Gladiators defeat Shock 3-2
Starting Lineup
Grant “Moth” Espe
Nikola “Sleepy” Andrews
Hyo-bin “ChoiHyoBin” Choi
Jay “Sinatraa” Won
Myeong-hwan “Smurf” Yoo
Min-ho “Architect” Park
Ilios
Ilios kicked off on Lighthouse where a Moira variation of dive GOATs was brought to the table by the Shock versus a Pharmercy from the Gladiators. The Shock were completely dominant on this map, as the healing was too much for the Pharmercy to work through, and a last minute swap to Sombra GOATs from the Gladiators was too little too late.
GOATs with Wrecking Ball was the composition of choice for the Shock on Ruins against standard GOATs from the Shields Up Squad. This map was much closer than Lighthouse, with the two teams flip flopping the point a couple of times. Choi swapped to D.Va halfway through and helped the Shock get to 99%, but in the end of the day it wasn’t enough as the Gladiators took Ruins.
Well had Architect bringing out the McCree to complement Smurf’s Orisa. This worked well, but he elected to swap off after the Shock lost the point at 62%. Interestingly, Smurf stayed on the Orisa despite Architect’s swap to Zarya. Smurf ended up swapping to Winston later on, a crucial decision that helped the Shock to take the map.
Shock Win 2-1
Matthew “Super” Delisi comes in for Smurf
Hollywood
GOATs v. GOATs kicked off Hollywood, and the Gladiators took point A quite quickly. Point B was much of the same, discounting one fight win for the Shock a few meters from the checkpoint. Point C was all Gladiators, and they capped with more than a minute to spare.
The shock went with a GOATs variation that included Choi on the Hammond. An incredibly brawl-happy point A eventually went the way of the Shock with less than a minute left. This victory was short lived, however, as the Shock stalled in the very first choke point. A small burst of momentum towards the end wasn’t enough, and the Shock’s offense sputtered out about halfway through Point B.
Gladiators Win 3-1
Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson comes in for ChoiHyoBin
Horizon Lunar Colony
A defensive dive GOATs was played by the Shock, while the Gladiators went with an unorthodox composition featuring Reaper instead of D.Va in a GOATs comp. This composition ended up working brilliantly, as the Shock defense completely faltered against this Reaper-fueled deathball of doom.
A Moira GOATs was on the menu for the Shock on attack, and it worked swimmingly for the first point as the Shock took the point with ease. The Gladiators put together somewhat of a defense on B, but it ultimately wasn’t enough and the Shock took point B fairly quickly.
The same Moira GOATs was run for the Shock on their second attack run. This really didn’t work at all, as the Shock could barely scrounge out a tick for their efforts.
In desperation, the Shock brought out the Bastion on defense, along with a more standard Junkrat/Orisa/Mercy to boot. The Gladiators went with a Pharmercy and Hanzo comp in response. The Shock had a surprisingly good hold, largely bolstered by an excellent run by Sinatraa’s Bastion. He did ultimately swap to the Tracer. Meanwhile, Architect’s Hanzo was shredding everything in sight. The defense was valiant, but eventually the Gladiator’s muscled through with less than a minute to go.
Gladiators Win 3-2
ChoiHyoBin comes in for Nevix
Rialto
A quadruple tank featuring Roadhog was brought to the table by the Shock on the initial attack, but this was quickly changed to a standard GOATs. This seemed to be the correct choice, as the Shock took point A with ease. Point B was much of the same, as the Shock took the point in short order, clobbering the Gladiator’s defense in both fights. The Shock almost completed the map on their first try, but the Shock’s push was halted a few meters from the goal. The Shock completed the map a few pushes later.
GOATs v. GOATs kicked off the Gladiator attack. The Shock’s defense proved to be quite steadfast on Point A, with good ult economy and positioning being showcased by the Boys from the Bay. Only a miracle D.Va bomb on the Gladiator’s part allowed LA to push into the second phase. The Gladiators managed to push through most of point B with ease, but the Shock managed to stall them out until OT. The final point was just really just one long fight, but the Gladiators ended up pushing through in the end to tie the map.
Compositions were the same for both teams on the Gladiator’s second attempt. The Gladiator’s went for an odd flank that didn’t end up paying off and they were stopped in relatively short order.
Lane “Surefour” Roberts brought out the Sombra against another Quad Tank with Roadhog. The Hog paid off, as Architect got a key hook onto the Lucio to kick things off. Architect then swapped to the Ana in order to counter the Gladiator’s comp, which didn’t have a D.Va. The Gladiators came in with a clutch EMP to seal the fight and take it into OT, but the Shock ended up pushing it through and taking the map.
Shock Win 4-3
Dong-Jun “Rascal” Kim comes in for Sinatraa
Smurf comes in for Super
Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon comes in for Architect
Busan
The tiebreaker kicked off with the Shock running a triple DPS comp with Hammond on Sanctuary. An incredibly brawly first fight ended up going the way of the Gladiators despite some good shots from Striker’s Widow. The Shock then swapped to a Sombra GOATs with Ana. This didn’t change a whole lot until OT, when an emergency EMP by Choi let the Shock take control of the point. Unfortunately for San Francisco, the Gladiators retook the point on their next attempt and took the round.
MEKA Base featured the Shock attempting a similar composition with Striker on the Widow. A good pick allowed the Shock to take the point first. The Shock kept control, although the Shock did elect to swap to a Sombra GOATs despite having control of the point. This ended up backfiring as the Gladiators took the point with relative ease, but the Shock took down LA in the next fight and wrapped up the round.
Downtown had the Shock taking another stab at their unique Hamster/Widow comp. A disorganized fight led to the Gladiators taking the point first, so the shock went back to the Moira/Sombra GOATs. This didn’t pay off, and the Gladiators put their foot down and took the map.
Gladiators Win 2-1
Close, but No Cigar.
The Shock came so close on multiple different levels here. They just made a few too many positioning errors and seemed to have a few communication breakdowns. Super and Sinatraa in particular had a poor showing, as they weren’t coordinating at all. It was still a decent showing, but it could have been much better.
You can follow me on Twitter @GtSputnik or ping me on Discord (SputnikGT#2845) if you would like to talk Overwatch!
Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage.
Featured Image Courtesy of The Overwatch League
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus
“From our Haus to Yours”