After a lot of tweeting going off in the Overwatch League scene, the Los Angeles Valiant are starting to reveal their roster. The Valiant have signed Australian off-tank Adam “Adam” Soong, formerly of Ground Zero Gaming and ORDER. With a large portion of their roster staying from last season, the Valiant are simply looking to re-tool. In this case, they went to Australian Contenders to pick up this seasoned player.
It's been quite a trek…
Welcome to the Los Angeles Valiant, @AdamFromAus!
🇦🇺 ────→ 🇺🇸🎵: @aries_ix
(*Pending League approval) pic.twitter.com/tC17mfgNPy
— Los Angeles Valiant (@LAValiant) November 19, 2020
From Australia to Los Angeles
At only age 18, Adam played a lot in Australian Contenders. Since mid-2018, he has been training to be the best player he can. Also, his track record in Australia has been stellar. From his original team in ORDER to his most recent team in Ground Zero Gaming, he has finished first place three out of seven times. Plus, in the other four seasons, he’s finished in second twice. This means that in every season except for two, his team got to the finals and had a better chance to win than lose. As an off-tank, he mainly played as D.Va, Zarya, and Sigma.
Earlier this month, Valiant head coach and general manager Mike “Packing10” Szklanny hinted at the new signings. In a popular post, he tweeted the Valiant logo over Alcatraz.
Opening soon……. #Valcatraz 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/ndfdyDkwHr
— Michael Szklanny Sr. (@Packing_10) November 18, 2020
This was a reference to how the Valiant had no leaks of who would join the roster. With the signing of Adam, it’s clear that the lack of leaks has to do with Packing10’s discretion and under-the-radar signings. Adam must be the first of many in that case.
The Valiant’s future
After the Valiant’s releases at the start of this off-season, fans were questioning which way this team was going. It was clear that the team was happy with how the season played, but the pandemic threw a wrench in future plans. Fans must have thought that meant getting some talent out of Asia, but they definitely did not think of Australia. Either way, as long as Adam can adapt to the Overwatch League well, he should be a good replacement for the Valiant’s last award-winning off-tank. It’ll depend heavily on what the new team looks like, but it doesn’t hurt bringing in an experienced if yet still unproven off-tank to the squad.
Published: Nov 19, 2020 05:45 pm