Improving the Showers Crunch
How might this tried-and-true strategy be improved upon?
Long-time viewers are probably familiar with this staple of defensive aggression on Bind. Many of you might have noticed the decreasing success of this strategy as it’s become more common. This is the problem with successful strategies: they are replicated until they are common enough that the response itself becomes common.
One of my favorite parts of watching an esport develop is seeing strategies evolve in conjunction to their responses. As an idea becomes more common the responses to that idea become better thought out, and the initial idea becomes less successful, requiring adjustment or abandonment. The Vision Strikers flash-dashes with Breach have been adapted on Ascent to make use of the more common flash initiators on the map, while the flash-dashes on Icebox have died as a result of the calcification on the (breachless)meta on that map. Let’s start by contextualizing the showers crunch.
This is a relatively common Bind comp that I expect to become more prevalent with Chambers recent defenestration.
These are some common early round positions (in pro play) for attackers who choose not to invest heavily in early showers or long control (attackers are less interested in hookah control than they once were, for reasons I may write about in the future).
This is a very minimalist early showers take that the attackers might do instead. Let’s say the attackers have done this a few rounds in a row and have found success. One of the most common responses to this has proven to be a showers crunch, of which there are are number of comp-dependent variations.
The basic idea is to pinch (crunch) the attackers playing for early showers control by fighting from showers and the teleporter simultaneously. This usually entails three players starting B long, one of which will generally stay to anchor the site while the other two teleport, and the remaining 2 players fighting through showers. Everything seems good, right? This play (and its variations) are no longer as fresh as they once were. The attacker between short and showers generally understands that his responsibility in the face of a crunch is to assist his players outside shower in fighting the teleporting players. How might this play be improved to limit the A short player’s ability to help his teammates?
I think the answer might be this singular molly, or perhaps this molly paired with Raze’s nade. This simple piece (or combination) of utility effectively buys the defenders the precious seconds they need to deal with the showers players without that pesky A short player interrupting their fun.
