Crazy Raccoon has won the Overwatch Champions Clash 2025 following an intense 4-2 Grand Final against Team Falcons.
With this victory, the Japanese roster has qualified directly for the second international competition in the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS), the Midseason Championship in July, held at the Esports World Cup.
Champions Clash was the first international tournament in this year’s OWCS. The competition took place in Hangzhou, China, from April 18th-20th, featuring eight teams from the regional Stage 1 events.
Crazy Raccoon and Team Falcons were considered favourites to win the event, with both teams dominating in their respective region while competing for international trophies. However, unlike the Falcons, Crazy Raccoon did not make it undefeated through Champions Clash’s double-elimination bracket before reaching the Grand Final.
After an initial victory against Spacestation (2-0), the Raccoons were kicked into the lower bracket by American squad NTMR in a 1-3 series. Crazy Raccoon then had to eliminate Virtus.pro (3-1) and Once Again to take revenge against NTMR in a dominating 3-0 Lower Bracket Final.
Crazy Raccoon Against Team Falcons
Similarly to its bracket run, Crazy Raccoon first struggled in the final series against Team Falcons. The Japanese roster lost the first map, Oasis, 1-2 to take Suravasa then 1-3. While Falcons quickly struck back on Push map Runasapi (85.17 m- 133.25 m), the Racoons went undefeated for the remainder of the series, winning on Route 66 (3-2), Esperança (125.3 m- 68.96 m) and Circuit Royal (4-3).
Champions Clash marks another chapter in the rivalry between Crazy Raccoon and Saudi Arabian Team Falcons. Since last year, the two squads have faced each other several times in the finals of Overwatch’s biggest stages. The Raccoons won the OWCS 2024 Major and the Esports World Cup, while the Falcons secured the biggest trophy of the year, the OWCS 2024 World Finals.
With the first global OWCS competition concluded, all teams will head back to their regional events for the upcoming Stage 2 in May.
