Seoul Dynasty

Seoul Dynasty is a South Korean professional Overwatch esports team based in Seoul, South Korea. The Dynasty compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's Pacific East Division.[2]

Seoul Dynasty
FoundedJuly 12, 2017
LeagueOverwatch League
ConferencePacific
DivisionEast
Team historySeoul Dynasty
(2017–present)
Based inSeoul, South Korea
ArenaDongdaemun Design Plaza[1]
Colors     
OwnerKevin Chou
Head coachPark "changoon" Chang-geun
General managerLee Ho-cheol
Main sponsorNetgear
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms

Founded in 2017, Seoul Dynasty and is one of the league's twelve founding members and the only professional Overwatch team based in South Korea. The team is owned by Kevin Chou of Generation Gaming, who also own and operate an academy team for the Dynasty that compete in Overwatch Contenders (OWC) under the moniker Gen.G esports.

Kim "KDG" Dong-gun was appointed the team's head coach in 2019 and guided the team to their first stage and season playoff appearances the same season.

Franchise history

Team creation: Joining the Overwatch League

On July 12, 2017, Blizzard officially announced KSV Esports International, an esports organization created by Kevin Chou and Kent Wakeford who previously ran Kabam together, would be the team owner of a Seoul-based Overwatch League franchise.[3][4] On August 21, the team announced the acquisition of the players and coaching staff of Korean Overwatch esports team Lunatic-Hai.[5][6] In September, the team signed an additional coach in veteran Kim "nuGget" Yo-han.[7] 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.[8][9] Shortly afterwards, on October 26, 2017, the franchise name was revealed as the Seoul Dynasty.[10] A day later, the addition of Choi "Wekeed" Seok-woo was broadcast in the Dynasty's roster preview video.[11] The final two members for the inaugural season, Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok and Kim "KuKi" Dae-kuk, were revealed by Blizzard in November.[12]

Early years: 2018–present

Heading into the preseason of their 2018 season, the Dynasty were widely regarded as the team to beat.[13] In the league's preseason the team further cemented their status as early favorites to win the inaugural season, after convincingly scoring victories over the Dragons, Outlaws, and Excelsior.[14] The Dynasty began the first stage of the 2018 regular season well, winning their first five games. However, after key losses to the New York Excelsior, London Spitfire, and Los Angeles Valiant they fell out of 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.[15] They went on to finish fourth in the second stage as well, once again missing the stage playoffs.[16] 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."[17] 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 score.[18] 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.[19]

Prior to their 2019 season, the Dynasty announced Kim "KDG" Dong-gun as the team's new head coach.[20] A 3–0 victory over the London Spitfire in the final match of Stage 1 gave the team a 4–3 record and qualified them Stage 1 Playoffs.[21] Seoul took down the New York Excelsior 3–1 in the quarterfinals,[22] but they were eliminated after losing to the Vancouver Titans, 0–4, in the semifinals.[23] The Dynasty struggles in Stage 2, as they were only able to amass a 3–4 record.[24] After the All-Star break, Seoul hit their stride. The team opened Stage 3 with three straight 4–0 sweeps over their opponents, leading to a 5–2 Stage 3 record. Qualified as the fifth seed in the Stage 3 Playoffs, the team fell to the San Francisco Shock 1–3 in the quarterfinals.[25] Seoul struggled in Stage 4, which included the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock; a 1–3 loss to the Philadelphia Fusion in the final match of the regular season took the team out of the top six in regular season standings.[26] In eighth place in the regular season standing, Seoul had to compete in the Play-In Tournament in order to make it to the 2019 season playoffs. After defeating the Guangzhou Charge 3–1 in the tournament, the Dynasty claimed the final spot in the season playoffs.[27] Their playoff run opened with a 2–4 loss to the Vancouver Titans on September 5, sending the Dynasty to the lower bracket of the tournament.[28] Seoul's season ended in the first round of the lower bracket, as they fell 1–4 to the Hangzhou Spark.[29]

Name, logo and colors

On October 26, 2017, the organization's branding was unveiled.[10]

Name

After comprehensive feedback from the team's fans, staff, and players, the name "Dynasty" was chosen. The name was selected for its universal appeal, its representation of the team's aspirations of continual long-term success, and to pay homage to the Lunatic-Hai core of its inaugural season roster who had won back-to-back championships in OGN's Overwatch APEX.[30][31]

Logo

Designed as a modernized royal seal, the logo for the Seoul Dynasty features a tiger in the team's colors, with the tiger's forehead featuring a stylized version of the Korean Hanja character for king ( wang).[30] The tiger was selected due to its symbolism in Korean culture where it represents "strength, courage, and good fortune".[10]

Colors

The official team colors are black, gold, and white. Gold was chosen for its historical association with royal dynasties, whilst Black was chosen to convey power and elegance.[30][10]

Personnel

Current roster

Seoul Dynasty roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
Damage 1 FITS  Kim Dong-eun  South Korea 
Damage 56 Saebyeolbe  Park Jong-ryeol  South Korea 
Damage 13 Profit  Park Joon-yeong  South Korea 
Tank 7 Gesture  Hong Jae-hee  South Korea 
Tank 11 Marve1  Hwang Min-seo  South Korea 
Tank 6 Toyou  Lim Hyun-woo  South Korea 
Support 2 Anamo  Jung Tae-sung  South Korea 
Support 20 Creative  Kim Young-wan  South Korea 
Head coach
  • Park "changoon" Chang-geun

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: January 6, 2021.

Head coaches

Seoul Dynasty head coaches
Handle Name From To Span Ref.
beast Baek Kwang-jin (백광진) August 22, 2017 July 16, 2018 328 days [6][32]
KDG Kim Dong-gun (김동건) August 28, 2018 October 14, 2019 1 year, 47 days [20][33]
changoon Park Chang-geun October 29, 2019 1 year, 92 days [34]

Awards and records

Seasons overview

Season P W L W% MW ML MT MD Pos. (league) Pos. (conf.) Playoffs Earnings
2018 402218.55091783+138th3rdNot eligible$75,000
2019 281513.53664503+148th5thLower Round 1$275,000
2020 21912.42933402-711th7thGrand Finals$795,000

Individual accomplishments

All-Star Game selections

  • Zunba (Kim Joon-hyeok) – 2018
  • Fleta (Kim Byung-sun) – 2018, 2019
  • ryujehong (Ryu Je-hong) – 2018, 2019
  • Profit (Park Joon-yeong) – 2020
  • Tobi (Yang Jin-mo) – 2020

Academy team

Seoul Dynasty's official Overwatch Contenders academy team plays under the name of their parent company, Gen.G esports. The team revealed their Korean Contenders roster on November 4, 2018.[35]

Current roster

As of January 21, 2021.[36]
Handle Name Role Nationality
Stalk3r Hak-yong Jeong Damage South Korea
someone Jeong-wan Ham Tank South Korea
Bliss So-myung Kim Support South Korea
ITSAL Chang-hee Kim Tank South Korea
Wonsoomin Soo-min Won Tank South Korea
Ezhan Ji-han Lee Damage South Korea
Topdragon Seung-yong Jeong Damage South Korea
Papadog Hyeon-il Kim Support South Korea

Seasons overview

Year Season Region OWC regular season Regional playoffs Interregional events
Finish[lower-alpha 1] Wins Losses Win %
Gen.G Esports
20183Korea5th14.200None held
20191Korea2nd52.714Semifinals
2Korea2nd61.857Third placeThe Gauntlet – Lower Round 3
Regular season record127.632
Playoff record12.333
  1. Placements in 2018 reflect standings in the team's respective group and not the entire region.

References

  1. Hollingsworth, David (December 11, 2019). "Seoul Dynasty Reveal Overwatch League Homestand Venue". ESTNN. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  2. "Seoul Dynasty - Home". dynasty.overwatchleague.com. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  3. "Overwatch: Bigger than the Premier League?". BBC News. BBC. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  4. Takahashi, Dean (12 July 2017). "Why Kabam cofounder Kevin Chou is diving into esports with Overwatch League's Seoul franchise". VentureBeat. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. 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.
  6. Entertainment, Blizzard (22 August 2017). "OVERWATCH LEAGUE ROSTER ANNOUNCEMENTS, 08/01-08/22". Overwatch League. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  7. Carpenter, Nicole (13 September 2017). "Seoul-based Overwatch League franchise signs seasoned coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  8. Carpenter, Nicole (16 October 2017). "Team Seoul adds three players to its Overwatch League roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  9. 박, 상진 (15 October 2017). "오버워치 리그 서울팀, '플레타-제퍼-먼치킨' 추가 영입". 포모스 (fomos) (in Korean). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  10. D'Orazio, Nick (26 October 2017). "The Seoul Dynasty enters the OWL with a regal gold and black team color". Inven Global. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  11. "A Preview of Our Full Roster Reveal". Seoul Dynasty. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018 via YouTube.
  12. Entertainment, Blizzard (4 November 2017). "THESE ARE YOUR OVERWATCH LEAGUE TEAM ROSTERS". Overwatch League. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  13. Erzberger, Tyler (5 December 2017). "Overwatch League preseason power rankings". ESPN. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  14. Erzberger, Tyler (9 January 2018). "Overwatch League Week 0 Power Rankings". ESPN. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  15. "Seoul Dynasty Fall from Overwatch League Stage 1 Playoff Contention". 10 February 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  16. "Overwatch League: Day 2 of Stage 2 Playoff Weekend Seoul Gets Upset". 2018-03-23.
  17. "Seoul's dynasty is already starting to crumble". ESPN. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  18. "New York Excelsior crush Seoul Dynasty, clinch stage 3 playoff berth". 2018-04-28.
  19. "Overwatch: The Fall of the Dynasty: Will Seoul end OWL Season 1 like this?".
  20. Ruiz, Michael (August 29, 2018). "Overwatch League's Seoul Dynasty Makes Changes to Coaching Staff". DualShockers. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  21. Richardson, Liz (March 19, 2019). "SF Shock defeat Seoul Dynasty, Toronto Defiant win coin toss to finalize Overwatch League playoff bracket". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  22. Rand, Emily (March 22, 2019). "Seoul Dynasty put it all together against NYXL". ESPN. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  23. Richardson, Liz (March 23, 2019). "Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock advance to Overwatch League stage one finals". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  24. Richman, Olivia (May 15, 2019). "Fleta and ryujehong chase redemption: "The goal is to make playoffs"". Upcomer. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  25. Linscott, Gillian (July 13, 2019). "LA Valiant Continue Meteoric Rise, Head To Semifinals". Hotspawn. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  26. Hoskins, Ryan (August 21, 2019). "OWL Season 2, Stage 4, Week 4: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Hotspawn. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  27. Richardson, Liz (31 August 2019). "London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty advance to Overwatch League 2019 season playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  28. "Gladiators, Titans win on Day 1 of Overwatch League playoffs". ESPN. Reuters. September 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  29. "Shock, Spark stay alive in OWL playoffs". ESPN. Reuters. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  30. Young, Jae-jeon (27 October 2017). "Dynasty revealed as Seoul's Overwatch League team name". ESPN. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  31. "The Seoul Team of the Overwatch League™ Announces Its Official Name, "Seoul Dynasty"" (PDF). Seoul Dynasty. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018 via Overwatch League.
  32. Carpenter, Nicole (July 16, 2018). "Seoul Dynasty face a coaching overhaul". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  33. Dua, Phoebe (October 14, 2019). "Head coach KDG leaves Seoul Dynasty". GINX Esports TV. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  34. Miller, Chris (October 29, 2019). "Overwatch League's Seoul Dynasty Announces Roster Update, Likely Blew Signing Budget On Profit and Gesture Signing". Happy Gamer. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  35. Esguerra, Lawerence (November 4, 2018). "Seoul Dynasty Reveals Korean Contenders Roster". Daily Esports. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  36. "Gen.G esports - Liquipedia Overwatch". Retrieved January 17, 2021.
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