osu!catch World Cup 2019: Grand Final Preview

Five weeks of frantic fruit catching have been and gone, and the field has been whittled down to the final three. From thirty-two teams, only Chile, China and South Korea remain. All have stood on the top step of the podium before, but who will rise to the occasion to claim this year's greatest prize in osu!catch?

A little over a month ago, the curtain was raised on the 2019 edition of the osu!catch World Cup, with over one hundred and eighty competitors showcasing their dashing skills - all in the hopes of becoming the next osu!catch Champions. Seventy-six matches, several nail-biting finishes, and countless incredible moments later, and only three teams remain.

If you missed any of the exciting action that led us to this point, VODs from throughout the tournament are available on the osu!live Twitch channel for your viewing pleasure!

I highly recommend checking out the Finals Week 1 matches that led us to here if you have the time, but if you prefer the busy person's overview of last weekend's encounters, feel free to read on below!

Finals Week 1

This year's Finals opened with a re-ignited conflict as storied as osu!catch itself, with China facing South Korea in the Winner's Bracket Final. Both teams are three-time winners of the osu!catch World Cup, and both of their rosters boast a frankly terrifying array of talent. South Korea started strongly by focusing on slower reading challenge picks from the Hidden pool, knowing that China would undoubtedly focus again on faster DoubleTime and HardRock picks, opening a 3-0 lead. China would retaliate with two points of their own, but could never again get the better of the Korean roster, eventually losing 7-2 in a series of close finishes - never once did the final margin of victory exceed 250,000 points, and in two picks it was one tenth of this figure.

Chile then took a surprising victory over last year's runners-up The United States. Despite losing the opening point, fortune favoured the Chilean squad who repeatedly picked Hidden - a traditional strength of the US - and managed to squeak through by the tiniest of margins, winning each of their first three picks by less than 35,000 points. The United States had avoided HardRock and DoubleTime wherever possible in their previous rounds, and without Hidden to fall back on, their confidence seemed to wane. A last throw of the dice on the HardRock pick Halozy - Deconstruction Star would have seen them snatch a second game by just 5,000 points, if not for a tragic last-second fail from -Kurisu- that ensured a 7-1 victory and the chance of another podium placing for last year's 3rd place team.

The second Loser's Bracket SemiFinal pitted a resurgent and highly-rated France against perhaps the greatest success story of this year's tournament in Mexico. France flexed their muscles on converted osu! difficulties throughout, but struggled to win key games in the Hidden and DoubleTime pools to claim victory. Interestingly for two teams both highly rated on the HardRock mod, not a single pick from the mod bracket was selected by either team. Mexico claimed a 7-2 victory and a spot in the final four, having never previously advanced beyond the Quarter Final stage.

This left Chile and Mexico - two teams that quite convincingly beat more favoured opposition - to battle it out for a spot in the Grand Finals. Both teams traded blows throughout, and despite several break points neither was able to take a commanding lead over the other. Chile once again exhausted the Hidden Pool early, with Mexico opting for HardRock and DoubleTime to outpace their opponents. Mexican dreams were very much alive when they secured a 5th game on the ever-dramatic Deconstruction Star by a margin of 3,752 points, but it was ultimately in the NoMod pool where the match was decided, as the Chilean roster's superior consistency shone through.

An eventual 7-5 victory took them to their second consecutive Loser's Bracket Final next week, once against against China - can they go one (or even two!) better this year? Frankly, if you watch no other match from this year's osu!catch World Cup thus far, make this one a priority - it really was that spectacular.

Summary

Only two matches remain before this year's osu!catch World Cup winners are decided, and you can catch both of them live in all their glory on the osu!live Twitch channel this coming weekend. The Losers' Bracket Final between China and Chile will take place at 16:00 UTC+0 this Saturday, August 3rd.

The Grand Final will be at 01:00 UTC+0 on Sunday, August 4th if Chile are victorious in the Losers' Bracket Final, and 12:00 UTC+0 on Sunday if China comes out on top. Be sure to follow @osugame on Twitter to receive notifications of all updates, scheduling and live broadcasts!

If you haven't yet picked up a wicked profile banner to show your undying love and support for your favourite teams and players from this year's osu!catch World Cup yet, hurry over to the osu!store now, as they will shortly become unavailable! All proceeds go towards helping make osu! and World Cups in particular even more awesome, so don't delay!

I hope to see you all cheering our finalists this weekend for the fantastic conclusion to another year of incredible fruit catching!

—JBHyperion