Immortals Gaming Club owned Overwatch League franchise Los Angeles Valiant announced that Mike “Packing10” Szklanny would be promoted to the Head Coach position for the upcoming season. This reveal comes after Packing10 had held an interim head coach position during most of Season 2 of the Overwatch League.
You may know him from his role as Interim Head Coach for the Valiant, or his perpetual speaker box prison.
We are proud to introduce our Head Coach, Mike '@Packing_10' Szklanny pic.twitter.com/u3aRrRTBBh
— Los Angeles Valiant (@LAValiant) September 4, 2019
Mike “Packing10” Szklanny
Mike “Packing10” Szklanny started his competitive career in Overwatch on Hammers Esports. He then went on to a coach position in organizations like EnVision Esports and Angry Titans. In October of 2018, the LA Valiant parted ways with assistant coaches Jordan “Gunba” Graham and Julien “daemoN” Ducros, who left for other teams. With this development, Packing10 and Dong-soo “Dongsu” Shin joined LA Valiant in February of 2019 as Assistant Coach.
The Los Angeles Valiant ended Stage 1 of the 2019 Overwatch League Regular Season with 0 wins and 7 losses, in dead last. Because of this, Los Angeles Valiant released previous Head Coach Byung-chul “Moon” Moon in March of 2019. Assistant coach Dongsu also left the organization shortly after in April. The departure of Moon marked Packing10’s promotion to interim head coach.
Los Angeles Valiant
The team did slightly better in Stage 2 with 3 wins and 4 losses, tied for 13th place with Boston Uprising. The LA Valiant roster also traded Pan-seung “Fate” Koo for Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey and Russell “FCTFCTN” Campbell. Players like Min-chul “Izayaki” Kim and Joon-hyuk “Bunny” Chae were released from the team. Soon, the LA Valiant roster consisted of mostly Western players.
The LA Valiant went on to place 6th in Stage 3 with 5 wins and 2 losses. The organization then placed 11th in Stage 4 with 4 wins and 3 losses. In overall standings, the LA Valiant placed 13th which was just one win away from entering Playoffs. While the results can’t be compared to teams like the Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock, the organization improved a lot with Packing10 holding the reins.
The 2020 Overwatch League season marks the first time teams will move to their home cities. Packing10 will work alongside Assistant Coaches Warsi Faraaz “Stoop” Waris, Marvin “Promise” Schröder, and Justin “reprize” Hand. How do you think the Los Angeles Valiant will fare this time around? Let us know what you think in the comments below. Keep up with Daily Esports for all of your Overwatch coverage.
Published: Sep 5, 2019 10:12 am