Los Angeles Gladiators vs London Spitfire

For our second playoff match, we have a very interesting clash between the Los Angeles Gladiators and the London Spitfire.

The Gladiators really pulled through in Stage 4. They always showed a ton of potential, especially in stages two and three however their play was often filled with sloppy engages, strange plays and insufficient team cohesion.

However, after Fissure joined the line-up, things changed almost over night. His impact on the Gladiators' play was evident from the very get go, and they're entering the playoffs as one of the favorites to perhaps even reach the finals.

Their DPS line-up is also particularly potent, and they're covering the whole DPS spectrum. To make matters even more frightening for their opponents, they seemingly don't lose any cohesion when swapping out players, and Surefour started grinding Widowmaker before the start of Stage 4, so they also have one of the most precise and deadly Widows in the League as well - and they're going to need Surefour performing if Birdring comes to play.

The Gladiators had the best record out of all teams competing in Stage 4, they had the best map differential and they showcased some insane flexibility while every other team essentially failed to adapt in the chaotic meta shift that occurred.

While they did fail to carry over that momentum into the Stage 4 playoffs and actually reach the finals, they didn't lose any stock in their loss to the Valiant.

For London, this inaugural season wasn't all that great. It was far from bad, obviously, but they had a ton of hype coming in. Two insanely talented rosters, the GC Busan squad as well as the Cloud9 KongDoo roster, they had a fantastic showing in the Stage 1 finals, but ever since then their play was plagued with indecision, individual misplays and weird decisions regarding their starting six.

After releasing four players from their line-up, they have less players to focus on and develop synergy, but it's still too early to tell if it'll pay off or not.

There are a lot of things that they need to fix, both in-game as well as psychologically, and with another possible shift in the meta, they have quite a large task at hand if they want to perform at a high level.

London has the mechanical prowess, but they're not consistent. When they come to play, and it's their "good day" they're one of the best teams in the League. If it's not their day, they look lost and mediocre.

The three week break will surely benefit them, and they'll probably be on the same page straight out the gate, but it's highly questionable whether or not they'll be able to sustain a high enough level of play in order to take the Gladiators down.

Interestingly enough, the Gladiators never lost to London ever since the inaugural season began, and they still have a ton of momentum coming from their 9W-1L record in Stage 4. They became consistent near the end of the regular season, and they're always prepared with opponent-specific straategies.

They're fast to swich heroes and team comps which is a serious benefit in the current meta. If they manage to shut down Profit and Birdring, they shouldn't have too big of a problem shutting the Spitfire down.

We're going with the Gladiators on this one. It feels strange betting against London, as they're still carrying over their hyped up aura, but they didn't do a lot over the last couple of months to deserve it. Flashes of brilliance - absolutely, but they need consistent excellence if they want to contest for the finals, and I just don't see it happening.

That said, London is never one to shy away from a challenge, far from it. They're highly capable, they have one of the deadliest DPS duos in the entire League as well as some very dangerous supports. However, it shouldn't be enough against the Gladiators.