With this series, the LA Valiant finally earned their first victory of the season. It was a very close match, but the Valiant had much better coordination and ultimate usage overall than in their previous matches.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Round one took place on Garden. The Los Angeles Valiant were completely dominant, winning it 100-0. On top of that, they didn’t lose a single team fight. All of the fights were quite one-sided, with the ultimate usage from the Valiant looking very tight.
Round two brought the teams to Night Market. The LA Valiant had a very long hold from the start, getting to 99%. In that time, Valiant main tank Pan-seung “Fate” Koo found a nice multi-man Earthshatter, further asserting the LA Valiant’s dominance. However, the Reign finally wiped Los Angeles off the point in overtime. Atlanta themselves were able to hold their own, with Nathan “frd” Goebel catching three Valiant members with a Self-Destruct. Although, once again in overtime, Los Angeles had their own ultimates to use, and took the point back, winning the round.
The map ended 2-0 in favor of the Los Angeles Valiant.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The Valiant started on the attack in round one. Their attack attempts proved unsuccessful multiple times, where three members were once again taken out by a D.Va bomb from the Reign’s frd. Finally, with a minute remaining, the LA Valiant found the necessary picks to get on to point A and eventually grab it. Los Angeles struggled once again to capture point B for quite some time. Though, with under a minute remaining, a Graviton Surge from Valiant DPS Kyle “KSF” Frandanisa gave the Valiant the advantage they needed to finish out the second point.
The LA Valiant’s defense on round two crumbled instantly, with Fate having died right as the Reign pushed in. Atlanta instantly rushed to point B and took it convincingly with 6:24 left in their time bank.
The Valiant were unable to capture any points on their attack in round three, and in round four, the Reign swiftly captured the one tick they needed to take point A.
The map ended 3-2 in favor of the Atlanta Reign.
Courtesy of Polygon
On Blizzard World, the Los Angeles Valiant started on the attack. They struggled to find picks onto the Reign members, and their ultimates had little effect during the fights. In the end, Los Angeles could not get anything done.
On the Valiant’s defense, shortly after the start of the round, a multi-man Earthshatter from Reign main tank Hyeon-jun “Pokpo” Park enabled a complete wipe. Atlanta captured the one required tick and secured point A.
The map ended 1-0 in favor of the Atlanta Reign.
Courtesy of Polygon
On map four, the Valiant started on the attack, and substituted in Young-seo “KariV” Park for Min-chul “Izayaki” Kim. Los Angeles came out kicking, instantly decimating the Reign’s defense. Atlanta tried to recontest, but a scrappy fight resulted in the Valiant coming out victorious, taking point A. The Reign were able to hold the LA Valiant for some time, but one by one were picked off until the Valiant finished out point B. Los Angeles maintained their momentum throughout all of point C, and eventually finished out the map with 1:20 left.
The LA Valiant had a very solid defense on the first point in round two. It wasn’t until overtime that the Reign, forced to switch to a 3-3 composition, overwhelmed them and captured point A. In another sub-minute scenario, the Atlanta Reign were able to take point B after an ultimate-heavy fight. The two teams found themselves in overtime once again on point C. The Los Angeles Valiant came out on top, and won the round.
The map ended 3-2 in favor of the Los Angeles Valiant.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
For Busan, the LA Valiant brought Izayaki back in, replacing KariV. Round one was on Sanctuary. Los Angeles held the point until 66%, but a two-man Self-Destruct from Atlanta’s frd opened the gates for the Reign to win the fight and flip it. It was eventually taken back by the Valiant at 99%. The Reign could not win the final fight, and the LA Valiant won the round.
Round two took place on MEKA Base. It was very one-sided against the Valiant, and ended 100-0 in favor of the Reign. Los Angeles’ ultimates were ineffective much of the time, and the team themselves could not find picks.
The tiebreaker round brought the teams to Downtown. The Valiant controlled the point for 90% before losing it to the Reign. They came back swiftly with plenty of force to wipe out Atlanta, and flipped it back in their favor. The Reign could not make it back to the point in time and Los Angeles won the round.
The map ended 2-1 in favor of the Los Angeles Valiant.
The Valiant finally won their first series of Season 2, but it was by no means clean. This match looked very similar to Los Angeles’ series versus the Hangzhou Spark and New York Excelsior, only now the LA Valiant look to have finally found the key to at least improving their overall gameplay.
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Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League
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