Overwatch League Recap: Seoul vs Vancouver

Seoul Lose 1-3 to Vancouver

Busan – Seoul 0-2 Vancouver

Marve1 takes the stage
Photo Courtesy of Stewart Volland for Blizzard Entertainment

Vancouver never skipped a beat. Besides the one Sungjun “Slime” Kim threw in the middle of a winning fight when Vancouver were down on Downtown, Seoul struggled. They could not control the front line oppression that Sangbeom “Bumper” Park was putting down. Seoul’s main tank Minseo “Marve1″ Hwang on Winston and Reinhardt could not keep up.

Finding massive cleave damage with Reinhardt allowed the Titans to play a composed, explosive and coordinated game. Pouring resources into Vancouver’s Main tank the Dynasty could not get past the ultimate economy of the Titans. Still taking control percent on both points, Seoul put up a great fight against the Stage 1 champions.

Anubis – Seoul 2-3 Vancouver

Seoul vs Vancouver during Playoffs
Photo Courtesy of Stewart Volland for Blizzard Entertainment

Seoul were slow to attack and assault both points even while having Jehong “Ryujehong” Ryu on the high ground for point A using a Symmetra teleporter. Bumper was still able to come back after being eliminated first. For both attack phases, Seoul were unable to eliminate the rest of Vancouver as they stabilized when the Dynasty had ultimate and player advantage.

Even with Minhyuk “Michelle” Choi on Sombra a standout pick for the flex player in Stage 1, was unable to lock down his targets. Michelle struggled to find big EMPS like we saw in the previous stage too. Without winning fights off EMP, Marve1 got body blocked before starting overtime ending Seoul’s second attack

Vancouver are just more decisive with who they want to eliminate. From attack to defense they rolled through Seoul’s defenses both times. Setting a record breaking 6:18 time bank from their first assault. Vancouver was deflected on their first attack on their second assault. It was the only time Seoul convincingly won a fight.

Eichenwalde – Seoul 2-3 Vancouver

Through Vancouver’s attack exploited and finalized the problems Seoul has in their lineup. Marve1 is a more passive tank that wants Vancouver to make an error in when they are approaching. The only problem is that the Titans are fire in a bottle, they are controlled chaos and feed off a more passive team. Although this style worked against NYXL in Stage 1 playoffs, it didn’t work defending Vancouver who slapped a 3:41 on the time bank.

Bumper
Photo courtesy of Stewart Volland for Blizzard Entertainment

When the Dynasty found their strides on their attack was when the openings were presented and clear such as when the repair pack from Hyojong “Haksal” Kim was down. Pushing the payload to the middle of the bridge would be the final choke for Seoul on Eichenwalde. Bumper again would find team kills in out playing Marve1 in the neutral game of Reinhardt. Always having more shield health and resources to back him up, Bumper found three earth shatters before Marve1 got one off within the final minute of the map.

Rialto – Seoul 3-2 Vancouver

Seoul running Ana triple support with Winston on defense means they could build support and tank ultimates quickly while sustaining in the middle of a fight. Although finding no value in the ultimate phase of point A, Haksal just walked through Seoul and eliminated RyuJehong for free. Marve1 found a massive shatter on third but didn’t get Slime who sound barriers to keep the the Titans going. While pushed past Bumper’s shield was the most aggressive move made by him all season.

There was no room for error now as Seoul were able to exhaust the time before the final point. Bumper got over aggressive, then shatter killed Marve1. They were down to the last fight without many ultimates to combat with recycling the same over aggressive mistake twice allowed Seoul to hold Vancouver just before the third capture was complete and set a map win condition.

Seoul and Vancouver hug after the match during Playoffs
Photo Courtesy of Stewart Volland for Blizzard Entertainment

The adaptation of Seoul on Rialto was secluding Bumper. Forcing him into an awkward positioning then taking him out allowed the Dynasty to set up a strong ultimate bank. Through their second phase of escort, Seoul were able to find value in their positioning after finding eliminations prior to the first capture point. Having ultimates to win fights with through the second phase gave Seoul four minutes to complete the map.

Third point seemed like home for the Titans. With aggressive positioning, Vancouver found a lot of damage on Seoul as they walked in. Seoul struggled most after Bumper found a four man earth shatter sending the Dynasty back to spawn. Pushing their time bank all the way down to thirty seconds, Vancouver showed composure negating every combo Seoul attempted until Overtime. A Sound Wave from Jinmo “Tobi ” Yang pushed Hyeonwoo “JJanu” Choiback giving the Dynasty a map win but still losing the series.

Player of the match: JJanu

Conclusion

This is the second time Seoul has played Vancouver. While playing their “B-squad,” Seoul found one more map than their previous outing against Vancouver. Unable to control Bumper put the Dynasty off tempo. The Dynasty had bright spots through the match and kept it competitive. However, Seoul have much to improve on. Starting 0-2 is not good for a stage and knowing you have to face Vancouver again in week five can be daunting.

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