After a long game day, two more teams are heading home from the 2021 Overwatch League playoffs. Unlike the first day of the qualifying matches, the teams playing on September 23 pushed their opponents to their limits. When matches resume on September 24, there are only four teams left to compete.
The night began with the final display of the deep rivalry that developed between the Atlanta Reign and Los Angeles Gladiators throughout the 2021 season. For most of this year's games, Atlanta's impetuous style has seemed like kryptonite for the calm and seasoned Gladiators.
This trend continued in the lower bracket match. Both teams flipped between maps until Nepal, the fifth map, where Atlanta's DPS went into beast mode. Sniper Kai Collins and the flexible DPS Oh “Pelican” Se-hyun throughout the series snatched the match and packed the Gladiators out of the tournament with a score of 3-2.
Dissatisfied with the five-map series earlier in the broadcast, San Francisco Shock and Chengdu Hunters had a tough time in their lower bracket showdowns. Across six maps, the two best teams fought to the death for post-season survival.
The first map, Lijiang Tower, was an easy win for Shock, but it came back to life on Hunters Anubis, forcing the team into the first draw map of the playoffs. The King's Row map has gone Shock thanks to the amazing games by Choi “ChoiHyoBin” Hyo-bin.
This year's MVP, Xin “Leave” Huang, was revived when his team needed it, and on maps four and five Shock went berserk on the backline and nearly swept past his opponents.
San Francisco DPS Charlie “nero” Zwarg and ChoiHyoBin went on the defensive and completely knocked the Hunters out by a score of 3-2.
Tomorrow, the San Francisco Shock will face the Atlanta Reign at 20:00 CT in another round of the lower bracket. Only one of these teams will qualify to play against the Dallas Fuel.
Shanghai Dragons have already secured their place in the grand finals, which will begin on September 25 at 20.00 PM CT.
