The Los Angeles Gladiators and San Francisco Shock won upper bracket semifinal matches on Thursday in the Overwatch League Midseason Madness tournament.
The Gladiators beat the Hangzhou Spark 3-2 to advance to the upper bracket final Friday against the Shock, who swept the Shanghai Dragons 3-0 late Thursday night. The winner will advance to the Grand Final on Saturday. The loser will get a second chance to reach the final Saturday, with a match against the lower bracket winner.
On Thursday, the Gladiators rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take the final two maps, 1-0 on Colosseo and 2-0 on Ilios. The Shock beat the Dragons 2-1 on Oasis, 2-1 on Eichenwalde and 3-2 on Circuit Royal.
The Philadelphia Fusion defeated the Florida Mayhem 3-2 in the lower bracket, setting up the Fusion for a match against the Spark on Friday. Philadelphia needed to rally from a 2-1 deficit to beat Florida, winning the New Queen Street map 1-0 and Lijiang Tower 2-1.
The Atlanta Reign handled the Houston Outlaws 3-1 and will face the Dragons on Friday. Atlanta lost the first map, Oasis, 2-0, then finished with a 2-1 victory on King’s Row, a 3-2 triumph on Dorado and a 1-0 win on Colosseo.
With their second losses in the double-elimination event, Florida and Houston were eliminated.
Friday’s matches:
Philadelphia Fusion vs. Hangzhou Spark
Atlanta Reign vs. Shanghai Dragons
Los Angeles Gladiators vs. San Francisco Shock
Fusion-Spark winner vs. Reign-Dragons winner
Midseason Madness prize pool, league points:
1st place, $500,000, 4 points, TBA
2nd place, $250,000, 3 points, TBA
3rd place, $125,000, 2 points, TBA
4th place, $75,000, 1 point, TBA
5th-6th place, $25,000, 1 point, TBA
7th-8th place, no money, 1 point, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws
9th-12th place, no money, 1 point, Seoul Dynasty, Toronto Defiant, Dallas Fuel, London Spitfire
–Field Level Media