Shanghai Dragons vs Los Angeles Gladiators

For our first match of the day we have a fun clash between the Los Angeles Gladiators and the Shanghai Dragons. Now this is by no means a premier match-up, with the Gladiators fighting for a playoff spot and the Dragons still fighting for that elusive first Overwatch League win.

Fortunately both teams never shy away from a challenge so we're surely in for some exciting Overwatch. This is an incredibly important match for the Gladiators as they not only have to win to keep their playoff hopes alive but they have to dominate in 4-0 fashion. They made two very important signings between Stage 2 and 3 and that is in the tank and DPS departments. They signed Void from the former Kongdoo Panthera roster who didn't make the switch over to the Overwatch League along with his former team. He was regarded as one of the best D.Va players in the world and he is a former teammate of Fissure's so they already have established synergy. He could very well be a concrete upgrade over Bischu on an individual level but overall team synergy will surely take a hit as Bischu will no longer be able to translate for Fissure. In the long term however this could be a very intelligent move for the Gladiators.

Paired with Silkthread from the Los Angeles Valiant and you have a very dangerous LAG roster that all of a sudden has a much higher skill ceiling. They already had three talented DPS players in Surefour, Asher and Hydration and they've just added another player with a deep hero pool who is also a fantastic Sombra as well.

As for Shanghai things are still very dire but they did show some signs of life last week. They entered Stage 3 with an almost completely revamped roster and they did well but it's obvious that they need more time to adapt and to build cohesion. They essentially started from scratch whereas other teams had almost four months to prepare and get to where they're at right now. Unfortunately they continue to be the worst team in the League but with time they might be able to play on a more competitive level.

We're going with the Gladiators on this one. There is simply no way that the Dragons can compete on their level right now and with every map playing an important role in the path to playoffs the Gladiators are looking to dominate straight out of the gate.