This past weekend, the LA Valiant and the SF Shock kicked off a new rivalry within the Overwatch League with the California Cup at the Esports Arena in Santa Ana. The two teams competed for the honor of representing California (sorry LA Gladiators) in a multi-event show match between the two teams.

This match fits a pattern consistent in great California sports rivalries: north versus south. These types of rivalries help create a lasting presence for teams in both traditional sports and e-sports.

While the LA Valiant took this match, the SF Shock are looking to strike back when the California Cup resumes on November 10 in Oakland. Tickets and event details are available here.

Before the match, we caught up with Indy “SPACE” Halpern of the LA Valiant, and spoke about his thoughts on rivalries in e-sports, and what the future of the Overmatch league might hold.

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

GameCrate: How do you feel about this rivalry that’s being created between the SF Shock and the LA Valiant?

SPACE: Honestly, I feel that with Overwatch being so young, there aren’t that many rivalries yet, but going into season two we’ll be seeing a lot more of them. The thing we have with the LA Gladiators—fighting over who represents LA—that kind of rivalry fuels the matches and the fans. The more we have of that the more exciting the games are.

GC: Does this feel different because you guys are creating the rivalry whereas the LA Gladiators one was natural?

SPACE: It’s a little different, but as organizations—Shock and Valiant—we’ve always had a little bit of beef. There’s still a lot of existing rivalry between the players and the organizations.

GC: Rivalries are a big part of traditional sports because they build a fan base for that team. Do you think that’s going to work as well in e-sports since a lot of fans follow the player instead of the team?

SPACE: I think that both are pretty good. When you have a player like Baek “Fissure” Chan-hyung, he has a lot of fans that will follow his own rivalries. There’s a lot of other players like Brandon “Seagull” Larned and Dylan “AKm” Bignet that have different rivalries between each other.

When a lot more individual players grow bigger fan bases, we’ll definitely see more rivalries happening. I think it doesn’t really make a difference for franchises.

GC: What do you think is the best rivalry within OWL? Valiant/Gladiators, Valiant/Shock, Dallas/Houston, Boston/New York? Or is it going to be one of the new teams? Like a Canadian rivalry?

SPACE: The LA Valiant and the LA Gladiators is definitely the biggest one. The Overwatch League being in LA made it so there were a lot more LA fans at the arena, too. Those matches both amazing to play and to watch.

Once teams move out of LA and back to their home cities the rivalries will definitely get much bigger.

GC: How important are matches and events like this to the health of the scene? We saw a lot of players and fans react positively to All-Star weekend.

SPACE: It’s really important for the league to have something in the offseason for the players to compete in. It helps the players grow their own brand. The more we get to interact with our fans on a non-Overwatch League level will make Overwatch League even better and bigger. It’s something I think a lot of organizations and players should look into.

GC: Have any trash talk for the match?

SPACE: In Overwatch League and in pre-season, the SF Shock have never beaten us, like ever. This is their opportunity to beat us for the first time, but we’re gonna keep that down.

At this point, Jay “sinatraa” Won and Grant “Moth” Espe of the SF Shock joined us for a quick word.

What are your thoughts on rivalries in the Overwatch League?

sinatraa: Rivalries are always fun. Like when we played New York I wanted to beat New York really bad because of Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong-ryeol. It makes me try even harder, even though I’m already trying my hardest. It makes it way more intense and fun.

Jay “sinatraa” Won

GC: You just heard Space talking some trash about you, is there something you want to say back to him?

sinatraa: Eh, trash.

Moth: To be honest, all their (Valiant) players are pretty good. I don’t have anyone to trash talk, except for maybe SPACE, questionable player.

Photo Credits: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment