The Los Angeles Gladiators took on the Seoul Dynasty in both team’s first games of the Overwatch League 2019 season. Minutes before the game, the Gladiators tweeted out that one of their flex tanks, Bischu, would be out of the match with an illness. The Gladiators and Dynasty brought an entertaining fight, almost as entertaining as the Gladiators fans. While it was a solid match from both teams, the Dynasty were able to pull out the victory. The team chemistry and GOATS comp were too much for the Gladiators, who showed a lot of promise.
The Dynasty started off with a very heavy DPS comp, running an Ashe, Pharah and Hanzo. However, when the point first opened, BigGoose had an insane boop on Well. The Gladiators took a resounding 100%-48% victory on Well. When it came to Lighthouse, the Dynasty decided again to not run GOATS at first, and Shaz switched over to the Moira. BigGoose had many great boops on this map, helping his team easily finish Ilios 2-0.
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Gladiators
The Gladiators started on defense for King’s Row, and continued to run their variation of GOATS that included Surefour on the Sombra. The Dynasty took the first point pretty handily, and got a team kill on the Gladiators when they attempted to stall further. Fleta’s Zarya play helped the Dynasty push quickly to the second point, where they had four minutes to push the cart to the last point. However, Void and rOar combined well as D.VA and Reinhardt on the defense. The Dynasty finished their attack push with 1:42 left. Surefour surprised everyone by starting the Gladiators offense by playing Symmetra. He used the teleporter to get behind the Dynasty in an attempt to get the first point. He made history, by dealing the first Hero Damage by Symmetra in the Overwatch League. However, after solid play from Fissure and the rest of they Dynasty, they pulled out the victory.
Photo Courtesy of the LA Gladiators
Both teams came out in standard GOATS comp, surprising no one. Seoul won the first few team fights on defense, and held the Gladiators to two ticks on the first point. Ryujehong came in quickly with a Transcendence as Zenyatta to save the point for them, and they were able to fend off the attacking Gladiators. Seoul came out with a variation of GOATS where they substituted the D.Va for a Reaper, who was played by Michelle. They attempted to enter through the right side with the low gravity, but after Munchkin was killed early, they relocated. Main tank rOar got four kills with his Winston ultimate, knocking most of the Dynasty out the door and over the edge. However, even after that insane ultimate, the Dynasty hastily took the third map.
The first point of Route 66 often includes interesting team comps, and this matchup proved no different. Ryujehong ran the Bastion, while Fissure used the Orisa. Surefour came out with Hanzo and Hydration came out with Pharah.
After the Gladiators got to the first checkpoint, the Dynasty reverted to GOATS, and the Gladiators did soon after. The Gladiators completed the map in Overtime, with a very solid final push. The Dynasty started their attack with a very interesting comp as well, running Ashe, Wrecking Ball, Pharah, Tracer, Junkrat and Mercy. The quad-DPS lineup did not last however, as the Gladiators were able to stall a large amount of time off of the Dynasty before they got to the first point. Fissure cleaned up quickly, and they advanced towards checkpoint two. As the Dynasty were fighting near the saloon, Void threw his D.Va ultimate and got a triple kill. The Dynasty continued to the second checkpoint in Overtime, and eventually found their way to the final spot in Overtime as well.
2018-06-09 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
With both teams having only one minute to push the payload as far as they could, the Gladiators came out with GOATS, and were met with a GOATS defense from Seoul. Fissure was the first to fall, and the Gladiators pushed the Dynasty back and staggered a few of their players. In Overtime, the Gladiators fought valiantly, and a combination of rOar’s great ultimate on Reinhardt, and Shaz cleaning up on the Zenyatta, they found their way to the first checkpoint. They pushed 73.37 meters before they fell. The Dynasty came out swinging, taking out the entirety of the Gladiators team at the beginning of the round. The Gladiators came in with all five, but were not able to break down the defense from Seoul allowing the Dynasty to win the map.
The Gladiators showed promise, but also showed that there are still issues with their synergy. Whether it be the communication, not wanting to play GOATS or Bischu being out with illness, the Gladiators could not pull out the victory against the Dynasty.
Fissure showed why he is considered one of the best main tanks in the league, helping the Dynasty with some incredible ultimates. In an interview after the match, when asked if he thinks he is the best tank in the Overwatch League, he said no one was better than him.
The Gladiators will return on Sunday against the San Francisco Shock for the third match of the day.
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Featured Image Courtesy of the Overwatch League
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