Overwatch League Playoffs: Spitfire just edges out Valiant to lead series 1-0

After taking down one team from Los Angeles, the London Spitfire headed into their semifinal series against the other team from Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Gladiators were slightly favored going into London’s first Overwatch League playoff match. But after dropping the first game in the series, the Spitfire bounced back to keep their dream alive.

But luckily for Los Angeles, they have another team to cheer for in the playoffs. The Valiant, seeded number two overall, made their postseason debut on Wednesday night in the first match of their semifinal series against the Spitfire. Both teams boasted enormous talent, enormous firepower and an enormous wish to prove themselves.

London and LA’s series will conclude on Friday, July 20 starting at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Map One: Junkertown

On attack first, London boarded their pirate ship behind Profit on Bastion. But right away, Kariv on Roadhog started busting through the composition, causing the Spitfire to immediately change tactics with Profit moving onto Hanzo. As a unit, London pivoted so that they basically swapped sides with LA, attacking from the usual defensive position, and with that the Spitfire found success. After getting the first point, the Spitfire slid very quickly through the second point as well on the back of an effective Whole Hog from Bdosin.

Things slowed down as the payload entered the final stretch of the map. One push brought London right to threshold of the final point. It took one more for the Spitfire to punch it through to the end with 37 seconds still left on the clock.

Los Angeles’ attack ran into the first snag quickly, with a pick onto Custa’s Mercy. But the Valiant recovered well, and as soon as Kariv triggered his Whole Hog the fight over the first checkpoint was as good as done. The Spitfire’s real defensive stand came in the second stretch of the map, with London expertly establishing two lines of defense and getting full value out of their ultimates. On the Valiant’s last push, Bdosin nearly made the costly mistake of overextending too far forward but his teammates were able to hold long enough for him to get back into the fight. Convincingly, the Spitfire held the Valiant at arm’s length from the second point, nabbing the first map victory.

Map Score: Spitfire 3, Valiant 1

Match Score: Spitfire 1, Valiant 0

Map Two: Lijiang Tower

Starting on Garden, players from both teams immediately started falling left and right. With no clear possession of the point after it unlocked, it wasn’t until each team’s respawns came back into the fight before anything was decided. In the end, the Spitfire came out on top first and started their control climb. With both teams so evenly matched, no team had lopsided control of the point. It came down to both teams at 99 percent. In overtime, the Valiant managed to shut down the Spitfire’s last push to take the first point.

On Night Market, Los Angeles took control first. This time, the Valiant were able to keep the Spitfire on their toes through many of the fights, resulting in them going up to 80 percent control before London was able to make a dent on the point. But once the Spitfire had control, they started to turn the tables on the Valiant. Again, the map came down to a 99 to 99 percent overtime where the spawns just so happened to favor London, having won a fight more recently. Unable to get enough people back to the point to contest it, the Valiant was unable to prevent overtime from running out.

To decide the winner between these two evenly matched teams, the map went to City Center. After winning the initial fight, London locked the point down through several pushes before Los Angeles finally managed to land a successful ultimate combination. With the Spitfire already in possession of 99 percent control in the bank, the Valiant had to play flawlessly to prevent an instant loss. Unfortunately, London had the opportunity to adjust their composition to better combat Los Angeles’ and they won the next fight. With the map immediately hitting overtime, the Valiant had no time to get back to the point.

Map Score: Spitfire 2, Valiant 1

Match Score: Spitfire 2, Valiant 0

Map Three: King’s Row

On attack, London sent Fury on Roadhog and Bdosin on Tracer on a slow and long flank underneath and through the halls underneath Los Angeles’ high ground. However, with Bdosin caught out earlier than he wanted to be by Kariv, the Spitfire’s attack plan fell apart and players started to get staggered. With just over a minute left on their offense, London regrouped for more traditional approach to the point, sending just Profit on Hanzo on a long flank behind enemy lines in an attempt to catch the Valiant off guard with a Dragonstrike. Unfortunately for London, the ultimate didn’t pick off anyone outright. The progress the Spitfire did make on the point was then wiped by a two-kill Self Destruct from Space. With that, LA was able to full hold on their defense.

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The Valiant attacked with their own annoying flanker in SoOn’s Tracer. With SoOn’s constant pestering in the backline, birdring was unable to reach maximum effectiveness on Widowmaker. With the sniper threat dealt with, it was just a matter of time before Agilities built up enough ultimate charge to unleash a Dragonblade into the ranks of the Spitfire, and that was all it took for LA to take that one tick they needed to win the map.

Map Score: Spitfire 0, Valiant 1

Match Score:  Spitfire 2, Valiant 1

Map Four: Hanamura

London’s tank-heavy attack composition took some time to make it through the chokepoint, but eventually it ground down LA. Helped along by a Bdosin flank on Roadhog, the Spitfire started to collapse over point A and a Valiant Supercharger was unable to change things. From there, the fight moved to point B where London was rebuffed quite effectively. With aggressive dives on the side of the Valiant, the Spitfire found themselves burning through ultimates and getting no value from them. LA’s defense was stout all the way to the end very end, shutting London out from point B entirely.

On attack, the Valiant immediately started to irk the Spitfire by sending Kariv on Tracer directly to the point. While he was caught out, Kariv attempted it a second time, resulting in a free tick on the point before he was downed again. LA’s next push ensured that they no longer needed to sneak around as they shut down London’s support players on their way to a point A take.

Because London didn’t touch point B at all on their attack run, LA just had to earn one tick of control on point B to win. The Spitfire, however, had no intention of making that easy. With Nus swapping onto Ana, London was able to deny large chunks of healing to LA players, especially as they attempted to attack through tight corridors. With time running out, Nus Nano Boosted Gesture’s Winston to start things off, giving him the ability to confidently split the Valiant’s last attack. One by one, members of LA fell and London escaped Hanamura with a tie.

Map Score: Spitfire 1, Valiant 1

Match Score: Spitfire 2, Valiant 1

Map Five: El Dorado

London attacked with no surprises in their composition, and was able to nab two initial kills onto Fate and SoOn to open up the path to the first checkpoint. Their progress was fairly unfettered toward the second checkpoint as well until Space hit a multi-kill Self Destruct to stop the Spitfire cold just around the corner from point B. London did recollect itself with a big kill onto Kariv to deny LA the healing from a Transcendence, after which they fairly cruised all the way to the end.

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The Valiant struggled to get their attack going, choosing to put Space on the inconvenient pick of Zarya. While Space struggled to get maximum efficiency out of Zarya, LA was able to break through the initial line of London’s defense but a Dragonstrike by Profit quickly shut that opportunity down. It wasn’t until Profit, with another Dragonstrike on the board, was downed by SoOn that LA truly had room to move forward to get the first point.

London continued to do a terrific job of stalling LA through the second portion of the map. In fact, the Spitfire pushed their defense so far forward that the Valiant was forced to use support ultimates just to get the entire team out of the spawn point without dying. In overtime, with the payload just halfway through the second stretch of the map, the Valiant was down to their last push in overtime. With defeat looming, SoOn, Space and Agilities rallied together to force the payload through London to point B, keeping the drive alive.

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The drive officially came to an end shortly after that. With both supports getting eliminated, the Valiant were unable to sustain pressure on the payload as overtime ticked down. In the eleventh hour, the Spitfire held on to earn themselves a series lead.

Map Score: Spitfire 3, Valiant 2

Final Match Score: Spitfire 3, Valiant 1