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,[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] In the first round of the North American playoffs, the Gladiators were swept by the Philadelphia Fusion, sending them to the lower bracket.[4] They lost to the Florida Mayhem in the first round of the lower bracket, which eliminated them from the playoffs.[5]
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.[6] The following month, JohnGalt signed with the Washington Justice's as their new head coach,[7] while Pei signed a new contract with the Gladiators as their head coach and general manager.[8] The team signed former Guangzhou Charge assistant coach Rohit "Curryshot" Nathani to their coaching staff in late October.[9]
Roster changes
Free agents | Role | Player | Contract
status | Date signed | 2020 team |
| Handle | Name |
| Damage | Hydration | João Pedro Goes Telles | Free agent | October 18 | Houston Outlaws[10] |
| Damage | Surefour | Lane Roberts | Free agent | November 4 | Toronto Defiant[11] |
| Tank | Void | Jun-Woo Kang | Free agent | November 25 | Shanghai Dragons[12] |
- 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.[13] 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.[14]
Acquisitions
The Gladiators' first offseason pick-up was off-tank Indy "SPACE" Halpern, who they acquired from the Los Angeles Valiant on October 23.[15] In early November, former London Spitfire DPS Kim "birdring" Ji-Hyeok signed with the team.[16] 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.[17]
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.[18] A month later, on December 5, Los Angeles signed former Paris Eternal main tank Roni "LhCloudy" Tiihonen.[19] The team announced their final signing of the offseason on December 12, with the addition of DPS Jason "Jaru" White from Team Envy.[20]
Departures
On October 18, the Gladiators agreed to transfer main tank Gye "rOar" Chang-hoon to the Washington Justice, pending approval from the league.[21]
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.[10] Following him was DPS Lane "Surefour" Roberts, as he signed with the Toronto Defiant the following month.[11] On November 25, off-tank free agent Kang "Void" Jun-woo signed with the Shanghai Dragons.[12] 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.[22]
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.[23]
Roster
| 2020 Los Angeles Gladiators roster |
| Players | Coaches |
| Role | No. | Handle | Name | Nationality | | Damage | 20 | birdring | Kim Ji-hyeok | South Korea | | Damage | 18 | kevster | Persson, Kevin | Sweden | | Damage | 7 | MirroR | Trịnh, Gia Huy | Vietnam | | Damage | 77 | Jaru | White, Jason | United States | | Tank | 2 | OGE | Son Min-seok | South Korea | | Tank | 27 | LhCloudy | Tiihonen, Roni | Finland | | Tank | 16 | SPACE | Halpern, Indy | United States | | Tank | 31 | Bischu | Kim Hyung-seok | South Korea | | Support | 0 | BigG00se | Isohanni, Benjamin | Finland | | Support | 52 | Shaz | Suovaara, Jonas | Finland | | - Head coach
|
|
Legend: - (I) Inactive
- (S) Suspended
- (2W) Two-way player
 Substitute Injury / Illness
| Latest roster transaction: June 20, 2020. |
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.[24]
- On June 7, the Gladiators transferred support Nolan "Paintbrush" Edwards from the Dallas Fuel.[25]
- On June 16, the Gladiators signed DPS Kevin "Kevster" Persson.[26]
Standings
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) Wins plus bonus wins 2)
winning percentage (excluding bonus wins); 3) map differential; 4) head-to-head record; 5) head-to-head map differential
Game log
Regular season
| 2020 game log (Regular season record: 11–10) |
| 4 | April 04 | Los Angeles Gladiators | 3 | – | 0 | Dallas Fuel | Online | | | | 10:00 pm UTC | | | | |
May Melee qualifiers: 1–2 |
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 2–1 |
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 1–3 |
| 17 | August 14 | Los Angeles Gladiators | 3 | – | 0 | Dallas Fuel | Online | | | | 9:00 pm UTC | | | | |
Midseason tournaments
| 2020 midseason tournaments game log |
| |
| |
| |
| Bonus wins awarded: 0 |
Postseason
| 2020 playoff game log |
North America Play-ins: 1–0 |
North America Bracket: 0–2 | Lower Round 1 | September 06 | Los Angeles Gladiators | 0 | – | 3 | Florida Mayhem | Online | | | | 7:00 pm UTC | | | | |
References
- ^ Richardson, Liz (August 20, 2019). "Here is the full Overwatch League 2020 season schedule". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (September 2, 2020). "How do the 2020 Overwatch League playoffs work?". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (September 4, 2020). "Four more teams eliminated in Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Miller, Chris (September 5, 2020). "Overwatch League – Los Angeles Gladiators Face The Philadelphia Fusion Surprisingly Quick". Happy Gamer. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Field Level Media (September 6, 2020). "Fusion, Shock hold form at OWL NA playoffs". Reuters. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (October 2, 2019). "Overwatch League offseason trade tracker". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Howard, Brandon (October 10, 2019). "Washington Justice Find New Head Coach". TheGamer. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Scrubasaurus (October 11, 2019). "Gladiators bring back dpei as head coach and GM". over.gg. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Hudsen (October 31, 2019). "Curryshot joins the Gladiators". over.gg. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- ^ a b Samples, Rachel (October 18, 2019). "Houston Outlaws sign Hydration ahead of the 2020 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Samples, Rachel (November 4, 2019). "Toronto Defiant sign Surefour". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ a b "Dragons and Spitfire set rosters for OWL 2020 season". ESPN. Reuters. November 26, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Morello, Matt (July 30, 2019). "2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (October 4, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Stenzel, Zach (October 23, 2019). "Space Joins Los Angeles Gladiators". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- ^ "Los Angeles Gladiators add former Spitfire DPS birdring". ESPN. Reuters. November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ Field Level Media (November 14, 2019). "Gladiators add MirroR, Valiant release FCTFCTN". ESPN. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (November 15, 2019). "Bischu returns to the Los Angeles Gladiators". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ Peres, Pedro (December 5, 2019). "Los Angeles Gladiators sign LhCloudy". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- ^ Samples, Rachel (December 12, 2019). "Los Angeles Gladiators sign Jaru ahead of 2020 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (October 18, 2019). "Washington Justice acquire rOar from Los Angeles Gladiators". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Scrubasaurus (December 5, 2019). "Gladiators sign lhcloudy". over.gg. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Magelssen, Tommy (October 29, 2019). "Dallas Fuel ship OGE to Los Angeles Gladiators for Decay in blockbuster trade, more moves appear on the horizon". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
- ^ Howard, Brandon (June 8, 2020). "Florida Mayhem Trade Sideshow To Los Angeles Gladiators". TheGamer. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- ^ Samples, Rachel (June 7, 2020). "Dallas Fuel acquires Paintbrush from Los Angeles Gladiators". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (June 16, 2020). "Los Angeles Gladiators acquire flex DPS Kevster". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
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- Based in Los Angeles, California
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