2018 Los Angeles Gladiators season | |
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Head coach | David Pei |
Owner | Kroenke Sports & Entertainment |
Division | Pacific |
Results | |
Record | 25–15 (.625) |
Place | |
Stage 1 Playoffs | Did not qualify |
Stage 2 Playoffs | Did not qualify |
Stage 3 Playoffs | Semifinals |
Stage 4 Playoffs | Semifinals |
Season Playoffs | Quarterfinals |
Total Earnings | $200,000 |
The 2018 Los Angeles Gladiators was the first season of the Los Angeles Gladiators's existence in the Overwatch League. The team finished with a regular season record of 25–15 – the fourth best in the Overwatch League.
Los Angeles qualified for the Stage 3 and Stage 4 Playoffs. The team lost in the Stage 3 semifinals to the Boston Uprising.[1] In the Stage 4 semifinals, the Gladiators lost to the Los Angeles Valiant.[2] The team also qualified for the Season Playoffs, but lost to the London Spitfire in the quarterfinals.[3]
Preceding offseason
On November 2, Gladiators unveiled their initial 7-player inaugural season roster, consisting of the following players:[4][5]
- Lane "Surefour" Roberts
- João Pedro "Hydration" Goes Telles
- Kim "Bischu" Hyung-seok
- Jonas "Shaz" Suovaara
- Benjamin "BigGoose" Isohanni
- Choi "Asher" Jun-sung
- Luis "iRemiix" Galarza Figueroa
The team revealed that the players were picked from a conglomeration of professional Overwatch esports teams to suit an "aggressive and fun" playstyle the team hoped to emulate as a reflection of their personality.[4]
Review
Regular season
Their debut match was a 4–0 victory over the Shanghai Dragons.[6] They finished Stage 1 with a 4–6 record in 8th place.
Heading into Stage 2, the team announced the transfer of tank player Baek "Fissure" Chan-hyung from the London Spitfire.[7] Following the acquisition of Fissure, the team finished the stage in fifth place with a 6–4 record, including a 4–0 sweep over the Valiant.[8]
Between Stages 2 and 3, the Gladiators acquired Ted "silkthread" Wang from the Valiant and Kang "Void" Jun-woo from Kongdoo Panthera.[9][10] However, visa issues would cause Void to completely miss out on Stage 3.[11] The Gladiators finished Stage 3 with a 6–4 record in fourth place, which, beginning with the third stage, was the final stage playoff spot.[12] The top-seeded Boston Uprising, undefeated in Stage 3, selected the Gladiators as their first round opponent. On May 6, the Uprising swept the Gladiators 3–0.[13]
The Gladiators, now regularly using Void in their lineup following his visa being approved,[11] finished with a league-best 9–1 record in Stage 4, including a reverse sweep over back-to-back stage champions New York Excelsior.[14] However, the team would unexpectedly choose the second-seeded Valiant as their semi-final opposition.[15] The Valiant would subsequently defeat the Gladiators in the Stage Playoffs by a score of 3–2.[16] They would end the season with a 25–15 record, good for 4th place and a spot in the postseason where they would face against the London Spitfire.
Season playoffs
On July 11, the first day of the season's playoffs, the fourth-seeded Gladiators took a 1–0 series lead after defeating the fifth-seeded Spitfire 3–0 in their first ever playoffs match. The Gladiators made headlines by surprisingly announcing on the day of the first match that main tank Fissure would be benched in favor of Luis "iRemiix" Galarza Figueroa.[17][18] Later on the same day, Fissure was revealed by Blizzard as the runner-up in the inaugural Overwatch League season MVP vote.[19] Two days later, the Gladiators would be eliminated from the playoffs after the Spitfire shut out the Gladiators in back-to-back matches to win the series 2–1.[20]
Final roster
2018 Los Angeles Gladiators roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend:
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Latest roster transaction: April 3, 2018. |
Transactions
Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:
- On February 13, Gladiators acquired Baek "Fissure" Chan-hyung from London Spitfire.[21]
- On March 25, Gladiators signed Kang "Void" Jun-woo.[22]
- On April 3, Gladiators acquired Ted "silkthread" Wang from Los Angeles Valiant.[23]
Standings
Record by stage
Stage | Pld | W | L | Pct | MW | ML | MT | MD | Pos |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | 16 | 26 | 0 | -10 | 8 |
2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 25 | 16 | 1 | +9 | 5 |
3 | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 25 | 19 | 1 | +6 | 4 |
4 | 10 | 9 | 1 | .900 | 30 | 11 | 1 | +19 | 1 |
Overall | 40 | 25 | 15 | .625 | 96 | 72 | 3 | +24 | 4 |
Qualified for playoffs |
League
Pos | Div | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ATL | New York Excelsior | 40 | 34 | 6 | 0.850 | 126 | 43 | 4 | +83 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
2 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 40 | 27 | 13 | 0.675 | 100 | 64 | 7 | +36 | |
3 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 40 | 26 | 14 | 0.650 | 99 | 71 | 3 | +28 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
4 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 40 | 25 | 15 | 0.625 | 96 | 72 | 3 | +24 | |
5 | ATL | London Spitfire | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.600 | 102 | 69 | 3 | +33 | |
6 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.600 | 93 | 80 | 2 | +13 | |
7 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 94 | 77 | 2 | +17 | |
8 | PAC | Seoul Dynasty | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 91 | 78 | 3 | +13 | |
9 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 40 | 17 | 23 | 0.425 | 77 | 84 | 5 | −7 | |
10 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 40 | 12 | 28 | 0.300 | 58 | 100 | 7 | −42 | |
11 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 40 | 7 | 33 | 0.175 | 42 | 120 | 5 | −78 | |
12 | PAC | Shanghai Dragons | 40 | 0 | 40 | 0.000 | 21 | 141 | 2 | −120 |
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record
Game log
Preseason
2018 preseason game log | ||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason (1–1)
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Regular season
2018 game log (Regular season record: 25–15) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stage 1 (4–6)
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Stage 2 (6–4)
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Stage 3 (6–4)
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Stage 4 (9–1)
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Playoffs
2018 playoff game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stage 3 Playoffs (0–1)
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Stage 4 Playoffs (0–1)
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Season Playoffs (1–2)
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References
- ↑ Lingle, Samuel (March 24, 2018). "Boston Uprising crush Los Angeles Gladiators to end their OWL stage 2 playoff hopes". Dot Esports.
- ↑ "Los Angeles Valiant beats New York Excelsior in Stage 4 final". ESPN. June 17, 2018.
- ↑ "Spitfire shuts down LA Gladiators, advances to OWL semis". ESPN. July 14, 2018.
- 1 2 Newman, Heather (2 November 2017). "L.A. Gladiators To Feature 'Aggressive, Fun' Playstyle In Overwatch League". Forbes. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (2 November 2017). "Players from Cloud9, Kungarna, and Team Gigantti make up the LA Gladiators roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
- ↑ Donigan, Wyatt (15 January 2018). "Dynasty survives Fuel, Valiant tops Shock, Gladiators squashes Dragons as OWL regular season begins". ESPN. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
- ↑ D'Orazio, Nick (20 February 2018). "Fissure transfers from London Spitfire to LA Gladiators". Inven Global. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ Waltzer, Noah (8 March 2018). "Seoul Dynasty keeps unbeaten Stage 2 going with win over Shanghai Dragons". ESPN. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Lingle, Samuel (26 March 2018). "Los Angeles Gladiators add Void, reuniting KongDoo tank pair". Dot Esports. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (3 April 2018). "Silkthread switches from Los Angeles' Valiant Overwatch League team to Gladiators". Dot Esports. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- 1 2 Tahan, Chelsey (23 May 2018). "Void is ready to play for the Los Angeles Gladiators". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Tahan, Chelsey (6 May 2018). "Here is everything you need to know about the Stage Three playoffs". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Waltzer, Noah (7 May 2018). "New York Excelsior earns back-to-back stage titles". ESPN. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Nash, Anthony (8 June 2018). "Good, bad, and ugly from the Gladiators' reverse sweep of New York". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Baker, Harry (16 June 2018). "The Gladiators have picked the Valiant as their Stage Playoff opponent". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Donigan, Wyatt (18 June 2018). "Los Angeles Valiant beats New York Excelsior in Stage 4 final". ESPN. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Baker, Harry (12 July 2018). "L.A. Gladiators dominate London Spitfire in their first quarterfinals series". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Nguyen, Steven (12 July 2018). "Gladiators dominant in opening playoff match vs. Spitfire". ESPN. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Mejia, Ozzie (11 July 2018). "New York Excelsior's JJoNak Named First Overwatch League Regular Season MVP". Shacknews. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
- ↑ Baker, Harry (14 July 2018). "London reverse sweep two back-to-back series against Gladiators, head to semifinals". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ↑ Wolf, Jacob (February 13, 2018). "Sources: LA Gladiators to acquire Fissure". ESPN.
- ↑ Lingle, Samuel (March 26, 2018). "Los Angeles Gladiators add Void, reuniting KongDoo tank pair". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (April 3, 2018). "Silkthread switches from Los Angeles' Valiant Overwatch League team to Gladiators". Dot Esports.