Over the next couple of weeks, I will be releasing articles on the Broverwatch website discussing what I think each of the 12 original Overwatch League teams needs to do this offseason to improve. Subscribe to the website to get notified about new posts.
The Los Angeles Gladiators ended the inaugural season of the Overwatch League by making it to the playoffs as the 4th seed and losing 2-1 to the 5th seed London Spitfire. Their time in the playoffs was surrounded by a controversy involving Chan-Hyung "Fissure" Baek their MVP candidate Main-Tank. The Gladiators released a statement basically siting a lack of preparation and practice on Fissure's part. More began to come out from Rob "Slasher" Breslau saying that Fissure was practicing less and that he also wanted to play on an all-Korean team.
This off-season Fissure got what he was asking for and was transferred to the Seoul Dynasty, an all-Korean team that had problems with their tank line in Season 1. Following that move, they also released Luis "iRemiix" Galarza Figueroa, Joon-Seoung "Asher" Choi and Ted "Silkthread" Wang which left them with 6 of the 10 players they ended the season with - Surefour, Bischu, Void, Hydration, Shaz and BigGoose.
The Gladiators most glaring problem right now is their Main-Tank. Fissure as an MVP candidate, an All-Star starter and the spark they needed to make it into the playoffs. It is a major understatement to say it will be difficult to find another player like Fissure, it will be near impossible. They also released, as I previously mentioned, iRemiix who became the backup Main Tank after Fissure joined the LAG.
They seem to have two possible ways to solve their Main Tank problem.
1) One of their flex tanks learns how to play Main Tank. Currently, they have Bischu and Void under contract. For the last part of the season Bischu was starting over Void as their Off-Tank but if this scenario plays out I believe that Void would become the starting Off-Tank and Bischu would become the starting Main Tank. Void is mechanically better than Bischu, but a lot of what Bischu excels at is communication and shot-calling and if we look at the meta leading into Season 2 Main Tank communication will become extremely important. Deathball comps generally run best if the Reinhardt is calling the targets.
2) They sign Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell. If the Gladiators want to try and return to the form they were in during the last half of the season, picking up one of the Main Tanks released this off-season won't cut it... unless they sign FCTFCTN which is a possibility since no expansion team has picked him up as of writing this. FCTFCTN was in a very unfortunate situation on Houston because he was stuck backing up a top 3 Main Tank in the league and all-star in Austin "Muma" Wilmot. Unfortunately, he only played 1:35:02 for Houston before being released. With the addition of FCTFCTN, the Gladiators would be able to start him next to Void, assuming Void's English has gotten better during the off-season, which could be a tank line that exceeds a lot of people expectations.
The release that very few people are talking about is Asher. During Season 1 Asher was the Tracer specialist on the team in a meta that required that. I don't think a Tracer specialist is what they need because this meta is more suited for a sniper and utility hero, like a Widowmaker with a Sombra or Doomfist, or double sniper combo. The value they get out of this is the extra DPS slot. If they are able to find someone who has a hero polo Tracer, Sombra, Doomfist and a Hanzo with maybe a couple weird heroes to flex so they will have a very versatile DPS line.
Gladiators Legion also has some borderline OWL talent who they will likely sign to two-way contracts or trade. The most notable players being Gods, a Flex Tank, and Roolf, an Off Healer. Both could be brought up in a pinch without losing a great deal of mechanical skill.
The Gladiators are a team this off-season that seems to have taken a step back. Them releasing Silkthread was a huge surprise to me because he seemed to be able to flex well with Surefour and Hydration, but I'm sure another team will pick him up. Fissure leaving is a huge hit but they can minimize the overall loss by developing synergy between their starting line up. They have to add 2 more players at least before the season starts and it's likely they add a main tank and DPS.
UPDATE: I'm dumb and didn't know about panker. Thank you r/cow.
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