After a great bounce-back against the Charge, the Dragons once again are in a position where they may not move far in the Stage 3 Playoffs. 4-1 and in fourth place, Shanghai may have some pressure in losing a spot in the upcoming playoff. The Dragons will need a stellar Week 5 to secure their odds.
Image Courtesy of @LiimitLiz on Twitter
The Dragons thrashed Guangzhou right of the gate, starting with two straight shutout maps. Despite a hiccup on Hollywood, Watchpoint proved to be way more dominant than usual, picking up the series win. The Dragons even went out on Gibraltar running the Doomfist yet again but succeeding against the Charge.
Although the Charge are one of the weaker teams in the league, this matchup boosted Shanghai’s future. Not only did they find out where Yong-Jin “YOUNGJIN” Jin’s Doomfist lies on the map, but Shanghai found out what doesn’t work. Even though the Dragons have not fared well on Hollywood to date (0-3), they subbed Min-seong “diem” Bae out to throw another look at the Charge. A long Guangzhou hold after Shanghai capped point A, the Dragons ended up scrapping the map and that strategy. It’s safe to say that this strategy won’t be thrown out against Philadelphia next week.
As shown above, diem had a massive effect on this series. Playing the Widowmaker, he garnered 44 eliminations (19 were head-clicks) to only 8 deaths. Taking 32 of those 44 eliminations as final blows, diem was a large part for opening pushes and having stellar holds.
Having the back-to-back matchup against the Charge, should lead to another thrashing for the Dragons. Four new maps, all which favor Shanghai, will probably fail to feature any new strategies. Being so close to the playoffs (and even being bounced), the Dragons will stick to what they know works and only that. A win in this series relieves an immense amount of pressure on Shanghai, as Philadelphia can steal the eighth spot. A 4-0 sweep would be ideal, and look for the Dragons to swing for the fences.
They’ll succeed in that goal, taking a 4-0 against the Charge.
Meme Courtesy of the Shanghai Dragons on Twitter
Despite diem’s insane 32 final blows as Widowmaker alone last week, he slid down the overall rankings in Final Blows per 10 minutes. He now ranks third overall, sitting just a hair above 9 per 10 minutes. The DPS superstar still sits fourth in eliminations, close to reaching 21 per 10 minutes.
Image Courtesy of @kyleenim on Twitter
Not only is this series competing for a Stage 3 Playoff spot, but also a Season Playoff spot. After sliding slowly down the rankings, the pressure is on for the Fusion to hold on as long as they can. With a more-than-likely 4-0 against Washington, a win over Shanghai would slide the Fusion into a playoff spot, and possibly bounce Shanghai in Stage 3.
Gael “Poko” Gouzerch, known for his D.Va play, can stun diem on the Zarya role. Diem has the tendency to place predictable graviton surges. Other teams have punished him and the Dragons in the past for it. If Shanghai runs the GOATs composition, the momentum will heavily favor the Fusion and cause the best-case scenario. The Dragons will stick to their DPS strengths, taking the 3-2 victory and move to the Stage 3 Playoffs. As a final hot take for the week, diem will overthrow Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee in the Widowmaker matchup.
With Philadelphia having Week 4 off, Su-min “SADO” Kim will more than likely look well-polished in the Fusion’s front line. It will be up to Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh to keep the Dragons’ heads in the game, taking one map at a time. Regardless of Wrecking Ball, Reinhardt or Winston, the Dragons will need their gigadad to lead to the win.
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