The Overwatch League 2022 Season is right around the corner. So it’s time to take a look at the teams battling for the crown this year! Just like for the previous seasons, 20 teams will fight to take the title of Grand Champion of the Overwatch League.
Last year, the Shanghai Dragons won the competition, defeating the back-to-back champions of San Francisco Shock. But everything changes in 2022: the Overwatch League drops the usual 6v6 format for a new 5v5 dynamic with a single tank per team. This new season is entirely played on an early build of Overwatch 2, with several heroes reworks changing the pace of the game. The infamous Assault mode, also known as 2CP, also disappears from this new Overwatch format.
All these changes impact the overall strategy of all teams. A powerful tanking duo can no longer carry their team, push the frontline, or peel for their healers. And a team strong on 2CP maps can no longer rely on that strength. Moreover, most teams changed their roster during the off-season, dropping iconic players or signing young promising players from the Contenders.
So how is each team standing before the start of the Overwatch League 2022 Season? To help you get a better grasp of all the rosters and what to expect from them, ESTNN is bringing back its Power Rankings. We will introduce each team, present their roster, and analyze their overall synergy and potential.
At the 20th place of our OWL 2022 Power Rankings is the Los Angeles Valiant.
Los Angeles Valiant 2022 Roster Preview
Just like last year, Los Angeles Valiant is the last team to reveal its roster. The new Overwatch League Season starts in a little more than a month. But Los Angeles Valiant still hasn’t announced its tank for this upcoming season. Whenever they do make this announcement, we will edit this article. But in the meantime, let’s take a look at the DPS and supports players going into the Overwatch League 2022 Season with Los Angeles Valiant.
DPS:
- Weida “Diya” Lu
- Seok-hyeon “Innovation” Oh
- Il-ha “Becky” Kim
Weida “Diya” Lu and Seok-hyeon “Innovation” Oh were the DPS duo of Team CC. They were dominant in the Overwatch Contenders China, winning the 2020 Season 1 and The Gauntlet: Asia. However, the team struggled more when they entered the Korean division of the Contenders.
Diya is a well-known player for Overwatch League fans. He played three years with Shanghai Dragons, from their infamous 0-40 record in the Inaugural Season to their redemption in the Overwatch League 2020 Season.
Joining them is Il-ha “Becky” Kim, a flex DPS player who previously won the Overwatch Contenders 2021 Season 2 Trials: Korea with Team Diamond. This 18-year-old is making his first steps in the Overwatch League with Los Angeles Valiant this season.
Support:
- Tong “ColdEst” Xiaodong
- Chen “Lengsa” Jingyi
The two support players signed by Los Angeles Valiant so far are Tong “ColdEst” Xiaodong and Chen “Lengsa” Jingyi. ColdEst is mainly known for his Zenyatta plays. He was the Zenyatta player with the highest kill/death ratio in China and ranked 2nd in Asia using support heroes.
Lengsa was the main support player for Chengdu Hunters during the Overwatch League 2020 Season. He then joined Team Chaser, the academy team of the Chengdu Hunters in Overwatch Contenders.
The Valiant signed two new coaches for this season. Wang “NoHill” Fuxing is the new Head Coach of Los Angeles Valiant, and Seung-hyun “WooHyal” Sung will be his Assistant Coach. NoHill previously coached the successful Team CC, helping the team dominate the Overwatch Contenders in China. He already knows two players in the Valiant: Diya and Innovation, who formed the strong DPS duo of Team CC.
Los Angeles Valiant 2022 Power Rankings
Just like last year, Los Angeles Valiant will play in the APAC region. And this Eastern region is home to some of the most dangerous teams in the League, like Seoul Dynasty, Chengdu Hunters, or the reigning champions of Shanghai Dragons.
Compared to the other Overwatch League teams, the roster of Los Angeles Valiant is far from being impressive. To this date, the team is still lacking a tank. But even if they signed the best free agent, they couldn’t carry the entire team on their own.
So far, we have to rank Los Angeles Valiant last in our OWL 2022 Power Rankings. They could manage to defeat a few teams, but if Los Angeles Valiant goes past the middle of the rankings, that would be a surprise.