osu!catch World Cup 2019 Concludes

Three titans of fruit-catching, who between them have won seven World Cups to date. China seeking to defend their 2018 title; South Korea desperate to avenge last year's disappointment; Chile dreaming of the forgotten glory days. Whose wishes were fulfilled and who fell at the final hurdle? All the juicy details can be found within!

Hello again everyone, JBHyperion here for your final osu!catch World Cup update for 2019. Through a six-week roller-coaster run of seventy-nine matches, the tournament once again separated the good, from the great, from the Champions.

Faced with a new and terrifying Grand Finals mappool, many legendary veterans returned to the heart of the action in the exciting and dramatic finale, which you can find full coverage of on the osu!live Twitch channel, along with all previous rounds if you need a refresher!

Without further ado, it is my great pleasure to present to you the results!

Congratulations to Team South Korea for winning the osu!catch World Cup 2019!

Even without the iconic talisman ExGon, South Korea began the tournament as heavy favourites to reclaim their osu!catch Champion titles from China after a slightly undercooked (at least by their own lofty standards) performance last year. Led by Captain and current #1 Ranked Motion, and featuring a swath of multi-talented players (three others of whom also currently reside in the Global Top 10), South Korea withstood intense pressure to survive a Grand Final bracket reset and defeat China in another highly-charged conclusion.

With their eventual 7-3 victory, Team South Korea will receive the grand prize of $150 per team member, profile badges, and the highly coveted "osu!catch Champion" user title for one year!

Team China claim a spot on the podium for the fifth consecutive year in second!

The consistency of the Chinese roster is truly something to be feared. Since 2015, they have been either victors or runners-up in every edition of the osu!catch World Cup, but more remarkably, they have achieved this with only seven players utilised across all five years. Team captain Dusk in particular proved yet again his prodigious talent has not faded in the slightest, even after a period of relative inactivity.

China shocked the crowd with a 7-4 victory in the opening match to force a bracket reset, but could not adapt quite as well to the shift in South Korean strategy in Match Two, and ultimately their consistency fell short by the tiniest of margins. Team China will receive a prize of $80 per team member and profile badges to commemorate their continued excellence.

Team Chile repeats their performance from 2018, again claiming third place!

Despite suffering a 7-1 loss to China in the Losers' Bracket Final for the second consecutive year, this was a much more convincing performance overall from Team Chile. Captain lineqtxz marshalled his veteran squad expertly, targetting their opponents weaknesses with impunity and bringing down more highly-favoured teams such as The United States, as well as dark horses Mexico who claimed an excellent fourth place.

Team Chile will receive a prize of $40 per team member and profile badges to celebrate retaining their podium placing.

As always, a huge show of appreciation for all of our tournament staff for helping to keep World Cups alive and awesome, to the players for their exceptional feats of skill and stamina, and of course to all the viewers for supporting the teams and players on their arduous but incredible adventure in osu!catch.

And so the curtain falls on another edition of the osu!catch World Cup. I speak for both my fellow commentators and I in saying that it has been our great pleasure as always to bring you updates on the action, whether they be in the news, or at the casters' table. Excitement is surely already building for next year's tournament... Will you be the next to lead your country to fruit-catching greatness?

Until next time, remember that rhythm is only a click (or in this case, a dash) away!

—JBHyperion