2020 Toronto Defiant season

The 2020 Toronto Defiant season is the second season of Toronto Defiant's existence in the Overwatch League. The team will look to improve upon their 8–20 record from 2019 and qualify for the playoffs. The Defiant will host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season; both will be held at Roy Thomson Hall in the Toronto Entertainment District.[1]

2020 Toronto Defiant season
Head coachFélix "Féfé" Münch
General managerWon Jae-sun
OwnerChris Overholt
Arena(s)Roy Thomson Hall
Results
Record5–9 (.357)
Place

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

In early September 2019, assistant coach Matthew "Optidox" Sims, who assisted the team with head coaching duties in 2019 after head coach Lee "Bishop" Beoum-jun was released, left the team.[2] The following month, the team announced that former Paris Eternal head coach Félix "Féfé" Münch would be Toronto's new head coach.[3] In late October, the team parted ways with assistant coach Sim "Mobydik" Seung-Bo and, one day later, hired David "Lilbow" Moschetto as a coach.[4]

Roster changes

The Defiant enter the new season with no free agents, ten players which they have the option to retain for another year, and no players under contract.[5] The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.[6]

Acquisitions

The Defiant's first offseason pick-up was on October 23, when the team acquired Young-seo "KariV" Park from the Los Angeles Valiant.[7] A week later, KariV was joined by his former teammate, as DPS Brady "Agilities" Girardi signed with Toronto.[8] The team signed tank Adam "Beast" Denton from Philadelphia Fusion's academy team Fusion University on October 30.[9]

On November 4, the Defiant announced the signing of former Los Angeles Gladiators DPS player Lane "Surefour" Roberts.[10] The following day, they signed former Boston Uprising support Kristian "Kellex" Keller.[11] The team then picked up former San Francisco Shock flex-tank Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson on November 7.[12]

Departures

On October 7, the Defiant announced that they would not exercise their option to retain flex tank Daniel "Gods" Graeser.[13] The following day, they announced that the would elect to not retain DPS Hong "im37" Jin-ui, support Go "Aid" Jae-yoon, and tank Normunds "sharyk" Faterins.[13] Their roster overhaul continued, as Toronto announced they would not pick up main tank Jo "Yakpung" Gyeong-mu's option the following week.[14] In late October, the Defiant announced that they would also not retain Lee "Ivy" Seung-hyun,[15] and they would not retain support Park "Neko" Se-hyeon.[16]

Roster
Toronto Defiant roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationalityPrevious team
Damage 22 Logix  Berghmans, Andreas   Belgium  Montreal Rebellion 
Damage 51 Mangachu  Campbell, Liam   Canada  Revival 
Damage 9 Agilities  Girardi, Brady   Canada  Los Angeles Valiant 
Damage 10 zYKK  Hosono, Thomas   France  Third Impact 
Damage 4 Surefour  Roberts, Lane   Canada  Los Angeles Gladiators 
Tank 3 Beast  Denton, Adam   United States  Fusion University 
Tank 28 numlocked  Barton, Seb   United Kingdom  Montreal Rebellion 
Tank 6 Nevix  Karlsson, Andreas   Sweden  San Francisco Shock 
Support 7 RoKy  Park Joo-seong  South Korea  O2 Team 
Support 18 Kruise  Pond, Harrison   United Kingdom  Paris Eternal 
Support 8 KariV  Park Young-seo  South Korea  Los Angeles Valiant 
Head coach
  • David "Lilbow" Moschetto
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (TW) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: June 3, 2020.

Standings
# Team Division W L PCT P MR MD STK
Conference leaders
1 Shanghai Dragons PAC 16 2 .889 18 41–11–1 +30 W4
2 Philadelphia Fusion ATL 15 1 .938 16 44–14–0 +30 W8
Wild cards
3 San Francisco Shock PAC 13 2 .867 15 32–11–2 +21 W9
4 New York Excelsior ATL 12 4 .750 16 39–17–2 +22 W1
5 Guangzhou Charge PAC 11 6 .647 17 32–31–0 +1 W6
6 Florida Mayhem ATL 10 5 .667 15 27–18–0 +9 L1
Play-in tournament
7 Paris Eternal ATL 8 6 .571 14 29–26–0 +3 L1
8 Los Angeles Valiant PAC 8 6 .571 14 26–25–0 +1 W5
9 Hangzhou Spark PAC 7 8 .467 15 27–31–2 -4 L1
10 Atlanta Reign ATL 6 6 .500 12 24–18–0 +6 W1
11 Seoul Dynasty PAC 6 6 .500 12 14–20–1 -6 L3
12 Houston Outlaws ATL 6 10 .375 16 25–35–3 -10 W1
In the hunt
13 Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 5 6 .455 11 21–23–3 -2 L1
14 London Spitfire ATL 5 7 .417 12 18–27–0 -9 L1
15 Toronto Defiant ATL 5 9 .357 14 25–31–0 -6 L1
16 Dallas Fuel PAC 4 8 .333 12 18–28–0 -10 L4
17 Chengdu Hunters PAC 4 12 .250 16 23–37–1 -14 L3
18 Vancouver Titans PAC 3 7 .300 10 11–23–0 -12 W1
19 Washington Justice ATL 3 12 .200 15 16–38–0 -22 L4
20 Boston Uprising ATL 2 12 .143 14 12–40–3 -28 L2

Game log
2020 game log (Overall record: 2–4)
February–March: 2–4
April–May: 0–0
June–August: 0–0
2020 season schedule

References
  1. Loung, Steven (August 20, 2019). "Roy Thomson Hall to host Toronto Defiant homestand weekends in 2020". Sportsnet. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  2. Killion, Brad (September 12, 2019). "Toronto Defiant Coach Optidox Steps Down". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  3. Richardson, Liz (October 16, 2019). "Paris Eternal head coach goes to Toronto Defiant". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  4. Scrubasaurus (October 29, 2019). "Lilbow joins Defiant coaching staff". Over.gg. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  5. Morello, Matt (July 30, 2019). "2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  6. Richardson, Liz (October 4, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  7. Killion, Brad (October 23, 2019). "Toronto Defiant Sign KariV". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  8. Killion, Brad (October 30, 2019). "Toronto Defiant Sign Agilities". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  9. Field Level Media (October 30, 2019). "It's official: Defiant acquire Beasthalo". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  10. Samples, Rachel (November 4, 2019). "Toronto Defiant sign Surefour". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  11. "Overwatch League moves: Defiant add Kellex". ESPN. Reuters. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  12. Samples, Rachel (November 7, 2019). "Toronto Defiant sign Nevix ahead of 2020 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  13. "Toronto Defiant continue overhaul, release three". ESPN. Reuters. October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  14. Samples, Rachel (October 16, 2019). "Toronto Defiant part ways with Yakpung". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  15. Samples, Rachel (October 30, 2019). "Toronto Defiant part ways with Ivy". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  16. Field Level Media (October 31, 2019). "Toronto Defiant part ways with Neko". Field Level Media. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
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