The Shock came into this series riding high, while the Defiant came into the series in a bit of a slump. Spoiler alert: neither teams’ status changed today. Indeed, the Shock actually ended up just cementing themselves as one of the top tier threats in OWL, and it will be interesting to see what happens later on in the week.
Shock Win 4-0
Starting Lineup
Grant “Moth” Espe
Min-ki “Viol2t” Park
Hyo-bin “ChoiHyoBin” Choi
Matthew “Super” DeLisi
Jay “Sinatraa” Won
Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim
Lijiang Tower
Night Market kicked off with some standard GOATs dittos. The Shock shoved the Defiant back without even trying, allowing San Francisco to take a good position and claim the point first. The Defiant’s next push was halted with relative ease as well. An early pick onto Viol2t gave the Shock some trouble in the final fight, but in the end of the day it wasn’t an issue as the Shock took the point easily.
The Shock brought out an interesting composition featuring Wrecking Ball and Pharmercy. Rascal picked up a few quick kills and they kept the advantage, taking the first map.
Shock Win 2-0
Substitution: Min-ho “Architect” Park comes in for Rascal
Hanamura
The Shock started their offense off with a standard GOATs comp. The Defiant’s focus fire was making life tough for Super, who died early during the Shock’s first couple pushes. Third time was the charm as ChoiHyoBin picked off Toronto’s Reinhardt, and the Shock took the point. The Shock then proceeded to attempt to snowball, and they actually succeeded despite Super getting picked early. The end result was the Shock getting a good time bank despite being completely stonewalled for the first two minutes.
The Shock went with a Sombra/Winston composition, while the Defiant came out of the gate with a Pharmercy dive. Both teams tried to poke for a little bit, but the Shock got a couple of picks and halted the Defiant’s first attempt. Unfortunately Sinatraa got picked early despite getting the EMP off, and the Shock had to commit to a stall. This did waste some time, but in the end Toronto did cap. The Shock then moved to a standard GOATs for a Point B defense. Viol2t died early, but the Shock stayed strong and held off the snowball attempt. The Shock then hit their stride on defense, and the Defiant didn’t even take a tick on point B.
Shock Win 2-1
Substitution: Rascal in for Architect
Eichenwalde
The Shock went with a Baptiste GOATs on defense, while the Defiant went with a traditional GOATs. Unfortunately Moth got picked early, and the Shock’s defense ended up collapsing in relatively short order. The Defiant then slowly shoved their way through a good stretch of Point B, but the Shock ended up halting Toronto under the bridge. The Shock then went in for the full spawn camp, pinning the Defiant down in a brutal fashion. The Shock had the Defiant in their spawn for the rest of the map, and the Shock held the Defiant to one point in incredibly brutal fashion.
San Francisco didn’t exactly have the greatest of starts on the attack, as the Defiant won the GOAT ditto for the first couple pushes. The next fight wasn’t exactly clean, but the Shock did come out on top and take the point. The next fight secured the map, and the Shock took the win.
Shock Win 2-1
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
The Shock went with a Baptiste GOATs comp on the offense, and the Shock punched through Point A easily despite some minor resistance from the Defiant. An excellent stagger let the Shock get some major progress on Point B with zero resistance, and the Defiant’s half hearted defense near the checkpoint collapsed very quickly. Point C was just as easy, and the Shock completed Gibraltar without issue.
The Shock went with the tried and true GOATs on defense. This ended up turning into a spawn camp within the first minute, but the Shock overextended somewhat and the Defiant broke the spawn camp. San Francisco then went in for the recontest right at the checkpoint, and a great Earthshatter by Super allowed the Shock to hold. The Defiant never touched the cart again.
Shock win 3-0
Business as Usual
This type of victory is becoming the norm for the Shock. Come in, dominate their opponent, and go home. It’s incredibly impressive, and a win should be expected if a team has a losing record at this point.
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Featured Photo Courtesy of the San Francisco Shock
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