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LA Valiant parts ways with head coach Byungchul Moon

After an underwhelming first stage, the Overwatch League team have relieved the veteran coach from his duties.

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Following their final match against the Houston Outlaws on Saturday and wrapping up the first stage with a 0-7 record, Los Angeles Valiant has announced that they will part ways with head coach Byungchul Moon.

Coach Moon, who joined the Valiant back in February 2018, led the roster to the season semi-finals, in a run that most people would regard as quite impressive. Moon also coached the team to a Stage 4 success where they claimed the stage title as well as landing second seed overall for the season finals. Since the beginning of the new season, however, the Valiant has looked less than dominant, which is peculiar as most people would have placed them as a potential top-five team.

Valiant general manager Michael Schwartz spoke about the coaching change saying: "We want to thank Coach Moon for his contributions to the Pacific Division and Stage 4 Championships achieved by the team in 2018. We wish him the best in the next stage of his career".

Until a new head coach is found, assistant coach Mike 'Packing10' Szklanny will act as an interim head coach, while Warsi 'Stoop' Waris and Dongsu Shin will continue their roles as assistant coaches.

These interesting coaching changes come soon after the widely rumoured player issues plaguing the team. It is speculated that Coach Moon chose to bench Australian main support player Scott 'Custa' Kennedy after he had supposedly too much knowledge regarding the current meta - a move that doesn't seem to make a huge amount of sense. This, in turn, meant that the Valiant had to transition their back-up main tank, Kim 'Kuki' Dae-kuk, into a main support role to fill the roster requirements.

What exactly this means is unclear however it could be down to communication issues as both Custa and main tank Koo 'Fate' Pan-seung are both regarded as vocal players, which may have led to shot calling issues. Now that Coach Moon has been relieved of his duties, it remains unclear whether we will we see the return of Custa.

Do you think removing Coach Moon will be beneficial for the Valiant or do you think the problems lie elsewhere?

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