For the past week, I had the awesome opportunity to attend the OverwatchLeague at the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California! Along with Nathaniel and Aaron of Temple of Geek, we witnessed the edge of your seat matches from teams throughout the country and the globe. Two teams in particular that were highly impressive were the Los Angeles based teams: L.A. Valiant and L.A. Gladiators. Considering that we attended the match in Burbank, a solid amount of audiences members were from Los Angeles or Southern California as a whole. Having the boosted morale from their home city, both L.A. teams managed to endure and overcome setbacks victoriously, one way or another.
Los Angeles Valiant: The Comeback Kids
Los Angeles Valiant had a pretty rocky start against Hangzhou Spark, losing 3-2 out of 5 matches. They suffered heavy set backs, losing 1-2 at Illios, 0-1 on Volskaya, and then 1-2 again on Hollywood. They did manage to come back in the 4th match and win 3-2 on Dorado, but the damage had been done, for they lost the 5th match 0-2. Considering that the match took place in not far from DTLA, it was a major loss, both for the team and the fans. L.A. Valiant team member Scott Kennedy – aka Custa – shared some insight during an exclusive Temple of Geek (Full Interview here). “[Thursday], unfortunately we didn’t play that well, which was a huge disappointment. We could’ve won, but it didn’t match out, so we focused on resetting and coming back today stronger.”
That same day on Friday June 21st, L.A. Valiant entered in the arena ready for war like a brand new tank ready to role out…literally, their tanks rolled out on the objective at full speed. Call it a Blitzkrieg if you want, because Valiant steamrolled through London Spitfire, dominating in all four matches. Their final scores were 2-1 at Nepal, 4-3 at Volskaya, and 3-0 at Hollywood, and 4-0 at Gibraltar. One objective and checkpoint after another, L.A. Valiant gave everything it had to both win the match and win the audience over. At one point in the match, all 6 players had their ults, ready to use them as precise moments. With solid teamwork and perfect timing, LA Valiant manage to stand strong in their last matches here in Burbank. “We just weren’t planning very well,” says Scott Kennedy, “we weren’t ready enough to do well. This [match], we ready for everything that we were gonna do, and we always knew what we were gonna do, and that shows in the match.”
Los Angeles Gladiators: Defying Toronto
Earlier in the week, the LA Gladiators suffered a devastating annihilation against the Washington Justice, losing all 4 matches, and a 1-3 loss against the Vancouver Titans on June 16th. To lose one match is already devastating, but to have two matches lost – one of them being a wipe out – can lead to crumbling confidence of any team. With 24 hours until the following match, the team managed to learn from their mistakes and apply it to then. And boy, did they not disappoint.
The following Friday evening, the L.A. Gladiators showed near to no mercy against the Toronto Defiant, winning all 4 matches, the first three being 2-0 at Nepal, 2-1 at Horizon Lunar Colony, and 4-3 at Numbani. During the 4th match, both teams were neck and neck against the other, tying up the final battle at 3-3. Despite their efforts in Phara ults and Widowmaker headshots, LA Gladiators prevailed victorious, winning 4-3. Throughout the 4th round, both Toronto and L.A. went head to head repeatedly, having strong defenses and bold offenses. Like the two armies fighting in the trenches a few yards from each other, both teams fought until one side gave way, and that in the end was the Toronto Defiant. Being one of the last matches of the day, it constantly kept the audience on their feet, hoping for their Gladiators to be victorious as they cheered them on faithfully.
In another exclusive interview with Nathaniel, Gladiator member Lane Roberts shed some light on their outstanding victory (Full interview here). “It was a 4-0, so you can’t get too excited after winning every map. It feels good that you’re stronger than them, and it feels good to just be able to win pretty easily.” In a precise question about their strategy of using Orisa, Winston, Bastion and Torbjörn, Roberts pointed out that, “the attack Bastion goes against their Bastion, and since they didn’t have a Roadhog, if you break the [Orisa] shield, you can hook the Bastion already set up, so then it becomes pretty easy, because when you break the shield and when you kill Bastion, you’re pretty much good…and then with the Orisa-Winston thing, you got Orisa there with a Bastion to stop any G.O.A.T’s, and then the Winston is there to help against the DPS, so it’s kind of like a one fiddle with a G.O.A.T.”
As the Stage 3 and Stage 4 role around for the OverwatchLeague, we as Los Angeles are proud of our teams putting forth their hardest for both their place in the league and for their home city. Though the match schedule has not been released at this time, it was confirmed on the L.A. Valiant Twitter that they would be moving forward. Nothing on the main Twitter of L.A. Gladiators has been confirmed, considering their last Sunday match was a severe loss (0-4). If they are to stay in the game, will they be able to keep their shields up? One way to find out in Stage 4 on July 6th.
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