After the long wait, the Overwatch League season ended with a quick, precise attack by the San Francisco Shock. The hype of the two best teams in the league facing off against each other for the third time in the postseason didn’t mean much. The San Francisco Shock ended up sweeping the Vancouver Titans in the Grand Finals, winning 4-0.
A precise attack
Just like league MVP Jay “sinatraa” Won said weeks before the event, the Shock beat the Titans “just like everybody else.” While the match wasn’t as dominant as the 4-0 sweep seems, the little mistakes made by the Titans were capitalized by the Shock.
Even though the Titans got to choose each map after the first one, it didn’t seem to matter. The Shock simply had a strategy for every map. This included swapping out their DPS line constantly and frustrating the Titans. Especially using Bastion and Pharah, the Shock just seemed to whittle down their opponents. And by the time the Titans looked better, the match was over. The Shock were the champions.
Maps 1 & 2: Lijang Tower and Eichenwalde
The game started with a bang, with an even battle on Control Center turning into an early dominant Sinatraaa on Doomfist. While the Titans did much better on Night Market, they did lose it and the map. Even a Hyojong “Haksal” Kim play, getting five kills, didn’t help them win the first map.
Going into Eichenwalde, the Titans needed to bounce back. They looked better at the end of Lijang, so fans hoped they would do so. They started poorly on defense, but rebounded and matched the Shock’s attack time. Their second attack only managed to get 55% of the first point, but their defense almost full held the Shock. It was on the Shock’s last attack that the Titans overextended and collapsed.
Maps 3 & 4: Temple of Anubis and Watchpoint Gibraltar
When Anubis came onto the screen, it started with a great defense from the Titans. However, much like the end of Eichenwalde, the last fight for the Shock led to the Titans’ downfall. After a couple of rounds, it was the Shock coming out on top again. This led to the Titans being in a position nobody in the league has won from: 0-3 down in a first to 4.
Even with choosing Gibraltar, when Minho “Architect” Park set up on Bastion yet again, it seemed inevitable. Throughout this entire match, it seemed that the Bastion composition was countering everything the Titans did. And after one great attack from the Shock and a good attempt by the Titans, the Shock held and won the championship.
What does this mean for the teams?
With the Shock, this shows season one was worth the pain. My prediction ended up being true, with the Shock having a better depth. Yes, they specifically made a team for this year and not last year, but it worked out. Both Sinatraa and Matthew “super” DeLisi didn’t play until halfway through the inaugural season. But their play this season was both MVP level and showed with their nominations. Now, are we seeing a dynasty start? Or is this just a one-season wonder?
With the Titans, it must feel bad to lose in the Finals, but they are essentially one of the best expansion teams in esports. Going from Korean Contenders to North America and immediately winning the stage one playoffs was an amazing story. Though they started to slow down a bit as the season went on, they were the only team that could contend with the Shock in this meta. The Shock were just better.
Disclosure: Enthusiast Gaming owns Daily Esports and a stake in the Vancouver Titans.
