Seoul Dynasty

Seoul Dynasty
The logo for the Seoul Dynasty features a tiger in the team's colors and a stylized version of the Korean character '王' ('wáng'), meaning king, on its forehead.
Founded July 12, 2017[1]
League Overwatch League
Division Pacific
Team history Seoul Dynasty
2017–present[2]
Location Seoul, South Korea
Colors Black, gold, white[3][4]
              
Owner Generation Gaming
Head coach Baek Kwang-jin
Chae "alwaysoov" Ho-jung
(Joint head coach)
General manager Baek Kwang-jin
Championships 0
League titles 0
Division titles 0
Stage titles 0
Stage 1: —
Stage 2: —
Stage 3: —
Stage 4: —
Main sponsor Netgear
Website Official website

The Seoul Dynasty are a 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 Division. The team are one of twelve founding members of the Overwatch League.

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.[5] On August 21, the team announced the acquisition of the players and coaching staff of Korean Overwatch esports team Lunatic-Hai.[6][7] In September, the team signed an additional coach in veteran Kim "nuGget" Yo-han.[8] 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.[9][10] Shortly afterwards, on October 26, 2017, the franchise name was revealed as the Seoul Dynasty.[2] 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]

2017–present: Early years

Inaugural season

Heading into the preseason of the 2018 Overwatch League 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 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 fourth 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, 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, a far cry from the expected and predicted success.[19]

In response to their inability to clinch a playoff spot, the team underwent large coaching and staffing changes in July.[20] No players were released immediately following the opening of the Overwatch League's trade window.

Name, logo and colors

On October 26, 2017, the organization's branding was unveiled.[2]

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 homeage to the Lunatic-Hai core of its inaugural season roster who had won back-to-back championships in OGN's Overwatch APEX.[3][21]

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 (王 wang).[3] The tiger was selected due to its symbolism in Korean culture where it represents "strength, courage, and good fortune".[2]

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.[3][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 18 June 2018
Summary of Seoul Dynasty 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 Pacific 22–18 .550 8th 3rd — 5th — 4th — 7th — 10th — $75,000 —

Players

As of August 23, 2018[22]

Current roster

er 15, 2017[9][10]

No. Handle Name Hometown Role Transaction notes
22 Fissure Baek Chan-hyung (백찬형) Hwaseong, South Korea Tank
1 FLETA Kim Byung-sun Namyangju, South Korea Damage
14 ryujehong Ryu Je-hong Incheon, South Korea Flex
  • Signed on August 21, 2017[6][7]
7 tobi Yang Jin-mo Ulsan, South Korea Support
  • Signed on August 21, 2017[6][7]
0 ZUNBA Kim Joon-hyeok Boryeong, South Korea Flex
  • Signed on August 21, 2017[6][7]

Former players

No. Handle Name Hometown Role Transaction notes Span
— EscA Kim In-jae South Korea Damage
  • Signed on August 21, 2017[6][7]
  • Released on November 2, 2017[24]
 73 days
8 Bunny Chae Jun-hyeok Suwon, South Korea Damage 147 days

OWL All-Star selections

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

  • FLETA (Kim Byung-sun) – 2018*
  • ryujehong (Ryu Je-hong) – 2018*
  • ZUNBA (Kim Joon-hyeok) – 2018

Head coaches

As of 3 July 2018
Handle Name From To Span Ref. Notes
— Baek Kwang-jin August 21, 2017 Present 1 year, 53 days [6][7]
  • Joint head coach with Chae "alwaysoov" Ho-jung
alwaysoov Chae Ho-jung August 21, 2017 Present 1 year, 53 days [6][7]
  • Joint head coach with Baek Kwang-jin

References

  1. ↑ "Overwatch: Bigger than the Premier League?". BBC News. BBC. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Young, Jae-jeon (27 October 2017). "Dynasty revealed as Seoul's Overwatch League team name". ESPN. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Entertainment, Blizzard (26 October 2017). "PRESENTING THE SEOUL DYNASTY". Overwatch League. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Entertainment, Blizzard (22 August 2017). "OVERWATCH LEAGUE ROSTER ANNOUNCEMENTS, 08/01-08/22". Overwatch League. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (13 September 2017). "Seoul-based Overwatch League franchise signs seasoned coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 Carpenter, Nicole (16 October 2017). "Team Seoul adds three players to its Overwatch League roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 박, 상진 (15 October 2017). "오버워치 리그 서울팀, '플레타-제퍼-먼치킨' 추가 영입". 포모스 (fomos) (in Korean). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "A Preview of Our Full Roster Reveal". Seoul Dynasty. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018 – via YouTube.
  12. 1 2 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. ↑ http://www.trifectanetworksports.com/overwatch-league-day-2-of-stage-2-playoff-weekend-seoul-gets-upset/
  17. ↑ "Seoul's dynasty is already starting to crumble". ESPN. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  18. ↑ https://dotesports.com/overwatch/news/new-york-excelsior-clinch-stage-three-playoffs-23192
  19. ↑ https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/5188/the-fall-of-the-dynasty-will-seoul-end-owl-season-1-like-this
  20. ↑ "Seoul Dynasty undergo coaching and staff changes ahead of Season Two". Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "PLAYERS". Overwatch League. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  23. ↑ "Fissure Traded to Seoul". Overwatch League. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  24. ↑ Kolev, Radoslav (3 November 2017). "Two-times APEX champion EscA departs from Seoul Dynasty roster before OWL start". Cybersport. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  25. ↑ Wenrich, Connor (31 March 2018). "Seoul Dynasty's Bunny transferred L.A. Valiant". Overwatch Wire. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  26. ↑ Fitch, Adam (31 March 2018). "The rumours are true: Bunny leaves Seoul Dynasty, joins Los Angeles Valiant". Cybersport. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
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