Overwatch League Stage 3, Week 1, Day 3: Los Angeles Valiant vs Shanghai Dragons

Despite looking good in their matches yesterday, the Shanghai Dragons seemed lost in their clash with the Los Angeles Valiant here today, losing in straight sets 4-0. Here’s a brief breakdown of the match.

The first map, Temple of Anubis, kicked off with a great start for the Valiant. Pushing their attack early, the Shanghai Dragons were unable to hold back the tide, as the Valiant crushed the initial defence and surged onto the point. The second point also fell quite quickly to the LA assault, with Shanghai barely managing to slow them down as they fell one by one. In the end, Los Angeles secured both objectives with nearly three minutes remaining, an impressive goal for Shanghai to try and reach. The attack from the Dragons failed to gain any steam, as they were repeatedly rebuffed by the defensive line of the Valiant. Though their attack was eager, the Dragons simply could not break through, and Los Angeles took the map for an early lead.

The second map, Blizzard World, was equally as one-sided as before. The Los Angeles attack was again off to an excellent start, despite Shanghai’s best efforts to hold them back. Once the first point was captured, the LA Valiant began to move the payload through the map, reaching the next two checkpoints with time to spare despite Shanghai’s defence being bolstered by more tanks. The Shanghai attack did not reach the same level of success, as they were unable to even capture the first point in the face of the Los Angeles defence. With the first two maps down, LA now claimed a 2-0 lead.

The third map, Ilios, was the death knell for Shanghai. The first round was completely in the hands of Los Angeles, with the Dragons not even able to put any capture percentage on the board. As the teams moved to the second round, the Dragons seemed to find what they were missing, holding the point for some time before Los Angeles managed to secure the round. Though they put up a better fight, Shanghai had again lost the series, though they would have one last chance to salvage some pride.

The fourth map, Junkertown, proved to be as successful as before for the Los Angeles Valiant. Despite facing renewed opposition from the Dragons, Los Angeles managed to push their payload through all three checkpoints, ending the first half with a few seconds to spare. With Shanghai facing down their last attack of the week, the Valiant hardened their defences and prepared to sweep the series. Despite the best efforts of the Dragons, they only managed to push the payload through the first checkpoint, becoming bogged down just shy of the second. As time ran out, the increasingly desperate attacks from Shanghai proved fruitless, as Los Angeles claimed their fourth win of the series.

For more Overwatch Action, check out the previous match breakdown between the Los Angeles Gladiators and the Dallas Fuel, and to see when these teams will clash again, check out the Official Schedule page, here.