osu!catch World Cup 2018: Group Stage Recap

Another year of furious fruit catching competition has commenced in earnest, with the world’s best duking it out on the grandest stage of all for your viewing pleasure. Missed any of the action? Eager to see where we’re heading next? All the juicy details can be found within!

Greetings everyone, JBHyperion here to once again bring you an update on all the action from this year’s edition of the osu!catch World Cup. As in previous editions, more than 180 of the best players, representing 32 countries, are seeking the ultimate prize in fruit catching – a chance to forever etch their names in history as osu!catch Champions.

The osu!catch World Cup 2018 is already well underway, with the Group Stage having concluded this past weekend, but if you’re keen to find out how your favourite team performed, you’re in luck! VODs from the whole weekend are available on the osu!live Twitch channel.

As I’ll get into very soon, this was possibly the most incredible weekend of matches I’ve ever had the pleasure to commentate (or even witness), so I highly encourage everyone to check out the action as it went down if you’re able to do so!

Group Stage

What screams excitement and high-stakes drama more than anything else? Why, four tiebreaker matches in a row, that’s what! After a comfortable opening victory for last year’s runners-up China over the Philippines, we were treated to the almost surreal spectacle of our next four streamed matches going the full 7-game distance, each culminating with Oh, Be Clever - Next To You (Elephante Remix).

This block featured two agonising defeats for Thailand and Vietnam, the latter participating in their first ever osu!catch World Cup, as well as a closely-fought duel between Norway and the Russian Federation. However, the highlight was undoubtedly a clash of epic magnitude between France and Taiwan, which had everyone out of their seats as the two teams fought to the bitter end, trading leads back and forth. Taiwan would eventually prevail, eking out a mere 3,500 point lead on the final spinner to complete their first of two tiebreaker victories, also triumphing over Canada early on Sunday morning.

The early hours of Sunday morning saw Mexico fight through the pain to compete in three consecutive matches and secure their place in the Round of 16, but it was a somewhat concerning performance by defending Champions South Korea, who started out slowly in each of their matches before limiting the damage. It would have been unthinkable a year ago that South Korea could be taken to a tiebreaker situation in the Group Stages, but Poland very nearly made that a reality, losing their 6th and final game on the HR pick, Horie Yui - Asymmetry, by just 550 points.

The final sessions offered just as much excitement and tension, with a further four matches reaching the dramatic (and by this point, almost expected) conclusion of a tiebreaker. An astonishing three of these matches (every match in their Group Stage draw, no less) were contested by Sweden, winning the first two against Australia and Brazil, but sadly not able to complete the three-peat against Germany in the last streamed match of the day.

This match in particular will likely be remembered for a different reason however, in that, with the scoreline at 1-0 in Germany’s favour, Sweden elected to pick the perennially popular Hige Driver join. SELEN - Dadadadadadadadadada from the NoMod pool. With both teams feeling red-hot off the back of previous victories, neither was prepared to give an inch to the other.

The unthinkable happened, as all six players recorded an identical SS performance, resulting in a tie. But then the unthinkable happened again. And again. And even a fourth time – check the match history! At the fifth time of asking, finally the German team made a mistake and allowed Sweden to tie the scores at 1-1, in what was effectively the 6th game of the match. Whilst Germany would eventually go on to take the match victory, both teams showed their incredible skill and determination here, and should be commended.

Upcoming Stage – Round of 16

After 48 matches crammed with more tension and excitement than is probably safe for the human body to endure, we look forward to watching the 16 remaining teams do battle in the knockout stages from this coming weekend onward. On the top side of the bracket, Chile will open proceedings against Mexico, whilst on the other side of the globe, last year’s Champions South Korea look to build momentum against Japan. Later in the day, Norway and Finland clash with Hong Kong and Taiwan, respectively.

Some truly terrifying monster matchups await us in the lower half of the bracket, however, with Poland once again taking on China, Germany crossing swords with the Netherlands, Sweden stepping up against the USA, and France taking the field against the 2016 runners-up, Indonesia. Who will rise and who will fall? Only time will tell...

Summary

Whether you’re an avid supporter of your favourite team, or a casual fan hoping to see some exceptional feats of skill, endurance and strategy, this weekend’s Round of 16 matchups are absolutely not to be missed! Make sure to stay tuned to the osu!live Twitch channel to catch all the action, and follow @osugame on Twitter to stay notified of updates, scheduling and live broadcasts.

Additionally, if you want to show your undying love and support for your favourite teams and players, profile banners for the 16 knockout stage teams will be available to purchase from the osu!store very soon! Keep your eyes peeled people!

Hopefully you’re now all as excited for the remainder of this osu!catch World Cup as I am, and I look forward to seeing you all this weekend for more thrills, chills and inevitable fruit spills!

—JBHyperion