David vs Goliath, well except this time Goliath wins. This match went about as well as everyone expected, Dallas was stomped. After halftime, the Fuel looked better overall, more decisive and actually winning fights. Despite that, Vancouver was still better than them all series long. What else was to be expected? GG go again.
Ilios: Dallas Fuel lose 0-2
Mirror GOATS for a mirror map. Surprisingly, Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo opened up the series with a whip shot to knock the Titans’ D.Va off of the map. This was a short-lived victory as Vancouver quickly returned and dominated the rest of the series. Both Minseok “OGE” Son and the Titans’ Reinhardt charged off of the map.
It was time for a different approach. Lucas “Note” Meissner ran Sombra over his signature D.Va. This pick ended up not working out as the EMP got no value. Vancouver dominated both maps with relative ease.
Volskaya Industries: Dallas Fuel lose 3-4
The Fuel opted for defense on the map that the Vancouver roster hasn’t lost in over a year. Despite everything, Dallas actually won the first fight on defense. However, the Titans fired back in the next by corralling the Fuel into mega pack room and hitting a huge shatter. This put them on track to run down to B and speedrun their attack.
It was time for Dallas to take a crack at the Titans’ defense. Trying the Note Sombra again, Dallas had a huge deficiency in poke damage. Fight after fight was a struggle for Fuel until Note got EMP and won them A. Point B was more of the same, Vancouver would go hyper aggressive knowing their Sombra was not with them. Despite getting value from the EMP, Dallas were still unable to capture the point. It was only after OGE punished his counterpart that his team finished the map.
This time with less than two minutes, Note decided to go back to D.Va on attack. Despite the D.Va pick, Note was unable to shut down the Ana pick on Titans’. The full hold came through from Vancouver. This was enough time for the Titans to flex their DPS. Much like Thanos, they are inevitable. The first tick came through and Dallas went down 2-0 decisively.
Eichenwalde: Dallas Fuel lose 2-3
This was speedrun central for Vancouver. At times Dallas were merely objects in the way. It was not until point C that the Fuel stopped the onslaught. The Titans finished the map with two minutes left, pretty good for the Fuel considering how points A and B went.
On attack, Dallas broke out the fight into a scrappy mess. They did not want to, but Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson committed Transcendence to win A. This lead to the Titans’ Zarya getting a free Graviton team wipe. Surprisingly, when fights would break out Dallas would end up winning. After rolling through A and B, Dallas hit a roadblock. Point C can be such a grind, the Fuel were stopped just before finishing the map.
Dorado: Dallas Fuel lose 2-3
Vancouver decided to play their subs and run a Sombra. This meant that timing aggression was most important. The Fuel would sometimes get opening picks for easy fight wins, but Vancouver would always bounce back. Wonsik “Closer” Jung played around an EMP very well, hiding and using it to save the team. However, the focus fire and lack of disengage from the EMP meant that the barrier didn’t get much value. Despite everything Dallas held back the Titans until overtime, almost stopping the cart before the end.
Back to basics, Vancouver are really good at basics. The first corner hold was in full effect but the Fuel pushed back and even staggered the Titans through the A attack. All looked good for B attack until uNKOE had a questionable Transcendence usage. By desyncing with Graviton usage, Dallas were in a rough spot. The Fuel punished the aggression from Titans, then got an opening pick and ate Graviton to finish out point B. Despite the better performance in the latter half of the series, Dallas were stopped before finishing the map and took the 4-0 loss in the series.
Conclusion
The Titans-Fuel rivalry again went the way of the Titans in dominant fashion. This was a statement of the level Vancouver is on and how much the Fuel have to work on. A very rough week for Dallas, two losses and a partridge in a pear tree.
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Featured image courtesy of Overwatch League
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