Marve1 Joins Los Angeles Valiant

Overwatch League team Los Angeles Valiant have announced the signing of Minseo “Marve1” Hwang, who has joined its Overwatch roster on Wednesday, June 15. The announcement surfaced just weeks after Marve1 parted ways with Boston Uprising.

Los Angeles Valiant have made significant roster changes ahead of the 2022 OWL season, signing an entirely new roster comprised of Korean and Chinese Overwatch esports pro players.

While Valiant acquired the majority of its current roster in December, the team made further adjustments in February with the signing of Chen “Lengsa” Jingy and announced another wave of roster moves in April.

Before the addition of Marve1, Los Angeles Valiant signed Ji-han “Ezhan” Lee, Sang-hyeon “SASIN” Song, and Zhong “Haker” Haotian, who have joined the team ahead of the OWL May Melee qualifiers.

But despite all the investment Valiant have made, success was hard to come by. As a result, Valiant decided to sign Marve1, who joins the team as a former member of the Boston Uprising and one of the most sought-after free agents.

Marve1 is a 21-year-old Overwatch player and one of the most recognizable names in the scene. He started his esports career in April 2017 with Meta Bellum and has since played for Lucky Future Zenith, Seoul Dynasty, and most recently, he was signed to Boston Uprising.

Even though Marve1 has yet to win the coveted OWL title, he came close to achieving the ultimate glory in 2020 with Seoul Dynasty. Marve1 made it to the 2020 OWL playoffs finals but lost against San Fransicso Shock with 2-4.

In the 2021 season, Seoul Dynasty were far less successful and crashed out of the OWL Eastern Play-Ins, leading to a roster rebuild and the departure of Marve1. The 21-year-old has since appeared in one competitive tournament, NetEase Esports X Tournament – 2021 – Winter, where he placed third with T1.

For the 2022 OWL season, Marve1 was signed to Boston Uprising but was let go from the team before he got a chance to play a single game.

Following the controversial decision of Uprising to let go of Marve1, the pro player announced that he would be returning to South Korea, and it seems like he will now be joining LA Valliant in China.

Los Angeles Valiant are one of the most recognizable names in the Overwatch competitive scene, but not necessarily due to their success. The team has historically struggled to achieve much in the league, and things have not improved this season.

In the 2020 OWL season, Valiant’s only notable achievement was a top-four finish at Stage 3 Playoffs, but they did not achieve much. As a result, the team ended the year in 13th place with a terrible 12-16 record.

In a bid to finds more success, Valiant dropped its entire North American roster ahead of the 2022 season and signed a full-Chinese lineup for the 2021 season. Yet again, Valiant did not achieve much, and even that is an understatement.

The Los Angels Valiant ended the 2021 season without recording a single win, leading to another roster shuffle, forming a Korean-Chinese team. But just like in the previous years, Valiant continues to struggle.

Interestingly, Los Angeles Valiant have recorded their first win of the season on May 29, when they defeated Chenghdong Hunters. Yet that remains their only victory from six games played and first since September 2020.

By adding Marve1, Valiant now field five DPS players, two support players, and one tank. Up to now, Valiant played with Sanghyun “SASIN” Song as the main tank, though previously, he only played flex DPS.

Now, with the signing of Marve1, Los Angeles Valiant finally have a dedicated tank player, which should lead to better showings. Whether Marve1 will manage to help the team secure their second win remains to be seen, but we should get the answer on Friday, June 24, when Valiant face off against Philadelphia Fusion.