The Gladiators are a team that has, thus far, been absolutely decimated by the 2020 OWL offseason. Most recently, they lost Chang-hoon “rOar” Gye to the Washington Justice and João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles tp the Houston Outlaws, with rumors of other players departures on the horizon.

As it currently stands, the only player confirmed to be on the Gladiators roster is Jonas “Shaz” Suovaara, the team’s flex support player. With this blank of a slate, it’s incredibly difficult to navigate where the team may go next, however, it’s hard to imagine they start shelling out the big bucks with the organizational disarray the team is currently going through.

But, a young, budget team built around a proven EU support line? That might just do the trick. Here’s how it could work.

The Supports

In this hypothetical rebuild, the support line is the anchor. With Shaz already re-signed and Benjamin “BigGoose” Isohanni on a Team Option, there is already a proven foundation available for the Gladiators to draw on. These two players would be the anchors of the team, providing veteran leadership and helping the rest of the roster adjust to the pace of the OWL. They’d likely draw the biggest salaries.

For depth, which will be important in the home/away system in 2020, Steven “Kodak” Rosenberger of ATL Academy or Danni “Ding” Rasmussen of HSL Esports would be the sort of players the Glads could look for. They’d each be affordable (by comparison to other OWL supports) and could be groomed to potentially lead LA into the future.

The Tanks

The Glads have some solid Korean options at tank in both Byung-ho “Panker” Lee and Jun-Woo “Void” Kang. But, for this rebuild, they would allow those players to become free agents and go elsewhere, freeing up cap space to start anew. This would allow them to go after one of the offseason’s most exciting potential pickups: Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson.

Nevix knows how to win and would also provide solid, veteran leadership for this team. He’s a player who found himself snubbed of playtime with the Shock, but could really prove himself as a leader in this rebuild. He’s very much a centerpiece of this team, in this scenario. If he was already picked up other options could include poaching players from the Paris Eternal, Team Gigannti, or even making a long-shot trade for Gael “Poko” Gouzerch.

At main tank specifically, Normunds “sharyk” Faterins and Anders “Henningsen” Henningsen would be two players to target as inexpensive, and potentially rotational, players. Each brings different levels of prior experience to the team and would help keep the team’s overall salary cost relatively lower.

The DPS

The 2019 DPS for the Gladiators are all likely going to be on the move for 2020, so this would involve a complete overhaul as well. For some OWL experience, the first nod ought to go to Johannes “Shax” Nielsen, a player who proved himself when the Valiant needed him most this past year.

Next, a player who would already have synergy with both Shax, Ding, and Henningsen would be HSL’s Mads “fischer” Jehg. Fischer was a force this season for HSL, and has been a dominant Contenders player for many years now. Had his previous incident with Team Envy not happened, Fischer would likely already be in the OWL. In this rebuild, he’d get that chance.

Outside of these two, there are several players from EU who could come in and be a force for this team. Chief among them would be Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov, who is currently with the Montreal Rebellion. He proved in 2018 that he has what it takes to help a team win and he could do it again for this team in 2020.

Other Contenders talent like Nikolaj “Zaprey” Ian Moyes, Jeremy “Hqrdest” Danton or Tuomo “Davin” Leppänen could also make for great pickups and provide depth for this team.

GoopyKnoopy’s Ideal LA Gladiators 2020 Final Roster

Support : Shaz

: Shaz Support : BigGoose

: BigGoose Support : Ding

: Ding Tank : Nevix

: Nevix Tank : sharyk

: sharyk Tank : Henningsen

: Henningsen DPS : Mistakes

: Mistakes DPS : Fischer

: Fischer DPS : Shax

: Shax DPS: Zaprey

As a reminder, all of the current offseason changes will be continuously updated in TGH’s Complete List of Overwatch League Offseason Moves.

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