The San Francisco Shock had one final obstacle standing between them and history. After six perfect 4-0 matches in a row, Dong-jun "Rascal" Kim and his teammates faced off against their most challenging opponent in Stage 2. The Shanghai Dragons would have four opportunities to end the longest map win streak in Overwatch history and prevent San Francisco from achieving the “Golden Stage,” a perfect 7-0 record with a 28-0 map win streak.





Rascal knew that the Dragons, especially DPS player Jin-hyeok "DDing" Yang, would provide a unique challenge. “Shanghai especially likes to run DPS comps or Sombra GOATS, so we spent a lot of time preparing for that,” he told Upcomer after his week five game against the Shanghai Dragons.





Shock adapted to DDing’s strong Pharah and Sombra play with precise compositional switches, including support Minki "Viol2t" Park flexing over to the largely self-sufficient support Moira instead his typical, yet more vulnerable heroes of Zenyatta and Ana. Rascal also had the opportunity to take a break from his trusted and true Brigitte, playing Roadhog in a dominant fashion on Oasis.





This flexibility has been utilized more regularly within the Shock’s gameplay in Stage 2, often celebrated on broadcast and within fanbases. Rascal notes his growth as an individual has allowed this versatility to strengthen the Shock.









“Before, I would just choose a character, choose a hero here and there and just play it to my fullest ability,” he said. “But now, with our coaching staff and my teammates, I’ll choose a certain hero and then play it with a purpose, to help the team. I feel like I still have a lot of work I need to do, but I‘m slowly and definitely improving.”





The Shock were not content to simply aim for the perfect stage. They broke the record for the quickest completion time on Paris, and then beat their own record in the next push. The next two maps would be some of the most intense however, as the team continued to push toward a perfect 28-0 stage, with Shanghai gaining four points to the Shock’s five on King’s Row.





Rascal’s play on support hero sniper Ana, as well as Overwatch’s most recent hero Baptiste, he once again showcased his adaptability and rapid mastery of new strategies and characters. His practice routine is methodical.

Never miss a moment in esports. Match notifications, latest esports news, and more. Get the Upcomer app now.





“Whenever a new hero comes out, I like to experiment with the hero, try to research all their capabilities with the kit, and how that hero can contribute to the team, so it’s more attention to detail,” Rascal said.





The pressure and practice would all come to a head on Rialto. The San Francisco Shock had already finished their perfect stage, leading 3-0 into the escort map. With the goal of perfection within reach, both teams completed Rialto with time remaining. Finally, after holding the Dragons just after the first checkpoint, the Shock accomplished what as caster Mitch “Uber” Leslie described, as a feat “we may never see again in the Overwatch League.” They had swept every opponent in Stage 2, achieving a truly perfect stage.









Rascal recognized just how impressive the accomplishment of the Golden Stage was. “As a player and as a team, this is a very unique situation that we’re in,” he said. “This game is pretty young, and there are not many teams that are able to do something that we did today, so it was a very special moment for me.”





A perfect stage is still not the team’s end goal, though. The San Francisco Shock are favored to once again meet their rivals, the Vancouver Titans, in the Stage 2 Finals. Rascal believes that while the Titans triumphed in their Stage 1 Finals matchup, history will not repeat itself.





“Last stage was hard because the inexperience that some of our players had, and also we might have felt a little lack of preparation because we played so many games and then went to the finals,” he said. “It was a pretty exhausting schedule, but this stage we feel like it’s very different. We feel a lot more prepared, and that even if we were to face Vancouver in the finals, we would definitely be ready.”





The Shock will continue to prepare as they begin their run towards the Stage 2 Championship by facing the Shanghai Dragons once again this Thursday. Sharing a superstition, Rascal reveals that “there are times where I’ll dream about playing a match. But if I don’t tell that dream to someone, then we usually ended up losing. I have to share my dream.”





A Golden Stage and an opportunity for redemption. Maybe dreams really do come true.