Its pretty much agreed at this point that the SF Shock are the best owl team at the moment. For all readers who watch owl regularly, why? What makes them so damn good? I hear the analysts keep repeating their star talent and incredible teamwork/synergy, but is it really just that?
Even though I hate the Shock - they are always very quick to notice their weaknesses.
I don’t watch OWL too frequently, I missed today’s matches today lol. But something that I noticed is that Shock is not afraid to switch things up or to swap players out.
A lot of the other teams always seem hesitant to make changes despite the obvious flaws or mistakes happening in the game.
Because of their flexibility, it means that they can play whatever whenever for the biggest part.
A lot of their players are also some of the most flexible players known across the league. Usually, the teams are coached to play specific heroes, or strats - which is why you don’t often see changes but it’s not something you really see with Shock.
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They got that doom skin a while ago. Ever since then they’ve just been improving nonstop.
Adding on to what SmaruIKusia said, you watch them over time compared to other teams and they just roll with the punches better. Most other teams win by forcing their style of play and not letting the other team dictate the match (usually sustain while giving DPS the time to make a pick).
The Shock seem to maximize any strategy they roll with. They aren’t a brawl team or a poke team or a dive team. They roll everything well.
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Exactly - even with the loss of Sinatraa, they’ve held their ground. Not saying that Sinatraa was carrying their team, but the flexibility of the team allows them to be cocky in what they do because if what they’re doing isn’t working then they have another map and change their strategies to work against the weaknesses of the team they are up against.
The good teams in OWL have similar traits:
- Excellent read on when to be aggressive and when to play passively for position/time advantage
- Reading the map and enemy team comp to create a counter-strat on the fly if their set strat fails to land
- Individual players are enough of a threat that focusing any one of them exposes you to the other five players
- Teamwork and shotcalling are phenomenal and mistakes made by the other team are called out and capitalized into a team fight win instantly
Shock does all of these better than basically anyone else in the league, but you can see the LA Valiant and Florida Mayhem doing this too. They all play a very, very different kind of game from the teams lower down the ladder, and even when it’s scrappy they still execute much more smoothly and with purpose.
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Ans best widowmaker once you have the best widowmaker you win.
I don’t know about that.
I’ve watched matches where Ans gets picked off - but it was the followup from the rest of Shock that allowed them to stay in control of the match more so than anything else.
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Ya they’re really good overall but ans makes the difference for me most of the time, he literally shutdown enemy widow every match, then it’s pickfest.
Cause they got ChoiHyoBin.
And Moth
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Super is probably the best rein in the OWL
Striker is a top 5 tracer/hitscan player
Rascal is a top 5 flex DPS player
Ans is a rookie hitscan player, and has already proven himself to be at least top 10
Smurf is one of the best main tanks in the OWL
Choi is arguably the best offtank is the OWL
Viol2t is a top 5 support player
Twilight is a top 5 support player
Moth is probably the best main support in the OWL
And add onto that they have some of the best synergy in the league. They have strong leadership, and don’t hesitate.
BTW SFS fan here
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When you are so confident in your own gameplay that you name yourself “Smurf”
Like damn, I am gonna watch this next week when it comes back.
Um… They aren’t? #Atlanta"Letit"Reign
Shock was the best team long before ANS joined.
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Atm, they are the third best. The best are undoubtedly Philly, followed by shanghai
Don’t they have a crazy coach?
Krusty?
I mean when he was coaching boston, boston went 10 Win & 0 Lose
He left boston for shock
Boston trash
Shock kings
Not to discredit the players
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they have the best Sigma player in the world Choi.
Dragons are the best team in their division and they have Void who could be considered the best Sigma player too.
Sigma op, please nerf
Hard disagree. Ans may be above average for the league, but most of his success is because he can lean on his team to give him that extra time and space.
More likely this. It’s incredible how good his gamesense and resource management is.
I don’t think it’s a discredit to the players. Coaching is a two way street. It’s the player’s job to pick up what the coach is putting down.
This is the answer that is most likely the truth. The shock just look so confident in everything they do. That’s a sign of good coaching.
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