Overwatch League Stage 2: SF Shock destroy Dallas Fuel

The Dallas Fuel and the San Francisco Shock have nearly identical records.

The addition of aKm, as well as xQc rejoining his team off the bench, has given Dallas Fuel a plethora of new and deadly weapons to work with. But even with the boost of individual talent, Dallas has struggled to get better results as a team. So far in Stage 2, the Fuel were able to take down the likes of the Los Angeles Gladiators and the Shanghai Dragons but were unable to beat the Los Angeles Valiant or the Seoul Dynasty.

Just below the Fuel in the overall standings sat the San Francisco Shock. Amid moments of brilliance, the Shock’s gameplay still very much stayed at the level of mediocrity. The team seemed susceptible to being overwhelmed by superior teams and it dismantled any progress that hero plays from Danteh were able to gain them.

Both teams entered the match in very similar places, with a chance to prove that they were the better squad, the squad solidly on the rise.

Map One: Volskaya Industries

San Francisco attacked first, with Babybay on Widowmaker to try to open things up for his team. And open he did, with a pick onto HarryHook. With one less support player, Dallas started to fall to Danteh’s Tracer pistols, and quickly the Shock had point A. The attack train continued onto point B, with San Francisco gashing the point wide open right away. The Shock needed just one slight regroup before they completed the capture of point B as well, finishing with 4:37 still on the clock.

On defense, San Francisco looked just as strong with Danteh on Sombra helping the Shock control the Fuel with his EMPs. Mickie on D.Va was what finally earned the Fuel point A, launching a Self Destruct at a mega health pack that many Shock members were around, getting two eliminations. Point B was taken much more quickly — Dallas threw a Primal Rage and a Dragonblade at San Francisco in quick succession.

So even though the Fuel was able to take both points, they didn’t have as much time as the Shock during the time bank round. Attacking again, Dallas wasted no time at all busting through San Francisco, with aKm largely leading the way with a Soldier 76 Attack Visor. But their momentum was stopped by a Danteh EMP as they reached point B, with three members of their team meeting their death. Those EMPs ended up nearly costing the Fuel the second objective, Danteh able to build it up to have it ready to use three fights in a row. Finally on a push in overtime, Dallas fended off San Francisco long enough to also take point B.

It was now on the Shock to match the Fuel’s performance, but this time, San Francisco found it difficult to make an approach onto point A. Babybay was killed first again and again, unable to contribute in the big way he did the first time his team attacked. As a result, Babybay made to switch to Soldier 76. Meanwhile, Sleepy on Zenyatta was able to get a major pick on HarryHook’s Ana. That started the slow collapse of Dallas’ defense, and it ended with Babybay taking out Taimou’s Winston. Moving onto point B, Babybay busted out his Attack Visor while Nomy on Winston leapt on top of Dallas, knocking players out from behind cover. The combination proved deadly and resulted in the Fuel getting cleaned from the map, giving the second objective fairly quickly to the Shock.

Still with time on the clock, San Francisco was presented with one last opportunity to win the map if they could take the first tick on the first point with the time they have remaining. With not much time to work with, Dallas only needed to hold strong against one San Francisco push, and that is exactly what they were able to do thanks to a big Attack Visor from aKm. The map ended in a draw.

Map Score: Shock 4, Fuel 4

Match Score: Shock 0, Fuel 0

Map Two: Lijiang Tower

For map two, xQc came into the game for Taimou. Starting on Night Market, EFFECT was immediately eliminated in the first scuffle, but he then came back and smoothly picked off three members of the Shock in quick succession. That was enough to give Dallas control of the point first. The Shock were able to flip the point and get some percentage going on it, but the Fuel were always one step ahead. Two more point flips later, Dallas was in control once again at 99 percent. Once again, it was a Pulse Bomb from EFFECT that secured the Fuel the win.

On Gardens, aKm started on Pharah as both teams made their initial attack. It’s a hero he has not yet played during the Overwatch League, and it ended up not being the right choice as San Francisco dominated the fight and took control of the point first. The Shock was able to handily rule the roost all the way up to 98 percent before the Fuel finally got a fight to go their way. But it wasn’t long before Nomy got a huge three-kill Primal Rage that gave the Shock the point once again. With everyone from the Fuel on respawn, overtime ticked away and San Francisco tied the map up.

It came down to Control Center, which the Shock also took control of first. Babybay and Sleepy combined to cause Dallas lots of problems, but the Fuel would flip the point with San Francisco up 94 percent. After winning a couple of engagements, however, the Shock were too much for the Fuel once again. It didn’t take long for the map to hit overtime and despite Dallas’ best efforts to stall, San Francisco closed it out to get the first win of the series.

Map Score: Shock 2, Fuel 1

Match Score: Shock 1, Fuel 0

Map Three: King’s Row

Because the first map ended in a draw, San Francisco needed to win only one of the two remaining maps to secure themselves the series victory. They attacked first on King’s Row, and right away took two ticks on the first objective. Danteh built up his Riptire as Junkrat frighteningly quickly, and could have put the point away with that ultimate, but aKm managed to save his team from that fate by picking it off as McCree. Dallas’ stall only could last so long, however, before San Francisco finished taking the first point and the payload started moving. In all, the Shock only needed one push to take the first point.

The next major fight took place just before the payload reached the second checkpoint. For a brief moment, it looked like Dallas could stabilize their defense over the payload. xQc on Reinhardt did everything he could to both shield his teammates and deal with Danteh on Junkrat, who was jumping all around the payload in an attempt to slip behind his giant shield. In the end, Danteh used a Riptire to dispatch xQc right over the payload and it notched into the second checkpoint. Shockingly, the payload never really stopped as it rolled toward the end of the map. Usually there is a fierce, lengthy fight as the payload nears the defenders’ spawn room, but San Francisco did not deal with anything close to that. All the Shock needed to do was slap a few Fuel members back to reach the end of the map with the payload.

So the Fuel would need to complete the map as well to keep the drive alive. Dallas’ attack on the first point wasn’t as smooth as San Francisco’s, but they did eventually find success with some added flavor from aKm on Pharah. But the Shock staged an effective defense halfway through the second section of the map, taking away a lot of the Fuel’s time. By the time the payload neared the second checkpoint, Dallas had less than 30 seconds on the map. San Francisco engaged Dallas one last time before the checkpoint, and they started off right away with an advantage after Sleepy on Zenyatta notched a kill on aKm. From there, the Shock’s DPS players worked their way through the members of the Fuel and that would be their end. The Shock secured themselves a series win.

Map Score: Shock 3, Fuel 1

Match Score: Shock 2, Fuel 0

Map Four: Route 66

Having been absent for the first three maps of the series, Rascal came into the lineup for Dallas.

On attack, Babybay’s Widowmaker once again made an appearance. He was causing disruption on the hero all series and it was no different here, with a headshot onto Chipshalen. As the Shock escorted the payload through the first portion of the map, the Fuel found themselves getting picked off one by one by the deadly Danteh on Tracer. This prevented them from cobbling together a cohesive stall before the payload reached the first checkpoint.

Overall, Dallas struggled mightily to completely push San Francisco from the payload. Even during fights where eliminations were found and plays were made, there seemed to always be a member of the Shock still around the payload. With the pressure never off the payload, San Francisco was able to keep attacks going for much longer than they should have lasted considering the number of teammates alive at the time. Around two-thirds of the way through the second portion of the map, Dallas was finally able to force San Francisco to retreat and regroup completely after taking out both support players but the respite would not last long. Danteh’s Tracer made Dallas’ life very difficult as the payload moved through the second checkpoint into the home stretch, and he didn’t stop until his team completed the map.

As San Francisco moved onto defense, Danteh went onto the same Sombra that gave Dallas so much grief on the first map of the series. Dhak went Ana, and was integral to the Shock’s first route of the Fuel by throwing a Biotic Grenade over multiple members of Dallas and cutting them off from any sort of healing. Finally with less than a minute left, Dallas found some clarity in the road, finding some initial picks while also being supported by a Sound Barrier. Nearly already in overtime, the Fuel took the first checkpoint.

Next: Overwatch League Stage 2: NY earns huge win over Houston

Just before the payload hit the second checkpoint, San Francisco clamped down once again. Dallas’ second to last push went poorly, with Danteh nailing an EMP and taking down Chipshalen as a result. Hurriedly, the Fuel regrouped and threw together one last attack on the payload but it was too little too late. The Shock easily held onto the payload and finished the series even stronger than they started.

Map Score: Shock 3, Fuel 1

Final Match Score: Shock 3, Fuel 0

Player of the Match: Sleepy, San Francisco Shock