LA Gladiators Beat London Spitfire, Almost Have Playoff Spot Locked Up
The London Spitfire had the chance to secure their playoff spot earlier today with a win over the Los Angeles Gladiators, but the Gladiators fought back in a close five-game series and pulled off the win.
Los Angeles has been playing great Overwatch lately, defeating the Overwatch League’s best team, New York Excelsior, last week. Today’s win pushes the Gladiators to 7-1 in Stage Four, but it was no easy feat.
London Spitfire started out strong for the series, utilizing hero swaps to hold back the Gladiators on Blizzard World and Horizon Lunar Colony.
Hero swapping has been a challenge for Spitfire throughout the season, so this is an aspect of their game that has certainly improved recently. For example, Park “Profit” Jun-young switched to Pharah on Horizon’s last point defense to counter Los Angeles’ solid team composition. Unfortunately for London, it just wasn’t enough to get the W.
The Gladiators then pulled up a solid win on Oasis and a close one on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. The series culminated on Nepal, where Los Angeles demonstrated their flexibility as a team. Joao Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles especially showed off his skills as Doomfist, Brigitte and even Mei throughout the match.
Caught & AMBUSHED! @Hydration #OWL2018
Live: https://t.co/U6dIipgQGs pic.twitter.com/iBD62A0EGq
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) June 9, 2018
This win is a big one for the Gladiators and puts them at 23-15 for the regular season. They’re now in fifth place and are two games ahead of the Houston Outlaws and Seoul Dynasty with only two games left in Stage Four.
Los Angeles will open the final week of the regular season with a match against the winless Shanghai Dragons. A victory there will clinch a playoff spot for the Gladiators. Dynasty are hoping their final match against LA will decide which team makes it to the playoffs, but the Gladiators gave themselves a leg up with today’s win over Spitfire.
London Spitfire has certainly not had their best stage, so their improved performance today should be encouraging. Luckily for them, their playoff spot is probably safe thanks to their 23-15 record and impressive positive 31 map differential, which is over 10 maps better than the rest of the playoff field.
Despite this safety net, London’s gameplay has left a lot to be desired throughout Stage Four. They are a team with the potential to win the Overwatch League, but they need to continue to step up their game if they want to be champions.