The first phase of the Overwatch World Cup saw wild drama in one group, a surprise top finisher in another, and powerhouse teams finishing as expected in the other two. The inaugural international exhibition of community-nominated rosters tested and retested established competitive trends in Overwatch as teams battled through group stages. As the action moves from Opening Week to BlizzCon, there are some exciting matchups between the remaining eight teams coming in the single-elimination playoff bracket.

In Group A, a straw poll might’ve predicted a Sweden-Canada one-two atop the group. Those straws would’ve only been so much hay after Spain ran through the group with a perfect 3-0 record to finish in first. Going up against a Canadian squad, lead by one of the strongest Overwatch players out there in Surefour, Spain served notice that they, in fact, were the class act of the group. Using high damage-dealing characters, BromaS showed his teammates the way to the top with clutch play after clutch play. Playing as Reaper, BromaS used a garden of Death Blossoms in ideal situations to keep Canada off-balance throughout their battles on Lijiang Tower, and that proved to be the difference in their series.

With Canada out of the way, the other favorites of the group were next on Spain’s upset list on the third day of competition. Even though it took the full three-game set to defeat Sweden, Spain seemed to grow as a team as they followed their leader BromaS to another big win. Down a game in the best-of-three series, it was on Temple of Anubis with all of its chokepoints that BromaS turned things around. First it was him dealing tremendous Reaper damage on Sweden’s tanks as Spain assaulted the full map. Then BromaS backed that up with a clutch Pulse Bomb placement to wipeout three Swedish attackers on final control point with the game in Overtime. Full of confidence, Spain was up to the task in a tight final game on Lijiang Tower as Sweden couldn’t overcome the combined talent of their opponents and the pressure of heavy expectations. Nonetheless, Sweden will head to the playoff bracket as one of the most dangerous #2 seeds in the tournament.

With Surefour and Team Canada out of the tournament, the United States and their “home field” advantage remain as the Great North American Hope. The Americans finished second to Russia in Group B, and the matchup between those two Olympic rivals was thrilling. In their three-game set, Team USA’s Seagull and Team Russia’s ShaDowBurn served notice that they each have the talent to lead their respective teams all the way to the championship. Their Genji vs. Genji battles on Lijiang Tower were masterful. It wouldn’t be a surprise if fans were rooting for a USA-Russia championship series just to see Seagull and ShaDowBurn treat us to another omnic-ninja duel.

Korea dominated on their way to the top of Group C with what can be described as next-level play. It wasn’t so much mind games that set them apart as it was their overall tournament strategy to bait opponents into making mistakes. Against Group C runners-up Finland, Korea sprung a trap on Temple of Anubis that had the talented Finns guessing right on enemy locations but totally missing on enemy type. Where Finland expected an elevated Bastion, they found a shielded Winston who pounced, electrocuted, and neutralized the Finnish backline. From there Korea simply kept their opponents scattered and used the clock to their advantage. Of all the group winners, Korea is the only one who didn’t drop a single game over Opening Week.

Group D was hotly contested as France, Thailand and China—who all secured wins against Singapore—found themselves to be more evenly matched than was widely expected. They were so closely matches, in fact, that a tiebreaker round was needed to sort out the three-way logjam for the top two spots.

In the tiebreaker round, where each team simply played the other two once, China quickly dispatched Thailand and then France to finish top of the group. The win over Thailand merely confirmed what China accomplished in the opening match between those two teams in Group D. China’s tiebreaker win over France, however, avenged what had seemed a shocking 2-1 French decision earlier in the day.

Since both Thailand and France lost to China in the tiebreaker round, the final match between them had a direct appeal to drama: the winner advances to the playoffs. Thailand had caused shockwaves in this group all weekend with clutch plays and unorthodox hero choices that came to include Mickie choosing D.Va on Nepal with their tournament lives on the line. Even with a significant late advantage, Thailand couldn’t overcome France’s Mickalow on a Nano-Boosted Reinhardt in a final Overtime push. If surviving razor-close, high-stakes games is ultimately part of the winning formula for the Overwatch World Cup, look for China and France to make waves in the knockout round.

Only the cream of the crop remain in the Overwatch World Cup. Look for the final eight teams to continue their winning ways in the playoff bracket beginning Friday November 4 beginning at 12 noon PT.