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Finally! Overwatch Legend’s First-Ever OWL Victory After 1634 Days

By Johnson Ge
Jun. 8, 2022 updated 11:00

On May 29, 2022, team Los Angeles Valiant won a match in the Overwatch League (OWL). Though it was a match in the regular season, the atmosphere was as thrilling as a final. The match playback video on Bilibili is swarmed with multiple bullet chats by the excited audiences. All of this is because Diya, the DPS role of the team, had his first, long waited OWL victory, after 1634 painful days in the league.

 A screenshot of the match playback video. It is filled with bullet chats with the words “TODAY!!” A screenshot of the match playback video. It is filled with bullet chats with the words “TODAY!!”

Diya joined OWL five years ago and was one of the most prominent young stars, and his talent was not only limited to Overwatch. At the age of 13, Diya made it to the final match of a shooting game but was disqualified for being underage.

He then won two domestic champions in the TPS MMO game Age of Gunslingers Online while he was 16 and started playing Overwatch in the Vici Gaming (VG) team in 2016.

In Overwatch, His performance was so good that many players suspected him of “hacking” until Blizzard made a long and detailed investigation and clarified that Diya is just this good.

Later on, Diya joined Shanghai Dragons for the OWL. And that was the 1643 days of long waiting began. Shanghai Dragon holds the embarrassing 42 losing streak record in pro esports. Diya fought hard and won the season MVP, the only time an OWL MVP was awarded to an underperforming team. But all his efforts was in vain.

A screenshot of Diya’s MVP stats.A screenshot of Diya’s MVP stats.

Shanghai Dragon had some major player adjustments in the following seasons, and Diya was sent to the bench. Shanghai Dragon started to win games and eventually became the OWL Champion in 2021, but Diya was never a part of it.

Diya quit OWL and played in Overwatch Contenders (OWC) for more match appearances in 2020. He and his team (Team CC) won multiple champions, but it did not give him the chance to re-join Shanghai Dragon’s OWL team.

After a year-long waiting, Diya finally got his chance to play in OWL again by transferring to Los Angeles Valiant in 2021.

A screenshot of Diya’s MVP stats of his first victory in OWL.

The match on May 29 meant a lot to Diya and his supporters. Many people before the screen were holding their breath until Los Angles Valiant had claimed its victory, and Diya finally got his OWL victory after 5 years of waiting.

In the interview afterward, Diya choked up with his tears and said, “Every night I imagined what I should say when I claimed my first victory. But when it really comes, I do not know what to say.”

On June 1, Diya posted a photo on Weibo where he held someone’s hand and said he had succeeded in his marriage proposal. Team LGE, the local partner of Los Angels Valiant in Asia, shared the Weibo and commented, “Good things come together and congratulate Diya for having a new chapter in life.”