Los Angeles Valiant vs Atlanta Reign

Next up, we have a very exciting clash between the Atlanta Reign and Los Angeles Valiant. Much like the clash preceding it, this isn't exactly a fight between two premier Overwatch titans, but it's not that bad either.

Altanta, in particular, has at least some semblance of hype and momentum coming into today's match primarily because they've shown a lot of potential over the last couple of months. They are by no means a behemoth, but when they get going, when it's their good day, they can truly tango with the best teams the Overwatch League has to offer. They're deceptively strong but also inherently flawed and inconsistent. This means they're often prone to overperforming, but also imploding at the most random of times.

The Valiant are somewhat similar, although their strengths and virtues are nowhere near as pronounced. They're sitting on an abysmal 2W-6L record and their play -- even at the best of times -- leaves a lot to be desired. As things stand, they're sitting at eighteenth place, above Washington Justice and the Boston Uprising. Hardly the company you want in a competitive environment. Still, they've shown at least a little bit more than their bottom-tier peers so it's hard to fully discredit them. If anything, their weaknesses are quite obvious which means teams can easily exploit and capitalize fully.

Now, Atlanta is by no means a world-class team although they do have flashes of brilliance. The fact that they took Philadelphia Fusion to five maps tell you all you need to know. Had they done things at least a little bit differently, they could've pulled off a seismic upset, but they came up short. Still, their valiant (no pun intended) efforts improved their stock quite a bit, so they're the obvious favorites in this one. That said, with Echo joining the fray, we can expect to see a much more even and competitive series.