2018 Seoul Dynasty season

The 2018 Seoul Dynasty season was the first season of the Seoul Dynasty's existence in the Overwatch League. The team finished with a regular season record of 22–18, placing them eighth overall, behind the Houston Outlaws due to tiebreakers, who had the same record. Seoul did not qualify for any of the Stage Playoffs and did not qualify for the Season Playoffs.

2018 Seoul Dynasty season
Head coachBaek Kwang-jin
OwnerKevin Chou
DivisionPacific
Results
Record22–18 (.550)
Place
Stage 1 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Stage 2 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Stage 3 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Stage 4 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Season PlayoffsDid not qualify
Total Earnings$75,000

Preceding offseason

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On August 21, 2017, the team announced the acquisition of the players and coaching staff of Korean Overwatch esports team Lunatic-Hai, which consisted of the following players:[1]

  • Kim "EscA" In-jae
  • Ryu "ryujehong" Je-hong
  • Yang "tobi" Jin-mo
  • Kim "zunba" Joon-hyeok
  • Moon "gido" Gi-do
  • Gong "Miro" Jin-hyuk

In September, the team signed an additional coach in veteran Kim "nuGget" Yo-han.[2] In late October, they revealed 3 additional players to their Seoul-based roster, Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun, Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom, and Koo "xepheR" Jae-mo.[3][4] On October 27, the addition of Choi "Wekeed" Seok-woo was broadcast in the Dynasty's roster preview video.[5] The final two members for the inaugural season, Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok and Kim "KuKi" Dae-kuk, were revealed by Blizzard in November.[6] Before the season started, Kim "EscA" In-jae retired.[7]

Review

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Regular season

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The Dynasty began the first stage of the regular season well, winning their first five games. However, after key losses to New York Excelsior, London Spitfire, and Los Angeles Valiant they fell out of Stage 1 playoff contention and finished the stage in fifth place, sparking discussions about a disappointing start to the season for a team favored to win it.[8] They went on to finish fourth in the second stage as well, once again missing the stage playoffs.[9] After the stage playoffs were expanded to include the team in fourth place, the Dynasty were predicted to be able to clinch a playoff spot thanks to their consistent fourth-place finishes in the prior stages, though their inability to defeat the top placing teams in the league brought up concerns over team management. With a rocky start to the third stage, coverage for the Dynasty shifted towards continued failure, with an article by ESPN's Emily Rand stating "Seoul's dynasty is already starting to crumble."[10]

They once again failed to reach the playoffs in both the third and fourth stages of the regular season, going 5–5 in Stage 3 and 3–7 in Stage 4. Falling further behind the top teams in map differential.[11] After finishing all four stages with worsening map scores, starting the first stage with a map differential of +9 and ending the last stage with a map differential of -6, the Dynasty fell out of season playoffs contention and finished the season in eighth place overall with a record of 22–18, a far cry from the expected and predicted success.[12]

In response to their inability to clinch a playoff spot, the team underwent large coaching and staffing changes in July.[13]

Final roster

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2018 Seoul Dynasty roster
Players Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality
Damage 0 Wekeed Choi Seok-woo South Korea
Damage 1 Fleta Kim Byung-sun South Korea
Damage 27 Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom South Korea
Tank 3 Miro Gong Jin-hyuk South Korea
Tank 11 KuKi Kim Dae-kuk South Korea
Support 7 tobi Yang Jin-mo South Korea
Support 9 Gambler Heo Jin-woo South Korea
Flex 5 zunba Kim Joon-hyuk South Korea
Flex 13 Gido Moon Gi-do South Korea
Flex 14 ryujehong Ryu Je-hong South Korea
Flex 39 xepheR Koo Jae-mo South Korea
Head coach
  • Baek Kwang-jin

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (2W) Two-way player
  •   Substitute
  •   Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: March 30, 2018.

Transactions

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Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:

  • On February 26, Dynasty signed Heo "Gambler" Jin-woo.[14]
  • On March 30, Dynasty transferred Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok to Los Angeles Valiant.[15]

Standings

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Record by stage

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Stage Pld W L Pct MW ML MT MD Pos
1 10 7 3 .700 25 16 2 +9 5
2 10 7 3 .700 25 16 0 +9 4
3 10 5 5 .500 22 21 1 +1 8
4 10 3 7 .300 19 25 0 -6 10
Overall 40 22 18 .550 91 78 3 +13 8
  Qualified for playoffs

League

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Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 ATL New York Excelsior 40 34 6 0.850 126 43 4 +83 Advance to season playoffs semifinals
2 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 40 27 13 0.675 100 64 7 +36
3 ATL Boston Uprising 40 26 14 0.650 99 71 3 +28 Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals
4 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 40 25 15 0.625 96 72 3 +24
5 ATL London Spitfire 40 24 16 0.600 102 69 3 +33
6 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 40 24 16 0.600 93 80 2 +13
7 ATL Houston Outlaws 40 22 18 0.550 94 77 2 +17
8 PAC Seoul Dynasty 40 22 18 0.550 91 78 3 +13
9 PAC San Francisco Shock 40 17 23 0.425 77 84 5 −7
10 PAC Dallas Fuel 40 12 28 0.300 58 100 7 −42
11 ATL Florida Mayhem 40 7 33 0.175 42 120 5 −78
12 PAC Shanghai Dragons 40 0 40 0.000 21 141 2 −120
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

Game log

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Preseason

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2018 preseason game log
Preseason (3–0)
1 December 6 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA


2 December 8 Seoul Dynasty 2 1 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA


3 December 9 Seoul Dynasty 3 1 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA



Regular season

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2018 game log (Regular season record: 22–18)
Stage 1 (7–3)
1 January 10 Dallas Fuel 1 2 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


2 January 13 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA


3 January 17 Florida Mayhem 0 4 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


4 January 19 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA


5 January 24 Shanghai Dragons 1 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


6 January 26 Seoul Dynasty 2 3 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA


7 February 01 London Spitfire 4 0 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


8 February 02 Seoul Dynasty 3 2 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA


9 February 07 Los Angeles Valiant 3 0 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


10 February 09 Seoul Dynasty 3 2 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA



Stage 2 (7–3)
11 February 21 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA


12 February 23 San Francisco Shock 1 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


13 February 28 Seoul Dynasty 3 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA


14 March 02 Los Angeles Gladiators 1 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


15 March 07 Seoul Dynasty 3 1 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA


16 March 08 Philadelphia Fusion 1 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


17 March 14 New York Excelsior 3 2 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


18 March 17 Seoul Dynasty 0 4 London Spitfire Burbank, CA


19 March 22 Houston Outlaws 3 1 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


20 March 23 Seoul Dynasty 3 1 Florida Mayhem Burbank, CA



Stage 3 (5–5)
21 April 04 Los Angeles Valiant 4 0 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


22 April 06 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA


23 April 11 Dallas Fuel 2 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


24 April 13 Seoul Dynasty 2 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA


25 April 18 Shanghai Dragons 1 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


26 April 20 Boston Uprising 2 1 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


27 April 26 Seoul Dynasty 3 2 Philadelphia Fusion Burbank, CA


28 April 28 Seoul Dynasty 0 4 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA


29 May 04 London Spitfire 3 2 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


30 May 05 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA



Stage 4 (3–7)
31 May 16 Seoul Dynasty 2 3 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA


32 May 18 San Francisco Shock 3 1 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


33 May 25 New York Excelsior 4 0 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


34 May 26 Seoul Dynasty 2 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA


35 May 30 Seoul Dynasty 4 0 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA


36 June 01 Florida Mayhem 2 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


37 June 06 Seoul Dynasty 1 3 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA


38 June 08 Philadelphia Fusion 3 2 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA


39 June 13 Seoul Dynasty 3 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA


40 June 15 Los Angeles Gladiators 3 1 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA



References

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  1. ^ Kim, Kyeong-beom; Lee, Jaeic (22 August 2017). "Lunatic-Hai to represent Seoul in OWL: "We'll lift up the trophy for OWL just as we did for APEX."". Inven Global. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  2. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (13 September 2017). "Seoul-based Overwatch League franchise signs seasoned coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  3. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (16 October 2017). "Team Seoul adds three players to its Overwatch League roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  4. ^ 박, 상진 (15 October 2017). "오버워치 리그 서울팀, '플레타-제퍼-먼치킨' 추가 영입". 포모스 (fomos) (in Korean). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. ^ "A Preview of Our Full Roster Reveal". Seoul Dynasty. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Entertainment, Blizzard (4 November 2017). "THESE ARE YOUR OVERWATCH LEAGUE TEAM ROSTERS". Overwatch League. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  7. ^ Jae Jeon, Young (November 27, 2017). "From Overwatch to PUBG: A conversation with EscA". ESPN.
  8. ^ "Seoul Dynasty Fall from Overwatch League Stage 1 Playoff Contention". 10 February 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Overwatch League: Day 2 of Stage 2 Playoff Weekend Seoul Gets Upset". 2018-03-23.
  10. ^ "Seoul's dynasty is already starting to crumble". ESPN. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  11. ^ "New York Excelsior crush Seoul Dynasty, clinch stage 3 playoff berth". 2018-04-28.
  12. ^ "Overwatch: The Fall of the Dynasty: Will Seoul end OWL Season 1 like this?".
  13. ^ "Seoul Dynasty undergo coaching and staff changes ahead of Season Two". Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  14. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (February 26, 2019). "Seoul Dynasty bolsters Overwatch League roster with the addition of Gambler". Dot Esports.
  15. ^ Brathwaite, Brandon (March 31, 2018). "LA Valiant Acquire Bunny From Seoul Dynasty". DBLTAP. Retrieved June 29, 2019.