The Los Angeles Gladiators faced off against the undefeated Vancouver Titans in their second game of Stage 3. Their opening match against the Dallas Fuel saw the Gladiators win 4-0. However, the Vancouver Titans are an entirely different beast. As a roster, they have only suffered one loss in the past year, which was the Stage 2 Finals against the San Francisco Shock. The Gladiators were hoping to take a map or push the Titans to the edge. Would the hometown team be able to hold their own against the league giants?
The Gladiators came out, but were unable to capture the point. The Titans took 99% before the Gladiators took control again, but at around 75% the point was flipped. As they staggered on the point, the Glads took control once again, pushing it to Overtime themselves. Gui-un “Decay” Jang put down a good Graviton Surge, but the Titans found Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye and were able to reflip the point.
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Gladiators
The Gladiators found both the Reinhardt and D.Va of Vancouver to take the first capture of the point. Lane “Surefour” Roberts was killed by the early Earthshatter, leading to a quick flip for Vancouver. Jun-woo “Void” Kang found the Titans main tank Sang-beom “Bumper” Park, and the Gladiators switched the point, leaving Vancouver with 59%. Vancouver did a wonderful job all map of pressuring Jonas “Shaz” Suovaara to use his Transcendence, and an equally good job of punishing the Ultimate usage. After Void found two Vancouver players, the D.Va bomb went off, killing two Gladiators and securing the victory on Illios.
Just like yesterday, João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles subbed in for Void for Paris. On defense, the Gladiators ran Surefour on the Bastion for the Bunker composition. However, Hyojong “Haksal” Kim of the Titans ran the Sombra in an attempt to get his teleporter near Los Angeles, which failed. Decay fell early, and the fight was taken to the point. Vancouver took the point and had over six minutes to take Point B. The defense held strong, not letting Vancouver take any ticks on the point. Benjamin “BigGoose” Isohanni continued to show his prowess on the Baptiste, with great healing and Ultimate usage. Time after time, the Titans pushed onto the point with no success. However, the Titans finally took the point, with just under a minute in the timebank.
The Gladiators came out with a Pharah-Mercy, and almost took the point early. The Titans were able to clear house, and the Gladiators were forced to reset. Hydration found Bumper with the Barrage, and Los Angeles took Point A. Hydration switched to Mei for the first attack, and Decay showed his abilities as Soldier. Mei froze many of the Titans, keeping them separated. They finished the Map with 4:28 in the timebank.
Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment.
With only one minute, the Titans decided to lineup with a Mei themselves. The Gladiators were unfazed, and they wiped the entire team, courtesy of a perfect Bio Grenade from Shaz. This led to one final push from the Titans, but they were unable to even touch the point. The Gladiators found themselves only needing one tick, and four and a half minutes to get it. “Shields Up” chants rang out from Blizzard Arena. They switched to a Double Sniper to deal with Vancouver’s Pharah. Haksal found four, but the Gladiators had three minutes remaining. The Gladiators found their initial pick and tied up the series.
The Gladiators came out swinging, with BigGoose booping Bumper off the high ground. They had to back up as they were unable to capitalize, but the aggressive play brought a cheer from the crowd. After three failed attempts, the Gladiators were able to take the point. This gave them just over two and a half minutes to push the payload. They were pushed off the payload relatively early, with the cart between the two main buildings. Decay threw an early Grav, which led to a kill. However, BigGoose fell in Overtime, making it a five on five fight. Bumper used his Earthshatter, and the Gladiators finished with just over 91 meters pushed.
The Titans came out quickly, forcing the Gladiators back. However, Bumper was the first to fall and Vancouver was forced to retreat. Hyeon-Woo “JJANU” Choi ate Decay’s Grav, which was the beginning of the Titans taking the point. With just under four minutes, the Gladiators were in the disadvantage going into the defense. Just before the Titans could take the point, the Gladiators began to defend. However, they were pushed off the payload, and the round finished in favor of the Titans.
Shields Up sign for the LA Gladiators
Vancouver started on the attack, pushing the Gladiators below the bridge. The Titans found rOar early on, allowing them to waltz easily onto the first checkpoint. They continued to steamroll and pushed their way to the second checkpoint. Heading into the final stretch, the Titans were rolling. They flawlessly took the map, out killing the Gladiators 24-0.
Not wanting to be completely shut out, the Gladiators pushed the payload very close to the first checkpoint. They were wiped out by the Titans, just before the checkpoint and still did not have a kill. Vancouver was completely dominant, not dying for both the attacks and getting 42 kills before the Gladiators could get their first. Just as the Gladiators thought they would be able to push through to the checkpoint, Vancouver used their EMP and held them at the door to finish the game.
Overall, the Gladiators should be proud of what they accomplished. They showed that their Bunker compositions and variations of that are one of the best in the league, and can challenge the GOATS champions. While they were not able to match up in the mirror GOATS compositions, they did not play a bad match. The Titans are simply a head above almost every team in the Overwatch League, and Los Angeles should be proud of the way they played. Hopefully they can use what they learned in this game against the Titans when they play them in Week 4.
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Featured Image Courtesy of the Los Angeles Gladiators
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