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It’s been a long road for the LA Valiant. The team originally known as Immortals were the champions of Blizzards first Overwatch team based competition, Contenders Season 0, but struggled to compete in Contenders Season 1. When the Overwatch League actually started, and the team rebranded to the Valiant, things were looking up, though the team was always just short of competitive glory.
After failing to make the playoffs in both Stage 1 and 2, the Los Angeles Valiant finally made its way to the playoffs and earned third place in Stage 3. But Stage 4 was the ultimate end to the Valiant’s regular season journey as they took down the New York Excelsior in the Finals 3-1.
Throughout the series, the Valiant were almost completely dominant, with the team’s sole slip up coming on Hanamura, the one map NYXL won. This is NYXL’s fourth trip to a stage Finals in the Overwatch League, but the team’s first loss since Stage 1 when the Spitfire took them down 3-2.
Stage 4 was a highly impressive run from the Valiant with a 9-1 regular season record. Each stage has shown a significant improvement for the Valiant since their Stage 2 slump. Thanks to the team’s performance, the Valiant have earned the second seed going into playoffs and will be the highest finishing Pacific Division team — and the only one to have won a stage championship.