2021 Los Angeles Valiant season

2021   Los Angeles Valiant season
Head coach	Zhang "JpCat" Peng
Owner	Noah Whinston
Region	East
Results
Record	0–16 (.000)
Place	East: 8th League: 20th
May Melee	Did not qualify
June Joust	Did not qualify
Summer Showdown	Did not qualify
Countdown Cup	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$0
←  2020 Los Angeles Valiant 2022 →

The 2021 Los Angeles Valiant season was the fourth season of Los Angeles Valiant's existence in the Overwatch League.

Preceding offseason

Roster changes

The Valiant entered free agency with three free agents, two of which became free agents due to the Valiant not exercising the option to retain the player for another year. ^[1]

Acquisitions

The Valiant's first acquisition of the offseason was Adam "Adam" Soong, a rookie tank player coming from Overwatch Contenders Australia team Ground Zero Gaming who signed on November 19, 2020. ^[2] On December 9, they signed Brady "Agilities" Girardi, a veteran damage player who had played for the Valiant in 2018 and 2019 before signing with the Toronto Defiant in 2020. ^[3]

After releasing the entirety of their roster and staff in preparation for their move to China for the 2021 season, the Valiant announced their new roster on March 18, 2021. For their damage players, they signed Liao "Molanran" Yang, a "highly touted prospect" from Contenders, and Cai "Krystal" Shilong, a controversial player who had been forcibly removed from his prior two Overwatch League teams. Their tank signings consisted of Han "Sliver3" Haibo, Wen "NvM" Yelin, who had been retired for over three years, and Cheng "ShowCheng" Yu. For their support players, the Valiant signed Zhang "Highbee" Zening and Qi "Wya" Haomiao, another "highly touted prospect" at points in his career. ^[4]

Departures

None of the Spark's three free agents returned, two of which signed with other teams, beginning with damage player Damon "Apply" Conti, who signed with Overwatch Contenders team Revival on December 9, 2020. ^[5] On February 1, 2021, tank player Rick "Gig" Salazar signed with Contenders team We Want OWL. ^[6] The team's final free agent damage player Caleb "McGravy" McGarvey announced his retirement in the offseason. ^[7]

Outside of free agency, the Valiant's first departure was damage player Kyle "KSF" Frandanisa, who was transferred to the Houston Outlaws on December 7. ^[8] On February 2, 2021, the Valiant released all of its players and staff, citing visa issues, as they prepared compete from China instead of North America for the 2021 season. Players released included damage players Brady "Agilities" Girardi, Kai "Kai" Collins, and Johannes "Shax" Nielsen; tank players Adam "Adam" Soong and Song "Dreamer" Sang-lok; and support players Mun "Lastro" Jung-won and Park "Rain" Jae-ho. ^[9]

Regular season

May Melee

The Valiant began their 2021 season on April 17 with a loss to the Chengdu Hunters 1–3 in the May Melee qualifiers. ^[10] They were swept in their following match against the Philadelphia Fusion 0–3. ^[11]

Final roster

2021 Los Angeles Valiant roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 1 Molanran Liao Yang China Damage 7 Krystal Cai Shilong China Tank 3 Silver3 Han Haibo China Tank 20 NvM Wen Yelin China Tank 18 ShowCheng Cheng Yu China Support 22 Highbee Zhang Zening China Support 11 Wya Qi Haomiao China	Head coach Zhang "JpCat" Peng
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: 18 March 2021.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	Pts	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	Shanghai Dragons	16	12	4	20	0.750	38	19	2	+19	Advance to season playoffs
2	Chengdu Hunters	16	11	5	15	0.688	38	22	2	+16
3	Seoul Dynasty	16	12	4	12	0.750	40	22	0	+18	Advance to play-ins
4	Philadelphia Fusion	16	10	6	10	0.625	37	24	3	+13
5	Hangzhou Spark	16	7	9	7	0.438	32	31	0	+1
6	New York Excelsior	16	7	9	7	0.438	29	32	0	−3
7	Guangzhou Charge	16	5	11	5	0.313	20	38	4	−18
8	Los Angeles Valiant	16	0	16	0	0.000	2	48	1	−46

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) winning percentage (including tournaments); 3) regular season wins; 4) regular season map differential

Game log

Regular season

2021 game log
May Melee Qualifier match 1 April 17 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Online   3:30 am PDT     Details   0 Lijiang Tower 2 3 King's Row 2 0 Havana 3 1 Volskaya Industries 2 Qualifier match 2 April 18 Philadelphia Fusion 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   5:00 am PDT     Details   2 Busan 1 3 Eichenwalde 2 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 2 Qualifier match 3 April 30 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Guangzhou Charge Online   2:00 am PDT     Details   1 Ilios 2 0 Hanamura 1 1 Eichenwalde 2 Qualifier match 4 May 01 Seoul Dynasty 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   2:00 am PDT     Details   2 Nepal 0 2 Temple of Anubis 1 3 Blizzard World 1
June Joust Qualifier match 1 May 29 Shanghai Dragons 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   2:00 am PDT     Details   2 Busan 0 3 Rialto 1 1 Volskaya Industries 1 1 Numbani 0 Qualifier match 2 May 30 New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   2:00 am PDT     Details   2 Ilios 0 1 Dorado 0 1 Temple of Anubis 0 Qualifier match 3 June 04 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Hangzhou Spark Hangzhou, CN   5:00 am PDT     Details Future Sci-Tech City   0 Oasis 2 0 Hanamura 2 1 Hollywood 2 Qualifier match 4 June 05 Los Angeles Valiant 1 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Hangzhou, CN   2:00 am PDT     Details Future Sci-Tech City   0 Nepal 2 1 Volskaya Industries 2 1 Numbani 0 1 Rialto 2
Summer Showdown Qualifier match 1 June 26 Hangzhou Spark 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   2:00 am PDT     Details   2 Lijiang Tower 1 2 Eichenwalde 1 1 Route 66 0 Qualifier match 2 June 27 New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   5:00 am PDT     Details   2 Ilios 0 3 Hollywood 0 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 1 Qualifier match 3 July 09 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Shanghai Dragons Shanghai, CN   5:00 am PDT     Details Jing'An Sports Center   1 Nepal 2 0 Volskaya Industries 1 2 King's Row 3 Qualifier match 4 July 10 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Shanghai, CN   3:30 am PDT     Details Jing'An Sports Center   0 Oasis 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 0 Eichenwalde 1
Countdown Cup Qualifier match 1 July 31 New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   3:30 am PDT     Details   2 Oasis 1 3 Blizzard World 2 3 Rialto 1 Qualifier match 2 August 01 Seoul Dynasty 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   2:00 am PDT     Details   2 Ilios 0 1 Numbani 0 3 Havana 2 Qualifier match 3 August 13 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Guangzhou Charge Online   3:30 am PDT     Details   1 Nepal 2 1 Hanamura 2 1 King's Row 2 Qualifier match 4 August 14 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Online   3:30 am PDT     Details   0 Lijiang Tower 2 1 Volskaya Industries 2 0 Numbani 3
2021 season schedule

References

1. "2021 Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. October 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
2. Richardson, Liz (November 19, 2020). "Los Angeles Valiant signs off-tank Adam". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
3. Richardson, Liz (December 9, 2020). "Agilities returns to the Los Angeles Valiant". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
4. O'Dwyer, Samuel (March 18, 2021). "Los Angeles Valiant announces its roster for the 2021 season". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
5. Revival [@TheRevivalGG] (December 9, 2020). "Revival Gauntlet 2020" (Tweet). Retrieved January 20, 2021– via Twitter.
6. We Want OWL [@owl_want] (February 1, 2021). "Na Open division team roster!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 2, 2021– via Twitter.
7. Michael, Cale (February 3, 2021). "McGravy retires from competitive Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
8. Czar, Michael (December 7, 2020). "KSF traded, signs to the Houston Outlaws". Daily Esports. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
9. Amenabar, Teddy (January 29, 2021). "OWL's L.A. Valiant releases entire roster, citing visa issues in relocation to China". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
10. Field Level Media (April 17, 2021). "Philadelphia Fusion open strong in Week 1 of Overwatch League". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
11. O'Dwyer, Jack (April 19, 2021). "Overwatch League Week 1 Round-Up". MSN. Retrieved April 19, 2021.