The Washington Justice had another disappointing week dropping both games and losing with a combined score of 1-7. If ever there was a time to play an equally under performing team it’s this week. They will face off against the LA Valiant, perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far.
Los Angeles Valiant: Stage (1-2) Season (1-9)
Before beating the spiraling Atlanta Reign 3-2 and playing one of the league’s best teams the LA Gladiators tough in a 1-2 loss, the LA Valiant were considered by many to be the worst team in the league. This evaluation often came with the caveat that they could improve and return to their Season 1 form but as the weeks dragged on that hope began to fade. However their performance in Week 2 could be the beginning of their climb back to relevancy.
In order claim their first win of stage two against the LA Vailiant, the Justice will need to work on communication. The team lacks a true leader and shot caller, this has lead to a breakdown in communication and caused the Justice to not live up to their potential. If someone steps into the role of shot caller and works to make sure they take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes they will have a chance in this match, as the Valiant are vulnerable. With that being said however the Valiant looked much improved last week while the Justice remained lackluster as ever, outside of the occasional carry by Corey, it seems likely LAV will come out on top.
Prediction: Los Angeles Valiant Win 3-1
Player To Watch
The poor performance of the team as whole is often compounded by the moments of brilliance displayed by Corey. It should be noted that those moments haven’t been enough to carry the team in any meaningful way. For a perfect example of this see Corey’s three kills to begin Washington’s push for point B on Hanamura. In most scenarios opening up the team fight and giving your team a 6-3 advantage should yield a captured point. In the case of the Justice they hung back, didn’t capitalize on momentum and failed to gain even a single tick. Expect Corey to continue to pull off impressive picks in this one and perhaps it will give the Justice the spark they need.