Holla Holla, Get dolla. Andrej ‘Babybay’ Francisty pops off after a win against Florida Mayhem

I sat down with San Francisco Shock Analyst, Harsha Bandi, to get his take on his team’s 1–1 performance on Day 1 of the Preseason.

W: You guys ended the day with a 3–1 victory over Mayhem in G1 and a very close 2–3 defeat at the hands of Valiant in G2. What did you guys takeaway from today?

H: One of the takeaways falls entirely on the coaching staff: we should have prepped for every map. With only a couple weeks of scrims, and having to add extra maps to our pool at the last moment, we weren’t able to get as much Lijiang time as we would have liked. Perhaps results would be different if we focused more time on that map.

W: Who is the leader comm-wise in the team?

H: The leader in comms is absolutely babybay, though dhaK puts his fair share in there as well. The pair are both alpha callers and ensure that everyone is on top of their job. I think everyone saw how passionate dhaK was in particular when he took his headphones off to chew out Nomy!

W: We saw quite the DPS depth when it comes to Shock’s alternative options (Danteh/Nevix/IDDQD all stepping into the role). How does the team go around scrimming to prepare for subbing players in midset?

H: At this point in time, we set specific rosters up for specific maps. Perhaps our method will change down the line, but this seemed to be the most efficient way to divide the workload. Nevix can play pretty much any hero in the game, and babybay’s pool is incredibly wide as well, so both are really helpful factors when it comes to flexibility.

W: We saw Shock run more 3 Tank and 3 DPS set ups, as opposed to the 2/2/2 that has been more common. Can you shed any insight as to why that the team has taken that approach?

H: We did focus a lot on 2/2/2, but the 3 DPS and 3 tank setups are particularly appealing against specific styles of compositions because of the ridiculous pressure they exert. At the end of the day, the factors we focus on most are the map geometry and the opponent’s composition, and we have backup plans for both should our original plan fail to work.

W: How does the new spectator changes affect how your team has been able to break down games? Do you think this new technology will lead to bigger improvements?

H: At this point in time, it hasn’t helped an immense amount from a VOD perspective. The changes are mostly focused on the experience for fans and they’re definitely great — with a few tweaks, I think they’d even be ideal. At the moment, we just do things the classic way, but if demos ever become available, maybe that will change!

W: Thanks so much for the interview. Good luck onwards!

You can follow Harsha on Twitter @ggHarsha. You can also find him on Youtube.

To keep up with the latest in SF Shock news, make sure to also follow them on Twitter @SFShock