The LA Valiant ended their third week once again winless. Their first match was not expected to be a win for them, but their second match looked to be their best chance. In the end, they lost both series in a one-sided fashion. Unfortunately, their upcoming week does not look much better for them either. On top of another tough week, the LA Valiant, sitting at 0-5, are now ineligible for the Stage 1 playoffs. All they can hope for is to improve their record so it doesn’t look as bad moving into Stage 2 and eventual season playoffs.
Review
Vancouver Titans (4-0)
Coming into this match, the Vancouver Titans were the obvious favorites. At the time, they were sitting at 3-0, where the LA Valiant were 0-3. The series went as expected and the Titans won the first three maps in a row to secure it. Though, the Valiant were able to pick up a map win at the very end. That one map win was a small glimmer of hope for the LA Valiant, telling everyone that they are not going to be simply walked over.
Player of the Match
This title will be going to the support listed under main tank Dae-kuk “KuKi” Kim. Despite not playing his main role, his support play has been decent, and he even made a couple of showy plays here and there. As the sole pick up that the LA Valiant have made, he’s doing his job.
Guangzhou Charge (3-2)
This series was also very one-sided against the LA Valiant, but went quite similarly to the one against Vancouver. The Guangzhou Charge took all three of the first maps back to back, but when it came time for map four, the LA Valiant finally showed up. However, the fourth map was rather close and could have gone either way. In the same style as the previous match, the LA Valiant looked generally weak, but not as if they were a complete pushover team.
Player of the Match
On the one map that the Valiant won, off-tank Indy “Space” Halpern was instrumental to that victory. He could stand to eat a few more Graviton Surges, but his bombs are still up to par. With the help of Young-seo “KariV” Park, Space was able to throw out a self-destruct that seemed to seal the deal on map four.
Preview
Philadelphia Fusion (3-2)
The Philadelphia Fusion are seen as one of the top teams in the league. In a similar vein to the Vancouver Titans, this is bad news for the LA Valiant. Based on how much they’ve struggled against similarly placed teams such as the Hangzhou Spark, and very recently, the Guangzhou Charge, their chances of winning this series are slim.
If they want to win, big changes are needed. These changes are not little match-to-match adjustments, but rather holistic changes on a large scale. It may be too early to call for roster changes among the staff and players, but something has to change or the LA Valiant will continue to be winless.
Prediction: Fusion win 3-1
Houston Outlaws (2-3)
This match will, yet again, be the more the Valiant’s more realistic chance at a win this stage. The Outlaws, despite having wins, have not looked 100% solid so far. They have lost against teams that aren’t typically considered the top of the league, but nonetheless won against others.
Even so, in their current form, the Valiant do not look good to win the match. Houston is not sitting high on the standings by any means, but two wins is two wins. They’ve gone through a similar gauntlet to that of the Valiant and came out with a much better record. Although the LA Valiant don’t need as drastic of changes to have a realistic shot at beating the Houston Outlaws, as it stands, they are not looking good enough to do so.
Prediction: Outlaws win 3-2
Player to Watch
The GOATS meta obviously relies heavily on the tanks, and LA Valiant tank Pan-seung “Fate” Koo has been the core of what success the team has been able to achieve. In the last few matches, he has been hitting some nice Earthshatters when he isn’t being pummeled in the frontlines. Be on the look out for possibly some more big plays from him as the season goes on.
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Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League
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