The Overwatch League Grand Finals
How did we get here?
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (in the meta)
The way the game will be played in The Grand Final is very different from how it was played at through most of the season. The dominant meta was the triple tank triple support composition, nicknamed GOATS after the north-american contenders team which developed the strategy. This composition proved so effective that it forced the developers to make one of the largest changes to the game ever. New rules introduced in stage 4 required all compositions to have two tanks, two damage dealers, and two supports, aka 2:2:2 role lock.
This change along with the introduction of new tank Hero Sigma, has led to to a totally new meta in the playoffs and finals. The new double shield meta is built around Sigma and Orisa, plus resilient damage heroes like Reaper and Mei. Anti-shield picks, Bastion, Doomfist who punches straight through shields and Symmetra who boosts her weapon’s damage by attacking shields, are also popular. On the support side because Moira’s ultimate’s ability can deal damage through shields she has become the default main healer.
It is almost certain that we will see both teams using this composition in the finals.
Two amazing stories
What’s remarkable about this season of Overwatch League is that the two Grand Finals teams were not even in contention for last year’s finals. San Francisco Shock finished ninth overall in 2018. Their star players ‘sinatraa’ (future 2019 MVP) and ‘super’ only becoming eligible to play midway through the season. This was always the Shock’s plan however, invest in young talented players and use the experience gained in the first season to dominate in the second. It is a strategy that has paid off amazingly well for them, taking them to every Stage Final, winning Stage 2 without losing a single map in regular season play and completing a second 7:0 stage in Stage 4, leading them all the way to the Grand Finals.
While their opponents the Vancouver Titans were not even part of the League yet. Despite being one of the new expansion teams for 2019, the roster was anything but new. The Titans brought over the entire 2018 RunAway roster, a dominant force in Korean Overwatch, winning Korean Contenders Season 2. Signing a complete roster meant that their players were already used to playing together, some of them since 2016. Also the sheer amount of individual talent on the squad meant the Titans were always going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Whatever the result of Sunday’s match there is an anime worthy story to be told. The winner will either be the princes who were promised coming from Korea to claim their destiny, or it’s the Bad News Bears, Rocky Balboa and the Jamaican Bobsleigh team, the underdogs back to prove their doubters wrong.
Either way it looks set to be a stellar game of Overwatch.
