The Dallas Fuel (2-3) have their hands full with the San Francisco Shock (3-2) this Friday at 10 p.m. Overwatch League caster Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson, who hopped on a call with The Dallas Morning News to discuss the upcoming match, was there for the Fuel’s match against the Shock on Feb. 8 at Esports Stadium Arlington.

Both teams have improved since then, making for a competitive upcoming match.

Answers have been edited for clarity and length.

As a starting point, where do you feel the Fuel and the Shock stand?

Sideshow: "The Shock were the champions from last year, so coming into this year expectations were incredibly high. They haven’t quite lived up to the dominance that we expected from them in 2020, and I think part of that due to the implementation of hero pools. They aren’t able to refine their play as much as last year because things are ever changing. They had a week where they lost to both of the LA teams, so there were big question marks about this team.

“But they are coming off beating both of the teams they just lost to so the perception of them now is that they are back to their juggernaut-esque ways and the hero pools that are in place this week are favorable ones for the Shock. This is a tough match for Dallas, but they themselves are in a better place than they’ve perhaps ever been. They are in a position where they’ve picked up some very strong players in the offseason, namely Jang “Decay” Gui-un and Kim “DoHa” Dongha, and they’ve been phenomenal.”

The Shock have had a bit of a shaky start to the season with the weekend of losses to both LA squads. Do you think the Fuel have closed the gap between themselves and the defending champions?

Sideshow: “I think the gap is closing, but I don’t know if it’s fully closed. Things are variable on a week-by-week basis. I would say Dallas Fuel are certainly looking like they are improving. And any week where Decay and DoHa can play heroes with carry performances and prop up the team, they are in a position to take wins. I still do think there is some work to be done before they are at the same level as these truly top teams. Their coordination is still a bit off and they have to rely on compositions that are a little strange because they are trying to put Decay and DoHa on these powerful heroes instead of the teamwork-based heroes because they need to rely on their damage-dealers so much.”

What has to happen for the Fuel to win, and what would that mean for them?

Sideshow: "When you look back to their game previously when Dallas played against the Shock, one of the ways they were able to come away with the victory on Horizon Lunar Colony, was because they had a very specific counter-strategy to what they knew San Francisco was running. There you have to praise the preparation and analysis of the coaching staff. If they can come out with specific counter comps or strategies designed to throw a wrench in the works of whatever the Shock are planning to do, then that could be a way of securing a win.

“I would not advise the Fuel to try and go toe-to-toe with the Shock and play the same composition they are, because their strengths lie in different areas.”

Fuel head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins has said the Fuel have many styles and can play any heroes in multiple ways. Do you think it takes a player like Decay to accomplish something like that?

Sideshow: “Yeah, I think the fact that they are able to be so flexible about how they run their roster and the compositions they use, you need superstar-level players like Decay and DoHa to make that work. They haven’t been able to do this in previous years with the damage dealers they had. This is a great improvement this year. You can see it both in the play and the confidence they play with right now. It feels like a very different time for Dallas. They’ve never been able to rely on damage dealers to play a huge range of heroes at a high level and that gives them a good range of stars they can play.”

Is the Pacific region a bit weaker than imagined at the start of the season, or is it still too early to tell?

Sideshow: "I think the Pacific region is a bit weaker because the Vancouver Titans and the Seoul Dynasty have left and gone over to the Asia region, so you have to keep that in mind. But I don’t think the Pacific region has been weaker than expected. If anything I think Dallas and the Valiant looking like competent teams makes that region stronger than we would’ve initially thought in the preseason. Expectations of the Valiant were almost non-existent at the start of the season because they picked up pure rookie players, but they have been performing very well. Dallas surging has made that region very powerful as well.

“I think the Atlantic region has by far the most teams towards the bottom of the table. It’s up in the air whether you think the Asian teams are stronger than the Pacific teams. We have no way of measuring across. What will be really interesting will be when Pacific and Atlantic teams play across and we get to see how Dallas weighs up with some of these middle-table Atlantic teams.”

Finally, what’s your prediction for Friday’s match?

Sideshow: “I’m going to have to disappoint all the Fuel fans and go with the San Francisco Shock. They are the defending champions and have been looking good this week. I’m hoping it’ll be close, though. I’m thinking it will go similarly to the first time that these guys played in 2020. I think it’ll be close on the maps, but the actual score may actually be something like 3-1 for the Shock.”