Towards the end of the Overwatch League Summer Showdown qualifiers, the Dallas Fuel beat the San Francisco Shock 3-1 and ended their undefeated 2022 regular season. This also caps the San Francisco Shock’s recent league record for the longest regular-season win streak at 20 matches. Considering how the Shock have performed in every meta so far, the variability of this Summer Showdown meta gave Dallas the avenue to beat the formerly unbeaten 2022 Shock roster in a qualifying match.
Every streak has to eventually come to an end.
The golden run ends at 20 consecutive wins. Thanks for watching us make history!
GGWP @DallasFuel pic.twitter.com/k7C5NBbPTJ
— San Francisco Shock (@SFShock) September 2, 2022
The run ends at the hands of the Dallas Fuel
The San Francisco Shock and Dallas Fuel are two of the best teams in the West, ever since the 2022 season began. So far, their performances at the two LANs haven’t led to any titles, but both teams got second place. Dallas lost to the Los Angeles Gladiators in the Kickoff Clash finals, while San Francisco lost to the Gladiators in the Midseason Madness finals. However, their qualification stories have significant differences.
Despite almost entirely re-tooling their roster, the Shock continued their regular season dominance from their championship years in 2022. They’ve remained undefeated in the regular season in 2022, despite some close calls. At the same time, the Fuel followed up a 5-1 Kickoff Clash qualifiers with a 4-2 Midseason Madness qualifiers, and a worse showing in the Midseason Madness tournament than their Kickoff Clash run. The Dallas Fuel seemed to be struggling a little, while the Shock were soaring with an undefeated regular season and a finals appearance.
Then, the Summer Showdown meta hit, with Junker Queen and Brig/Lucio changing things up. Suddenly, the power rankings in the West took a big hit, with lots of teams getting better or worse. Despite that, the Dallas Fuel are one of the few teams in the West that improved in comparison to previous metas. After that switch they got to face the San Francisco Shock on their final match of the Summer Showdown qualifiers; there, Dallas ended the Shock’s unbeaten 2022 regular-season run. Funnily enough, Dallas were the last team to beat the Shock in the regular season in 2021 as well.
The San Francisco Shock's last 22 regular-season matches:
Lose to Dallas
20 straight wins
Lose to Dallas— Overwatch League Statistical Insights (@owlstatsnet) September 2, 2022
Fuel are now the top dog in the West
It’s fair to say that when this stage began, this match was two heavy hitters fighting it out to see who faces the Gladiators. What nobody expected was the fall of the Gladiators, who have to get lucky to even qualify for the Summer Showdown playoffs. This left the Fuel and Shock alone at the top, with some other teams trying to climb up from mediocrity.
The Fuel’s 3-1 win over the Shock means a lot; it gives Dallas a perfect 6-0 in the Summer Showdown and ends the Shock’s run at the same time. Plus, this could be a potential finals matchup in the West if these teams stay in form. In the end, this win means that the Dallas Fuel are the best team heading to Toronto. We’ll see if their small undefeated run can reach the finals and get a better outcome this time around.
