New York Excelsior

New York Excelsior
The logo for the New York Excelsior features a flag that represents the coming together of people, cultures, and ideas in New York City.
Short name NYXL
Founded July 12, 2017[1]
League Overwatch League
Division Atlantic
Team history New York Excelsior
2017–present[2]
Location New York City, New York
Colors Blue, red[3][4]
              
Owner Sterling.VC
Head coach Yu "Pavane" Hyun-sang
Championships 0
League titles 1 (2018)
Division titles 1 (2018)
Stage titles 2
Stage 1: —
Stage 2: 2018
Stage 3: 2018
Stage 4: —
Website Official website

The New York Excelsior (NYXL) is an American professional Overwatch esports team based in New York City, New York. The Excelsior competes in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's Atlantic Division. The team is one of twelve founding members of the Overwatch League.

The franchise is owned by the venture capital fund Sterling.VC, who is supported by New York Mets principal owner Sterling Equities.[5]

Franchise history

On July 12, 2017, Overwatch developer Activision Blizzard officially announced that Jeff Wilpon would be the team owner of a New York-based Overwatch League franchise.[1] On October 30, the franchise revealed they would be called the New York Excelsior, as well as unveiling their team branding and inaugural season roster. The roster would entail the acquisitions of the complete LuxuryWatch Blue team, LuxuryWatch Red's Hong "Ark" Yeon-jun and coaches Yu "Pavane" Hyeon-sang and Kim "WizardHyeong" Hyeong-seok, and Meta Athena's Kim "Libero" Hae-seong.[6][3] On March 30, 2018, the NYXL announced the acquisition of Jung "Anamo" Tae-Sung and coach Son "zet" Se-chul from the Overwatch Pacific Championship team Ardeont.[7][8]

On July 11, 2018, Blizzard officially named support player Bang "JJonak" Seong-hyun the inaugural Overwatch League season MVP.[9]

Team identity

The franchise's name is based on the New York state motto, Excelsior, which means 'ever upward' in Latin. The motto was selected for embodying the team's commitment to "reaching the top and never letting up". It and its abbreviation XL, also represent the endless ambition of ever-growing New York City at its most powerful.[2][3]

Unique as the only flag-based logo in the Overwatch League, the logo symbolizes the coming together of people, cultures, and ideas. The lines and shapes featured on the flag are also representative of New York specific things, such as the subway systems, skylines, and grid of the city.[2]

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 July 21, 2018
Summary of New York Excelsior 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 34–6 .850 1st 1st ↑ SF 1st RU 1st W 2nd W 3rd RU $650,000 Bang "JJonak" Seong-hyun (MVP)

Players

As of September 5, 2018[10]

Current roster

No. Handle Name Hometown Role Transaction notes
97 Anamo Jung Tae-sung Pohang, South Korea Support
2 Ark Hong Yeon-jun Seoul, South Korea Support
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]
44 JJonak Bang Seong-hyun Osan, South Korea Support
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]
10 Libero Kim Hae-seong Anyang, South Korea Damage
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]
7 Mano Kim Dong-gyu Busan, South Korea Tank
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]
11 Meko Kim Tae-hong Busan, South Korea Tank
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]
21 Pine Kim Do-hyeon Seoul, South Korea Flex
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]
9 Saebyeolbe Park Jong-ryeol Yangju, South Korea Damage
  • Signed on October 30, 2017[6]

OWL All-Star selections

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

  • Ark (Hong Yeon-jun) – 2018*
  • JJonak (Bang Seong-hyun) – 2018*
  • Libero (Kim Hae-seong) – 2018
  • Mano (Kim Dong-gyu) – 2018
  • Meko (Kim Tae-hong) – 2018
  • Pine (Kim Do-hyeon) – 2018*
  • Saebyeolbe (Park Jong-ryeol) – 2018*

Head coaches

As of July 3, 2018
Handle Name From To Span Ref. Notes
Pavane Yu Hyun-sang October 30, 2017 Present 348 days [13][14]
  • 1x OWL All-Star Game head coach (2018)

Academy team

On February 20, 2018, the Excelsior formally announced their academy team would go under the name "XL2 Academy" for Overwatch Contenders North America, as well as revealing their initial 6-player squad.[15][16] Shortly afterwards, on March 24, they announced that 17-year-old star DPS player Hwang "Fl0w3R" Yeon-oh (now known as Nanohana) would be joining the academy roster.[17] The 17-year-old had been an inactive member of parent team Excelsior, after being deemed ineligible to compete in the inaugural Overwatch League season due to age restrictions.[18][19]

Academy roster

As of July 6, 2018[20]
Handle Name
Adam Adam Eckel
Cloneman16 James D'Arcangelo
Goliath Anthony Pietro
Mangachu Liam Campbell
Nanohana[lower-alpha 1] Hwang Yeon-oh
Nenne Jeong Yeon-kwan
TiZi Hwang Jang-hyun
WooHyaL Seong Seung-hyun
  1. ↑ Formerly known as Fl0w3r[21]

References

  1. 1 2 "Overwatch: Bigger than the Premier League?". BBC News. BBC. July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Goslin, Austen (October 30, 2017). "New York Excelsior revealed as newest Overwatch League team". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Carpenter, Nicole (October 30, 2017). "Overwatch League franchise New York Excelsior has the most hype announcement yet". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  4. ↑ Entertainment, Blizzard (October 30, 2017). "PRESENTING THE NEW YORK EXCELSIOR". Overwatch League. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  5. ↑ "About us". Sterling.VC. July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018 – via LinkedIn.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pantorno, Joe (October 30, 2017). "ESports: New York Excelsior revealed as new Overwatch League team". Metro. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  7. ↑ Tahan, Chelsey (March 30, 2018). "Support player ANAMO joins the New York Excelsior". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Excited to announce that @Anamo_ow and @zet4444 will be joining your #NYXL crew". New York Excelsior. March 30, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018 – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Mejia, Ozzie (July 11, 2018). "New York Excelsior's JJoNak Named First Overwatch League Regular Season MVP". Shacknews. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ "PLAYERS". Overwatch League. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ Tahan, Chelsey (March 30, 2018). "Support player ANAMO joins the New York Excelsior". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Excited to announce that @Anamo_ow and @zet4444 will be joining your #NYXL crew". New York Excelsior. March 30, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018 – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Milani, Jerry (October 30, 2017). "New York Excelsior Added To eSports Overwatch League". NY Sports Day. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  14. ↑ Van Allen, Eric (June 5, 2018). "How The New York Excelsior Took Over The Overwatch League". Compete (Kotaku). Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  15. ↑ Xu, Wilson (February 21, 2018). "NYXL announce Contenders Team, XL2". Cybersport. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  16. ↑ Tahan, Chelsey (February 20, 2018). "NYXL introduces "XL2 Academy," their Contenders team". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  17. ↑ Tahan, Chelsey (March 24, 2018). "XL2 signs Fl0w3R to their roster". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  18. ↑ Coone, Sharon (November 4, 2017). "Fl0w3r Won't Compete in Overwatch League Season 1, but one team has future dibs". Blitz Esports. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  19. ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (December 28, 2017). "Overwatch superstar Fl0w3r is about to join NYXL in Los Angeles". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  20. ↑ "THE TEAMS". Overwatch Contenders. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  21. ↑ Wenrich, Connor (July 3, 2018). "Name Change: Fl0w3r is now Nanohana". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
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