codelizard1 note the fast queue of ShadyBear18's build order if you watch the replay.

I used to play Shieldbots in that style fairly frequently but the Racketeer nerf hurt it a lot.

I've found it very difficult to transition into Shieldball against Cloaky, due to the existence of Hammer and Sniper, and the threat of a TB if you try to make one that can survive that attrition long enough. I've had some luck with shield units that mess with terrain, like Rogue, Snitch, or in a pinch, Dirtbag, since Cloaky needs direct lines of fire and gap closing far more than shields do.

My intuition says that Cloaky is favoured if the match goes on, or Shields are favoured if the match is finished early. Unfortunately, the Game Time facet on zkstats is effectively useless at the moment. I'll try to come up with something less terrible.

Interesting experiment. I liked the racketeer despite not having thought it much use against cloakbots cheap AF units. Ultimately, it's the synergy of a factory's compliment of units that does the heavy lifting.

Plus knights are in a world of their own for an assault unit. You don't get that mileage from a ravager, thug or hermit no sir.