The Los Angeles Gladiators Have Surprising Predictions for the Overwatch League Playoffs

The LA Gladiators were asked to predict the rest of the Overwatch League playoffs, and their answers weren’t as most viewers might expect.

At the post-match press conference following their defeat in the quarter-finals, members of the Gladiators uniformly picked the Los Angeles Valiant to win the Overwatch League.

Many also predicted that the Philadelphia Fusion would be the Valiant’s opponent in the finals. None entertained the idea that the London Spitfire would win their semi-final against the Valiant, and none backed the New York Excelsior to take the trophy.

Most notable is the apparent lack of faith in the New York Excelsior, who have been the dominant force in the league for most of the season. By the time the Excelsior had secured the number one seed in the playoffs they had lost only three regular season matches, winning two stage titles along the way, and only began to appear vulnerable after establishing that insurmountable lead in the standings.

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Despite this, it seems that the Gladiators do not expect the same unstoppable force to appear in the playoffs, suggesting that they’re anticipating that the Excelsior’s vulnerability of the end of Stage 4 will carry through to the playoffs.

For the Valiant’s part, they will first have to defeat the London Spitfire before facing either Philadelphia Fusion or New York Excelsior in the finals. The Gladiators all appeared confident that the Valiant would win no matter which advanced to the final.

The Gladiators themselves were favored to win their quarter-final against London Spitfire, which would have resulted in them facing the LA Valiant in the semi-finals. The Gladiators got out to a good start in the quarter-final match, dominating the first series 3-0, but the Spitfire came back hard in the remaining series with consecutive 3-0 wins of their own to advance.