After cruising through Stage 2 on a six game winning streak extending from Stage 1, the Gladiators seem destined for stage playoffs. The struggling Mayhem stood in their way to start Week 3. Their rookies Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye and Gui-un “Decay” Jang lead their team against Florida in the Thursday night matchup.
Surprisingly, Florida opened Downtown Busan with control of the point. After trading control, the Mayhem combined Seong-won “Swon” Yoon’s Earthshatter, Sang-bum “BQB” Lee’s Graviton Surge and Jae-mo “xepheR” Koo’s Self Destruct to finally take the first map. The combo was a very impressive display of teamwork from a usually less organized Mayhem.
Similarly to Downtown, Florida once again built up 80% capture before Los Angeles even managed to engage the point. Multiple EMPs from Gui-un “Decay” Jang and an eaten Graviton Surge form Jun-woo “Void” Kang wouldn’t be enough to overcome the suddenly formidable Mayhem. Florida surprised everyone by taking Busan.
Lane “Surefour” Roberts returned to action for the Gladiator’s defense of Paris. His familiarity with Bastion paired well with João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles’s Orisa and Benjamin “BigGoose” Isohanni’s Baptiste.
After surrendering the first point to Florida, Los Angeles continued to mess with their composition. By swapping, they constantly entered engagements with an advantage against Florida. Decay’s EMP won engagements outright. Accompanied by Surefour’s Bastion, the duo devastated the Mayhem and helped prevent their second capture attempt in Paris.
Sang-bum “BQB” Lee’s Riptire may have found a triple kill early on, but that one play wouldn’t be enough to stop the hometown Gladiators. With their fans behind them, Decay would find three headshots to shift the odds in their favor to even the series with Florida.
Void returned to Blizzard world for Los Angeles. The versatility from the Gladiators overwhelmed Florida throughout the match. Jonas “Shaz” Suovaara opened the attack on Roadhog then returned to his normal support role for the next engagement.
Los Angeles Gladiators main tank: Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye
Decay rode the payload through the streets of Blizzard world and showed that Surefour isn’t the only Bastion in town. Florida’s defensive hold would leave the Gladiators with just 35 seconds remaining. The impressive hold put the Mayhem in position to take a commanding lead with a quick attack of their own.
The Gladiators would make a formidable stand against the Mayhem’s DPS composition, but would eventually be forced from Point A. Despite losing the point, they continued to apply pressure to Florida’s spawn. After gathering themselves, Florida abused the Gladiators aggression to gain some solid progress against Los Angeles. Finally, with one checkpoint to go, Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye cleared the payload to give his fellow Gladiators a 2-1 lead over Florida.
The aggressive defense from Florida was quickly broken by LA. Despite their success with Bastion to this point, the Gladiators chose to roll through the first checkpoint with a standard 3-3 comp. After showing success early against LA, the Mayhem hadn’t been much of a threat since. Void, rOar and Shaz did not die on their attack.
The Gladiators halted the Mayhem’s attack after surrendering the first two checkpoints. One final destructive Earthshatter from rOar would once again seal the deal for LA, keeping their win streak alive.
The Gladiators are looking to solidify their spot as a top tier squad in Stage 2. With teams like Vancouver, New York and San Francisco claiming the spotlight, Los Angeles has recently put the rest of the league on notice with 7 straight victories since Stage 1. They still have the Chengdu Hunters to face this week. Another win would solidify their spot in the Stage 2 playoffs. The struggles that plagued LA early last stage seem to be a thing of the past. Playoffs will surely be the most difficult challenge the team will face this stage.
The Gladiators will return to action against the Chengdu Hunters Saturday, April 20 5:15 pm PST. Be sure to check back for updates on Overwatch League action.
Featured Image Courtesy of the Los Angeles Gladiators
Player Images Courtesy of the Overwatch League
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