The Shanghai Dragons and the Dallas Fuel came out victorious in their respective regions in the Overwatch League Summer Showdown 2022. Much like in 2021, the two teams displayed a dominant performance going through the upper bracket and secured the win.
Dallas Fuel shines in the West Summer Showdown
On the western front, the Dallas Fuel showed a steady improvement in their performance throughout the 2022 season until now. Despite being one of the top teams in 2021, the Dallas Fuel has had their fair share of struggles this year.
The Dallas Fuel capped off an exquisite run to the Summer Showdown title—their first of the season and one they may feel was longer than expected. But, to be fair, a team, even as dominant as this one, had room to make improvements as the tournament progressed; they dropped two maps in their first match (a reverse sweep), then one in their second match, and finally sealed the deal with two clean sweeps, both over the San Francisco Shock.
The Dallas Fuel faced the San Francisco Shock in the upper bracket finals, whom they defeated with a 3-0 scoreline. The Grand Finals were a best-of-seven series that saw an even more dominant Dallas Fuel win the series with a 4-0 scoreline.
Sp9rk1e and Edison had excellent synergy with Hanbin on Colossed. The synergy provided ample space for the supports who kept the wheels rolling for the Dallas Fuel. Overall, the Dallas Fuel looked much more polished in their gameplay compared to the San Francisco Shock.
Shanghai Dragons shine in the East Summer Showdown
Shanghai Dragons are the champions of the east OWL Summer Showdown
The Shanghai Dragons have been a dominant force in the east for a while now. They won last year’s Overwatch League championship and two other competitions, including the 2021 Summer Showdown. In 2022, the East was reintroduced to a familiar champion. However, the regional title match between the Shanghai Dragons and Seoul Dynasty went a little further, making it the most competitive tournament final of the season and adding yet another marker in the healthy rivalry between these two top-seeded teams.
The winning narrative of the Shanghai Dragons was eerily similar to that of the Western Champions: a legacy team dominating in a meta that seemed to be tailor-made for them.
In Shanghai’s case, it was Seung-Jun “WhoRU” Lee’s Genji who outperformed the Seoul Dynasty by cutting swathes through their defenses. MVP Jae-Won “Lip” Lee was singularly dialled in. The Dynasty held a brief lead after rookie phenom Hak-Yong “Stalk3r” Jeong went clutch on the opening map, Oasis, and Dong-Eon “Fits” Kim showcased impressive gameplay on Colosseo to tie the score at 2-2. But, eventually, Shanghai crushed Dynasty over the next two maps as Lip managed to find yet another gear.
Before the final, the Dragons had claimed a six-map victory over Dynasty, but Dynasty never failed to keep up with Shanghai. The company had an enormous reputation for fighting against the Goldbergs in battles.
Shanghai Dragon’s strength has been gaining momentum, and they drag the games in a way that wears out other teams. Tank Void and DPS LIP appeared to regain power in the series’ final two maps, reloading it and earning a Summer Showdown trophy.
This is Shanghai’s first Overwatch League tournament this season, but the team finally looks a little more dominant than they did in a quarter-final in 2021.
Both Shanghai Dragons and Dallas Fuel have earned three league points after their summer showdown finishes and victories. The Dallas Fuel took home $75,000 as the winning prize money, while the Shanghai Dragons won $50,000. The next stop in the Overwatch League kicks off on September 22 with the Countdown Cup.