This series for the LA Valiant was their most one-sided so far. Unfortunately, that is not meant in a good way. The Valiant could not find their footing which lead to many swift defeats throughout the match, and they lost the series.
Image courtesy of Gamepedia
In the first round on Shrine, the Vancouver Titans were able to come out on top and take the point after a very back and forth fight. The LA Valiant came back with ultimates, but it was not enough. The Titan’s own ultimates were too much, and they could not flip the point. On the Valiant’s third attempt, they were once again shutdown. The LA Valiant were unable to touch the point before it hit 100% and they lost the round.
The second round took place on Sanctum. It also started poorly for the Valiant after a messy fight and the Titans quickly took the point. The LA Valiant tried to come back, but were swiftly wiped out with the help of a skilled Graviton Surge. Even after a nice two-man environmental boop kill from support Dae-kuk “KuKi” Kim to start things off, the Valiant did not end up winning the next fight. The round moved into overtime, but the final fight also ended with the Vancouver Titans as the victors. Vancouver won the map 2-0.
Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
On King’s Row, the LA Valiant started on attack. The Valiant tried to gradually move on to the point, but the Titans collapsed on them and pushed them back. However, on their second try they threw out a series of ultimates and were able to take the advantage on the point. Despite this, Vancouver came back to contest and were successful in once again staving off the Valiant. After a very scrappy fight with less than one minute on the clock, the LA Valiant finally capped point A. The Titans were quick to come back shortly after the payload got moving and took out the Valiant team, though. Shortly after, the LA Valiant were able to come back with their own ultimates and put the payload back in motion. In overtime, the Valiant and Titans took part in yet another scrappy fight, but the Valiant came out on top and finished out point B. Vancouver came in full force just before the LA Valiant’s time bank ran out and won the fight, leaving the Valiant unable to make it back in time. The LA Valiant ended the round with two points.
On defense, the Valiant put up their own fight and a nice Eartshatter from Pan-seung “Fate” Koo gave them the opportunity to wipe the Titans on their first attempt. However, the Titans came back with a round of ultimates, one of which being a four-man D.Va bomb from Choi-hyeon “JJANU” Woo. This enabled Vancouver to take point A with ease. The momentum was maintained by the Titans and the payload continued to move along, and eventually finish out, point B. On point C, though, Valiant off-tank Indy “Space” Halpern threw out his own self-destruct, catching four victims. The Titans swiftly returned and won the necessary fights following that. They were able to finish out the map and win it 3-2.
Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The LA Valiant began on the attack for map three. The first attempt at taking the point proved to be unsuccessful after a very shaky start to the fight and they could not win it. Despite many ultimates coming out from the Valiant on their second try, they were still unable to grab even a tick on point A. The LA Valiant tried to get back on the point just before their time ran out, but were stopped short by a Graviton Surge. Only one player could touch and send the round into overtime, but he was swiftly snuffed out. The Valiant could not make it back in time, and did not end up making any progress in that round.
In round two, the Titans quickly dismantled the Valiant’s defense in a convincing fight. They capped on their first try and won the map 1-0.
Image courtesy of Gamepedia.
On Rialto, the LA Valiant started on defense. They started strong, forcing the Titans back into their spawn briefly. Partway through point A, Vancouver tank JJANU was able to catch another group of four with his D.Va bomb. This allowed the Titans to finish it out. They continued their push rather uncontested. However, again partway through point B, they were stopped by the Valiant. The LA Valiant were able to keep up their defense for a decent amount of time, but the Titans’ JJANU had another big bomb for them. He caught out two members of the Valiant and Vancouver finished point B. The LA Valiant once again maintained a strong defense on point C and the round moved to overtime. The Titans were unable to overtake the Valiant and ended the round with two points captured.
The LA Valiant’s attack started strong and they won the first fight, getting the payload in motion. However, Vancouver returned with strength of their own and sent a number of Valiant members back to spawn. Shortly following that, the LA Valiant won the next fight and finished point A. They continued to win fights on point B and kept the payload going. The Titans were unable to win a fight and the Valiant finished the point. Nearing the goal, a teamfight ensued. Despite the fighting, though, the payload moved to the end as no one from the Vancouver Titans was contesting it. The LA Valiant won the map 3-2.
The LA Valiant looked very weak in this series. Although, it’s important to note that the Vancouver Titans are yet another very strong team that they’ve had to face. On top of that, despite losing the overall series, the Valiant did pull a map win at the end. The big takeaway from this is that the LA Valiant are not as good as they were in Season 1, but they’re not at rock bottom. They’ve still got another match this week against opponents who are seen as generally not as strong as the Titans. That will be another chance for them to take their first win of the season. After these recent performances, though, it’s hard to tell how great of a chance it will be.
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Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League
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