Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Nepal got off to a decent start, as the Shock snagged Shrine from the Fuel. Rascal was a standout performer on the Pharah. He was one of the catalysts that led to the Shock going to 99% on their first hold.
Village was the next map, and the Shock absolutely dominated the Fuel, running GOATs to perfection and taking advantage of some poor positioning on the part of Dallas. The Shock were exceptionally coordinated on this map, focusing down their targets with ease and forcing the Fuel into some bad situations.
An aggressive Wrecking Ball dive “Shocked” the Fuel on Point A and allowed them to take point A with relative ease. Point B was just as easy, as the Shock had the Fuel on the back foot the entire time, forcing bad ults and keeping the team staggered the entire time. An EMP from aKm finally halted the Shock’s mad storm through London. The Fuel gave the Shock a taste of their own medicine with some ambitious holds and ult usage knocking the Shock off guard. The Shock ultimately finished the map, although Point C was much harder for the Boys from the Bay.
The Shock, who seem to have taken a liking to running Ana GOATs on King’s Row, had an extremely dominant hold for the first three minutes. Sinatraa was playing at his best, and the Fuel only took the point by dumping as many ults into the fight as possible. The Fuel’s momentum did not last particularly long, as the Shock stopped them almost immediately and then went full on Selfless style with a spawn camp. The Fuel gained a little bit of ground at the final fight, but Sinatraa, Architect (who as it turns out has a good Ana) and friends put their feet down. San Francisco took King’s Row in dominant fashion.
Photo Courtesy of the San Francisco Shock
Full dive came out for the Shock on Horizon Point A in order to counter the tried and true Junkrat/Orisa defense that the Fuel brought to the party. The Shock have historically had a terrible time on Horizon, but the full dive worked out with two minutes to go. The Shock played it incredibly carefully, with Moth waiting for the perfect moment to boost Architect’s Genji to true cyborg Ninja levels. A positioning mistake by Min-seok “OGE” Son on point B gave the Shock the opening they needed, and they took point B with little to no trouble.
A Flying GOATs composition was the choice for the Shock on defense, with the Fuel running a more traditional dive. Super made a slight error by not dropping off the high ground in time, and the Fuel took advantage by blowing a couple of ultimates to confirm the cap. The Shock shook off this little mishap relatively quickly thanks to a nice Grav from Sinatraa, but an overextension from Architect on the next push gave the Fuel an opening. The Fuel took two ticks but didn’t quite cap. San Francisco didn’t give the Fuel another opening until overtime. The Fuel finally capped point B in OT.
With a series victory now assured, the Shock had a monstrous 5 minute time bank to work with. Naturally, Symmetra was the selection of choice. Moth’s teleporter took the Shock straight to the point, bypassing the Fuel’s Orisa defense completely and taking the point easily.
It was GOATs v. GOATs to kick off Rialto, and the Shock quickly asserted the dominance they had been showcasing for the entire series by eviscerating the Fuel’s initial defense. Point A was taken with ease. A critical ultimate denial by Architect allowed the Shock to push all the way through the second phase. The Fuel took the fight immediately afterwards, but the Shock had the point. A few fights going in the Fuel’s way completely neutered the Shock’s momentum. The Shock finally got the payload moving again a couple minutes later. Benjamin “Unkoe” Chevasson got picked early in the next fight and without their Zen the Fuel collapsed.
More GOATs v. GOATs was on the menu when the Shock went on defense. The Fuel were trying everything to get through a steadfast Shock defense, but the Shock were holding strong. A well placed bomb by Richard “rCk” Kanerva finally took the Shock defense down, but it took a very long time. The next fight had ChoiHyoBin one-upping rCk with a three man D.Va bomb. A late pick onto Unkoe was the nail in the coffin for the Fuel, and the Shock took the map, securing a 4-0 victory.
To say the Shock were “Good” tonight would be a massive understatement. Good target focusing and inventive strategies helped to push the Shock over the edge tonight. The Fuel admittedly didn’t play at their best, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that the Shock played incredibly well. They have cemented themselves as one of the top threats in the league. The match against the Gladiators on Sunday looks to be an incredibly interesting one.
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