It’s unlikely that, before yesterday, anybody used the words “trapeze artist” to describe Overwatch’s turret hero Bastion. One hype play at the Overwatch League grand finals revealed the hero’s potential as an aerial circus act.
Tagged With san francisco shock
It was pitched as the two most elite teams in Overwatch with the most talent, most preparation and the most form coming into the finals. But the Overwatch grand finals ended up being a brutal slaughter, with the San Francisco Shock capping off one of the best runs in Overwatch's short competitive history with a 4-0 flogging of the Vancouver Titans.
For the San Francisco Shock, locking up the first perfect stage in Overwatch League history was a nice cherry, but the team always had their eyes on the sundae: victory in Sunday’s stage two playoffs. Yesterday they once again faced off against Vancouver Titans, running back the stage one match-up that they lost (in what was the most thrilling match of season two so far). The Shock fought for their honour — and also, $286,706. This time, they succeeded.
Whether you’re a professional basketball player or whoever left that Starbucks cup on the Game of Thrones set, everybody has off nights.
Well, everybody except the rejuvenated San Francisco Shock. After a messy first season, they’ve spent season two looking like an entirely different team. Yesterday, they achieved something no other team ever has: a perfect stage.
The Seoul Dynasty has had a rocky conclusion to its Overwatch League run. Despite an early start that made them look all but unstoppable, this squad has struggled in the twilight hours of stage 1. And while it started to recover and look more like itself against San Francisco last night, it was too late to salvage the Dynasty's playoff hopes.
The Houston Outlaws extended their 16-map unbeaten streak to 18 before the San Francisco Shock finally snapped it in the third map, but that was just a blip en route to a fifth straight match win. Their 3-1 win moved them to 5-2 on the season and could give them a chance to move into first place if they beat the Seoul Dynasty on Saturday.
On the opening night of Overwatch League, a Dallas Fuel fan at the Blizzard Arena hoisted a sign with the alt-right meme frog Pepe on it, and had it confiscated by event staff before the night was over. But that was only the first meme with racist associations to worm its way adjacent to Blizzard's big mainstream esports push.
A woman said earlier this week that Max Bateman, former manager of the San Francisco Shock of the forthcoming Overwatch League, sexually assaulted her in September after a drink he gave her made her feel dizzy and confused, and later had her "in and out of consciousness".
Fourteen hours after the woman posted about what happened on Twitter, using the handle "Krystlin," the Shock fired Bateman.
