2020 Los Angeles Valiant season

2020 Los Angeles Valiant season
Head coach	Mike Szklanny
Owner	Noah Whinston
Conference	Pacific
Division	West
Region	North America
Results
Record	11–10 (.524)
Place	North America: 5th League: 8th
May Melee	Semifinals
Summer Showdown	Knockouts
Countdown Cup	Quarterfinals
Season Playoffs	NA Lower Round 2
Total Earnings	$90,000

The 2020 Los Angeles Valiant season was the third season of Los Angeles Valiant's existence in the Overwatch League and their first full season under head coach Mike "Packing10" Szklanny. The Valiant planned host two homestand events in the 2020 season at The Novo,[1] but all homestand matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 22, the Valiant clinched a spot in the season playoffs with a win over the Vancouver Titans.[2] In the first round of the North America bracket, Los Angeles defeated the Florida Mayhem by a score of 3–2.[3] The following day, the Valiant were swept by the Philadelphia Fusion in the second round of the upper bracket, sending them to the lower bracket.[4] A 1–3 loss to the Washington Justice in the subsequent round eliminated the Valiant from the playoffs.[5]

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

After releasing head coach Moon Byung-chul the previous season, assistant coach Mike "Packing10" Szklanny was named the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Packing10 was officially named the team's full-time head coach in early September 2019.[6] The following month, the Valiant added former Boston Uprising assistant coach Jordan "Gunba" Graham as an assistant coach. Gunba was an assistant coach for the Valiant in 2018.[7]

Roster changes

The Valiant enter the new season with no free agents, three players which they have the option to retain for another year, and five players under contract.[8] The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.[9]

Acquisitions

The Valiant's first acquisitions of the offseason were announced on October 31, with the signings of main tank Song "Dreamer" Sang-lok from the Sydney Drop Bears, flex DPS Damon "Apply" Conti, support Owen "Slur" Warner from Samsung Morning Stars, and support Mun "Lastro" Jung-won from Skyfoxes.[10] On January 7, the Valiant revealed two more additions in main tank Rick "GiG" Salazar and support Park "RaiN" Jae-ho in a skit video for the team's new color scheme.[11] A week later, on January 16, the team announced the signing of damage player Kai "KSP" Collins.[12]

Departures

The Valiant made their first offseason moves on October 23, releasing DPS Brady "Agilities" Girardi, trading off-tank Indy "SPACE" Halpern to the Los Angeles Gladiators, and trading flex support Park "KariV" Young-seo to the Toronto Defiant.[13] In mid-November, Los Angeles announced that they had parted ways with main tank Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell.[14] On December 12, support player Scott "Custa" Kennedy announced that he was retiring from professional Overwatch play to join the Overwatch League as an analyst.[15] Prior to the start of the season, Owen "Slur" Warner silently departed with the team after it was revealed that he had previously used a racial slur. He later changed his name to Provide to distance himself from his past.[16]

Roster

2020 Los Angeles Valiant roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 12 Shax Nielsen, Johannes Denmark Damage 23 KSP Collins, Kai United Kingdom Damage 27 KSF Frandanisa, Kyle United States Damage 19 Apply Conti, Damon United States Tank 1 Dreamer Song Sang-lok South Korea Tank 13 McGravy McGarvey, Caleb United States Tank 3 GiG Salazar, Rick United States Support 9 Lastro Mun Jung-won South Korea Support 77 RaiN Park Jae-ho South Korea	Head coach Mike "Packing10" Szklanny
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: January 27, 2020.

Standings

Pos	Con	Team v t e	Pld	W	BW	L	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	ATL	Philadelphia Fusion	21	19	5	2	0.905	59	19	0	+40	Advance to playoffs
2	PAC	San Francisco Shock	21	18	7	3	0.857	56	17	2	+39
3	ATL	Paris Eternal	21	15	4	6	0.714	50	31	0	+19
4	ATL	Florida Mayhem	21	14	3	7	0.667	48	30	0	+18
5	PAC	Los Angeles Valiant	21	11	1	10	0.524	41	41	0	0
6	PAC	Los Angeles Gladiators	21	11	0	10	0.524	43	39	5	+4	Advance to play-ins
7	ATL	Atlanta Reign	21	10	0	11	0.476	43	35	0	+8
8	PAC	Dallas Fuel	21	9	0	12	0.429	35	44	0	−9
9	ATL	Toronto Defiant	21	7	1	14	0.333	32	48	0	−16
10	ATL	Houston Outlaws	21	6	0	15	0.286	32	50	3	−18
11	PAC	Vancouver Titans	21	6	0	15	0.286	23	48	0	−25
12	ATL	Washington Justice	21	4	0	17	0.190	21	54	1	−33
13	ATL	Boston Uprising	21	2	0	19	0.095	14	61	4	−47

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) Wins plus bonus wins 2) winning percentage (excluding bonus wins); 3) map differential; 4) head-to-head record; 5) head-to-head map differential

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log (Regular season record: 11–10)
February–April: 2–6 1 February 8 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Arlington, TX 4:00 pm PST     Esports Stadium Arlington Hosted by Dallas Fuel 1 Lijiang Tower 2 2 Blizzard World 1 4 Horizon Lunar Colony 3 3 Junkertown 2 2 February 9 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Vancouver Titans Arlington, TX 2:00 pm PST     Esports Stadium Arlington Hosted by Dallas Fuel 0 Lijiang Tower 2 4 Blizzard World 5 2 Temple of Anubis 3 3 March 28 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Online 10:00 pm UTC     4 March 30 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 1 San Francisco Shock Online 12:00 midnight UTC     5 April 05 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 San Francisco Shock Online 12:00 midnight UTC     6 April 06 Los Angeles Valiant 2 – 3 Dallas Fuel Online 12:00 midnight UTC     7 April 17 Los Angeles Valiant 2 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 1:00 am UTC     8 April 25 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 San Francisco Shock Online 10:00 pm UTC
May Melee qualifiers: 3–0 9 May 02 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 2 Atlanta Reign Online 9:00 pm UTC     10 May 10 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 0 Boston Uprising Online 1:00 am UTC     11 May 17 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 2 Toronto Defiant Online 11:00 pm UTC
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 2–1 12 June 14 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 0 Washington Justice Online 11:00 pm UTC     13 June 21 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 1 Florida Mayhem Online 9:00 pm UTC     14 June 28 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 Paris Eternal Online 7:00 pm UTC
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 2–2 15 July 18 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign Online 11:00 pm UTC     16 July 19 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 0 Boston Uprising Online 10:00 pm UTC     17 July 31 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 2 Houston Outlaws Online 9:00 pm UTC     18 August 02 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Online 11:00 pm UTC
August: 2–1 19 August 16 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 2 Florida Mayhem Online 9:00 pm UTC     20 August 23 Los Angeles Valiant 2 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 11:00 pm UTC     21 August 23 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 0 Vancouver Titans Online 1:00 am UTC

Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log
May Melee: 1–1 Quarterfinals May 24 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 2 Paris Eternal Online 1:00 am UTC     Semifinals May 24 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 San Francisco Shock Online 7:00 pm UTC
Summer Showdown: 0–1 Knockouts July 03 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 Toronto Defiant Online 11:00 pm UTC
Countdown Cup: 1–1 Knockouts August 07 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 0 Houston Outlaws Online 9:00 pm UTC     Quarterfinals August 09 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 Paris Eternal Online 1:00 am UTC
Bonus wins awarded: 1

Postseason

2020 playoff game log
North America Bracket: 1–2 Upper Round 1 September 05 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 2 Florida Mayhem Online 9:00 pm UTC     Upper Round 2 September 06 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Online 11:00 pm UTC     Lower Round 2 September 11 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 Washington Justice Online 9:00 pm UTC

References

1. Hurych, Amanda (August 27, 2019). "Dates and tickets announced for 2020 Los Angeles Valiant homestand at The Novo". AXS. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
2. Alford, Aaron (August 24, 2020). "Gladiators Take Battle for L.A. While Valiant Take Fifth Seed". Hotspawn. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
3. Field Level Media (September 6, 2020). "Trio of 5-map thrillers highlight wild day at OWL playoffs". Reuters. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
4. Richardson, Liz (September 6, 2020). "Paris Eternal, Los Angeles Gladiators eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
5. Richardson, Liz (September 11, 2020). "Atlanta Reign, Los Angeles Valiant eliminated in latest Overwatch League playoff matches". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
6. Richardson, Liz (September 4, 2019). "Los Angeles Valiant promote Packing10 to head coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
7. Scrubasaurus (October 24, 2019). "Gunba returns to the Valiant's coaching staff". Over.gg. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
8. Morello, Matt (July 30, 2019). "2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
9. Richardson, Liz (October 4, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
10. "Valiant, Defiant, Justice make moves in Overwatch League". ESPN. Reuters. October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
11. Samples, Rachel (January 7, 2020). "Los Angeles Valiant confirm color change, officially welcome RaiN and GiG ahead of 2020 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
12. Richardson, Liz (January 15, 2020). "Los Angeles Valiant officially adds KSP to roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
13. Esguerra, Tyler (October 23, 2019). "Los Angeles Valiant release SPACE, Agilities, and KariV". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
14. Peres, Pedro (November 12, 2019). "Los Angeles Valiant release FCTFCTN". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
15. "Custa retires, will join Jake on OWL talent team". ESPN. Reuters. December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
16. "Slur apologises for his past actions, confirms in his Twitter header that he is no longer with the LA Valiant and is now a free agent". Owen 'Slur' Warner. January 23, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.