# 2020 Los Angeles Valiant season

The 2020 Los Angeles Valiant season was the third season of Los Angeles Valiant's existence in the Overwatch League and their first full season under head coach Mike "Packing10" Szklanny. The Valiant planned host two homestand events in the 2020 season at The Novo, but all homestand matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 22, the Valiant clinched a spot in the season playoffs with a win over the Vancouver Titans. In the first round of the North America bracket, Los Angeles defeated the Florida Mayhem by a score of 3–2. The following day, the Valiant were swept by the Philadelphia Fusion in the second round of the upper bracket, sending them to the lower bracket. A 1–3 loss to the Washington Justice in the subsequent round eliminated the Valiant from the playoffs.

## Preceding offseason
### Organizational changes

After releasing head coach Moon Byung-chul the previous season, assistant coach Mike "Packing10" Szklanny was named the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Packing10 was officially named the team's full-time head coach in early September 2019. The following month, the Valiant added former Boston Uprising assistant coach Jordan "Gunba" Graham as an assistant coach. Gunba was an assistant coach for the Valiant in 2018.

### Roster changes

The Valiant enter the new season with no free agents, three players which they have the option to retain for another year, and five players under contract. The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.

#### Acquisitions

The Valiant's first acquisitions of the offseason were announced on October 31, with the signings of main tank Song "Dreamer" Sang-lok from the Sydney Drop Bears, flex DPS Damon "Apply" Conti, support Owen "Slur" Warner from Samsung Morning Stars, and support Mun "Lastro" Jung-won from Skyfoxes. On January 7, the Valiant revealed two more additions in main tank Rick "GiG" Salazar and support Park "RaiN" Jae-ho in a skit video for the team's new color scheme. A week later, on January 16, the team announced the signing of damage player Kai "KSP" Collins.

#### Departures

The Valiant made their first offseason moves on October 23, releasing DPS Brady "Agilities" Girardi, trading off-tank Indy "SPACE" Halpern to the Los Angeles Gladiators, and trading flex support Park "KariV" Young-seo to the Toronto Defiant. In mid-November, Los Angeles announced that they had parted ways with main tank Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell. On December 12, support player Scott "Custa" Kennedy announced that he was retiring from professional Overwatch play to join the Overwatch League as an analyst. Prior to the start of the season, Owen "Slur" Warner silently departed with the team after it was revealed that he had previously used a racial slur. He later changed his name to Provide to distance himself from his past.

## Standings

| Pos | Con | Teamvte | Pld | W | BW | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| 1 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 21 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 0.905 | 59 | 19 | 0 | +40 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 21 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 0.857 | 56 | 17 | 2 | +39 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | ATL | Paris Eternal | 21 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 0.714 | 50 | 31 | 0 | +19 | Advance to playoffs |
| 4 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 21 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 0.667 | 48 | 30 | 0 | +18 | Advance to playoffs |
| 5 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 21 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0.524 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | Advance to playoffs |
| 6 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0.524 | 43 | 39 | 5 | +4 | Advance to play-ins |
| 7 | ATL | Atlanta Reign | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0.476 | 43 | 35 | 0 | +8 | Advance to play-ins |
| 8 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 0.429 | 35 | 44 | 0 | −9 | Advance to play-ins |
| 9 | ATL | Toronto Defiant | 21 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 0.333 | 32 | 48 | 0 | −16 | Advance to play-ins |
| 10 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 0.286 | 32 | 50 | 3 | −18 | Advance to play-ins |
| 11 | PAC | Vancouver Titans | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 0.286 | 23 | 48 | 0 | −25 | Advance to play-ins |
| 12 | ATL | Washington Justice | 21 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0.190 | 21 | 54 | 1 | −33 | Advance to play-ins |
| 13 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 21 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0.095 | 14 | 61 | 4 | −47 | Advance to play-ins |

## Game log
### Regular season

2020 game log (Regular season record: 11–10) :
February–April: 2–6
1
February 8
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
Dallas Fuel
Arlington, TX
4:00 pm PST
Esports Stadium Arlington
Hosted by Dallas Fuel
1
Lijiang Tower
2
2
Blizzard World
1
4
Horizon Lunar Colony
3
3
Junkertown
2
2
February 9
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
Vancouver Titans
Arlington, TX
2:00 pm PST
Esports Stadium Arlington
Hosted by Dallas Fuel
0
Lijiang Tower
2
4
Blizzard World
5
2
Temple of Anubis
3
3
March 28
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
Seoul Dynasty
Online
10:00 pm UTC
4
March 30
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
San Francisco Shock
Online
12:00 midnight UTC
5
April 05
Los Angeles Valiant
1
3
San Francisco Shock
Online
12:00 midnight UTC
6
April 06
Los Angeles Valiant
2
3
Dallas Fuel
Online
12:00 midnight UTC
7
April 17
Los Angeles Valiant
2
3
Los Angeles Gladiators
Online
1:00 am UTC
8
April 25
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
San Francisco Shock
Online
10:00 pm UTC :
May Melee qualifiers: 3–0
9
May 02
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Atlanta Reign
Online
9:00 pm UTC
10
May 10
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Boston Uprising
Online
1:00 am UTC
11
May 17
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Toronto Defiant
Online
11:00 pm UTC :
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 2–1
12
June 14
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Washington Justice
Online
11:00 pm UTC
13
June 21
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
Florida Mayhem
Online
9:00 pm UTC
14
June 28
Los Angeles Valiant
1
3
Paris Eternal
Online
7:00 pm UTC :
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 2–2
15
July 18
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
Atlanta Reign
Online
11:00 pm UTC
16
July 19
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Boston Uprising
Online
10:00 pm UTC
17
July 31
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Houston Outlaws
Online
9:00 pm UTC
18
August 02
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Online
11:00 pm UTC :
August: 2–1
19
August 16
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Florida Mayhem
Online
9:00 pm UTC
20
August 23
Los Angeles Valiant
2
3
Los Angeles Gladiators
Online
11:00 pm UTC
21
August 23
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Vancouver Titans
Online
1:00 am UTC :

### Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log :
May Melee: 1–1
Quarterfinals
May 24
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Paris Eternal
Online
1:00 am UTC
Semifinals
May 24
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
San Francisco Shock
Online
7:00 pm UTC :
Summer Showdown: 0–1
Knockouts
July 03
Los Angeles Valiant
1
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
11:00 pm UTC :
Countdown Cup: 1–1
Knockouts
August 07
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Houston Outlaws
Online
9:00 pm UTC
Quarterfinals
August 09
Los Angeles Valiant
1
3
Paris Eternal
Online
1:00 am UTC :
Bonus wins awarded: 1 :

### Postseason

2020 playoff game log :
North America Bracket: 1–2
Upper Round 1
September 05
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Florida Mayhem
Online
9:00 pm UTC
Upper Round 2
September 06
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Online
11:00 pm UTC
Lower Round 2
September 11
Los Angeles Valiant
1
3
Washington Justice
Online
9:00 pm UTC :