The Los Angeles Gladiators have managed to overcome the challenging Houston Outlaws in a tough 3-2 victory today. Here’s a brief breakdown of the match.
The first map, Volskaya Industries, saw the Houston Outlaws take a nearly lead over the Los Angeles Gladiators. With their chance to attack first, the Outlaws were able to secure both checkpoints, forcing the Gladiators to either match their score, or fall behind early. The Gladiators were able to achieve this, sending the match into overtime rounds, where the Houston Outlaws again secured both checkpoints. When it came time for the Gladiators to take their second attempt on attack, they found themselves struggling, with the defence from Houston proving too powerful to overcome a second time. Though they would secure the first checkpoint, Houston prevented them from achieving the second, leading to an early Houston map lead.
The second map, Lijiang Tower, also went the distance, with both teams putting up high capture ratios in a match that went all the way to round three. Gladiators scored first blood, securing the first round over an aggressive Houston, though that aggression paid off in the second round as Houston bit back hard to secure the point. The third and final round proved just as competitive as the first two, with both teams putting up high ratios, though ultimately the Gladiators managed to eject the Outlaws from the area long enough to secure the point and even up the map scores.
The third map, King’s Row, was brutal for the Outlaws, as they barely managed to get their attack off the ground. Managing only to secure around a third of the checkpoint, Houston would have to hope that their defence was much better than their offence if they wanted to win the map. The Gladiators proved that to be a false hope in the end, easily managing to reach the required checkpoint total with minutes to spare, giving themselves a 1 map lead.
The fourth map, Watchpoint: Gibraltar, proved much more successful for the Houston Outlaws, as they moved the payload through all three checkpoints with only minor resistance from the Gladiators. With over a minute to spare after their attack, Houston would need to hold the Gladiators here, otherwise the series would be over for them. Fortunately for Outlaws fans, they managed to do just that, keeping the Gladiators from moving the payload even to the first point in a crushing defence. With both teams managing to take 2 maps, the game would go to overtime.
The fifth and final map, Ilios, was a time for the Gladiators to shine, keeping the capture percentage of Houston below 20% on the first round. The second round was where the action really took off, with Houston fighting to keep their hopes alive. Though both teams would amass an extremely high percentage, in the end it was the Gladiators that prevailed, managing to keep the Outlaws just short of victory to secure the second round, the map, and the match.
The Gladiators managed to avenge their fellow Los Angeles team, though the internal rivalry is still flowing strong. For more Overwatch League action, check out the Florida Mayhem showing marked improvement in their victory over the Los Angeles Valiant, and for more information on when these teams are playing again, check out the Official Schedule page, here.
