Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

The San Francisco Shock swept the Vancouver Titans 4-0 on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in the Grand Finals of Season 2 of the Overwatch League, claiming the title and the $1.1 million first prize.

Hyo-bin “ChoiHyoBin” Choi was named the Grand Finals MVP by a fan vote, as the Shock overcame a first-round playoff loss to win the whole thing from the losers’ bracket.

Throughout Season 2, 70 percent of Shock matches ended without their opponents winning a single map, while the top-seeded Titans had won the first map of each playoff match. Something had to give on Sunday.

San Francisco, seeded third, came out with its trademark aggression on a Control map that Vancouver has been historically good on, Lijiang Tower, and took the first point. The Shock then came back from a 65-0 deficit in the second round to extend their map streak, winning 2-0, thanks to 22 final blows from their Doomfist Jay “sinatraa” Won.

Minho “Architect” Park and Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim subbed in for the Shock before the action moved to Eichenwalde. They were good moves, as Architect was able to find some high ground and help his team to a successful run on offense. Vancouver recorded only three kills on defense to start the Hybrid map as the Shock took three points.

The Titans answered the bell on offense, using the map’s barricades to their advantage to nab three points and force overtime. Then Rascal showed why he was subbed in, getting his rocket barrage early and allowing San Francisco to win the map 4-3 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

After halftime, the Titans looked to quell the Shock’s momentum on Temple of Anubis, another Hybrid map. San Francisco adjusted its lineup again, reinserting sinatraa and Nam-joo “Striker” Gwon.

Vancouver looked strong early, completing its offense round with 1:34 left on the clock. On defense, the Titans focused on eliminating sinatraa first, but San Francisco ran through the map anyway with 2:12 left to take the timebank lead. The Shock rode that timebank lead and sinatraa’s 11 final blows to shut down Vancouver’s best, claiming Temple of Anubis 4-3 to set up match point.

San Francisco repeated its substitution of Architect and Rascal for sinatraa and Striker to start out Watchpoint: Gibraltar, an Escort map.

The Shock went on offense first and completed the map with 1:52 left in their timebank. Once again, stellar positioning on high ground by Architect allowed San Francisco to wall the final checkpoint beyond Vancouver’s reach and win the map 3-2, claiming the Season 2 championship without dropping a map.

The Titans earned $600,000 for taking second place.

–Field Level Media