Shock coach reveals what hurt them most against Dragons in Stage 3 Finals

The San Francisco Shock made their third straight stage finals this Overwatch League season, but fell just short in seventh map losing by a final score of 4-3. Now, the team’s coach, Crusty, has revealed that a lack of preparation between the semi-finals and finals hurt his team.

[ad name=”article1″]

Speaking on stream, Crusty said (via Gatamchun‘s translation of notes by @openerandshirt),
“We had 10 hours after the Valiant match, including sleep and meal
times. Normally I plan out movement trajectories for players on the
maps, but for this match we had no time.”

[ad name=”article2″]

The Shock’s semi-final match against the Valiant on Saturday was scheduled for 9:00 PM with the finals the next day at 1PM. The Dragons, meanwhile, played their Saturday semi-final against the Vancouver Titans at 7 PM.

“You could ask why we didn’t prep for Shanghai ahead of this, but you
have to start with the opponent right in front of you. It’s all my
fault,” Crusty added.

• Read More: Shanghai Dragons complete Overwatch League comeback with Stage 3 performance

The potential coach of the year also dropped a bombshell regarding his health. “Since the players make it to the finals match each stage, it’s been very stressful. My health has also worsened, my blood pressure isn’t good, bc of the repetitive lifestyle. I’m going back to Korea after this stream and I’m gonna go see a doctor,” the translated tweet said.

[ad name=”article3″]

One topic of discussion and great intrigue was the decision to start Striker, Architect and Smurf on Oasis.

Crusty revealed he “asked Architect to mark Dding’s Pharah on Oasis,
and Striker to distract Diem. But it didn’t really come to situations
where they went 1v1” and if the DPS mirror worked out he “wouldn’t have
subbed out Architect and Striker.”

•  Read More: xQc hints at gearing up as Team Canada’s main tank in Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon

While his team did suffer immensely at first, following behind 3-0, they near completed an improbable reverse sweep by bringing the series back to a seventh map.

“After winning Maps 4-6, I agonized over whether to go with the same roster or whether to switch back to the DPS roster on Map 1. Will I stay safe, or will I make a gamble? I ultimately went with the main roster but I have some regrets,” the coach confessed.

[ad name=”article4″]

Had
his team won, this would have been the first time in professional
Overwatch history that a reverse sweep from a 3-0 deficit occurred.
Something we may never see in our lifetimes.

To put this in perspective, in traditional sports, only 4 NHL teams have been able to pull off a reverse sweep when down 3-0. Only one time has an MLB team come back from 3-0 and it has never happened in the NBA.

[ad name=”article5″]

The Overwatch League is currently on a week break but will return July 25 for the start of stage 4.