The San Francisco Shock are starting to find their stride in stage two of the Overwatch League. Even at a 2-3 record, the Shock are showing steady improvements and the dominant win over the Dallas Fuel Wednesday is proof. A total team effort caps the most impressive performance from this Shock team all season.
The Emergence of Danteh
One player who’s shown the most steady improvement from stage one to stage two is Dante “Danteh” Cruz. Danteh entered the league as a talented player with a rather unproven track record. The Tracer main spent the better half of 2017 on different North American squads (Arc 6, Denial esports, etc).After Danteh’s silly good performance against the Fuel, it seems as if he’s arrived.
Situational Awareness
Danteh’s been improving in many areas, but the one area that sticks out is his presence of mind or situational awareness. The bad engagements have ceased and Danteh’s starting to find himself in better situations. Opposing teams are finding it difficult to keep track of Danteh and put quality shots onto him.
Additionally, in recent weeks, Danteh’s started to become a sniper of support mains with Tracer’s pulse bomb. It’s not only the degree in which he acquires the necessary ultimate charge but the sheer aim, targeting the support and positioning on the back line to constantly pull out two-kill pulse bombs.
😍😍 @Danteh dodging & darting around the payload for a 5K! #OWL2018
Live: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/r2uP51sPTj
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) March 8, 2018
Against the Dallas Fuell, Sebastian “Chipshajen” Widlund had a hard time accounting for the illusive Tracer main because he was the victim of many sticks with the pulse bomb. Danteh put on a clinic. Absolutely one of the more impressive Tracer plays in this win.
A Total Team Effort
However, the success of the Shock Wednesday wasn’t solely due to Danteh’s Tracer. No, the entire lineup found success against the Dallas Fuel, who quite frankly, didn’t look right.The actual player of the match was Nikola “Sleepy” Andrews. Sleepy filled in nicely behind the two tanks and gave nice support to Andrej “Babybay” Francisty, as Danteh caused havoc on the backline.
☺️@sleepy lending a helping orb #OWL2018
Live: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/dqaD25gY41
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) March 8, 2018
Nomy and Nevix best performance
David “Nomy” Ramirez and Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson have had their fair share of issues in the Overwatch League. Aside from inconsistent support play, the lack of cohesion on the dive tends to put extra pressure on Babybay and Danteh to find kills. That wasn’t the case against the Fuel.
On a side note, the Dallas Fuel looks utterly lost with Timo “Taimou” Kettunen and where and when to use his new Winston. The constant subbing for Felix “xQc” Lengyel, an adjustment period with him learning better about positioning and dive timings is causing problems. Nevix and Nomy, a tank pairing that’s struggled mightily at times, was able to bully the Fuel tank-line. In many situations, the Shock tanks were able to take much more real estate because the Fuel kept waiting for the dive.
In turn, this made life much easier for Sleepy and Babybay, who sat on the backline with no one pressuring them. The Shock goes from a below average team to an almost playoff contender with good play from the tanks and supports. The damage mains have proved their merit, and the next step is becoming consistent.
Lack of consistency
The reason the Shock find themselves sitting at 5-10 is inconsistency. Now, I can talk about the skill of Babybay and Danteh, but both of these talented players have bad days that cost the team. Unfortunately for San Francisco, today’s performance wasn’t exactly the norm. It’s usually quite the opposite with Nevix and Nomy fighting an uphill battle.
The win today is meaningless if the Shock keel over and lose the next few. The real test of these teams newfound strength will be the next stretch of brutal games on the schedule. It starts with the Shock facing the New York Excelsior, followed by a matchup with the stage on champs, London Spitfire, and ending week three against the Houston Outlaws.
It’s a rough stretch, but heading into Saturday, the Shock knows they have a chance to disrupt the standings. A win might seem unlikely, but as the play continues to improve, bigger wins will come. Regardless of the schedule, the San Francisco Shock are showing serious improvement and look to be moving up the ladder one week at a time.
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Featured photo via San Francisco Shock twitter