Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
San Francisco Shock vs Atlanta Reign may not be match of the week but it will effect the entire league. One could expect more drama when Andrej “Babybay” Francisty and the Atlanta Reign went up against his former team, the San Francisco Shock. There seems to be nothing but respect between these teams and their first meeting was an exciting one. The Shock have a schedule that should lead them to go flawless again. Atlanta winning would put them in a different conversation among the middle-of-the-road squads in the league. Look below to see how things shaped up.
Stage 3 began on the lighthouse of Ilios and Atlanta took an early encounter to win. The Overwatch League announced PTR patch to be live but the current balancing was in play. Both teams mirrored Reinhardt 3-3 comps. Not going down easily the Shock took the point from the Reign at 85 percent. Control would continue to flip but Hyobin “Choihyobin” Choi locked in the first map with a self-destruct multi-kill.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
San Francisco tried to carry the momentum into ruins and held the point until Atlanta took it from them at 92 percent. Atlanta came barreling back to the point with Wrecking Ball. After losing two in the ensuing fight the underdogs tie up Ilios, winning a scrappy scuffle.
Second point, Well, was all about the bunker for Atlanta. Interestingly enough, the SoCal team tried running Roadhog and later Wrecking Ball 3-3 comps in response. Orisa knows best and Atlanta goes up 1-0 in the series. San Francisco were not able to punch through on Ilios, their first map loss since Stage 1.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
This map was short, ending just under 11 minutes in. The Shock held the Reign to 83.6 percent control of point A. Both squads ran Reinhardt 3-3 with the Shock subbing replacing Zenyatta with Baptiste on defense to full hold. One massive team brawl later and this match was tied 1-1 going into halftime. Baby and company were in a good position at the split, despite losing their second map.
Jay “Sinatraa” Won set the tone for the second half outpacing Babybay in damage by at least 700 points per engagement. Returning from a lost battle, Matthew “Super” Delisi’s crew got the payload moving after removing the Reign from it. Atlanta would stabilize and halt the payload by the saloon on the streets of Hollywood. Erster got deleted twice on the Reign’s attack but they clapped back and killed Super while retreating. Their mastery of leaving skirmishes allowed them to grab the limo on the back foot. Babybay got his Graviton Surge before Sinatraa, dropping on the Cali club and Atlanta cruised to a 2-1 lead in the series.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The Atlanta Reign, were one map away from closing out the game, went to Watchpoint: Gibraltar. This one went the distance. Each of these teams had amazing pushes, completing the map once apiece. The two overtime rounds that followed were filled with team wipes, counter-gravs and hype moments. The biggest moment however was the final defense for Atlanta, a defense that would win the game. Babybay just needed to land a Graviton Surge on San Francisco to edge out a win. Choihyobin clutched the round and forced a fifth map, eating Babybay’s ultimate. Pokpo would die at the same time and the tie-breaking map would decide it all.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Something must have been in the water after Gibraltar, Atlanta were unable to take a single percent of control on the first stage of Oasis. For a map that’s known for 100 percent to 99 percent completions, the shut out was impressive.
The Shock controlled the pace of the map on Oasis, forcing 82 percent progress before Atlanta could take it for themselves. In spite of Sinatraa falling in the first retake, San Francisco flipped the point back in their favor. Echoing Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Choihyobin ate another ultimate, clinching the series for the Shock.
Win or lose, Atlanta showed that they can hang with the premiere talent in the Overwatch League. Their sights are set on the next mission, the next match. Vancouver better take notes.
He was either getting first picks or saving his team with clutch Transcences. The Shock lose this game if Minki “Viol2t” Park did not carry this hard.
Follow Daron on Twitter @scottfree__. He’s always up for a chat so come say hi!
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