Los Angeles Gladiators vs Dallas Fuel

For our first match of the day we have an exciting clash between the Los Angeles Gladiators and the Dallas Fuel.

While this match carries absolutely zero implications in regards to playoff seeding, it will surely be a very important one for both teams as they need any momentum can get heading into Stage 2 which is just two weeks away.

Both teams are pretty underwhelming overall, however the Gladiators had a lot more success over the last four weeks, and are sitting somewhat comfortably behind Philadelphia Fusion with a respectable 4-5 record. However their level of play is highly questionable. They have flashes of brilliance when they display incredible synergy and mechanical prowess, but then just a day or two afterwards they look completely lost. That's a complex characteristic that you cannot really prepare for if you're their opponent.

The last time we saw the Gladiators in the Blizzard Arena was on Wednesday when they dominated over the San Francisco Shock. They were better from the very get go, they had a very clear idea on how to play and counter Shock's playstyle and they executed to perfection, starting off with Numbani. We saw a lot of McCree battles that were mostly neck-and-neck, but the fact that the Gladiators have one of the deadliest Zenyatta's in the League in Shaz was a serious advantage as he managed to snipe Babybay from a far multiple times. Unfortunately the Gladiators couldn't find a solution as Babybay had an insane amount of protection from his teammates - the Shock even went so far to use Valkyrie, Transcendence and Nomy's Winston shield bubble in order to protect their star DPS.

The Shock tried their best but it was all in vain as they once again failed to conquer even the first point on Lunar Horizon Colony. With a strong 1-1 tie, the Gladiators made quick work on Oasis thanks to some exquisite Genji play from Surefour.

As for Dallas, they entering this match with renewed vigor after their five map brawler against the Shanghai Dragons. It wasn't pretty, but they managed to win. They struggled on almost every front, with their supports playing subpar - Chipshajen dying multiple times with Valkyrie and Harryhook miss-using his Sound Barrier mid-fight. Luckily, Seagull and Taimou came to play and Mickie also had a very good showing after a couple of weeks of pure mediocrity. If there is one concrete, positive thing that can be said for Dallas it is the fact that they're beasts on Control maps like Oasis, Ilios and Lijiang Tower.

It seems as though Dallas finally has a couple of things figured out in terms of synergy and shotcalling, and it shows in their play as well.

However even if Dallas has to start without EFFECT (who couldn't play due to personal reasons against Shanghai), we've seen the Taimou + Seagull DPS duo in full swing a couple of days and they were quite in-sync and formidable. The loss of one of the best Tracers in the world is quite a big one, but Seagull finally exhibited some superb Genji play, along with his staple Junkrat, whereas Taimou did a ton of work on hit-scan heroes like Widowmaker and McCree. Speaking of Taimou, it is safe to say that the man is back and is wasting no time in putting other teams on notice.

This is by no means an easy match to predict. Surefour seems to be back to his form and was an absolute beast on every pick he took against the Shock. They also swap between Asher and Hydration and they're both highly talented players, so overall Dallas has a very tall task in front of them if they want to emerge victorious.

That said the Gladiators also have glaring problems and holes in their game. Those issues were heavily exploited by multiple teams - not just the Korean ones. Dallas are motivated and hungry, they will surely study every VOD they can and prepare a solid game plan going in. While they're not the world class team they once were, they should be able to win against the Gladiators.

It won't be easy nor will it be dominant however, but if Dallas want to come back to their old form and reputation - this is the point where they should start.