The Battle for LA Friendly was Just What OWL Needed

The Overwatch League decision to cancel this past weekends matches made many fans upset. How they made up for that though was nothing but a treat. All the teams that would play on Sunday played, but not in a normal match. Instead, OWL had them play scrims with the new hero Echo. Not only would this allow the fans to see their favorite players, but it also allowed potential screen time for players who hadn’t seen play yet. While the SF Shock vs Seoul Dynasty match was not vert interesting, the Battle for LA delivered. Here are a few reasons why that was the type of Overwatch fans want.

Fans Could See The Teams Banter

Image Courtesy of @LEGDAYGaming on Twitter

One underrated part of this match was the fact that the chat was on and visible. Normally on LAN the in-game chat is disabled because it is distracting. Jayne, former Dallas Fuel assistant coach, once said the reason it is not on during is because a certain player would not stop using it. The argument for the chat though is that it not only adds humor to the game, but humanizes the players. It shows at heart the players are like the fans still when they play. When a player made a crazy play, the person who died was immediately in chat talking about that play. In between rounds teams talked trash and dissed their own players in a joking manner. Even when a player lost a Torbjorn 1v1, LA Valiant coach Packing10 appeared in chat with humorous banter. Even Valiant off-tank McGravy got involved by malding after being killed twice by a Torbjorn Hammer on a single control point.

Echo Creates Fun Gameplay

https://twitter.com/LAValiant/status/1241836573882114048

Echo is a really fun hero to watch. Without her ult she can produce some ridiculous outplays with her insane mobility and abilities. Add her ultimate to that and there are ways to produce highlight worthy plays. Jaru Duplicating a Reinhardt and as the caters called it “paratroopering” down getting a few kills. KSF copying Widowmaker and killing Mirror. Some players even copied the opposing Reinhardt and generate two Earthshatters during their ultimate. She is the ultimate montage character

https://twitter.com/overwatchleague/status/1241840443731607553

It had an All-Star Game Feel

As soon as the match started fans new shenanigans were afoot. The Gladiators had their supports playing Tanks and vice versa. Not only that, but the teams agreed to not start the fight until two players had a Tobjorn 1v1 on point. The players were just having fun. Even the coaches got some time in the match. While it was less ideal gameplay, it gave the one map they played a Talent Takedown feel. It even allowed for a few funny moments, specifically this one of LA Gladiators coach DPEI inting off the edge of King’s Row.

GOATS was……..fun?

During the last map of the series the teams made a gentleman’s agreement to play Echo Goats. Instead of the Sombra Variant at the tale end of Stage three last season, the team just subbed in Echo. This lead to some outrageous gameplay. Jaru killed Packing10 after copying a Reinhardt and dropping from the sky. Paintbursh and Dreamer had a mini Lucio 1v1. There were massive shatters. An Echo was caught in a grav on the roof of King’s Row third point. Both coaches took part in Reinhardt and Brigette duels. While it was a little sloppy, it was ultimately fun. Goats, while it became stale, was all about the micro-play. By adding Echo, that removes some of the micro tendencies of the composition because there is easier kill potential. Sure D.Va Bombs were fun, EMPs lead to big fight wins, but Echo allows for more neutral game interaction and sloppier fights. It would be interesting to see if 2-2-2 became a thing if Echo was in the game at that point.

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Featured image courtesy of Blizzard Entertaonment

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