LA Gladiators Defeat Houston Outlaws in Key Overwatch League Stage 4 Match
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentThe Los Angeles Gladiators took down the Houston Outlaws in what could be one of the most important matches of Overwatch League Stage 4.
A 3-1 victory for the Gladiators puts them in a stronger position as they chase a spot in the overall playoffs.
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Only the top six teams in the overall standings will qualify for the $1.7 million end-of-season playoffs. The Houston Outlaws and the LA Gladiators entered the final stage of the season at seventh and eighth place respectively.
There’s still plenty of time for the two to fight their way into the playoffs, however, with only four match wins separating third place from eighth at the start of the stage. While absolutely possible, it did leave little room for error.
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In the first week, both the Outlaws and the Gladiators won both of their matches, though the Outlaws’ wins over the high-ranked Boston Uprising and London Spitfire were both the more impressive and the more useful in chasing a playoff spot.
While either team could still sneak into the playoffs, the chances of both doing so are decidedly slimmer, and so when the two teams met in week two it was for a head-to-head that could well determine which would get the opportunity to steal a playoff spot.
Houston Outlaws drew first blood with a win on King’s Row, but from there the Gladiators were able to take command of the series, claiming a 3-1 victory.
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The match also saw the debut of Kang ‘Void’ Jun-woo, former team-mate of main tank Baek ‘Fissure’ Chan-hyung, who played in the first and third maps of the series.
The Gladiators will still have plenty of work to do to climb up the rankings, having yet to face any of the teams that currently hold a playoff spot. Their second match of week two will be against the Florida Mayhem.
