osu!catch World Cup 2018: Semi Finals & Finals Week 1 Recap

A double-header of news and reviews from the osu!catch World Cup 2018 this week – which three teams clinched their crucial places in Finals Week 2, and when is it all coming to a head? All the information you need is right here!

"Who is going to win the osu!catch World Cup 2018?"

This is a question I, JBHyperion, have been asking myself for over two months now, since the Registration phase first began at the start of May. Since then, we've seen just about everything imaginable, and some sights extending beyond even that. Naturally, we are only marginally closer to knowing the answer we so desperately seek.

However, over the past two weeks, our remaining twelve teams have been steadily whittled down to just three. We'll get into that a bit more later, but first, let's review the Semi Final and Finals Week 1 stages to set the scene. As always, videos of all matches are available on the osu!live Twitch channel, so head there first if you don’t want to be spoiled!

Semi Finals

by Dohland

China wasted no time advancing in the opening match, getting right down to business and delivering a swift knockout punch to the Netherlands, winning with a score of 6-1. China were looking determined to make the run from the Losers' Bracket to Grand Finals once again.

Hong Kong kept things going against Mexico, who just couldn’t seem to find their rhythm this year. Unfortunately for Mexico, that poor form would continue, as they struggled once again and allowed Hong Kong to take a 6-2 win.

Up next, we had a Group Stage rematch, Taiwan vs. France. The Group Stage match between the two went to a tiebreaker and was decided by a mere 3000 points, with Taiwan coming out on top. Would France be able to take revenge? Spoiler alert – Yes! France picked up a hard-earned 6-3 win over Taiwan and the French would look to keep their party rolling.

Poland tried to do the same in keeping their World Cup dreams alive against Germany. The good news is that Poland put up a great fight and landed some points on the board. The bad news though, is that it wasn't enough. Poland tried their best but were simply unable to match Germany, who eventually won 6-3 and eliminated the Polish from the tournament.

Losers' Bracket Semi Finals Round 2. Two spots left in Finals Week. Four teams vying for them. Who's it gonna be?

In the first of these two battles, it would be China vs. Hong Kong. Once again, China would demonstrate exactly why they have seen such success in past tournaments. They showed no mercy and put their foot down, delivering another 6-1 win to eliminate Hong Kong from the tournament and move on to Finals Week.

Then, it was France vs. Germany. The last two European countries remaining in the tournament would do battle for the last remaining spot in Finals Week. However, there was one problem for Germany, in that half of their roster was absent. France would open up with a large lead, but the three-man German team would put up three points of their own.

With Germany down 5-3 and facing elimination, Sousaki announced his arrival and Germany would immediately send one of their aces out to try and shift the tide of the match. Picking Hidden, Germany would lead all the way, but at the end, disaster struck – Sousaki would fail the map and hand the match point over to France, ending in a final scoreline of 6-3.

In the Winners' Bracket, we got things started off with South Korea vs Chile, the victor being guaranteed a top-three spot. Both teams came out swinging, hitting their marks and we all thought that we would see our first Tiebreaker. But that's when Chile stunned the world. They found a break point against the Koreans and would never look back, taking a 6-3 win and returning to the podium for the first time since 2013.

Last up, the match everyone had been anticipating. Indonesia, who were looking for their third consecutive top-three appearance, versus the United States, who had just pulled off one of the greatest upsets in tournament history and were looking for their first ever top-three finish. Things started off pretty tame, with both teams winning their picks. The scores were tied at 2-2 when Indonesia found the first break point of the match.

At a 4-2 deficit and facing one of the most consistent teams in osu!catch World Cup history, things weren't looking good for the Americans. Indonesian stalwart Galaxi found an unfortunate fail in game seven, but then we witnessed the closest margin of victory in osu! tournament history. A four point win. And just like that it was tied at 4-4.

Both teams won their picks and we would see tiebreaker selection Mizuki Nana - VIRGIN CODE played for the first time this weekend. After a heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumping and dangerously close match, it would be the United States picking up their second tiebreaker victory of the tournament and claiming a top-three spot for the first time in their osu!catch World Cup history.

Finals Week 1

by JBHyperion

With only six teams still standing, the business end of the tournament had well and truly been reached. Old rivals China and South Korea renewed their hostilities in the opening match, and whilst a great Hidden performance on Mitsuki - climactic cry by DreStar helped get the Korean team on the board, it was otherwise one-way traffic as China pulled into a commanding 6-1 lead. This sequence included an astonishing FC from Crystal on the HR pick KASAI HARCORES - Cycle Hit which set the match on fire.

South Korea would gain two further victories in the NoMod and Hidden pools, but China would halt their resurgence in the cruelest fashion, securing their seventh and final point on Megpoid GUMI - Cosmos by a mere thousand points to send the three-time World Champions crashing out.

France's impressive run in this year's tournament would next be cruelly undone by a ruthless Indonesian performance across all mod brackets. The French team narrowly missed out on their first pick, DJ TOTTO feat. Sunao Yoshikawa - Arousing, but sadly never looked like a recovery was on the cards as they subsided to a 7-0 sweep.

Whilst disappointing to fall so close to the finish line, it was a renaissance year for the French following their ignominious Group Stage exit in 2017 at the hands of debutants Romania, so they should be rightly satisfied with this significant improvement.

This set up Indonesia and China in the Losers' Bracket Final, two teams that are certainly no strangers to one another. China had been the victors in each of their previous four encounters, including the 2016 Grand Final and a tiebreaker victory in last year’s Losers' Bracket Final – what would 2018 hold in store for these two titans?

An incredible opening-pick FC from captain Deceitful on the low AR Hidden offering, Memme - Goat Fantasia, would announce Indonesia as contenders, but this flame was steadily extinguished game by game, as the superior consistency of China shone through. Indonesia's favoured Hidden crutch broken, China surged to a 7-1 victory and secured their place in the final three.

Joining them would be the two contenders for the Winners' Bracket Final – Chile and the United States, two teams who had typically fallen at the final hurdle to Finals Week entry in previous years, but now stood above all others with a golden opportunity for a guaranteed top-two finish.

Guillotine would lay down a ominous marker in the opening game with a FC on the NoMod pick xi - Akasha, with Chile striking back in the Hidden pool. Surviving a scare on their second pick as eldnl and Playboy each failed for their respective teams on the HardRock selection Camellia feat. Nanahira - PAPAYAPA BASS, the United States eked out a 4-1 lead after winning in three different mod pools.

Chile turned to the untouched DoubleTime pool for a second point, but paid the price on their second trip to the well, leaving the scoreline precariously balanced at 6-2, and the Americans on the brink of victory. Chile would find a second wind shortly after, breaking the US pick on Cycle Hit, and then snatching a fourth point at the death following a fail from -Electro-, but it would be to no avail. Despite a heroic struggle by eldnl, Chile succumbed to the struggles of 2011 osu!catch mapping on YuFu - Holy Moon, allowing the Americans to advance to their first ever Grand Final.

Upcoming Stage - Finals Week 2

It's been a long and winding road, laden with shocks, swerves and nail-biting drama, but we're finally down to the final three. After triumphing in the Losers' Bracket, China have a chance to redeem their Quarter Final tiebreaker loss to the United States, but only if they can overcome another team that gave the Americans a scare: Chile.

Chile were osu!catch Champions in 2013, but are only now making their return to the podium five years later. China not only reigned supreme in 2016, but also finished as runners-up in both 2015 and 2017 to South Korea, who they swept aside last week in convincing fashion. The winner of these two alone will challenge the United States, themselves making their first ever appearance in at the osu!catch World Cup Grand Finals, and the occasion could not be more grand for each team.

To the Chileans: a shot at redemption after years of struggle. To the Chinese: a pathway banished of their past demons. To the Americans: a manifest destiny to break years of Asian dominance. This is what being crowned the 2018 osu!catch Champions means, and unfortunately, only one team can realise their ambitions for glory and greatness.

Summary

Grand Finals week is absolutely not to be missed, regardless of whether you're a hardcore fan or casual dabbler in osu! World Cups, so this is your final announcement folks – follow @osugame on Twitter for updates on scheduling and streaming, and purchase a last-minute profile banner from the osu!store to pretend you supported them all along!

Lastly and most importantly, join us this Saturday the 14th of July at 1700 UTC+0 on the osu!live Twitch channel for the exciting conclusion to this year's osu!catch World Cup!

We’ll see you there!

–JBHyperion & Dohland