The Vancouver Titans and Los Angeles Gladiators each prevailed in close matches on Thursday in Burbank, Calif., to set up a meeting in the upper-bracket semifinals in the Overwatch League Season 2 playoffs.
The Titans, the top overall seed, fell behind 2-1 before rallying for a 4-2 victory over the Seoul Dynasty, while the Gladiators blew a 3-1 lead to the Hangzhou Spark before hanging on to win the best-of-seven series in the final map.
Vancouver opened with a 2-1 victory on Lijiang Tower, but Seoul -- which reached the playoffs through last week's play-in tournament -- took Numbani 3-1 and Horizon Lunar Colony 1-0 for a 2-1 series edge. The Titans steadied from there, closing it out with victories of 3-1 on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, 2-1 on Busan and 1-0 on Eichenwalde.
The Gladiators, seeded fifth, dropped Busan 2-1 to fall behind the fourth-seeded Spark, but then won the next three maps, 2-0 on King's Row, 4-3 on Temple of Anubis and 2-1 on Rialto. Hangzhou recovered with victories of 2-1 on Lijiang Tower and 4-3 on Eichenwalde, but Los Angeles prevailed 3-1 on Watchpoint: Gibraltar in the deciding map.
The Titans and Gladiators will face off on Sunday, with the victor moving within one win of the Overwatch League Grand Finals. Vancouver won both regular-season meetings between the two, 3-1 and 4-0, both during Stage 3 in June.
The Dynasty and Spark will meet in the lower bracket of the double-elimination tournament on Saturday. Hangzhou took the two regular-season meetings, winning 3-1 to end Stage 2 in May and 3-2 in Stage 3 in June.
The other upper-bracket quarterfinals will take place Friday, with the second-seeded New York Excelsior battling the other play-in entrant, the London Spitfire, and the third-seeded San Francisco Shock taking on the sixth-seeded Atlanta Reign. Both the Shock and Reign went 7-0 in Stage 4, and they enter Friday riding win streaks of eight and nine matches, respectively.
The Grand Finals will be held Sept. 29 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, with $1.5 million going to the winner.
-- Field Level Media