The Over Blog – The LA Valiant League
It has been a pretty busy transfer period. Teams have been busy with roster moves as well as cuts. Not to mention one player transitioning to a coaching role. Stage Two brought us a lot of drama with xQc’s release to an amazing playoff run from the underdogs Philadelphia Fusion (GG NYXL). After the hype from Stage Two calmed down, teams got down to business to make changes and in some cases save face.
First let’s start with, in my opinion, the biggest news and that was the trade of Custa to LA Valiant in exchange for uNKOE. To get this out of the way and state the obvious first, the Dallas Fuel are in need of a change. There has been a lot of talk of internal conflict with the team. Custa was very open on his opinion on the release of xQc and to me he looked visually frustrated when voicing that opinion (I can’t blame him). On April 2nd, Dallas traded Custa away in what I think is a win/win for both squads. Both Custa and uNKOE are very skilled support players that mainly stick on Zen. Bringing in some new blood to a struggling Dallas Fuel team may get the competitive juices flowing. On the LA Valiant side of things, I believe changes were needed as well after a lackluster performance in Stage 2. The Valiant went 4-6 in Stage 2 with a -5 map differential after a 7-3 Stage 1, +13 map differential performance. I was positive that in Stage 2 we would see the Valiant stay somewhere close to where they ended in stage 1 which was 4th place, right outside of a playoff spot. I am excited to see what these players bring to their new teams!
Sticking with LA Valiant, two other changes were made. The team announced on their Twitter account (@LAValiant) that Envy and LAV mutually agreed to part ways. Envy went on to comment on his Twitter account (@envyow) that he was super stressed during his time in Stage 1 and 2 and the language barrier was starting to effect him. He was looking for a way out of his contact but since he was up against the trading deadline, releasing him is all the Valiant could do.
There’s this team named LA Valiant, ever hear of them? Boy were they busy! They traded for Custa, the release Envy from their roster, they are done right? Nope! They acquired Bunny from Seoul Dynasty. A huge pick up for the Valiant. This occurred on March 31 (I know, I’m going out of order) and they plan on utilizing him as a main DPS. Super excited to see how he does. Now the last bit of news from the Valiant was GrimReality has transitioned from player to assistant coach for them. If I had to take a shot in the dark as to why, I would say he wants to be more involved and he was not being utilized in live play. That’s my speculation but best of luck to him! LA Valiant are looking for a strong bounce back in Stage 3!
Okay LA Valiant, your time in the spotlight has come to an end! The Shanghai Dragons released Undead from their roster after reports of a love triangle. Sounds like a soap opera! There have been many reports that Undead is unfaithful and this story started to snowball. Shanghai held him to a high standard as these players in Overwatch League are expected to conduct themselves like professionals. These players in OWL are role models for people and Shanghai was not happy with these event. I was really excited to see how Undead would perform with Geguri on the team as well but that won’t be happening. That brings us to the next bit of news that Geguri is officially in the US! We will see her debut on 4/4 when the Dragons take on uNKOE and the Fuel!
NYXL’s turn! The NYXL acquired ANAMO, a Lucio player who in the past played for Ardeont. This adds some depth to an already stacked roster. NYXL are the real deal! They also added zet who will be filling an assistant coach role in the organization.
Lastly in the world of transactions, the Houston Outlaws added ArHaN, who formally played for Meta Athena. He is a Tracer/Genji player. I honestly do now know anything about him but the fact that he mains Tracer is good news for the Outlaws who lack a dedicated Tracer player.
PHEW! It was a pretty busy transfer period this time around and it gave way for some excitement. We can see the LA Valiant were not comfortable with their 4-6 record in Stage 2 and are looking to kick some rear and take names in the process. The Outlaws added some depth in the Tracer void that has plagued them and the NYXL added a Lucio main to their already crazy roster.
Since we are not doing an episode of the podcast this week, below are the picks of the week!
Wednesday 4/4
DAL VS Shanghai – Maridon DAL (As much as I want Shanghai to win this I still think they are in need of some team building with the newer additions)Toxic Shanghai
LAV VS Seoul – Maridon and Toxic Seoul
SF VS LAG – Maridon SF Toxic LAG
Thursday 4/5
FLA VS NYXL – Maridon and Toxic NYXL
PHI VS BOS – Maridon and Toxic PHI
London VS HOU – Maridon and Toxic London
Friday 4/6
LAG VS DAL – Maridon DAL Toxic LAG
LAV VS Shanghai – Maridon and Toxic LAV
Seoul VS SF – Maridon and Toxic Seoul
Saturday 4/7
FLA VS PHI – Maridon PHI Toxic FLA
HOU VS BOS – Maridon and Toxic HOU
NYXL VS London – Maridon and Toxic NYXL
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Maridon:
@TheMAGaming
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Tocix:
@AToxicFatality
twitch.tv/toxicfatality
AToxicFatality@gmail.com
