osu!catch World Cup 2018: Round of 16 Recap

Two weeks of frantic fruit-catching in the osu!catch World Cup 2018 completed, and several more still to look forward to - but who triumphed at the top of the tree, and who fell off the platter of progress in the Round of 16? Read on to find out more!

Hello once again one and all, JBHyperion here to deliver your weekly round-up on all the action from this year's edition of the osu!catch World Cup. Following on from one of the most incredible Group Stages ever seen in an osu! World Cup, last weekend's Round of 16 saw our remaining teams each jostling for position in the march to becoming this year's osu!catch Champions.

Eight more matches were shown live on stream this past Sunday, each delivering further energy and excitement, shocks and swerves, as the tournament bracket continues to take shape.

Wanting to inject a little more flair and personality into things, the first match was preceded by an osu! Coffee Hour “pre-show” where fellow commentator Dohland and myself ran down a recap of the best moments from the previous week's Group Stages, as well as most anticipated moments and predictions for each of the Round of 16 matches.

If you missed any of the action and analysis, or are just eager to relive it a second time, VODs for all eight matches and pre-show are available on the osu!live Twitch channel.

Round of 16

Sadly there was no epic tiebreaker streak to kick off this round of matches, but that's certainly not to say we weren’t treated to a number of tense finishes and impressive turn-arounds. Chile opened up with a dominant performance over a struggling Mexico, trading game wins in the initial skirmishes, but later surging to a 5-1 victory and looking particularly dangerous in the Hidden and Hard Rock Pools.

South Korea and Japan would clash next, in a match featuring a bizarre opening sequence where both teams lost two of their own picks in a row to leave the scores balanced at 2 wins apiece. As in their Group Stage encounters, the Korean team would eventually find their rhythm and claw their way to a 5-2 victory, but they survived a number of serious scares including a narrow escape on the NoMod pick Nakashinoda Mugi - Senjou no Aria where sadly, Molqus could not emulate their Japanese compatriots' impressive SS performances.

France would continue their impressive run of form in this year's tournament, taking an impressive three points from 2016 Runners-Up Indonesia before eventually succumbing to the ironclad consistency of veterans Deceitful, dika312 and Galaxi. In an incredible show of focus and determination, the Indonesian trio let slip only two droplets between them in the final two games, eventually triumphing 5-3.

Hong Kong then overcame a very game Norway, who took the bold decision to fight strength-for-strength, picking Hidden twice in succession and coming out the victors on both occasions. It was so nearly a third when Norway slid to a 6,500 point defeat on the low Approach Rate Hidden pick, 96Neko x KurousaP - Kagen no Tsuki, but after the Hidden pool had been exhausted, Hong Kong's better bench strength and flexibility was brought to bear, storming to a 5-2 victory. The true plaudits in this match went to Groex of the Norwegian team however, as he fought his way to 5 Full Combo performances (and only four misses in the entire match) to ensure his team was always within striking distance throughout.

The spotlight would continue to shine on Scandinavia next, as Finland would almost shock their hugely experienced Taiwanese counterparts in securing several narrow victories on the way to a delicately balanced first six games. Taiwan drew out the best from the Finnish team here, as they did in their Group Stage tiebreaker against France last week, but kept their cool under mounting pressure from the underdogs to complete a much narrower than expected 5-3 victory.

Poland were forced to relive the horrors of 2017 as they were once again drawn against the ever-impressive China, but nonetheless fought valiantly to secure a game victory on their way to a 5-1 defeat. It was somewhat of an unfair scoreline for the Polish team, who held the Chinese juggernauts to a number of incredibly close games. However, as so often is the case when competing against such vastly experienced players, whenever the slightest window of opportunity was opened, it was immediately and ruthlessly seized upon.

Another team who were left wondering “what if?” after their match were The Netherlands, whose strategy unraveled spectacularly after only a single game. Attempting to sneak an opening victory on the uncomfortable NoMod pick, sana - Packet Hero, the Dutch team succumbed to a 15,500 point loss as the Germans held their nerve in a frantic back-and-forth exchange which had everyone out of their seats.

From this point, the Netherlands confidence was shot, and, buoyed by their opening break point victory, Germany reeled off four further game wins in succession to complete the 5-0 sweep. This was some measure of revenge for Germany, who had been soundly beaten by the Dutch in last year’s Semifinals, and they played with neither fear nor mercy in a frightening display of consistency that their future opponents have surely taken notice of.

The Round of 16 concluded with a clinical United States securing a comfortable 5-0 victory over Sweden. Sweden threw quite literally everything in their playbook at this contest, but it merely bounced right off the American armour. Game after game, the Swedish challenge was checked by the Americans, who played with unshakeable consistency throughout and look incredibly strong going forward.

Upcoming Stage - Quarter Finals

Although no further eliminations will occur until next week, our eight Losers' Bracket teams must be feeling the nerves knowing every match is now a fight for survival. On the top side of the draw, the Netherlands seek a recovery in form against an inconsistent Japan, whilst Finland seek to continue their impressive run against a struggling Mexico. On the bottom side, Poland and Sweden look to bounce back from major losses, and the similarly over-performing France and Norway clash in what could prove to be a gutsy battle of attrition.

If any of the remaining Winners' Bracket teams see this as a comfort net, they will no doubt receive a harsh reality check come the weekend, as the skill level and tournament experience on display is honestly staggering to behold. Germany will hope to prey upon an inconsistent South Korea in the top half of the draw, joined by a strong Chilean outfit and the ever-dangerous Taiwan.

The bottom half once again resembles a veritable warzone, with four of 2017's top six teams staring each other down for a Semi Final spot. Indonesia first cross blades with Hong Kong in a match oozing with star power and limitless potential, but the match on everybody's must watch list will surely be China locking horns with the United States. This mega match could realistically be a preview of this year's Grand Final, given the incredibly dominant showings by these two juggernauts of the fruit catching world thus far in the tournament, so is absolutely not to be missed!

Summary

Whether you're a long time fruit-catcher or had never checked out osu!catch before this article, everyone is welcome (and encouraged!) to join us for the Quarter Finals this coming weekend. Follow @osugame on Twitter to keep in touch, stay updated, and know when we go live! Support your favourite knockout stage team by purchasing a profile banner from the osu!store. Last but not least, don't forget to head on over to the osu!live Twitch channel to witness all the action as it unfolds.

That’s all from me for another week - next week's article might have a slightly different flavour as I will be jetting off to holiday, but you can count on it being just as juicy and action-packed as ever! See you next time!

–JBHyperion