After an incredible run through the losers bracket, the San Francisco Shock dominated the Vancouver 🌳Titans 4-0 to win the Overwatch Grand Finals.
Unlike last year's surprise Philadelphia vs London match, this match has been anticipated from the start. The two rivals had been dominating the league all season, earning their way to the Wells Fargo Center. After losing to the Titans in the Stage 1 Championship, the Shock entered the Grand Finals with something to prove.
First Round
The first of four series began on Lijiang Tower, with Sinatraa getting off to a good start as he allowed the Shock to capture the control point with Doomfist. The Titans managed to capture the point after the Shock had amassed 93%, but Sinatraa's Doomfist combined with a late-game Gravitic Flux by Chohyobin allowed the Shock to ultimately regain control and win a point, serving the Titans their first control round-one defeat since the start of the playoffs.
The seඣcond round on Lijiang Tower went a little differently, this time with Haksal showing off his dominance as Doomfist. Still, thanks to some big plays from Sinatraa and Striker as Reaper the Shock managed to recover and hand Vancouver a map-one defeat.
Second Round
Map two was Eichenwalde, with Shock starting as the attacking team. San Francisco once again started strong by taking the first point in no time at all, and the combination of Mei, Orisa and Bastion proved to be too much for Vancouver to handle. Architect as Bastion faced almost no resistance, making the Shock seem unstoppable and leading ♑to a quick victory.
On offense, the Titans managed to take the point and get the payload moving without spending their big ultimates. The Titans were able to keep the momentum going, saving their ultimates un🎃til the final castle push, sending the series into overtime.
The Titans were on offense once again but found themselves shut out by the Shock's Rascal playing as Pharah. After two minutes, they were able to make about 55% capture progress but were never able to deal with Rascal or get the payload moving. On offense, San Francisco had trouble getting anything done for most of the game, but a late-game switch from Mei to Pharah allowed Rascal to get a teamkill and allow the Shock to capture the payload in one of the hypest moments of the whole finals.
Third Round
After halftime, the Titans started on offense on Temple of Anubis. Haksal and Sinatraa ended up squaring off, with Haksal winning the duel and allowing his team to take Point A. On Point B however, Sinatraa was free to roam the backfield and lay havoc on the Titans. With less than two minutes left, and Haksal dead, Vancouver's Twilight as Moira and Seominsoo as Reaper stepped up to the plate, killing most of the Shock and leading to a Titans victory. On defense, however, the Titans weren't as successful, as Sinatraa's Doomfist once again proved to be too much to handle. Sepminsoo's Death Blossom in round 3 led to the Titans taking Point A, but they failed to make any capture progress on point B. This failure came back to haunt them, leading to a loss on the map as the Shock put them in a do-or-die situation on map four: Gibraltar.
Round Four
On offense, Shock's Architect carved up the defense as Bastion. Just when the Titans looked like they might set up a strong resistance, a Mei Blizzard by Rascal pushed them back to the final checkpoint. Despite some strong showings from the Titans Seominsoo as Reaper, Vancouver met the same fate they'd been suffering all afternoon.
Hoping to force a map five, Vancouver came out looking very strong. Jjanu and Seominsoo looked very good as Sigma and Reaper respectively, forcing a close game as they bore down on the final checkpoint with only a minute left. Their best efforts were all for nothing though, as a dominant Architect completely shut Vancouver's offense down as Bastion for the final time.
The Shock will take home a $1.1 million prize, while the Titans will settle for $600,000. San Francisco has much to celebrate, and Sinatraa and Architect will be looking to repeat this year's performance as they head into next season.