The Los Angeles Gladiators won their way into the grand final of the Overwatch League Kickoff Clash’s West bracket on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
The Gladiators, who have lost only one of 10 maps in the bracket, blanked the Atlanta Reign 3-0 to advance in their pursuit of the $75,000 first-place prize and the accompanying three Overwatch League points.
The Reign now drop down to the lower-bracket final, where they will face the Dallas Fuel on Sunday. Dallas had to win two matches on Saturday — in the lower-bracket quarterfinals and semifinals — to advance. The Reign-Fuel winner will face the Gladiators for the title later Sunday.
The Fuel swept the San Francisco Shock in the semifinals after beating the Florida Mayhem 3-1 in the quarters. The Shock defeated the Houston Outlaws 3-1 in the other quarterfinal.
In sweeping the Reign, the Gladiators won 2-0 on Ilios, 4-3 on King’s Row and 3-0 on Dorado.
The Fuel began their match with the Shock with a 2-0 win on Oasis, then finished the sweep with wins on Midtown (3-0) and Circuit Royal (2-1).
In beating the Mayhem, the Fuel won the first two maps, 2-0 on Lijiang Tower and 3-1 on Midtown. Florida responded with a 2-0 victory on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, but Dallas wrapped up the match with a win on Colosseo (1-0).
The Shock lost the first map to the Outlaws, 2-0 on Ilios, but then scored three straight victories on Eichenwalde (1-0), Route 66 (2-1) and Colosseo (1-0).
Overwatch League Kickoff Clash (West bracket) prize pool
1st place: $75,000, 3 OWL points
2nd place: $50,000, 2 OWL points
3rd place: $40,000, 1 OWL point
4th place: $30,000, 1 OWL point — San Francisco Shock
5th-6th place: $15,000, 1 OWL point — Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws
7th-8th place: no money, 1 OWL point — Washington Justice, Toronto Defiant
–Field Level Media