Toronto Defiant

Toronto Defiant is a Canadian professional Overwatch esports team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Defiant compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) and are a member of the league's Atlantic North Division.

Toronto Defiant
FoundedSeptember 7, 2018
LeagueOverwatch League
ConferenceAtlantic
DivisionNorth
Team historyToronto Defiant
(2018–present)
Based inToronto, Canada
ArenaRoy Thomson Hall[1]
Colors       
OwnerChris Overholt
Head coachKim "KDG" Dong-gun
General managerVacant
Affiliation(s)Montreal Rebellion
Main sponsorBell Canada
Parent groupOverActive Media
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms

Founded in 2018, Toronto began play as one of eight expansion teams in 2019 and is one of two professional Overwatch teams based in Canada (the other, Vancouver Titans). The team is owned by OverActive Media, who also own Montreal Rebellion, an academy team for the Defiant that compete in Overwatch Contenders (OWC).

History

OWL Expansion

On September 7, 2018, Blizzard Entertainment announced that OverActive Media Group (OAM) had purchased a slot for a Toronto-based franchise.[2] On the same day, Splyce announced that they would be joining working with OAM to form and operate the unnamed Toronto team with Chris Overholt of OAM and Marty Strenczewilk of Splyce as the team owners.[3][4] Former CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee Chris Overholt was named the president and CEO of the franchise. "Who could have predicted what [esport] is and what this has become globally," Overholt said in an interview. "This thing is not set to explode, it's exploding and I think we're well positioned to take this on in Toronto and Canada."[5]

Three days later it was announced that Beom-joon "Bishop" Lee (이범준) would be the team's head coach.[6] On October 24, 2018, OAM and Splyce officially revealed the branding, name, and staff of the team. Bishop would be joined by General Manager Jaesun "Jae" Won, assistant coach Yun "Bubbly" Ho Cho (조윤호), strategic coach Dongwook "Don" Kim (김동욱), and analyst Dennis "Barroi" Matz.[7]

From October 27, 2018 to November 27, 2018, Toronto Defiant announced their players. Kang-jae "envy" Lee and Se-hyeon "Neko" Park were announced as the first two players. Shortly afterwards Seung-hyun "Ivy" Lee and Do-hyung "Stellar" joined, with Jae-yoon "Aid" Ko and Gyeong-mu "Yakpung" Jo following. Finally, Joo-seong "RoKy" Park and Jun-sung "Asher" Choi were announced as the final two members.[8] The signings made Toronto Defiant the fifth full-Korean roster in the league at the time, alongside the Seoul Dynasty, New York Excelsior, London Spitfire, and the Vancouver Titans.

Early years: 2019–present

Toronto Defiant's first regular season OWL match was a 3–2 victory against the Houston Outlaws on February 15, 2019 in their inagural season.[9] After posting a 5–2 record in Stage 1, the Defiant qualified for the Stage 1 Playoffs, but a 0–3 loss against the Shock eliminated the team in the quarterfinals.[10] The team failed to recreate the success they found in Stage 1 in the following stages, going 2–5, 0–7, and 1–6 in Stages 2, 3, and 4, respectively. A 2–3 loss to the Fusion on August 4 officially eliminated Toronto from postseason contention, and three days later, the team released head coach Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon.[11][12] Despite numerous roster changes throughout the season, the Defiant finished the season in 17th place overall with an 8–20 record.

Over the following off-season, the Defiant parted ways with the vast majority of their originally Korean-speaking roster with the exception of RoKy, rebuilding around a core of Canadian Overwatch players in Lane "Surefour" Roberts and Brady "Agilities" Girardi, acquired from the Los Angeles Gladiators and Los Angeles Valiant, respectively. The new Defiant roster consisted entirely of veteran league players with the exception of rookie tank player Adam "Beast" Denton, signed from the Philadelphia Fusion's academy team.[13] Former Paris Eternal coach Felix "Féfé" Münch was announced as the team's new head coach.[14] The Defiant began their 2020 season with a 3–1 victory over the Paris Eternal. However, the Defiant struggled to find much success for the remainder of the season, with the exception of a deep run during the Summer Showdown tournament in which a Genji-oriented metagame helped the Defiant make the semifinals, where they lost 3–0 to the Philadelphia Fusion.[15] Head coach Féfé retired partway through the season for personal reasons, with assistant coach David "Lilbow" Moschetto announced as interim head coach in his place.[16] Despite additional player signings throughout the season, the Defiant finished the season in 15th place overall with a 7 wins, 1 bonus win, and 14 losses. In their first match of the North America play-in tournament, Toronto fell to the Los Angeles Gladiators by a score of 2–4, ending the Defiant's season.[17]

Team identity

On October 24, 2018, the franchise name was revealed as the Toronto Defiant; the name "Defiant" was chosen to "represent the strength, character, and resiliency of Toronto." Branding work was done in partnership with the Overwatch League and OverActive’s agency of record Diamond Marketing. The logo and official colors were also released. The logo for Toronto Defiant displays the letter T inscribed in the letter D in the team's colours of red, black, white, and grey.[7]

Personnel

Current roster
Toronto Defiant roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
Damage 22 Logix  Berghmans, Andreas   Belgium 
Damage Heesu  Jeong Hee-su  South Korea 
Damage Na1st (I)  Lee Ho-sung  South Korea 
Tank 3 Beast  Denton, Adam   United States 
Tank SADO  Kim Su-min  South Korea 
Tank Michelle  Choi Min-hyuk  South Korea 
Support ANSOONJAE  An Soon-jae  South Korea 
Support Aztac  Park Jeong-su  South Korea 
Head coach
  • Kim "KDG" Dong-gun
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: December 11, 2020.

Head coaches
Toronto Defiant head coaches
Handle Name From To Span Ref.
Bishop Lee Beom-joon September 10, 2018 August 7, 2019 331 days [18][12]
Féfé Félix Münch October 16, 2019 April 14, 2020 181 days [14]
Lilbow[lower-alpha 1] David Moschetto April 14, 2020 September 9, 2020 148 days [16][19]
KDG Kim Dong-gun October 24, 2020 106 days [20]
  1. Interim head coach

Awards and records

Seasons overview
Season P W L W% MW ML MT MD Pos. (league) Pos. (conf.) Playoffs Earnings
2019 28820.28639724-3317th7thNot eligible$25,000
2020 21714.33332480-1615th6thNot eligible$20,000

Individual accomplishments

All-Star Game selections

  • Neko (Park Se-Hyun) – 2019
  • Agilities (Brady Girardi) – 2020
  • Kariv (Youngseo Bak) – 2020
  • Nevix (Andreas Karlsson) – 2020

Academy team
Main article: Montreal Rebellion

On February 14, 2019, Overactive Media partnered with Mirage Sport Électronique to launch Toronto Defiant's official academy team in Montreal to compete in Overwatch Contenders. "We are really excited about partnering with Yannick and his team to launch the first pro esports franchise in Quebec," Overholt said in an interview. "Today is about continuing our commitment to growing esports nationwide, and expanding our Toronto Defiant fanbase in Quebec and across Eastern Canada."[21] On February 19, the franchise announced that the team would be known as the Montreal Rebellion.[22]

References
  1. Loung, Steven (August 20, 2019). "Roy Thomson Hall to host Toronto Defiant homestand weekends in 2020". Sportsnet. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  2. "The Overwatch League™ Signs Six More Teams". Business Wire. September 7, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  3. Rand, Emily (September 7, 2018). "Overwatch League reveals Toronto, Paris, and four other new franchises". ESPN. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  4. "Launching An Overwatch League 2019 Expansion Franchise". Splyce. September 7, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  5. Heroux, Devin (September 7, 2018). "From Olympics to esports: Former COC boss to run new Toronto Overwatch franchise". CBC Sports. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  6. Toronto Defiant [@TorontoDefiant] (September 10, 2018). "Equal parts mentor, visionary, and legend" (Tweet). Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via Twitter.
  7. "Toronto Defiant Launces as Canada's Newest Professional Esports Team" (PDF). Overwatch League. October 24, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  8. O'Brien, Joe (November 28, 2018). "Toronto Defiant finalize roster with the addition of an Overwatch League veteran". Dexerto. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  9. Custodio, Yuri (February 16, 2019). "Overwatch League's Toronto Defiant Debut in "Stellar" Fashion". ESTNN. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  10. Czar, Michael (March 23, 2019). "Overwatch League Stage 1 Playoff Recap: Fusion and Shock dominate". Daily Esports. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  11. Heinish, Sascha (August 5, 2019). "Toronto Defiant unable to scrim because of ownership imposed media event". Upcomer. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  12. Richardson, Liz (August 7, 2019). "Toronto Defiant release head coach Bishop". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  13. Weiss, Adelaide (October 31, 2019). "Toronto Defiant release Neko and sign Beast". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  14. Richardson, Liz (October 16, 2019). "Paris Eternal head coach goes to Toronto Defiantc". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  15. "Defiant upset Reign, reach OWL Summer Showdown semis". Reuters. July 5, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  16. Killion, Brad (April 14, 2020). "Toronto Defiant Head Coach Retires". The Game Haus. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  17. McMahon, Mallory (September 14, 2020). "The Good, The Bad and The Impossible: Reviewing The Toronto Defiant's 2020 Season". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  18. Carpenter, Nicole (September 10, 2018). "Former London Spitfire coach Bishop joins Toronto's Overwatch League team". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  19. Richardson, Liz (September 9, 2020). "Toronto Defiant releases interim head coach LilBow". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  20. McMahon, Mallory (October 24, 2020). "Toronto Defiant Sign KDG As Head Coach". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  21. Fitch, Adam (February 15, 2019). "OverActive Media launches Montreal academy team". Esports Insider. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  22. "Toronto Defiant Overwatch academy team to be known as the Montreal Rebellion". CTV News Montreal. The Canadian Press. February 19, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
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