They finally did. The San Francisco Shock have been working this whole stage to get back to the Grand Finals, and they were afforded the opportunity to get their revenge on the Vancouver Titans after losing the Stage 1 Finals.

With 28-straight map wins in Stage 2 of the Overwatch League, the Shock were absolutely dominant in this portion of the season. Completing the story-arch, would be a very tough series against the Titans which mirrored their first finals meet-up with Vancouver. 

What a series it was. Watching two of the best Overwatch teams (both undefeated in the stage) go head to head in a first-to-four series is the pinnacle of this Esport. It’s a brilliant time, and the most entertaining competitive Overwatch we’ve ever seen. GOATs or no GOATs. 

Let’s take a look and see how it happened. 

Viol2nce on Lijiang 

On Map 1 of this grand finals head-to-head the Shock came out truly on fire. Needing to make a point that this isn’t the same inexperienced talent that the Titans faces in the Stage 1 Finals, Zenyatta-main Viol2t stood out among the orange crush of San Francisco and the not-so-underdogs quickly swept Lijiang Tower away from the Titans. 

Titan’s Row

For the second map of the series the Vancouver Titans picked hybrid map King’s Row -- a map they have yet to lose -- and it may have taken some extra innings but the Titans swung the momentum back into their favor. It would be the overextension from Super and Sinatraa that would cost the Shock the map in the end as the Titans’ defense stood up against the fast-acting youth of the San Francisco squad. 

Also, instead of worrying about the enemy D/Va eating Seominsoo’s Zarya Grav, it was the map itself that the Titans DPS player will have nightmares about. 

Paris is Burning

Bumper pulled out his old-favorite Hanzo on Paris and vogued all over the SF Shock in their third map, keeping San Francisco away from even capturing the first point before easily pushing through to seal the map on offense. 

This was the first of two examples of possible poor map choice by teams that would go on to lose. Perhaps teams in the Overwatch League could benefit from prioritizing map meta in scrims and gameplans. 

Shockpoint GibrULTar

In another payload map that needed to go to extra innings, the two teams in this heated battle showed why they are so hard to beat, even against each other. With some wonky attempts at a cart pull in their first attempt at setting the distance in extra innings, the Titans couldn’t quite get far enough to make a difference in the end. It would be the Shock who quickly pushed the payload through to the mark to tie the series up at 2 wins apiece. 

Not the Oasis They Were Looking For

For the second time in this Grand Finals head-to-head, the extremely formidable squad from Vancouver would get shutout on a control map. This time around it was their choice, Oasis, that would put the Shock up 3-2 and into match-point. If there is one thing that the Titans absolutely need to shore up in the offseason break, it’s their play on Control type maps. The fact that they chose their fate makes things even worse for the Titans, but it would get even harder for them. 

You Must Be This Super To Ride

Analysts doubted the Titans when they chose Blizzard World as potentially their final match of the Stage 2 Grand Finals, and for a while it seemed like the doubts were going to be silenced. However, heading into their final push that could have won them the game, with 5 of 6 members having their ults ready, Vancouver managed to lose the team fight prior to point B. It was shocking (pun intended). Had they used their advantage in the ultimate-economy, the Titans could have easily pushed the series to a seventh map. 

Revenge Plot Success

In the end, there would be too many mistakes made by the Titans, and too much pressure put on by the Shock. It was a fierce and competitive finals all the way through. The 4-2 scorline truly doesn’t do the series justice in just how much of a nailbiter this was. 

After dropping the Stage 1 Grand Finals to these very same Vancouver Titans, the San Francisco Shock have achieved their franchise-first stage championship. 

This time we went for the head.

GGWP @VancouverTitans thank you for making us better ? pic.twitter.com/3vpx0cLCc3

— San Francisco Shock? (@SFShock) May 12, 2019

Moving forward, the Shock have a fairly easy Stage 3 ahead of them. Will they be able to repeat their golden stage from Stage 1? Probably not. However, they have only one matchup in Stage 3 against a team with a winning record, so expect the Shock to be near or at the top of the Pacific Division again come the end of the stage.

We meet our first loss at the hands of @SFShock - the worthiest of opponents. Congratulations!#ForceOfNature #OWL2019 pic.twitter.com/sqbOhgquee

— Vancouver Titans (@VancouverTitans) May 12, 2019

For Vancouver, they have a bit of a tougher schedule in the next stage, but beating talented teams is generally what this team is best at. Expect the Titans to continue their dominant ways despite today’s loss -- a first for the franchise in their Overwatch League history.

Coming up this week, is the Overwatch League 2019 All-Star Game which comes with a whole pile of festivities and special events.