The Los Angeles Gladiators currently sit at 1-2 two weeks into the Overwatch League. Their only game this past week was against the Paris Eternal. While it was a tug of war from the start, the Eternal edged the Gladiators out 2-1. For Week 3, the Gladiators face the London Spitfire on Friday and the Hangzhou Spark on Sunday.
Week 2 Review: Paris Eternal: 2-0
The Los Angeles Gladiators versus Paris Eternal was one of the most even matches of Week 2. The match ended 2-1, with the tying map being on Anubis. The Gladiators’ tanks, Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye and Jun-woo “Void” Kang, played very well this game. rOar looked much more comfortable on the Winston, which is how the Gladiators took the first map. The support duo of Benjamin “BigGoose” Isohanni and Jonas “Shaz” Suovaara showed great synergy, and Shaz continued to lay down massive amounts of damage as Zenyatta. He also kept his team healed, and he sits 5th in the Overwatch League for healing per 10 minutes.
Lane “Surefour” Roberts continues to be a massive threat in dealing damage, and he sits 11th in the league in damage per 10 minutes. Overall, the Eternal was able to run the Reinhardt 3-3 composition more effectively than the Gladiators, which led to their win. The Gladiators continue to be without substitutes, as Hyung-seok “Bischu” Kim continues to suffer from ulcerative colitis, Gui-un “Decay” Jang has not yet turned 18 (though he will on Feb. 27) and Riku “Ripa” Toivanen is continuing to serve his suspension of five games.
Player of the Game:
The player of the game again has to be Void. He was a constant threat on the D.Va, which included a number of multikills with the D.Va bomb. Not to say that every D.Va bomb worked because of his skill alone, as BigGoose had many sneaky boops as Lucio. Void is 11th in average deaths per 10 minutes, with 3.08.
Week 3 Preview: London Spitfire: 2-2
The Spitfire did a 180 from Week 1. They lost to the Philadelphia Fusion and the Paris Eternal in Week 1, and beat the Washington Justice and Hangzhou Spark in Week 2. The Gladiators last met the Spitfire in the first round of the season playoffs last year, where they lost out to the eventual champions.
The Spitfire decided to start their newest signing Hee-dong “Guard” Lee over Ji-hyeok “Birding” Kim, and that decision has worked well for them so far. If the Gladiators want to beat the Spitfire, shutting down Guard, who is mostly known for his Sombra play, should do the trick. The Gladiators tank line has proven to be more consistent so far this season, with rOar and Void starting to gel as a duo. Shaz and BigGoose have proven that they are an unstoppable duo; expect that to continue in this game.
Prediction: Gladiators 3-1 Spitfire
Player to watch:
The player to watch against the Spitfire is Surefour. If both teams run a GOATS comp variation that includes Sombra, everyone will be in for a treat. Surefour loves to play on the Sombra, as does Guard. This will be a matchup to watch for sure.
Hangzhou Spark: 2-2
Next up is the Hangzhou Spark. The Spark were one of the most exciting new teams entering the second season of the Overwatch League. After starting 2-0 against the Shanghai Dragons and Los Angeles Valiant, they fell to 2-2 against the Houston Outlaws and London Spitfire. The stage will see a barrage of pink and purple as the Gladiators take on the Spark.
The tank matchup will be imperative, and rOar will have to be on top of his game. If the Gladiators are able to run the Winston 3-3 composition, they should be able to excel. This week during their scrims, they should be planning to either play the Winston, or work extremely hard to try and make their Reinhardt 3-3 a more viable composition. Expect a hard fight against the Spark that should go down to the wire.
Prediction: Gladiators 3-2 Spark
Fun fact of the day:
The Hangzhou Spark have put out a poster before every game, as well as after each game, regardless of the result.
Player to watch:
The player to watch against the Spark is Shaz. His massive amounts of healing, along with the incredible damage he is able to produce will decide the game versus Hangzhou. His counterpart Hui-chang “BeBe” Yoon currently sits at 6th in healing per 10 minutes, one spot behind Shaz. The battle of the Zenyatta’s will be very entertaining.
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Featured Image Courtesy of the Los Angeles Gladiators
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