The Pacific Showdown is a double bracket competition featuring the best of the best in the Pacific region. The Pacific region includes Contenders Australia, Korea, China and Pacific. There are six teams from these four regions and it makes for a great showcase of talent. This short article is designed to give those without any knowledge of these regions, a guide to this exciting tournament. The Pacific Showdown will be taking place from May 24th to May 26th.
6th – ORDER
ORDER surprised many with their dominating win over the Sydney Drop Bears in the Australian Contenders playoffs. The Drop Bears were favoured to win Aussie Contenders all season. But it seemed that this 3-3 Meta really helped ORDER to snatch the title away from them. ORDER is in the sixth place of this power rankings because not only is Australian Contenders probably the weakest of the four regions, ORDER has not shown anything in the way of flexibility.
Dale “Signed” Tang has a strong Zarya and also seems to be quite comfortable on McCree and Ashe. James “Yuki” Stanton is known for his Pharah, and as a former Team Fortress 2 pro (like Seagull and Mangachu), should be feared if he pulls out this hero. Despite some Pharah use on Control maps, many of ORDER’s favourite non-Goats heroes are rarely seen. There are maps which require DPS heroes to be played, or for counter-picks to be made. It’s hard to see where this team can be flexible.
5th – The One Winner (T1W)
T1W is the second seed from China, the second strongest region in this tournament. Despite this achievement, T1W only barely clinched their place in this showdown. However, they may have what it takes to turn some heads here. They do not have a particularly successful Goats composition. However, they are quite mechanically skilled and should be able to surprise some teams, in the same vein as Chengdu Hunters in the OWL. Tan “Mijia” Xujie is the x-factor on this team. He has a strong Doomfist and a solid Zarya. Should he have a strong tournament, so should T1W.
Zhang “Highbee” Zening is also a player to watch for on this team. Highbee is a very flexible off-tank player and can be often seen flexing to heroes like Soldier: 76. Flexible off-tank players are always in high demand at the top level of Overwatch, and should Highbee perform well here, it’s possible he could get some looks for the OWL.
4th – Talon Esports
Talon quite handily swept the Pacific Contenders playoffs and was rarely challenged in their region. Talon is another team with a flexible roster. Unlike ORDER, this team can play a strong DPS composition and unlike T1W this team has a strong Goats composition also. The Pacific Region is not a particularly strong region and despite Talon’s great potential, they may just be inexperienced at this level. Lee “Arachne” Ji-won formerly of the old legendary Mighty AOD team is the head coach and may be able to provide the necessary experience for Talon to perform well. 
Lee “Gogora” Ji-yoon is an OWL level off-tank. Gogora plays Zarya and D.va at this level and should be Talon’s greatest strength in this competition. Ubon “Oputo” Dara at this point is an Overwatch legend, many will remember him playing for Thailand in the Overwatch World Cup alongside Pongphop “Mickie” Rattanasangchod of the Dallas Fuel. Oputo went crazy on Genji in the Pacific Region playoffs and should he continue this impressive form, could lead his team to a higher placing.
3rd – Lingan E-Sports.Huya (LGE)
LGE are the Chengdu Hunters academy team and the first seed coming from Chinese Contenders. This team absolutely crushed the competition in this region and considering this region is quite strong, it is quite an impressive feat. LGE primarily run a tank heavy composition with a Sombra instead of a D.va and do not often play heavy DPS compositions however, they do have the DPS players to do so if they wish. LGE should not falter in this competition and should be considered as one of the favorites to win.
Zhong “Haker” Haotian is an outstanding Sombra player and is the key for LGE to upset either of the Korean teams. Choi “JeungMac” Dae-han and He “Molly” Chengzhi are both strong players on this team as well. Each deserving to be scouted for OWL at this event.
2nd – O2 Blast
O2 Blast are the second seed from the very strong Korean Contenders region. They put themselves on the map after beating Runaway in the semi-finals of Korean Contenders finals. After this very impressive performance, they were forced to play the Contenders finals almost straight afterward and were not able to play their best in this game. Going into this event, they will have weeks of preparation time and should be considered as one of the favorites to win. This team is a strong mix of Goats and flexibility and are able to play anything, sometimes replacing D.va with Hanzo for superior shield break.
Nam “Cr0ng” Ki-cheol is the D.va who can play Hanzo and is perhaps the most exciting prospect at this event. Seo “Myunbong” Sang-min is an extremely gifted mechanical flex support player. Myunbong WILL be seen fragging on numerous occasions during this event, so watch out for him. Many old pro Overwatch fans will recognise Ryu “Kaiser” Sang-hoon’s name from old Cloud9 and Runaway teams. Kaiser has recently regained great form on his favored hero, Reinhardt.
1st – Element Mystic (EM)
Element Mystic are the number one seed from the number one Contenders region Korea. EM are expected to win this competition and rightly so. They ended up winning Korean Contenders quite easily, which is a scary thing to think about. This team beat Runaway in the regular season of Contenders and blasted O2 Blast without losing a game in the finals of the playoffs. They love Doomfist Sombra compositions, Sombra Goats compositions and will often bring out Genji and other unique hero selections.
At this point, Kim “SP9RK1E” Yang-hans’s reputation as the most gifted under 18 DPS player in the world must be incontestable after his performance in Contenders playoffs. SP9RK1E is a projectile master and a Doomfist god. Other important players on this roster are the Meta Athena alumni Sin “Alpha” Jae-hyeon and Sombra carry Kim “Doha” Dong-ha. This whole roster is rich with talent, and they are already likely being scouted by multiple OWL teams.
This competition is shaping up to be one of the most exciting Overwatch competitions of the year, and is a must watch for any serious esports fan. Although EM are the heavy favorites to win, there are multiple teams with upset potential. Talon esports are ones to watch and may have an outside chance at having a deep run in this tournament.
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