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 coach	Baek Kwang-jin
Owner	Kevin Chou
Results
Record	22–18 (.550)
Place	Pacific: 3rd League: 8th
Stage 1 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 2 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 3 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 4 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
OWL All-Stars	3 FLETA (Kim Byung-sun) ryujehong (Ryu Je-hong) ZUNBA (Kim Joon-hyeok)
Total Earnings	$75,000

Preceding offseason

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

Regular season

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

2018 Seoul Dynasty roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Previous team Damage 0 Wekeed  Choi Seok-woo  South Korea  LW Red  Damage 1 Fleta  Kim Byung-sun  South Korea  Flash Lux  Damage 27 Munchkin  Byeon Sang-beom  South Korea  Laser Kittenz  Tank 3 Miro  Gong Jin-hyuk  South Korea  Lunatic-Hai  Tank 11 KuKi  Kim Dae-kuk  South Korea  MVP Space  Support 7 tobi  Yang Jin-mo  South Korea  Lunatic-Hai  Support 9 Gambler  Heo Jin-woo  South Korea  BlossoM  Flex 5 zunba  Kim Joon-hyuk  South Korea  Lunatic-Hai  Flex 13 Gido  Moon Gi-do  South Korea  Lunatic-Hai  Flex 14 ryujehong  Ryu Je-hong  South Korea  Lunatic-Hai  Flex 39 xepheR  Koo Jae-mo  South Korea  Cloud9	Head coach Baek Kwang-jin Legend (C) Team captain (2W) Two-way player (I) Inactive (S) Suspended Injury/Illness Latest roster transaction: March 30, 2018.

Transactions

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

Record by stage

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

2018 Overwatch League standings
#	Team	Division	W	L	PCT	P	MR	MD	STK
Division leaders
1	New York Excelsior	ATL	34	6	.850	40	126–43–4	+83	W1
2	Los Angeles Valiant	PAC	27	13	.675	40	100–64–7	+36	L1
Wild cards
3	Boston Uprising	ATL	26	14	.650	40	99–71–3	+28	W4
4	Los Angeles Gladiators	PAC	25	15	.625	40	96–72–3	+24	W5
5[lower-alpha 1]	London Spitfire	ATL	24	16	.600	40	102–69–3	+33	L1
6[lower-alpha 1]	Philadelphia Fusion	ATL	24	16	.600	40	93–80–2	+13	W1
Did not qualify for playoffs
7[lower-alpha 2]	Houston Outlaws	ATL	22	18	.550	40	94–77–2	+17	L1
8[lower-alpha 2]	Seoul Dynasty	PAC	22	18	.550	40	91–78–3	+13	L1
9	San Francisco Shock	PAC	17	23	.425	40	77–84–5	-7	W1
10	Dallas Fuel	PAC	12	28	.300	40	58–100–7	-42	W1
11	Florida Mayhem	ATL	7	33	.175	40	42–120–5	-78	L3
12	Shanghai Dragons	PAC	0	40	.000	40	21–141–2	-120	L40
Tiebreakers
London placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential. Houston placed ahead of Seoul based on map differential.

Game log

Preseason

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

2018 game log (Overall 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

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.