2020 San Francisco Shock season

2020 San Francisco Shock season
Overwatch League champions
Head coachPark "Crusty" Dae-hee
General managerChris "thugnasty" Chung
OwnerAndy Miller
ConferencePacific
DivisionWest
RegionNorth America
Results
Record18–3 (.857)
Place
May MeleeChampions
Summer ShowdownSemifinals
Countdown CupChampions
Season PlayoffsChampions
Total Earnings$2,850,000

The 2020 San Francisco Shock season was the third season of the San Francisco Shock's existence in the Overwatch League and their second under head coach Park "Crusty" Dae-hee. The team entered the season as the defending Overwatch League champions, after winning the 2019 Grand Finals. The Shock planned to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley and the San Jose Civic in downtown San Jose,[1][2] but both were cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shock ended the regular season with 18 wins, 7 bonus wins, and 3 losses. San Francisco faced the eighth-seeded Washington Justice on September 5 in the first round of the 2020 North America playoffs bracket, and after falling 0–2 in the match, the Shock won three straight maps to move on to the second round of the upper bracket.[3] The team next defeated the seventh-seeded Atlanta Reign by a score of 3–1.[4] Moving on to the upper bracket finals, the Shock faced the top-seeded Philadelphia Fusion. Despite keeping the maps close, the Shock came out with a 3–1 victory and advanced to the Grand Finals bracket.[5] As the top North America seed in the Grand Finals bracket, the Shock faced Asia's second-seeded Seoul Dynasty in the bracket's first round on October 8. After the Shock came out with a quick 2–0 lead, the Dynasty evened up the score, winning the following two maps; however, San Francisco won the final map of the match and moved on to the Upper Bracket finals.[6] The team faced Asia's top-seeded Shanghai Dragons in the upper finals, where, again, the Shock started the match with a 2–0 lead, but the Dragons tied up the series after four maps. The Shock won the final map of the match to advance to the Grand Finals match.[7] In the Grand Finals match, the Shock defeated the Seoul Dynasty by a score of 4–2 to win their second consecutive OWL championship.[8]

  1. ^ Field Level Media (December 19, 2019). "San Francisco Shock move first homestand to Berkeley". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  2. ^ Knudsen, Connor (October 11, 2019). "San Francisco Shock Announce 2020 Schedule and Homestand Venues". The Game Haus. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  3. ^ Sebastian, Richard (September 6, 2020). "OWL – New York Excelsior, San Francisco Shock Advances In Playoffs As The League Nears Its Conclusion". Happy Gamer. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  4. ^ Richardson, Liz (September 6, 2020). "Paris Eternal, Los Angeles Gladiators eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  5. ^ Richardson, Liz (September 12, 2020). "Shanghai Dragons, San Francisco Shock lock in Overwatch League Grand Finals spots". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  6. ^ Cruz, Migg Dela (October 9, 2020). "Dynasty get Shocked, Dragons burn Fusion in OWL Winners' Semis". Inquirer. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Richardson, Liz (October 9, 2020). "San Francisco Shock and Seoul Dynasty will face off in 2020 Overwatch League Grand Finals championship". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Rand, Emily (October 10, 2020). "San Francisco Shock win second consecutive Overwatch League title". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2020.