London Spitfire

London Spitfire
The logo for London Spitfire features a stylized Supermarine Spitfire in a crest.
Sport Overwatch
Founded 9 March 2016[1]
First season 2018 Overwatch League Season
Last season 2018 Overwatch League Season
League Overwatch League
Division Atlantic
Team history Cloud9
2016–2017
London Spitfire
2017–present[1][2]
Based in London
Location United Kingdom
Colors Blue, orange[2][3]
              
Owner Cloud9
General manager Susie "lilsusie" Kim[4]
Championships 1 (2018)
League titles 0
Division titles 0
Stage titles 1
Stage 1: 2018
Stage 2: —
Stage 3: —
Stage 4: —
Main sponsor Logitech G[5]
Website Official website

London Spitfire are a British professional Overwatch esports team based in London, England. The Spitfire are a founding member of the Overwatch League and compete in its Atlantic Division. The team is owned by Jack Etienne and eSports organization Cloud9 and fields an entirely South Korean roster.[6][7][8] Spitfire won the inaugural Overwatch League championship in 2018 after an up and down season where they were not seen as the favorites going into the playoffs.[9]

Franchise history

Team Creation: Cloud9

Formed in March 2016, London Spitfire originally started out as the Overwatch branch of American esports organisation Cloud9.[1] Under variations of the Cloud9 moniker, such as Cloud9 KONGDOO, they would go on to field rosters from multiple continents during their pre-OWL tenure.[10][11][12]

2017–present: Joining the Overwatch League

On 10 August 2017, Activision Blizzard announced that Cloud9 had purchased the London Overwatch League franchise; the franchise would be the first and only European team heading into the inaugural season.[13] On 1 November, the team revealed they would be called London Spitfire.[14][2] Shortly afterwards on 4 November, they disclosed their 12-player inaugural season roster, the maximum permitted, which would be entirely composed of South Korean players. The roster would mainly be an amalgamation of their current Cloud9 KONGDOO core and OGN's Overwatch APEX Season 4 champions GC Busan.[15][16]

Inaugural season

On 11 January 2018, the Spitfire played their first Overwatch League match in a 3–1 victory over the Florida Mayhem.[17][18] They would end Stage 1 of the 2018 Season with a 7–3 record, earning them the third and final spot in the Stage 1 Playoffs. The team would go on to cement themselves in the history books as the first ever stage playoffs champions, after achieving victories over the Houston Outlaws (3–1) and the New York Excelsior (3–2) in a reverse sweep.[19]

On 7 March 2018, midway through Stage 2, the Spitfire parted ways with head coach Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon.[20] Even with the surprise departure, the team would finish Stage 2 with an improved 8–2 record and attain another stage playoffs berth. However, their second time around wouldn't prove to be as successful as they would fall short to the Philadelphia Fusion in a thrilling 2–3 semi-finals series.[21]

Struggling as the season went on, the Spitfire failed to make another stage playoffs and had to bank on their earlier results to edge them over the finish line. They would end the season with a 24–16 record, good for 5th place and a spot in the postseason where they would face against the Los Angeles Gladiators.

Team identity

On 1 November 2017, the London Spitfire brand was officially unveiled. The name and shield-like logo were selected to pay homage to the British military plane the Supermarine Spitfire, whose use during World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF) reflected the spirit of bravery the team hoped to identify with.[22][23] The team colours were also announced as blue and orange: blue inherited from parent organisation Cloud9, and orange in recognition of British Overwatch character Lena “Tracer” Oxton who was a former RAF pilot in the game's lore.[2][14]

Seasons

Table key

W Champions RU Runners-up SF Semi-finalist QF Quarter-finalist ↑ Postseason berth

Record: Matches won – Matches lost
Finish: Final position in league or division standings
Prize money: Total performance bonuses earned in United States dollars

Overview

As of 18 June 2018
Summary of London Spitfire Seasons
Season Division Record Win% Finish Postseason Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Prize money Awards
League Division Rank Finals Rank Finals Rank Finals Rank Finals
2018 Atlantic 24–16 .600 5th ↑ 3rd W 3rd W 2nd SF 6th — 9th — $1,200,000 Park "Profit" Jun-young (FMVP)

Players

As of 3 July 2018[24]

Current roster

No. Handle Name Hometown Role Transaction notes
22 Bdosin Choi Seung-tae Suwon, South Korea Support
  • Member of the team pre-OWL[11]
  • Announced as a Spitfire player on 4 November 2017[15]
20 birdring Kim Ji-hyeok Seoul, South Korea Damage
  • Member of the team pre-OWL[11]
  • Announced as a Spitfire player on 4 November 2017[15]
4 Closer Jung Won-sik Seoul, South Korea Support
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
19 Fury Kim Jun-ho Seoul, South Korea Flex
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
7 Gesture Hong Jae-hui Gunsan, South Korea Tank
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
8 NUS Kim Jong-seok Seoul, South Korea Support
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
13 Profit Park Jun-young Jinju, South Korea Damage
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]

Former players

No. Handle Name Hometown Role Transaction notes Span
1 Fissure Baek Chan-hyung Hwaseong, South Korea Tank 108 days
27 Rascal Kim Dong-jun Seoul, South Korea Damage
  • Member of the team pre-OWL[11]
  • Announced as a Spitfire player on 4 November 2017[15]
  • Transferred to the Dallas Fuel on 21 February 2018[26]
 109 days
15 HaGoPeun Jo Hyeon-woo Jinhae, South Korea Support
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
  • Released on 18 June 2018[27]
 226 days
18 Hooreg Lee Dong-eun Busan, South Korea Damage
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
  • Released on 18 June 2018[27]
 226 days
97 TiZi Hwang Jang-hyun South Korea Tank
  • Signed on 8 March 2018[28]
  • Released on 18 June 2018[27]
 102 days
10 WooHyaL Seong Seung-hyun Suwon, South Korea Flex
  • Signed on 4 November 2017[15]
  • Released on 18 June 2018[27]
 226 days

OWL All-Star selections

The following Spitfire players were selected to the Overwatch League All-Star Game.
Players selected as starters are denoted with an asterisk (*)

  • birdring (Kim Ji-hyeok) – 2018 (Was swapped out for Profit due to wrist injury)
  • Bdosin (Choi Seung-tae) – 2018
  • Fury (Kim Jun-ho) – 2018
  • Gesture (Hong Jae-hui) – 2018*

Former Head Coaches

As of 3 July 2018
Handle Name From To Span Ref. Notes
Bishop Lee Beom-joon — 7 March 2018 — [20]
  • Member of the team pre-OWL[29]

Academy team

On 15 February 2018, the Spitfire formally announced their academy team for Overwatch Contenders Europe would be called the British Hurricane, as well as revealing their all-European Season One squad.[30]

Academy roster

As of 6 July 2018[31]
Handle Name
bock1 Jakob Kleveland
CrusaDe Ryan van Wegen
FunnyAstro Daniel Hathaway
Fusions Cameron Bosworth
Hafficool Hafþór Hákonarson
Kyb Finley Adisi
MikeyA Michael Adams
Nesh Herman Kobrin

References

  1. 1 2 3 Flander, Danan (9 March 2016). "Top Overwatch Team Joins Cloud9". Cloud9.gg. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dwan, Hannah (1 November 2017). "London's esports representation in the Overwatch League has been revealed: meet London Spitfire". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 April 2018. (Registration required (help)).
  3. ↑ Entertainment, Blizzard (1 November 2017). "Presenting the London Spitfire". Overwatch League. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Fitch, Adam (1 April 2018). "London Spitfire bring on Susie Kim as General Manager". Cybersport. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  5. ↑ Tahan, Chelsey (1 March 2018). "London Spitfire announces gear partnership with Logitech G". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Matt Porter (2018-07-14). "Interview with London Spitfire owner Jack Etienne ahead of Overwatch League playoff match against Los Angeles Gladiators: 'We've got our hardest boss in front of us'". MailOnline. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
  7. ↑ Adam Starkey (2018-07-11). "Overwatch League playoffs: How London Spitfire are chasing UK victory against the odds". Metro. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
  8. ↑ Dan Murphy (2018-08-01). "London Spitfire owner Jack Etienne talks the future after their OWL victory". Red Bull. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  9. ↑ "London Spitfire wins inaugural Overwatch League title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  10. ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (14 August 2017). "Cloud9 picks up Laser Kittenz roster ahead of Overwatch Contenders". Dot Esports. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Carpenter, Nicole (21 September 2017). "Cloud9 signs South Korean Overwatch team KongDoo Panthera". Dot Esports. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Jeong, Seong-mo; Paek, Ji-eun (20 September 2017). "KongDoo Panthera and Cloud9 signs a naming rights sponsorship, now 'Cloud9 KONGDOO'". Inven Global. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  13. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew (10 August 2017). "Overwatch League adds first UK franchise". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  14. 1 2 Carpenter, Nicole (1 November 2017). "Cloud9's Overwatch League team is the London Spitfire". Dot Esports. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Carpenter, Nicole (4 November 2017). "London Spitfire reveals its 12-man South Korean roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  16. ↑ Nguyen, Steven (21 October 2017). "GC Busan completes Royal Road at APEX". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  17. ↑ Craffey, Liam (15 January 2018). "Fusion, Spitfire, Excelsior snag wins on Day 2 of Overwatch League". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "London Spitfire vs. Florida Mayhem". Overwatch League. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Waltzer, Noah (11 February 2018). "London Spitfire beats Houston, New York to win Overwatch League Stage 1 playoffs". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  20. 1 2 Katsuragi, Chris (7 March 2018). "London Spitfire and head coach Bishop go their separate ways". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  21. ↑ Craffey, Liam (26 March 2018). "Stage 2 semifinal". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  22. ↑ MacGregor, Collin (1 November 2017). "Overwatch League: London Spitfire Officially Announced". Heavy.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Hood, Vic (1 November 2017). "London's Overwatch team picks Spitfire logo to honour "spirit of bravery under fire"". Eurogamer. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "PLAYERS". Overwatch League. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  25. ↑ D'Orazio, Nick (20 February 2018). "Fissure transfers from London Spitfire to LA Gladiators". Inven Global. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  26. ↑ Katsuragi, Chris (13 February 2018). "London Spitfire's Rascal is headed to the Dallas Fuel". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Carpenter, Nicole (18 June 2018). "London Spitfire officially drops four OWL players". Dot Esports. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  28. ↑ Mastin, Sabriel (8 March 2018). "Spitfire sign tank player T1zi". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  29. ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (11 April 2017). "Cloud9 signs two Korean Overwatch players and a coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  30. ↑ Marshall, Cass (15 February 2018). "Meet Spitfire's all-European Contenders team: British Hurricane". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  31. ↑ "THE TEAMS". Overwatch Contenders. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
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