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Los Angeles Valiant Esports Betting Online
The Los Angeles Valiant were one of the biggest surprises of the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. Though they were expected to contend for a playoff spot, no one gave them much of a chance to finish as the top team in the Pacific Division. However, the Valiant finished two matches ahead of their city rival Gladiators, and they finished well ahead of preseason favorites Seoul and Dallas to earn a first-round bye in the Overwatch League Playoffs. There has been a ton of turnover from this time last year, so if the Valiant are going to repeat they will need their new players to step up.
Los Angeles Valiant Owners
The owner of the Valiant is Noah Whinston, who is the founder of Esports organization Immortals. Immortals is also active in CS:GO, DOTA 2, and a few other games, but Whinston made the decision to go with Overwatch over League of Legends and folded that team after buying into the Overwatch League.
Los Angeles Valiant 2018 Year in Review
The Valiant were playoff contenders in every stage, but they only ended up making it to two of the four stage playoffs. That was still enough to earn them a spot in the Overwatch League Playoffs at the end of the year though.
In Stage One, the Valiant barely missed out on a spot in the playoffs. They finished 7-3 and were in a four-way tie for second, but their game score was behind Houston and London so that left them at home for the playoffs. That disappointment may have led to the Valiant regressing in Stage Two as they finished 4-6 and posted a losing record for the only time in 2018.
Things finally started to go their way in Stage Three. The Valiant finished third in that stage with a record of 7-3 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time. Unfortunately, they were drawn against the NYXL buzzsaw and were summarily swept.
Everything came together in Stage Four. They finished tied with the city rival Gladiators for the top spot with a 9-1 record, and they got the better of the Gladiators when they met in the playoffs. Following that series, the Valiant got revenge on NYXL, beating them to win the Stage Four Playoffs.
Following that win, some were predicting the Valiant to pull off the upset and best NYXL in the finals, but neither team got that far. LA was swept by London in the semifinals and missed out on a huge payday.
Los Angeles Valiant Roster
There are a lot of new faces on the Fuel coming into the 2019 campaign. Custa, Rascal, and xQc parted ways with the team over the course of last season, while Seagull, Cocco, and Chipshajen left over the summer.
Three of last year’s four DPS players return to the lineup. Taimou is still a very talented DPS player, and he was very good on both McCree and Widowmaker. He also showed an ability to get on tanks and non-meta champions and succeed, and he was one of the better Roadhog players this year. Effect is still one of the better Tracer players in the league, and aKm has played well too. In the offseason, the Fuel added one more player to the mix with the addition of ZachaREEE. He was one of America’s stars at the Overwatch World Cup, and many are optimistic about his future.
OGE is a very solid main tank, but Mickie really struggled throughout the 2018 campaign. His D.Va play wasn’t as good as what we saw from opposing teams, and it became clear that the Fuel needed a change. Dallas added Taimou’s Finnish teammate rCk into the mix as their flex tape, and they are hoping for much better results.
HarryHook is the only support left from the start of last year. The captain of the team was a decent support, but his play wasn’t anything special. Dallas’ decision to swap Custa for uNKOE was questioned following the former’s success, but uNKOE hasn’t been bad, and the Fuel got stronger in the back by adding Closer from London Spitfire too.
Los Angeles Valiant 2019 Preview
They got the better of the Gladiators in 2018, but I see the Valiant falling behind their city rival this year. The DPS play worries me a lot, and this team could get into serious trouble if we are in a heavy DPS meta.
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