Vancouver Titans (1-0) vs Shanghai Dragons (0-2)
Vancouver Titans 4-0 Shanghai Dragons
The Vancouver Titans opened their season with an emphatic statement on Saturday, taking down the Shanghai Dragons 4-0 in a series that was lopsided at times. In impressive fashion, Vancouver quieted any doubts that lingered about their ability to make the jump to the Overwatch League. The game was billed as a rematch between Runaway (now Vancouver) and Kongdoo Panthera (now Shanghai), and once again, the Titans roster staked their claim as top dog and put the league on notice.
Busan: Titans 2-1 Dragons
Busan was a hotly contested map to open the series, with both teams trading blows back and forth. The Titans played within the meta, sticking with GOATs setups for all three stages. It gave them a clear advantage on Meka Base, and they stormed out to an early lead.
The Dragons, on the other hand, brought out a triple DPS dive featuring the newly acquired Gamsu on Wrecking Ball. Despite limited practice, he came out strong, especially on Sanctuary where Shanghai destroyed the Titans behind DDing’s Sombra. On Downtown, Vancouver rallied around SeoMinSoo’s spectacular Zarya play to take the first map 2-1.
Hollywood: Titans 1-0 Dragons
Vancouver was able to shake off a rough opening map to outclass the Dragons on Hollywood. On defense, the Titans proved why they were brought to the OWL as a unit, outplaying Shanghai in every facet en-route to a full hold on defense. JJANU had a few clutch D.Va bombs and Bumper dominated the Reinhardt matchup against Gamsu. The offense went just as smoothly for the Titans, and they were able to capture the point on their first attempt thanks to some timely picks and surgical Zenyatta play from Twilight. The Titans took Hollywood 1-0.
Anubis: Titans 3-2 Dragons
Vancouver picked up right where they left off to start the second half. They continued to flex their muscles in the GOATs mirror match and nearly prevented Shanghai from taking the second point. Bumper was incredible throughout, finding paydirt with nearly every one of his many Earthshatters.
On their defense, the Dragons opted for a risky gambit trying to play a Torbjorn centered defense on Point A. Their bet backfired, and they were unable to handle the aggression from Vancouver. The Titans immediately collapsed on top of Gamsu who had switched over to Orissa. Shanghai was forced to change up most of their hero picks for point B and suffered as a result. Vancouver captured point B with almost six minutes remaining on the clock.
Vancouver maintained their performance during the next two rounds, never losing another fight on Anubis. They took the map 3-2.
Dorado: Titans 2-1 Dragons
Stitch made his first appearance for Vancouver during the series’ final map. Subbing in for SeoMinSoo, he provided just a bit more versatility in the second DPS spot to go alongside Haksal. The classic Runaway duo got to flex their muscles on Dorado. Stitch held his own against Diem in the Widowmaker matchup, and Haksal finally broke out his famous Genji.
Vancouver struggled on their attack round and almost failed to capture point A. Stitch showed why he was in the lineup by bailing the team out with some stellar shots on McCree. On point B, things were looking grim until Stitch arrived with a Deadeye as time was dwindling. His double kill kicked open the door for the Titans to finish the map and wrap up the sweep with a 2-1 victory on Dorado.
Conclusion
Despite the 4-0 scoreline, the Shanghai Dragons were not pushovers. They put up a fight on Busan and Dorado in particular and flashed signs of their tremendous talent. With Gamsu just joining the team, they were ultimately unable to stand up to the well-oiled machine that is the Vancouver Titans.
The Titans were calm and collected at all times and made sure to punish mistakes on the side of Shanghai. This roster has been playing GOATs together as long as any team in the world. That kind of cohesion cannot be built overnight and it makes Vancouver one of the most dangerous teams in the league moving forward.
Featured image courtesy of the Vancouver Titans.
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