Quite a lot rested on this match for both teams; a win would give Vancouver the first seed and for Guangzhou a win meant playoff contention. In the end, the Charge cracked under the pressure and were given their first 4-0 sweep by the Titans, denying their playoff hopes.
Image courtesy of Overwatch
On Ruins the Charge took 35% in the beginning, then briefly lost the point but reclaimed it quickly. Their multi-DPS composition prevented Vancouver from even contesting for the rest of the match.
On the Well portion of the map the Charge lost the initial cap, and Vancouver brought it to 99%. However a last minute double kill bomb from Hongjun “HOTBA” Choi saved the day. The Charge brought it to near 99% themselves, but lost at the last minute due to over-aggression from Seungpyo “Rio” Oh.
On Lighthouse a Standard GOATS composition was played by the Charge. They took the initial capture but were rolled over later in the same fight. The Charge were forcibly ousted after 20%. The rest of the map was one sided as Vancouver overwhelmed the Charge and took the first map.
On the defense Guangzhou gave up the first point after being overwhelmed in a small room with Sangbeom “Bumper” Park. The Titans pushed them through most of B where they are finally able to stabilize. After a bit, Vancouver rallied and pushed through the map, and finally won with 13 seconds in the time bank left
On the attack, the Charge ran an unusual comp using a Pharmercy, Hammond and Sombra. It was a slow and methodical push to take point A off an early EMP from Jungwoo “Happy” Lee. They pushed through the second, but were eventually held and unable to complete the map.
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
On the defense the Charge were quickly pushed over on both A and B in near record time. Following this insane display from Vancouver, Guangzhou attempted a quick take but failed when their DPS heavy push took much longer in controlling the first point. They attempted to gain a second, and finally begin taking ticks in overtime, but simply could not finish the map and dropped the series officially.
On both their offensive and defensive pushes, the Charge played the map with a heavy DPS combo, and seemed to have less focus on winning and more on having a fun match. They took a lot of time off Vancouver while holding initially, finally switching to GOATS near the end of the round, and lost with seconds on the time bank. Their initial offense proved successful for a little while but after switching to GOATS they were yet again destroyed by Vancouver, but with smiles on their faces after an entertaining final map.
Image courtesy of Brenda Suh
The Charge did their best this stage despite having many odds stacked against them, and should be happy with placing as high as they have. They also will never play Vancouver in the regular season again, which will assuredly be a huge weight off their shoulders. They’ll need to spend this downtime time working on smoothing out their inconsistencies and becoming the best at their own style. However, if the meta changes to something more DPS heavy, expect this team of young talent to climb the ranks as the season goes on.
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