0 victory. After a very interesting warmup, the US proceeded to take point after point, with most score differences being in excess of 100K. Australia put up a good fight on the final pick xi - .357 Magnum, but the US blasted right through, winning the match.

Block 2 (10:00 - 16:00 UTC):

Indonesia vs Singapore was next, with Singapore triumphing 0 - 5. Despite it being a sweep, the former 3rd place country most assuredly gave Singapore one hell of a fight. Indonesia picked first, opting for KOTOKO - agony (TV Size), losing only by 24K score. The subsequent two picks saw Indonesia missing out by 8.8K and 6.8K score respectively. The top seeded Singapore just proved too consistent a team, and barrelled through towards victory.

Malaysia won a convincing 5 - 0 victory over Germany. All things considered, the low seeded Germany started off rather well, conceding their first pick xi - .357 Magnum by only 24K score. However, Things quickly turned south as Malaysia kicked into high gear, with cheewee10 setting some of the best scores we've seen all weekend. Team Malaysia ends the match with the beatiful song N.M.S.T - Snowflakes.

The South Korea vs Italy match ended with a WBD in favour of the Koreans. Italy was unable to find 2 players for this match, thus they conceded the match by default. It is always a shame to see these kind of outcomes, especially during the elimination stages. Nevertheless, these teams have yet to be eliminated, so best of luck in their upcoming matches next week!

The highlight of the weekend was certainly the tiebreaker match between Chile and Japan. Team Japan was first to pick - xi - .357 Magnum. After a short but intense battle, Chile took the early lead by a marginal score difference of only 8.9K. Chile followed it up by winning their own pick she - Is This Love [osu!mania Speedmapping Challenge #5]. taking the score to 2 - 0. In a fierce display of determination, Japan proceeded to win three consecutive points in a row, with each victory being literally within a hair's breadth. After a few more small victories on either side, Japan equalised 4 - 4. It was time for the tiebreaker...

Enter kamome sano - eclair au chocolat (extended bittersweet mix), a devilishly tricky tiebreaker for the Round of 16 level. The stakes were high and the flickering was as real and intense as it could possibly be. In spite of sporting a roster of only 2 players, it was Team Chile that was able to hold their own and triumph, by a score difference of only 12K. Major kudosu! to the mid-seeded Japan for taking the top-seeded Chile all the way to tiebreaker - what a truly splendid performance! If I were you, I'd definitely watch out for both teams as the tournament progresses!

France couldn't quite keep up with Philippines, resulting in a 0 - 5 loss. Team Philippines started things off with she - Is This Love [osu!mania Speedmapping Challenge #5], taking the early lead. Like Chile before them, they only had 2 players to work with, but this monstrous duo tore apart the French team like butter. Winning pick after pick, it was not long before the Philippines secured their win.

The final match of the day saw Brazil scoring a 5 - 0 victory against Argentina. Argentina had the first pick, going for xi - Aragami. Brazil was ready for this however, and their victory of 80K score difference definitely showed where the two teams stood. The top-seeded Brazil continued their relentless attack, and sealed the deal when they won the final point on capitaro - Tenshinranman Haikara Hime.

What a surprising weekend this has been!

If you're looking for something a little bit more visual, you can always catch up on the VODs found here. Alternatively, you can check out Junihuhn's wonderful recap video below!

That concludes all the matches for this weekend! Good luck to all the remaining teams in this tournament!

Looking Ahead: Quarterfinals

Saturday, 24. February 2018

Sunday, 25. February 2018

The first match of the Quarterfinals Stage will take place Saturday 10:00 UTC, 24th of February. Team China will be facing off Team Philippines in the Winner's Bracket, so be sure to catch these two powerhouses duke it out on stream over on the osu!live twitch channel!

Finally, a reminder to buy your banners today! In addition to expressing your support for a chosen team, your contribution will also go towards funding the prize pool for this tournament. You can purchase the banners here.

And that's all from me this week! It's good to be back writing for the World Cups again, even though I'm a little busy working on some other community projects. If you have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to drop me a PM, or leave a comment down below.

See you next week!

—mangomizer