I’ll give this week a solid D+. The Shock came into Stage 2 wanting to prove that they had potential to rock the OWL. Instead they checked in with a performance relative to that Magnitude 3 that woke me up at 3 AM a few months back. On an individual basis, the Shock actually played pretty well. People are quick to blame Dhak and Nomy for all of the Shock’s problems, but I don’t think they played all that badly this week. Meanwhile Danteh popped off, and Sleepy had some, to quote Semmler, “Frags”. And yet, the Shock came away with a 1–7 map record. So what happened?

Well, the real problem was just a lack of coordination. This meta hasn’t really turned into the heavy deathball meta that a lot of people were expecting. Most teams are still running dive, just with Lucio instead of Mercy. Even so, getting Dhak off of Mercy should have solved some big issues. But the Gladiator game was a complete mess. Alright, so this GLA squad now had Fissure, who really needs no introduction. But even with that, this was still a massacre that I hadn’t really seen coming. The Shock tried to run their “Split Dive” strategy, but as I’ve said before, this is a risky proposition that only works if your team is running like a well oiled machine. The Shock were working like the engine of a 1982 Alfa Romeo Spider (This isn’t a good thing. Unfortunately I speak from experience). The Gladiators carved the Shock up like a turkey on Thanksgiving, and the Orange and Red feebly sputtered out on the last two maps, culminating in a C9 to end the game on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. This was a crummy game for everyone. Coordination was off, the lack of flexibility was exposed, and the entire team didn’t really play at their full potential.

Things changed a bit during the Seoul match. The Shock got off to a good start on Hanamura, and on an individual level everyone performed for the entire match. Danteh in particular was turning in an excellent performance, Dhak and Nomy both improved, Sleepy was doing great, and Babybay and Nevix (who had had a cruddy game versus the Gladiators) picked it up against the Dynasty. Unfortunately, individual performances can’t fix a lack of coordination and flexibility. (Good lord I’m getting tired of writing that sentence) Seoul didn’t have their best game, but they ran their trademark coordinated dive comp well enough. The Shock did a decent job holding it off until Gibraltar, where Seoul picked it up and smashed the Shock into next week, culminating in another Shock C9.

I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on this week’s games for a reason. I’d much rather talk about what the Shock can do to address the issues on their roster. During the Stage break, most of the Shock’s fellow mid-low tier teams made moves to shape up their rosters. In fact, every team in the bottom five made significant moves. Except for the Shock. Part of this could be chalked up to the fact that the Shock have more high profile “Less that 18 year olds” on their roster than any other team. While Super and Sinatraa are good players and will definitely benefit SF, the Shock should make some other moves to bolster their roster even more. Fortunately, the Shock have some options.

Option 1) Wait for Super and Sinatraa

Pros: Super is a good main tank and will be an upgrade over Nomy. And ol’ 150K is somewhat unproven but has potential to be a game changing Tracer

Cons: Again, Sinatraa is unproven. And while main tank is one problem, it doesn’t really address some of the other holes in the roster

Option 2) The Houston Outlaws.

I’m lumping all of this together into one option. The Outlaws are a textbook example of a well constructed team. They have specialists. They have flexible players. They work well together. But they have one fairly significant hole: no dedicated Tracer player. That’s not to say that their other player’s can’t play Tracer, but most of them are better at other roles. If we go through their DPS lineup we find

Linkzr: Good Tracer, but better at heroes like Widow and McCree

Jake: OK Tracer, but better at heroes like Junkrat and…uh…Junkrat

Clockwork: OK when on point, cringeworthy went not.

Mendo: Good for warming the ol’ bench. Also wouldn’t play Tracer even if he was playing.

Now, The Shock have two players who can play Tracer really well: Danteh and Sinatraa. When Sinatraa comes along, Danteh might be relegated to the bench. The Outlaws don’t have a dedicated Tracer player. Could the Shock use Danteh as a trade chip to get players off of the Outlaws?

Option 2a) Spree.

Pros: Excellent Zarya. Also somewhat low on Houston’s depth chart, which would probably make him somewhat inexpensive. Spree would be a good low risk pickup with a potentially high upside.

Cons: Spree’s D.Va is shaky, and this is a D.Va dominant meta. And the Shock have a surplus of Zarya players who aren’t that much worse than Spree.

Option 2b) Coolmatt

Pros: One of the world’s best D.Va players, with a pretty good Zarya. Also has the best hair in the league

Cons: The trade package that would need to be put together would be extremely expensive and probably not worth it in the end.

Option 2c) Mendo

Pros: Again, low on the depth chart, so probably relatively inexpensive. Projectile is also a huge hole for the Shock, so this pickup makes some sense.

Cons: There might be better options available. Also the Shock already have a DPS overload.

Option 2d) Boink.

Pros: Good, proven Lucio, which would fulfill another hole in the Shock’s lineup

Cons: The Outlaws aren’t gonna trade away their only Lucio player.

Ok so this Outlaw theory has some issues. We also have to take into account that the Outlaws are true competitors, so they aren’t gonna make trades unless it really benefits their championship ambitions.

Option 3) Silkthread

Pros: Silk hasn’t been getting that much playtime, so he might not be that expensive. High caliber Genji and Pharah with a good Soldier too. Silk + Danteh/Sinatraa would be a scary DPS duo, and you could put in Babybay on maps where Widow/McCree are useful.

Cons: Might be expensive depending on how the Valiants front office feels. This one is one of the better suggestions I’ve heard, and I’d like the Shock to seriously look into it.

There are a bunch of other options, most notably in academy teams. I’m not sure how signing out of academy teams work, but if the Shock could nab Mangachu and Adam it would be an excellent pickup. The Shock could also consider bringing up Smex from their own academy team. The point is, the Shock have options. However, just attempting one option and then saying all is well is the wrong choice. In contrast with a team like Houston, who have safety blankets and other options throughout their roster, the Shock are a poorly built team. It will take some pretty big moves to really fix up this roster. They have enough space on the roster to fix the issues. They just need to do something fast, or they will be out of contention for good.

The Shock have a duplicate of their first week schedule, playing against the Valiant and the Dragons. The Valiant sputtered a little bit out of the gate in Stage 2, but they are still a great team with formidable players. The Shock would like to avenge the stomping that they received in the first match of the season, and this is the perfect time to do it. The Dragons made some key pickups, but the players haven’t joined the team yet, so they are still the mediocre mess of a team that is still the only winless squad in the OWL. I’d love to see them get a win, but please don’t do it against the Shock. I expect more out of the Shock than what we saw this week. They should be better. Hopefully they can show their better side in Week Two.