Heading into their match against the Guangzhou Charge, the Vancouver Titans probably didn’t know exactly what to expect. Over two weeks, the Charge had shown a huge variety of compositions as well as some inconsistent form. The Titans were certainly the favorites here, but Guangzhou came out swinging. They kept Vancouver off balance all night, but the Titans clutched up to take the series and remain unbeaten in the Overwatch League.
Photo: Overwatch League
The match started poorly for the Titans, who struggled the entire map to deal with the Sombra play from Ou “Eileen” Yiliang. On the first stage, the Charge rolled out with a triple DPS look that gave Vancouver fits – especially Jungwoo “Happy” Lee’s Widowmaker. It was a back and forth affair with the point changing hands six times, but the Titans couldn’t quite finish the Charge.
On Shrine, the Titans jumped out to an early lead once again, only for Guangzhou to claw their way back. Vancouver looked solid on their typical 3-3 setups, but the Charge repeatedly took fights that left them way up in the ult economy. The Titans tried to fight back but were decimated on the way to the point by a brutal EMP from Eileen.
On the second map of the day, the Titans answered back immediately. With MinSoo “SeoMinSoo” Seo subbed in to play Zarya in 3-3 compositions, the Titans looked vastly more comfortable. Their defense held strong, despite losing a couple of members early. Juseok “Twilight” Lee continued to look like one of the best flex supports in the league, and a few key Earthshatters from Sangbeom “Bumper” Park put the Titans in position to complete the full hold on Hollywood for the second time this season.
On offense, Vancouver maintained the calm demeanor and patience that has made them such a good team in this meta. They captured point A behind a long range poke kill from SeoMinSoo and finished off the Charge to take Hollywood 1-0.
Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Things kicked off on Volskaya with the Charge breaking out yet another triple DPS composition on defense. This time around, the Titans managed to crack that nut with a more measured approach. Bumper was able to keep Happy’s Widowmaker in check, and Vancouver captured point A after a lengthy first fight. The Titans played point B perfectly and managed to survive through Eileen’s EMP to finish the map with over 4 minutes in their time bank.
The defense was nearly as impressive for Vancouver, and they were able to slow the Charge at nearly every opportunity. The Titans faltered at the end of a great showing, but with only a minute to capture point A a second time, Guangzhou was incapable of acquiring a single tick. Thanks to their impressive attack, the Titans had plenty of time to work with as they finished Volskaya for the 3-2 win.
Route 66 was a mixed bag for the Titans as they tried and failed to close out the series. Some questionable ultimates made life difficult for Vancouver, and they needed HyunWoo “JJANU” Choi to eat a Graviton Surge to secure the capture on point A. They looked much better down the stretch and finished the map just before overtime.
The defense for the Titans was impressive for most of the map, significantly reducing Guangzhou’s time bank before they even reached point C. That’s where everything fell apart for Vancouver. After holding the payload at the gate, Vancouver over-invested in a bad fight that left them reeling as the Charge marched all the way to the end of the map and triggered extra rounds.
The Charge once again reached into their bag of tricks when the chips were down. Playing four DPS heroes, they routed the Titans on point A. By the time Vancouver stabilized, the damage had been done. They were unable to push the payload very far on their attack round, and Route 66 went the way of Guangzhou 4-3.
Photo: Overwatch League
It all came down to Ilios, and the Titans were not going down without a fight. On Ruins, they managed to wrangle the triple DPS lineups from Guangzhou thanks to impressive positional play that allowed them to take the first capture without much resistance. Vancouver held until 99 percent before Guangzhou was able to flip the point and then recaptured behind an early Sleep Dart onto Happy to put themselves one stage from victory.
On Lighthouse, Guangzhou opted into the 3-3 mirror matchup and caught the Titans off guard a bit. They consistently got more value out of ultimates and built up to 99 percent before Vancouver managed to retake the point. The Titans put up a good fight but couldn’t quite fight back on Lighthouse, so the match went to a decisive final map.
Well was the setting for the Titans’ last stand, and they rolled out behind Bumper’s Orisa. He and SeoMinSoo were able to shut down Guangzhou consistently and once again the first point flip came in overtime for the Charge. Things were looking dicey for the Titans until JJANU saved the day with a 4-kill Self-Destruct set up by SeoMinSoo’s Graviton Surge. The Titans wrapped up the series with a 2-1 victory on Ilios.
The Titans looked mortal this week, and Guangzhou’s unorthodox style threw them for a loop. Still, they managed to clutch in the end to take a hard-fought series. Vancouver will need to improve how they handle Sombra specifically going forward, but they should have learned a lot from the Charge. Next up is a showdown with the San Francisco Shock on Sunday – what looks to be a marquee matchup for the Titans.
Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League.
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