2020 Los Angeles Valiant season

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.

2020 Los Angeles Valiant season
Head coachMike Szklanny
OwnerNoah Whinston
ConferencePacific
DivisionWest
RegionNorth America
Results
Record11–10 (.524)
Place
May MeleeSemifinals
Summer ShowdownKnockouts
Countdown CupQuarterfinals
Season PlayoffsNA Lower Round 2
Total Earnings$90,000

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
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
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
  • (C) Team captain
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: January 27, 2020.

Standings
2020 Overwatch League North America standings
# Team Conference W BW L PCT P MR MD STK
Playoffs
1 Philadelphia Fusion ATL 19 5 2 .905 21 59–19–0 +40
2 San Francisco Shock PAC 18 7 3 .857 21 56–17–2 +39
3 Paris Eternal ATL 15 4 6 .714 21 50–31–0 +19
4 Florida Mayhem ATL 14 3 7 .667 21 48–30–0 +18
5 Los Angeles Valiant PAC 11 1 10 .524 21 41–41–0 ±0
Play-ins
6 Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 11 0 10 .524 21 43–39–5 +4
7 Atlanta Reign ATL 10 0 11 .476 21 43–35–0 +8
8 Dallas Fuel PAC 9 0 12 .429 21 35–44–0 -9
9 Toronto Defiant ATL 7 1 14 .333 21 32–48–0 -16
10[lower-alpha 1] Houston Outlaws ATL 6 0 15 .286 21 32–50–3 -18
11[lower-alpha 1] Vancouver Titans PAC 6 0 15 .286 21 23–48–0 -25
12 Washington Justice ATL 4 0 17 .190 21 21–54–1 -33
13 Boston Uprising ATL 2 0 19 .095 21 14–61–4 -47
Tiebreakers

  1. Houston placed ahead of Vancouver based on map differential.

Game log

Regular season
2020 game log (Regular season record: 11–10)
February–April: 2–6
May Melee qualifiers: 3–0
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 2–1
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 2–2
August: 2–1

Midseason tournaments
2020 midseason tournaments game log
May Melee: 1–1
Summer Showdown: 0–1
Countdown Cup: 1–1
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.
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