After announcing their branding last week, the Immortals’ owned Los Angeles Valiant franchise has unveiled their roster for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League over the past few days. Along with the Immortals lineup moving over to the franchise, a whole host of free agents have also been signed, including silkthread, SPACE, uNKOE, SoOn, and numlocked.
Introducing your LA Valiant DPS players! #VALLA
— Los Angeles Valiant (@LAValiant) October 31, 2017
Follow them here:@IMTAgilities @silkthreadow@GrimRealityOW
@SoOnOW pic.twitter.com/FXZf71XPjS
DPS duo GrimReality and Agilities have secured their spots on the franchise, with the two having played under the Immortals organisation since the pickup of Sodipop last year. Support player Verbo was also confirmed for the lineup, who joined Immortals in December of 2016. The Korean trio of Fate, KariV, and envy, who were signed to Immortals in June, have also joined the franchise; Fate and KariV came to the North American squad in the wake of Mighty AOD reforming under Ardeont for the Pacific Championship Season 2, while envy later joined after Rhinos Gaming Wings folded.
silkthread knits his way onto Vailant after his departure from Counter Logic Gaming in July. The DPS player made a name for himself when he substituted for You Guys Get Paid? and Denial Esports, before signing with CLG in June. After a group stage exit in Contenders Season Zero North America and a 5th-6th place finish in the BEAT Invitational Season 2, he decided to leave and focus on his studies. His recruitment to Valiant indicates that he’s ready to pick up the mouse and keyboard once again.
SPACE arrives after competing on Cloud9 EU. The flex player has previous experience in teams such as You Guys Get Paid? and ARC 6, and later played under a trial basis in Cloud9 EU in Contenders Season One Europe, placing 3rd-4th in the offline playoffs.
A Support is never late, nor early. They arrive precisely when they mean to.
— Los Angeles Valiant (@LAValiant) November 2, 2017
#VALLA
Follow them here:@VerboOW @KarivOW@VAL_uNKOE pic.twitter.com/TMCvrac0th
The french duo of uNKOE and SoOn arrive in LA after their long tenure on Rogue. The former was a core member of the French team since May of last year, while the latter was recruited after his transfer from Misfits to Rogue in December. The two of them achieved numerous results in 2017, including an offline title at TakeOver 2 in June. The Rogue org dropped their roster last month, citing an unsuccessful campaign into the Overwatch League as the reason for their release.
Rounding out the Valiant lineup is numlocked, who recently played on EnVision eSports, but is most well known for his time under Team Dignitas and NRG Esports. He later joined EnVision on a trial basis and helped the North American squad finish 3rd-4th in Contenders Season One North America. He was not present for the team at APAC Premier 2017, presumably due to commitments to Valiant.
INTRODUCING YOUR LOS ANGELES VALIANT TANX!
— Los Angeles Valiant (@LAValiant) November 2, 2017
#VALLA
Follow them here:@space_overwatch@Panseung2@numlocked@envyow pic.twitter.com/EPeIAp01vE
The Immortals lineup stood as one of the top teams in the North American region this year, winning multiple tournaments in 2017. Their most recent title was at Contenders Season Zero North America, where they blazed through the competition to take the trophy. The team however went on a recent slump, missing out on the Contenders Season One North America playoffs in 6th place.
The Immortals organisation has also seen a number of staff additions last month, including former Arizona Coyotes Chief Operating Officer Ari Segal as their president and COO, former esports player and advertising agent Brian Jung as Vice President of Creative & Brand, and former NHL Vice President of Marketing Steven Graciano as VP of marketing.
The Los Angeles Valiant's lineup is:
- Brady "Agilities" Girardi (DPS)
- Christopher "GrimReality" Schaefer (DPS)
- Ted "silkthread" Wang (DPS)
- Terence "SoOn" Tarlier (DPS)
- Indy "SPACE" Halpern (Flex)
- Lee "envy" Kang-jae (이강재) (Flex)
- Koo "Fate" Pan-seung (구판승) (Tank)
- Seb "numlocked" Barton (Tank)
- Park "KariV" Young-seo (박영서) (Support)
- Benjamin "uNKOE" Chevasson (Support)
- Stefano "Verbo" Disalvo (Support)