SEOUL -- Everyone thought South Korea had the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Nations Cup in the bag.
They were the favorite going in, had a constant lead throughout the first three two days of competition, and they had an incredible homefield advantage. But in the last three matches of the tournament, South Korea played it safe, opting to avoid conflict rather than take other teams head-on.
Just like that, South Korea's surefire lead was gone with only one match left to play. Team Russia had snuck up on them and were trailing by a thin two-point deficit.
As parachutes opened for the final game, all eyes were on the two teams to see who would pull out a miraculous win. Shortly after shots started to be exchanged Cha "Pio" Seung Hoon and Ivan "ubah" Kapustin, the star player on each team, were knocked out. Down two players and struggling to survive, Russia rallied to get seven kills and gain the lead while South Korea faltered -- through no fault of their own.
Yoo "Aqua5" Sang-ho disconnected and died in the storm during the final match, which the South Korean squad at a disadvantage in one of the most pivotal moments of the weekend. In a last-ditch effort to reclaim the advantage, the remaining two South Koreans took on a fight with Team Vietnam and were unceremoniously wiped out, all but sealing a first-place finish for Russia.
"We didn't want to be afraid of playing aggressively," ubah said after the final match on Aug. 11. "We dropped in Sosnovka, and that's how we managed to stay alive longer than South Korea in that last game."
Outside the exciting finish to the inaugural PUBG Nations Cup, effectively the World Cup of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the weekend was full of potholes and speed bumps. South Korean fans were furious with the outcome even though South Korean coach Seong "WatchinU" Hu Bae said that the outcome would have been the same without the technical mishap. The rules were clear though in that nothing would be done to rectify the disconnection.
Other teams were plagued by disconnections throughout the event, too, and lopsided incentives led to complaints that the tournament wasn't completely fair.
Korean esports crowds are amazing. #PUBGNationsCup pic.twitter.com/TmIbFJG7q8
— Jimothy @ Gamescom (@JimothyTV) August 9, 2019
That's because the Asian country that placed the highest during the tournament would get an extra spot at the PUBG Global Championships, the biggest event of the year with a $2 million prize pool taking place in Los Angeles and Oakland in November.
The extra berth was the result of PUBG Corp. revoking the spot that would have gone to the winners of the MET Asia Series in Bangkok. A power outage during that event ended a decisive late-tournament match prematurely, leading to complaints and accusations of cheating.
After PUBG Corp. decided to reset the entire match, seven Chinese teams walked out of the event. PUBG Corp, citing a lack of "integrity" at the MET Asia Series in Thailand, then made the choice to put their slot up for grabs for the top-placing Asian team at the PUBG Nations Cup, which ended up being South Korea.
"It affects the quality of play," ubah said. "South Korea and the other Asian teams were playing more aggressively for that extra spot at the championship. I didn't think that was fair since we weren't playing for something like that."
That means Thailand, Japan, China, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan had a big reason to play their hearts out all weekend. It's difficult to say if the difference in incentive had a real impact on individual performances, but it's undeniable that Western teams fell short of their lofty expectations.
"It has an impact; the fact that the slot is there changes the dynamic of the tournament," Australian PUBG commentator and analyst Jake "Zenox" Brander said. "The Asian countries that are eligible are going to put more work into it. It's hard to say if it actually affected things as we don't really know if anything changes if that slot isn't there, but the only thing we can say is that the Asian teams scrimmed harder, played more games together and took more interest outside the monetary incentives."
Each squad was made up of all-star players who were either voted in or chosen based on their level of skill. Teams like Finland and the United Kingdom, who finished at last and second-to-last, struggled to gain any traction in Seoul.
Team synergy wasn't the only issue, either. The disconnection issue that cost Seoul a player in the final match happened earlier in the tournament, too, with Team Australia and Athletico esports' Luke "luke12" Newey being cut off, although the stakes weren't nearly as high.
Despite the issues, the PUBG Nations Cup offered another chance to see emerging talent from underrepresented regions like Thailand and Vietnam. Both Thailand's Katanyu "DUCKMANZ" Chinsorranan and Vietnam's Nguyen "Leviz" Huu Doan put on dominant performances throughout the weekend and demolished the expectations the community, and other teams, had for them.
The Nations Cup also drew just more than 470,000 peak viewers, according to Esports Charts.
"This event brings in viewership that PUBG wouldn't usually have," Zenox said. "It's a lot easier to support your country than it is to support teams in any esport. You always want to cheer on your country and see how they do. There are probably thousands of viewers who don't generally watch PUBG, but they are here. We've seen that because we've had the most English viewers we've had all year."