Sparks of Championship Coaching: Competitive Clutch and Adaptability

Overwatch League 2022: SF Shock versus LA Gladiators Analysis

Ode to Overwatch: A Match of Mentality

Whether you’re in it for the trade between Tracer players, spawned Boostios, or sudden last minute subs, this match will leave you questioning what it takes to coach champions.

The San Francisco Shock’s coaching has to be noted. It’s been their bread and butter ever since Overwatch League 2019. The way Crusty, SF Shock’s head coach, has been able to coach rookie players is nothing but spectacular. The league isn’t short of talent, but morphing such skill into a superpower is what makes coaching such a difficult dagger to identify — hidden yet always present, and then it stabs the opposition in ways that seems obvious.

This time around, Crusty reunited with NineK to play with a new set of toys, to draw from a pool of existing champions and toss them in the pool with a supportive pillar, Viol2t, as their core guide.

Whether you were left shaking with the calibre of winnable play or sinking into sorrow as a Sadiator, this match was nothing short of spectacular. Both teams came in clutch fight after fight.

But what makes this match truly stand out, and express how much coaching matters, is how the San Francisco Shock evolved mid-match to adapt their run and gun style into one with more tact around playing…