Vancouver Titans (11-0) vs Dallas Fuel (6-4)
Titans Starting Lineup
Sangbeom “Bumper” Park
HyunWoo “JJANU” Choi
Juseok “Twilight” Lee
Seong jun “SLIME” Kim
Hyojong “Haksal” Kim
MinSoo “SeoMinSoo” Seo
Titans 4-0 Fuel
Entering Week 3, the Titans had a chance to match the Boston Uprising’s match win streak record from Season 1. First, they needed to take down the surging Dallas Fuel. Fortunately for the Titans, the streak would not end on Thursday as they outplayed Dallas all night en route to a 4-0 win.
Lijiang Tower: Titans 2-1 Fuel
The Titans got off on the right foot on Thursday night. Opening up on Gardens, the Fuel jumped out to an early lead when Minseok “OGE” Son built a quick Primal Rage and sent multiple Titans flying from the map. The Titans countered with the traditional Reinhardt GOATs. That forced the mirror from Dallas, and the Titans collectively tilted that matchup in their favor. Some clever, aggressive ult usage secured them the fights they needed, and they took the first stage.
Moving over to Night Market, the Titans really came into their own. A Firestrike from Bumper caught Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo out of position and the Titans took control first. Vancouver was incredibly efficient with their ultimates as they built up to 99% before Dallas came up with a Graviton/Self-Destruct combo to take out SLIME and flip the point. The teams traded picks before SeoMinSoo took over, securing the map winning kills and the Grav to seal the deal.
Hanamura: Titans 2-1 Fuel
Map 2 was one of unending aggression from the Titans as they asserted themselves fully. Another early pick on Zachareee paved the way for a Point A capture on the first push, and the Titans carried an ult advantage forward. SeoMinSoo’s Graviton Surge kicked things off with two kills even through Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson’s Transcendence. The Fuel never managed to stabilize after that, as SeoMinSoo maintained his insane damage output while the Titans finished off the stragglers.
The Titans defense was just as dominant as the attack round, at least outside of point A. In the first fight, Twilight got tunnel vision looking for kills and left SeoMinSoo out to dry. He corrected that mistake on Point B, controlling the high ground and pumping out heals and Nanoboosts into Bumper. The Titans pulled off the hold, at times relying on Harksal’s Doomfist to save the day, and found themselves up 2-0 at the halfway mark.
Blizzard World: Titans 4-3 Fuel
The Titans kept up the onslaught as they looked to close out the series. The Fuel defense crumpled under the pressure with OGE and Lucas “NotE” Meissner falling almost immediately. Outside of a few isolated fights, Vancouver could not be stopped as they finished the map with 1:59 remaining. JJANU’s Self-Destruct took down Dylan “aKm” Bignet to kick off the final fight, and Dallas could not prevent the map completion.
The Titans realistically just needed to burn down the time bank on defense, and they did just that. A long first fight went their way when Bumper went in deep with a Nanoboost, killing Zachareee. The Fuel answered back emphatically, set up by aKm’s Grav. Their momentum carried them through Point B extremely quickly, and they finished the map with just over a minute left.
Dallas needed to make progress on Point A to keep themselves alive in the series. With their backs against the wall, they turned to aKm on the Sombra. He fell first and couldn’t charge his EMP fast enough, costing Dallas dearly. By the time it came in, the Titans had finished the fight and locked down the defense. Needing just a tick to take the map, Vancouver took their time. After uNKOE shut down the first push, Vancouver closed things out when JJANU ate aKm’s Grav, and SeoMinSoo unleashed his.
Junkertown: Titans 3-2 Fuel
The night’s final map brought the first appearance of Dong-eun “Hooreg” Lee. The Titans took the opportunity to run some new compositions with the series no longer in doubt. Backed up by Hooreg’s Sombra, Haksal put on a vintage Genji performance, farming and delivering with several Dragonblades. Vancouver lost time on Point A to the bunker comp from Dallas, and they were unable to finish the map in the end.
Dallas again broke out the Bastion on attack, releasing Zachareee from Brig jail. They tried to enable it with a Symmetra for mobility, but the Titans got aggressive behind Twilight’s Transcendence and held just before point A.. Forced to swap to the GOATs mirror,  Dallas found themselves behind in the ult economy and barely finished point A.  They regained momentum on Point B but stalled out when it mattered. The teams traded Gravs, but Vancouver came out on top to secure the 4-0 victory.
Conclusion
It was the Titan’s best win of Stage 2 to this point – a beatdown against a team on the fringe of the league elite. They looked dominant from start to finish and outplayed the Fuel in nearly every aspect of the game. They not only owned the GOATs matchup, powered by SeoMinSoo’s stellar Zarya play, but also showed off some new flexibility on Junkertown with Hooreg in the lineup. Vancouver remains undefeated and unlikely to be challenged until Stage Playoffs.
Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League.
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