# 2018 Los Angeles Valiant season

The 2018 Los Angeles Valiant season was the first season of Los Angeles Valiant's existence in the Overwatch League. The team finished with a regular season record of 27–13 – the second best in the Overwatch League.
Los Angeles qualified for the Stage 3 and Stage 4 Playoffs. The team lost in the Stage 3 semifinals to the New York Excelsior. Los Angeles found revenge in the Stage 4 finals when the defeated the New York Excelsior. The team qualified for the Season Playoffs, but lost to the would-be champions London Spitfire in the semifinals.

## Preceding offseason

Valiant revealed their inaugural season starting roster over a series of Twitter posts from October 30 to November 2, consisting of the following players:
* Brady "Agilities" Girardi
* Terence "Soon" Tarlier
* Ted "silkthread" Wang
* Christopher "GrimReality" Schaefer
* Park "Kariv" Young-seo
* Stefano "Verbo" Disalvo
* Benjamin "uNKOE" Chevasson
* Indy "SPACE" Halpern
* Koo "Fate" Pan-seung
* Seb "Numlocked" Barton
* Lee "Envy" Kang-jae

## Review

Los Angeles Valiant's first OWL regular season game was a 4–0 victory against the San Francisco Shock on January 10, 2018. The Valiant posted an impressive 7–3 record in Stage 1, but did not qualify for the Stage 1 Playoffs. On February 19, two days before the beginning of Stage 2, the Los Angeles Valiant announced the departure of head coach Henry "Cuddles" Coxall. The team announced, on the same day, the hiring of Byung Chul "Moon" Moon as the team's new head coach. Stage 2 ended in a disappointing 4–6 record.
The Valiant had a more successful Stage 3, as the team posted a 7–3 record – good for the 3rd seed in the Stage 3 Playoffs. The team faced off against the 2nd-seeded New York Excelsior in the semifinals of the Stage 3 Playoffs, but the Valiant lost in a 0–3 sweep.
Los Angeles Valiant had its best stage in the 4th stage. The team was undefeated going into the final regular season game against the Dallas Fuel. The Valiant lost that matchup by a score of 3 to 1, giving them a 9–1 record and the 2nd seed for the Stage 4 Playoffs. The Valiant faced their intercity-rivals and top-seeded team, the Los Angeles Gladiators, in the semifinals, and were able to pull off a 3–2 victory to move on the finals against the New York Excelsior. On June 17, the Los Angeles Valiant claimed their first-ever stage title, defeating the Excelsior 3–1 in the Stage 4 Finals.
The Valiant ended the regular season with a 27–13 record and the 2nd seed and a first-round bye in the Season Playoffs. The team's was set to face the London Spitfire in the season semifinals. The first matchup was on July 18, in which the Valiant fell to the Spitfire by a score of 1–3. On July 20, the Valiant was eliminated from the Season Playoffs after getting swept 0–3 in the second semifinal match against the Spitfire.

## Final roster
### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:
* On March 31, Valiant acquired Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok from Seoul Dynasty.
* On April 2, Valiant released Lee "Envy" Kang-jae and Christopher "GrimReality" Schaefer.
* On April 2, Valiant traded Benjamin "uNKOE" Chevasson to Dallas Fuel in exchange for Scott "Custa" Kennedy.
* On April 3, Valiant transferred Ted "silkthread" Wang to Los Angeles Gladiators.
* On April 4, Valiant signed Kyle "KSF" Frandanisa and Finnbjörn "Finnsi" Jónasson.
* On April 13, Valiant signed Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul.

## Standings
### League

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| 1 | ATL | New York Excelsior | 40 | 34 | 6 | 0.850 | 126 | 43 | 4 | +83 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
| 2 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 40 | 27 | 13 | 0.675 | 100 | 64 | 7 | +36 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
| 3 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 40 | 26 | 14 | 0.650 | 99 | 71 | 3 | +28 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 4 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 40 | 25 | 15 | 0.625 | 96 | 72 | 3 | +24 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 5 | ATL | London Spitfire | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.600 | 102 | 69 | 3 | +33 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 6 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.600 | 93 | 80 | 2 | +13 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 7 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 94 | 77 | 2 | +17 | |
| 8 | PAC | Seoul Dynasty | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 91 | 78 | 3 | +13 | |
| 9 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 40 | 17 | 23 | 0.425 | 77 | 84 | 5 | −7 | |
| 10 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 40 | 12 | 28 | 0.300 | 58 | 100 | 7 | −42 | |
| 11 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 40 | 7 | 33 | 0.175 | 42 | 120 | 5 | −78 | |
| 12 | PAC | Shanghai Dragons | 40 | 0 | 40 | 0.000 | 21 | 141 | 2 | −120 | |

## Game log
### Preseason

2018 preseason game log :
Preseason (2–0)
1
December 06
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
San Francisco Shock
Burbank, CA
2
December 09
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA :

### Regular season

2018 game log (Regular season record: 27–13) :
Stage 1 (7–3)
1
January 10
San Francisco Shock
0
4
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
2
January 12
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Dallas Fuel
Burbank, CA
3
January 18
New York Excelsior
3
0
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
4
January 20
Los Angeles Valiant
2
3
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA
5
January 24
Los Angeles Gladiators
2
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
6
January 27
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
Florida Mayhem
Burbank, CA
7
January 31
Los Angeles Valiant
4
0
Philadelphia Fusion
Burbank, CA
8
February 03
Boston Uprising
4
0
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
9
February 07
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
10
February 09
Los Angeles Valiant
4
0
Shanghai Dragons
Burbank, CA :
Stage 2 (4–6)
11
February 21
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
12
February 24
Shanghai Dragons
0
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
13
February 28
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
San Francisco Shock
Burbank, CA
14
March 02
Dallas Fuel
1
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
15
March 07
Los Angeles Valiant
0
4
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
16
March 08
Houston Outlaws
0
4
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
17
March 15
Florida Mayhem
3
1
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
18
March 16
Los Angeles Valiant
2
3
Boston Uprising
Burbank, CA
19
March 23
Philadelphia Fusion
3
2
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
20
March 24
Los Angeles Valiant
0
4
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA :
Stage 3 (7–3)
21
April 04
Los Angeles Valiant
4
0
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
22
April 06
Los Angeles Valiant
4
0
Shanghai Dragons
Burbank, CA
23
April 11
San Francisco Shock
0
4
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
24
April 13
Los Angeles Valiant
2
1
Dallas Fuel
Burbank, CA
25
April 18
Los Angeles Gladiators
2
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
26
April 21
London Spitfire
3
2
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
27
April 25
Los Angeles Valiant
1
3
Houston Outlaws
Burbank, CA
28
April 27
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
Florida Mayhem
Burbank, CA
29
May 03
Boston Uprising
3
2
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
30
May 05
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Philadelphia Fusion
Burbank, CA :
Stage 4 (9–1)
31
May 16
Seoul Dynasty
2
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
32
May 19
Shanghai Dragons
1
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
33
May 23
Florida Mayhem
1
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
34
May 25
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Boston Uprising
Burbank, CA
35
May 30
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
36
June 02
New York Excelsior
2
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
37
June 07
Los Angeles Valiant
2
1
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA
38
June 09
Houston Outlaws
0
4
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
39
June 13
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
San Francisco Shock
Burbank, CA
40
June 15
Dallas Fuel
3
1
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA :

### Playoffs

2018 playoff game log :
Stage 3 Playoffs (0–1)
Semifinals
May 06
Los Angeles Valiant
0
3
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA :
Stage 4 Playoffs (2–0)
Semifinals
June 17
Los Angeles Valiant
3
2
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
Finals
June 17
New York Excelsior
1
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA :
Season Playoffs (0–2)
Quarterfinals
First-round bye
Semifinals Match 1
July 18
London Spitfire
3
1
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
Semifinals Match 2
July 20
London Spitfire
3
0
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA :