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

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
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
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
  • (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
StagePldWLPctMWMLMTMDPos
11073.70025162+95
21073.70025160+94
31055.50022211+18
41037.30019250-610
Overall402218.55091783+138
  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

  1. London placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential.

  2. Houston placed ahead of Seoul based on map differential.

Game log

Preseason
2018 preseason game log
Preseason (3–0)

Regular season
2018 game log (Regular season record: 22–18)
Stage 1 (7–3)
Stage 2 (7–3)
Stage 3 (5–5)
Stage 4 (3–7)

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.
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