RESULTS: San Francisco Shock Defeat Houston Outlaws in 3-1 Victory

Nicholas Barth,

March 17, 2018 11:16 PM

The Houston Outlaws and San Francisco Shock took to the virtual battlefield in the second Overwatch League match of Saturday.

The Houston Outlaws came into the match with a 10-7 record and in 5th place in the Overwatch League. Coming off of a 2-3 loss to the Los Angeles Gladiators, Houston was limping into the contest having lost four out of their last five matches. The San Francisco Shock entered the match with a 5-12 record and in 9th place in the league. San Francisco was coming off of a 3-1 loss to the London Spitfire on Friday and were looking to end Week 4 by securing their 6th victory of the season. Here is a short breakdown of how the match went. 

Hanamura was the first map of the match. The Houston Outlaws were able to push through San Francisco's defense on Point A to grab a 1-0 lead, but the Shock's defense would hold strong on Point B to prevent the Outlaws from grabbing a second point. The San Francisco Shock took advantage of the clear opening they had to win the map and capitalized. Behind the excellent play of Dante "Danteh" Cruz (23 eliminations, a kill streak of 10 and four deaths as Tracer) and Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson (17 eliminations, 10,379 damage blocked and five deaths as D.Va), the Shock were able to capture both Point A and Point B to secure the 2-1 victory on Hanamura and the 1-0 match lead. 

Nepal was the following map and saw the San Francisco Shock continue to take the fight to the Houston Outlaws. Danteh (14 eliminations, a kill streak of 10 and one death as Tracer) and Nevix (11 eliminations, 4,079 damage blocked and zero deaths as D.Va) once again led San Francisco in capturing a win, as the Shock would capture the first two hills to collect the 2-0 victory on Nepal and the 2-0 match lead going into halftime. While the second hill was a closely contested battle, San Francisco made the necessary plays in the end to grab the 100% to 99% win. 

Hollywood was the third map of the match. San Francisco was able to capture the payload and make a strong push to secure the second checkpoint, but the Houston Outlaws ultimately held strong and prevented the Shock from gaining a second point. The Shock would put together a great defensive effort reminiscent of their full hold against the London Spitfire on Friday, but Houston would be able to finally break through San Francisco's defense and capture the payload. From there the Houston Outlaws were able to secure the second checkpoint and collect the 2-1 win on Hollywood, cutting the Shock's lead to 2-1. The tank duo of Austin "Muma" Wilmot (18 eliminations, 9,091 damage blocked and two deaths as Winston) and Matt "Coolmatt" Lorio (18 eliminations, 8,838 damage blocked and seven deaths as D.Va) led the way for Houston. 

Watchpoint: Gibraltar was the location of the fourth map of the match. Despite some accurate sniping by Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin's Widowmaker, a six kill streak by Danteh's Tracer on the final checkpoint led the San Francisco Shock to complete the map and collect three points. Houston was able to break through San Francisco's defense in their attack round to grab the first two checkpoints. However, a great switch by Nevix to Mei on the final checkpoint to cut off the sightline of LiNkzr's Widowmaker with her ice walls would prove to be the difference making play to prevent the Outlaws from completing the map. This resulted in the 3-2 map win and 3-1 match victory for the San Francisco Shock. David "Nomy"  Ramirez (31 eliminations, 16,657 damage blocked and six deaths as Winston) Danteh (28 eliminations, a kill streak of eight and six deaths as Tracer) and Nevix (27 eliminations, 10,980 damage blocked and five deaths as D.Va) were the leaders for San Francisco on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. 

Danteh was named the player of the match for his impressive Tracer play through each map. He finished with 67 eliminations, 40 final blows and 12 deaths. 

With the win, the San Francisco Shock improved to a record of 6-12 and showed the rest of the league that they are a team to be feared when they are playing to their potential. The loss dropped the Houston Outlaws to a 10-8 record and continued the rough patch that the team has been on throughout the majority of Stage 2. 

Interested in more Overwatch League coverage? Check out our recap of the London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty match from earlier today. 

(cover photo courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)

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