Four teams entered the 2020 Overwatch League Grand Finals bracket, but only two will face off in the season’s final contest.
After two days of competition in the double-elimination bracket, the San Francisco Shock and Seoul Dynasty are moving on to the final match. On Oct. 10 at 8am CT, the two teams will compete in a first-to-five match to crown the 2020 Overwatch League champion.
The Grand Finals match will now be a showdown between last year’s reigning champs and the veteran-heavy squad of the Seoul Dynasty, which includes multiple players who won the 2018 Overwatch League championship.
Their road to victory wasn’t easy, though. Here’s how the rest of the Oct. 9 Grand Finals bracket games shaped up.
San Francisco Shock vs. Shanghai Dragons (3-2)
For months, Overwatch League fans have eagerly awaited the showdown between the top team in the Asia-Pacific region and the 2019 champions. This match marked the first time the Shock and Dragons have faced off since last year’s stage three finals.
Until halftime, the series looked to be underwhelming thanks to San Francisco showing absolute dominance. On the first map, Oasis, and second map, Hollywood, the Shock leaned on the talents of DPS Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo on Tracer and tank Matthew “Super” DeLisi on Roadhog. Just when it looked like the Shock could clean sweep Shanghai, something in the Dragons’ ranks shifted.
Control map Volskaya Industries has been a sore spot for the San Francisco Shock, who dropped the map to the Seoul Dynasty yesterday. Smelling blood in the water, Shanghai’s DPS duo Bae “Diem” Min-seong and Lee “LIP” Jae-won outsniped and outpaced Shock’s passive attacks. Watchpoint: Gibraltar was a similar scene, with Shanghai pulling off an unprecedented full hold on the Shock.
Unfortunately for the Shanghai Dragons, they fell back into old habits on final map, Busan. Striker ran circles around Shanghai’s DPS and supports, wreaking havoc in the backlines. On the back of their Tracer expert, San Francisco took Busan and also nabbed the first spot in the Oct. 10 Grand Finals match.
Seoul Dynasty vs. Philadelphia Fusion (3-0)
The Philadelphia Fusion spent most of the 2020 season on top of the North American leaderboard, but the Seoul Dynasty dragged them right off that pedestal in the losers semifinal match.
Seoul continued to lean on the seemingly infinite clutch potential of main tank Hong “Gesture” Jae-hee and DPS Park “Profit” Joon-yeong, both 2018 Grand Finals champions as a part of the London Spitfire. The duo proved how much they want another taste of success by demolishing most of Philadelphia’s best-laid plans.
The Dynasty ran away with the first map, Busan, and continued the destruction on King’s Row. Philadelphia looked alive on their King’s Row attack, but the steadfast tank line of the Dynasty held the Fusion before they could fully complete the map.
Temple of Anubis was Philadelphia’s map choice and the team’s last chance at a Grand Finals appearance. Fusion DPS Jeong “Heesu” Hee-su refused to go down without a fight, sniping members of the Dynasty and pushing his team toward a successful attack round. Even with backup from Rookie of the Year Kim “Alarm” Kyeong-bo, Philadelphia couldn’t stand up to the Dynasty’s cohesive assaults and were eliminated from the Grand Finals.
Seoul Dynasty vs. Shanghai Dragons (3-2)
In what could arguably be considered the biggest upset of the Overwatch League postseason, the Seoul Dynasty dismantled the Shanghai Dragons, widely considered the best team in the entire league.
In the first map, Busan, Diem came out in full form for the Shanghai Dragons, racking up multiple kills each round as Widowmaker. He met a formidable adversary in Kim “Fits” Dong-eon, who partnered up with Profit to complete kills. It was a close map, but Shanghai ran away with it before Seoul’s DPS could clutch up.
Both teams rolled through the attack rounds on Hybrid map King’s Row, but Seoul stepped up their game on defense. Profit, in particular, looked like he was back in the 2018 Grand Finals, winning entire teamfights on his own. That mindset came back to bite the Dynasty on Volskaya Industries, where a lack of team cohesion cost Seoul the map.
As if Seoul heard this complaint, the team brought Shanghai to Escort map Dorado and managed an unprecedented full hold against the Dragons. Off-tank Hwang “Marve1” Min-seo stepped into the spotlight to give Seoul the energy to take the series to map five.
Though they came into the Grand Finals tournament with a mediocre regular season record, the Seoul Dynasty is full of veterans who are used to the pressure of playoff tournaments. This couldn’t have been more obvious on the final map, Oasis, where Profit and Gesture didn’t break a sweat against a visibly exhausted Dragons roster.
The final match of the Overwatch League season begins at 8am CT on Oct. 10. The San Francisco Shock will take on the Seoul Dynasty and one team will be crowned the 2020 season champions.
