# 2020 Los Angeles Gladiators season

The 2020 Los Angeles Gladiators season was the third season of Los Angeles Gladiators's existence in the Overwatch League and their third season under head coach David "dpei" Pei. The Gladiators planned to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season, but all homestand matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gladiators finished the season with 11 wins and 10 losses to claim the sixth seed in the North America region. On September 4, Los Angeles advanced to the season playoffs after 3–2 win over the Toronto Defiant in the North American Play-in tournament. In the first round of the North American playoffs, the Gladiators were swept by the Philadelphia Fusion, sending them to the lower bracket. They lost to the Florida Mayhem in the first round of the lower bracket, which eliminated them from the playoffs.

## Preceding offseason
### Organizational changes

In September 2019, both head coach David "dpei" Pei and assistant coach Seetoh "JohnGalt" Jian Qing announced that their contracts lapsed with the Gladiators and were seeking other opportunities. The following month, JohnGalt signed with the Washington Justice's as their new head coach, while Pei signed a new contract with the Gladiators as their head coach and general manager. The team signed former Guangzhou Charge assistant coach Rohit "Curryshot" Nathani to their coaching staff in late October.

### Roster changes

Free agents :
| Role | Player | Player | Contract status | Date signed | 2020 team |
| Role | Handle | Name | Contract status | Date signed | 2020 team |
| Damage | Hydration | João Pedro Goes Telles | Free agent | October 18 | Houston Outlaws |
| Damage | Surefour | Lane Roberts | Free agent | November 4 | Toronto Defiant |
| Tank | Void | Jun-Woo Kang | Free agent | November 25 | Shanghai Dragons |
| Legend  Re-signed/Retained by the Gladiators.  Departed from the Gladiators. ||||||
The Gladiators enter the new season with three free agents, six players which they have the option to retain for another year, and no 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 Gladiators' first offseason pick-up was off-tank Indy "SPACE" Halpern, who they acquired from the Los Angeles Valiant on October 23. In early November, former London Spitfire DPS Kim "birdring" Ji-Hyeok signed with the team. Later that month, the team signed DPS Chris "MirroR" Trinh from Boston Uprising's academy team Uprising Academy and added former Mayhem Academy support player Nolan "Paintbrush" Edwards.
After the Gladiators traded off-tank Aaron "Bischu" Kim to the Guangzhou Charge in the middle of the 2019 season, Bischu re-signed to the Gladiators from free agency on November 15. A month later, on December 5, Los Angeles signed former Paris Eternal main tank Roni "LhCloudy" Tiihonen. The team announced their final signing of the offseason on December 12, with the addition of DPS Jason "Jaru" White from Team Envy.

#### Departures

On October 18, the Gladiators agreed to transfer main tank Gye "rOar" Chang-hoon to the Washington Justice, pending approval from the league.
DPS João Pedro "Hydration" Goes Telles, who had been with the team since its inception in 2017, was the first of the Gladiators' free agents to leave the team, signing with the Houston Outlaws on October 18. Following him was DPS Lane "Surefour" Roberts, as he signed with the Toronto Defiant the following month. On November 25, off-tank free agent Kang "Void" Jun-woo signed with the Shanghai Dragons. It was confirmed on December 5, after the disbandment of their academy team Gladiators Legion, that two-way tank player Lee "Panker" Byung-ho's option was not picked up for the 2020 season.

#### Player trades

The Gladiators' first player-for-player trade of the offseason took place on October 29, when they traded flex DPS Jang "Decay" Gui-un to the Dallas Fuel in exchange for main tank Son "OGE" Min-seok.

## Roster
### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2020 regular season:
* On June 6, the Gladiators acquired DPS Josh "Sideshow" Wilkinson from the Florida Mayhem on a 14-day contract.
* On June 7, the Gladiators transferred support Nolan "Paintbrush" Edwards from the Dallas Fuel.
* On June 16, the Gladiators signed DPS Kevin "Kevster" Persson.

## 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: 3–3
1
February 08
Los Angeles Gladiators
2
3
Vancouver Titans
Arlington, TX
2:00 pm PST
Esports Stadium Arlington
Hosted by Dallas Fuel
2
Nepal
1
2
King's Row
3
0
Hanamura
2
2
Dorado
1
0
Lijiang Tower
2
2
March 28
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
1
San Francisco Shock
Online
11:00 pm UTC
3
March 29
Los Angeles Gladiators
0
3
Seoul Dynasty
Online
10:00 pm UTC
4
April 04
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
0
Dallas Fuel
Online
10:00 pm UTC
5
April 13
Los Angeles Gladiators
0
3
San Francisco Shock
Online
12:00 midnight UTC
6
April 17
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
2
Los Angeles Valiant
Online
1:00 am UTC :
May Melee qualifiers: 1–2
7
May 03
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
1
Toronto Defiant
Online
11:00 pm UTC
8
May 09
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Paris Eternal
Online
7:00 pm UTC
9
May 16
Los Angeles Gladiators
2
3
Boston Uprising
Online
10:30 pm UTC :
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 2–1
10
June 13
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
1
Atlanta Reign
Online
11:00 pm UTC
11
June 20
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Houston Outlaws
Online
11:00 pm UTC
12
June 28
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
1
Washington Justice
Online
1:00 am UTC :
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 1–3
13
July 18
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
0
Vancouver Titans
Online
7:00 pm UTC
14
July 26
Los Angeles Gladiators
0
3
Paris Eternal
Online
7:00 pm UTC
15
July 26
Los Angeles Gladiators
2
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Online
1:00 am UTC
16
August 02
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Florida Mayhem
Online
9:00 pm UTC :
August: 4–1
17
August 14
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
0
Dallas Fuel
Online
9:00 pm UTC
18
August 15
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
0
Boston Uprising
Online
11:00 pm UTC
19
August 21
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Florida Mayhem
Online
9:00 pm UTC
20
August 22
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
1
Atlanta Reign
Online
11:00 pm UTC
21
August 23
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
2
Los Angeles Valiant
Online
11:00 pm UTC :

### Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log :
May Melee: 1–1
Knockouts
May 22
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
0
Washington Justice
Online
10:00 pm UTC
Quarterfinals
May 23
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Online
11:00 pm UTC :
Summer Showdown: 0–1
Knockouts
July 04
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Washington Justice
Online
1:00 am UTC :
Countdown Cup: 1–1
Knockouts
August 08
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
2
Toronto Defiant
Online
1:00 am UTC
Quarterfinals
August 08
Los Angeles Gladiators
0
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Online
9:00 pm UTC :
Bonus wins awarded: 0 :

### Postseason

2020 playoff game log :
North America Play-ins: 1–0
Round 1
First-round bye
Round 2
September 04
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
2
Toronto Defiant
Online
7:00 pm UTC :
North America Bracket: 0–2
Upper Round 1
September 05
Los Angeles Gladiators
0
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Online
7:00 pm UTC
Lower Round 1
September 06
Los Angeles Gladiators
0
3
Florida Mayhem
Online
7:00 pm UTC :