After some tough matches in the first two weeks of Stage 2, the Dragons are in a position to make the stage playoffs. Although Shanghai needs a near-perfect run for that to happen, Florida looked to spoil their dreams. Strong play from Jin-hyeok “DDing” Yang again would bring the Dragons one step closer to the first stage playoff berth in franchise history.
Image Courtesy of the Shanghai Dragons on Twitter
In what started rough, the Dragons dominated in most facets of this map. Min-seong “diem” Bae would bully the Mayhem in the first couple fights of round one, laying damage in the bunker composition on Bastion. Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh would be caught out of position twice to put round one in Florida’s favor.
The next two rounds would be a complete roll for Shanghai, including a full hold in the very next phase. DDing laid down rocket after rocket as Pharah, being incredibly patient for the most efficient barrage. What may have been one of the most exciting plays came from gigaDad Gamsu in the final round. Gamsu has proven to be one of the best Reinhardt players in the league, as the Dragons have a 13.7% increase in team fight wins when he uses his ultimate. Gamsu would use his Earthshatter in a complete 180 spin, taking a very impressive team fight with several stuns.
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Image Courtesy of ArtStation
The Dragons have struggled in assault maps this season, but Hanamura showed some improvements. Yong-Jin “YOUNGJIN” Jin opened on Doomfist and provided some impressive plays, including knocking Jun-soo “Kris” Choi off the map to cap A. Shanghai would cap B soon after, but Florida would roll to complete the map as well. It looked that the Dragons could full hold on Florida’s first attack, but Jae-mo “xepheR” Koo would lay a beautiful bomb to eliminate two Dragons.
Having almost two more minutes in the timebank, Florida would snowball to take what they needed. DDing would have one of his lone tainted plays in OT, using a barrage on a wooden pillar after Gamsu was caught in a graviton surge.
The score would say that this wasn’t the Dragons strongest map, but it shouldn’t devalue their strong performance. DDing and diem both contained multi-kills in the first fight, and Shanghai easily moved to point B. Despite the Dragons having multiple five vs six fights (one moving the payload) they were able to cap B with 5:16 left on the clock. Jung-woo “Sayaplayer” Ha moved to McCree and gave Shanghai trouble, holding them for about two minutes of stalling. Strong pushes with DDing on Sombra gave the Dragons a full cap, giving them confidence moving onto defense.
Shanghai provided an excellent defense on point A, including a far EMP from DDing to completely wipe out Florida. This left a short timebank for the Mayhem to finish compared to Shanghai’s push. DDing wasn’t finished though, as two more EMPs would melt Florida in team fights. The constant pressure of DDing and diem would provide no mercy, as the Mayhem wouldn’t reach point B.
Image Courtesy of the Shanghai Dragons on Facebook
As hinted earlier, Rialto could arguably be Shanghai’s best map in this series. The Dragons constantly would combo Earthshatters, EMPs and Gravitons during this attack. Once they completed the map, Shanghai would end with the fourth fastest time in league history on the map. The Dragons’ ultimate economy was excellent, gathering an excellent level of efficiency per ultimate used. Even in a moment where Shanghai used all three support ultimates in a single moment, the play worked to their advantage as they would cap point B.
Mayhem’s final push would give more credit to Shanghai than discredit Florida. The Dragons would split in the high ground, forcing Florida to choose a side (and be melted soon after). DDing would continue to be the star, as his EMP saved two different fights where the advantage belonged to Florida. Shanghai would full-hold the Mayhem to cap the must-needed win.
Up to this series in Stage 2, Florida looked better with every match played. With Shanghai being in a “win or miss stage playoffs” situation, the Mayhem had nothing to lose. DDing proved once again that he is the X-Factor on this roster, providing dominance on both Pharah and Sombra. Providing 39 eliminations, 11 barrage eliminations and only nine deaths, his efficiency is what could propel Shanghai into the playoffs. They’ll need to win as many maps as they can against Houston and Washington, as San Francisco will be trouble.
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