This series of articles is going to cover story lines and takes from this season that have likely been forgotten as the season has progressed.
"As I always say sometimes behind is a little more fun than in front."
-Calder, 2019
Hey guys, remember when we thought the Shock were absolute trash bags at the start of the season? You probably don't because a) it was a long time ago an b) I don't think any serious person thought that. Let me take you back to a time where the Shock was 1-2 after facing the Gladiators and the Titans in the first two weeks of the season and they still hadn't settled on the line up of Sinatraa-Super-Choyhiobin-Rascal-Moth and the then underage Viol2t. The Shock looked washed because no one knew how to play GOATs at a high level but we still thought the best teams last year would probably be the best teams this year. In a community power rankings post from r/competitiveoverwatch after Stage 1 Week 1 the top 5 teams were 1. New York Excelsior, 2. London Spitfire, 3. Philidelphia Fusion, 4. Los Angelas Gladiators and 5. The San Fransisco Shock. The Titans came in at 7th. The Shock was thought to be good, an upper-middle-class team, not world-beaters. After they figured out their line up and Viol2t got a little older they were able to become a bowling ball of character from various foreign countries slamming through any 6-stack that stepped in their way. The Shock proved themselves after a period of self-discovery which is what also was happening at the start of Stage 4. We're they thought of as being at a Florida level? No, not at all, but I think few people could've predicted the dominance that both the Shock and Titans showed through Stages 1-3. The Shock also showed us the model for building a successful Overwatch League team and mixed it with a little luck. They always are patient when changes come into the game. They never force line-ups or swap to trends when they gain a little bit of success and we've seen this multiple times this season but they have always achieved some sort of success. The Shock have been just ok for periods of this season but have proved that they are the best build team which is backed up by their repeated success.
- Calder
Co-Founder of The Broverwatch and Co-Host of The Broverwatch Podcast
Twitter @calder_100
Twitch twitch.tv/calder100
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