Gauging The Panic Meter After Day One Of The OWL Finals
With the first day of the Overwatch League Grand Finals coming to a close, a few more conclusions can be drawn about the four finalists. Everybody still has a chance thanks to the lower bracket, so how confident or panicked should the teams be that they will make it through to the finals? As the series went on, it became much clearer how these teams would fare against each other as they adapted throughout various compositions to try to figure out their opponent or cover up their own weaknesses.
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Seoul Dynasty vs San Francisco Shock
After starting out the series in a poor fashion, going down 0-2 early, the Seoul Dynasty were able to pull it back to a deciding Game 5. Unfortunately for the Dynasty, they failed to come out on top, but there are several positives that should encourage fans who thought the Dynasty wouldn't stand a chance in the bracket.
Starting in the first two maps, Junyoung "Profit" Park was relatively quiet, alongside the rest of the Dynasty except for Jaehui "Gesture" Hong. He was one of the few bright spots on the Dynasty roster as they failed to take a single point on Oasis or Hollywood, which was their own map pick. Gesture didn't stop after the first two maps, continuing his dominant play throughout their attempt at the reverse sweep. On several occasions, Gesture put the team on his back and came through in some huge fights with three and sometimes four kills to his name.
It is possible that Profit and Dong Eon "Fits" Kim were simply struggling from not playing in an Overwatch League match for a month, but whatever the reason, they got over it in the rest of the series. Profit and Fits both showed up huge from Voskaya Industries and onward. While it looked like they were getting outclassed by Seaonchang "ANS" Lee and NamJu "Striker" Gwon, they ended up matching the star duo and taking the third and fourth maps of the series rather convincingly. Not only did Map 3 seem to be a turning point for the DPS on Seoul, but they also subbed in Seungtae "Bdosin" Choi in the support role, and it seemed to make a big difference as well. While ANS was a huge playmaker for the Shock, constantly finding first picks in teamfights, Bdosin seemed to add an extra dimension to the fight. He was able to chip away at ANS while playing Ana to help limit the freedom ANS had in his play. The three former champions on the Spitfire seemed to be taking it the next level, and the rest of the team played well too. While Gesture was definitely the carry for most of the series, Min Seo "Marve1" Hwang showed his ability to perform when it mattered, specifically on the Sigma.
The Seoul Dynasty aren't done with this tournament yet, but they will need to win three series in a row to win it all. While many speculated NA was ahead of the Asia conference, and that the Shock were a much better individual team, they took them to a Game 5. It was worrying that the Dynasty got off to such a slow start though, and they failed to shut down ANS. While it wouldn't be expected for them to shut down ANS, it will be tough for the Dynasty to win the Grand Finals without managing other players like ANS earlier in series in the future. They will have to rely on "Playoff Profit" and Gesture to show up big. Panic Rating: 7/10
San Francisco Shock
It looked like they were going to dominate the Dynasty after two quick map wins put them in a situation to secure a reverse sweep, but they failed to close the door on the feisty Dynasty. Much of what applied to the Dynasty applies here, including Gesture outperforming the tanks on the Shock. Matthew "Super" DeLisi, Myeong Hwan "Smurf" Yoo, and Hyobin "Choihyobin" Choi were all mixed and matched throughout the series. None of them looked poor, but it wasn't the dominant performance expected from the tank line.
Meanwhile, ANS and Striker were superb, especially early in the match. Although Profit and Fits matched them more throughout the series, it is impossible to deny that the Shock DPS could easily carry their team to a championship. ANS consistently got first pick after first pick. Specifically, he was able to catch out Seoul's Ana to create a massive advantage for the rest of the team fight since the Ana has so much utility for shutting down Roadhog. Striker also did a great job on the various heroes he played. Specifically, in the fifth and decisive map, he pulled out his signature Tracer and pressured down Fits to open up a lot of space for ANS to make his magic happen.
Grant "Moth" Espe had a very strong performance on Mercy as well. He was able to find many resurrections that allowed the Shock to turn around an absurd number of team fights. There were no massive wounds in this Shock roster, but some big play from all three roles helped them hold off the reverse sweep from the Dynasty. While it was worrying they almost lost the series to the supposedly worst team in the tournament, the Shock came up clutch when it mattered. They secure their spot in the upper bracket, and if they can find that form they had in the first two maps, they will be looking hot for the rest of the tournament. Panic Rating: 4/10
Click to enlargePhiladelphia Fusion vs Shanghai Dragons
This match was supposed to be close... But it wasn't. The Fusion failed to take a single point off of the Dragons on both King's Row and Volskaya Industries. Things looked bright when Heesu "Heesu" Jeong and JaeHyeok "Carpe" Lee looked like they would be difference makers on Busan, but the Dragons reacted well and shut them down. Carpe was forced to take risky positions to get value out of Tracer. He was able to do that on occasion, but the Dragon's positioning was exceptional.
While the DPS duo on the Fusion didn't match the Dragons, it was the tank play that cost them the most. Sumin "Sado" Kim was picked on by the Dragons, constantly dying early in fights. The Dragons were able to focus down Junho "Fury" Kim as well, and it forced Philadelphia to operate with very little space and try to come back from 5v6 or 4v6 situations too often. The Fusion support line also seemed outmatched by the Dragons. Similar to the problem with the DPS, the supports struggled to find value with their tanks going down so early in team fights.
As commentator Jake Lyon said, "This goes beyond mechanics. This was just an outplay by the entire team." The Fusion struggled to find their footing even when Heesu and Carpe were finding picks. In their lower bracket matchup against the Seoul Dynasty, their problems might be just as magnified. With Gesture playing the way he did against the Shock, the Dynasty might pick on the Fusion's tank line and knock Philly out of the tournament. Panic Rating: 9/10
Shanghai Dragons
Meanwhile, the Dragons made sure everyone knew why they were the favourites heading into the Grand Finals. As a whole, the Dragons out positioned the Fusion through the whole match. It was an all-around effort as many of the players on the Dragons could be argued to have had the best performance on their respective heroes from both series.
With Ji Won "Stand1" Seo pressuring the backline while playing Wrecking Ball and playing Roadhog to a higher level than Sado, it set up Jun Woo "Void" Kang to absolutely dominate. Void would win Player of the Match and was key in the Dragon's shutting down the Fusion's ability to force a fair team fight. The tank play was arguably the main reason that the Fusion weren't able to take a single point on the final two maps.
ByungSun "Fleta" Kim reminded everyone why he was voted MVP, and despite not featuring in the playoffs, Min Sung "Diem" Bae came in and did what he does best- click heads. His Widowmaker outclassed Heesu, pressured the Fusion's tank line, and consistently found first picks on to the supports. Jae Gon "Leejaegon" Lee had a great Mercy performance, and Min chul "IzaYaKI" Kim had one of the best performances from a support player all day, specifically on Zenyatta.
The Dragons force the long-awaited matchup between themselves and the San Francisco Shock. They look fantastic in their tactical play, as well as their individual mechanics making the Fusion look subpar all day. They were favourites headed into this tournament for a reason and should be able to match the Shock blow for blow. Panic rating: 1/10
Images via Overwatch League and @SeoulDynasty