Vancouver Titans Will Play in First Overwatch League Finals
By Wyatt Fossett ·
The hype train took a long time to leave the station, but the Overwatch world has finally taken notice of the Vancouver Titans and their scarily dominant play now that the NYXL is out of the picture.
No matter how many games they won, and how decisive some of those victories looked, the Vancouver Titans had yet to earn the respect of Overwatch League analysts. But now, after sweeping the Boston Uprising in the first-round of the OWL Stage 1 Playoffs, and today sweeping the Seoul Dynasty in the second round, they are finally the favorites to win it all.
With their win on the mainstage today, the Vancouver Titans will head to their first-ever Stage Playoff Finals and do so without owning a single loss on their record. Ever since underdog Seoul Dynasty knocked out the NYXL (the team everyone picked to win Stage 1), the Titans have been the team to beat and the talk of the town. Rightfully so.
Offensive Push to Victory
In a surprising twist, the Vancouver Titans flipped their normal strengths when it came to escort maps. A team that has, up until this point, been very hard to claim map points against with their intensely strong defensive abilities, Vancouver looked a little bit softer when attempting to hold off the Dynasty this afternoon.
Instead, crazy aggressive main-tank Bumper and the rest of his Titans squad looked absolutely unstoppable on offense. It didn’t matter how much time the Dynasty could finish an escort map in, the Titans would do the same at a blurred pace. Twice the two teams went into extra-innings on escort, and at no point did the Vancouver Titans seem like they’d lose.
Whether or not this trend is something that the Vancouver Titans will be putting a lot of practice into, or if it was just an overconfidence move, is yet to be seen. But, as the “GOATS” three-tank three-support meta will most likely dissolve with future updates, the offensive side of the game may take charge.
Vancouver Golden Knights
In just their first appearance as part of the Overwatch League since claiming an expansion slot, the team-formerly-known-as the RunAways has made a huge statement. With years of cooperation and team synergy building, they have managed to not only go undefeated into the first season stage playoffs but also head into the finals in a very smooth performance.
Much like the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights did in their first season, the Vancouver Titans are looking to make it all the way to the top during their first swing at OWL contention. Though it is unlikely the Titans will make it through their entire inaugural season without losing a single game, surely the undefeated stance they’ve made in Stage 1 will go down in the record books (pending Sunday’s Stage 1 Playoffs finals).
It could very well be that the expansion Vancouver Titans are simply the best at the current meta (GOATS), and it has yet to be seen how they stack up against the rest of the Overwatch League when it comes to a potentially DPS-heavy future. For now, though, they are the most dominant force in the league and have flown past all opponents with little to no stuttering.
Bumper’s BM Mode
Known for his shockingly aggressive, deep diving Reinhardt, Bumper continues to do as much trash talking as he does hammer swinging. During the first round of the playoffs, Bumper could be seen posing on top of payloads and waving at their fallen foes. His BM -- a term used by gamers describing attitudes that are “Bad Mannered” but in a good or fun way -- game has been strong.
On the final push during the battle of map Temple of Anubis, Bumper and the Titans came out of their spawn dressed to the nines with damage heroes. Something the team has rarely done. In his post-match interview with OWL Insider Danny Lim, Bumper said that they “flexed” on the Dynasty with those picks because the game had “already been won”. Now that's a BM move.
Heading into the finals, the Titans and Bumper will have to stand one more test before they can be crowned the Overwatch League Stage 1 Champions. Whether it is the San Francisco Shock, or the Philadelphia Fusion sitting across the stage from them, there doesn’t seem like many surefire recipes for success against this colossal Titans squad.
Vancouver will play in the finals on Sunday, March 24th. Their matchup against the winner of the Shock versus Fusion game will begin at 12:00 PM PST.