2019 Florida Mayhem season

The 2019 Florida Mayhem season was the second season of the Florida Mayhem's existence in the Overwatch League and the team's second season under head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis.

The Mayhem looked to improve from their 2018 campaign, when they only amassed seven wins. After finishing Stage 1 with only one win, the Mayhem announced their intention to implement an all-Korean team and fired two coaches, including head coach Mineral. The team's struggles continued in Stage 2, as they did not win a single match. Prior to Stage 3, the Mayhem's all-Korean overhaul continued, as they made several roster changes. Florida hired Oh "Unread" Nam-hun amidst a one-win Stage 3 as the team's new head coach. The Mayhem found success in Stage 4, when the league implemented a 2-2-2 role lock, as they were able to win four of their final five matches.

Preceding offseason

Player re-signings 
From August 1 to September 9, 2018, all Overwatch League teams that competed in the 2018 season could choose to extend their team's players' contracts. After a disappointing season, Mayhem retained three of their nine players, releasing Andreas "Logix" Berghmans, Tim "Manneten" Bylund, Johan "CWoosH" Klingestedt, Sebastian "Zebbosai" Olsson, Aleksi "Zuppeh" Kuntsi, and Joonas "zappis" Alakurtti.

Free agency 
All non-expansion teams could not enter the free agency period until October 8; they were able to sign members from their respective academy team and make trades until then. On September 11, when Mayhem acquired Koo "xepheR" Jae-mo from Seoul Dynasty. Mayhem promoted HyeonWoo "HaGoPeun" Jo and Damon "Apply" Conti from Mayhem Academy on September 21 and 24, respectively.

Florida made three free agency signings on October 15, signing Junsu "Kris" Choe, Sangbum "bqb" Lee, and Sangwon "SWoN" Yoon.

Regular season

Stage 1 
The Mayhem opened their season on February 15 with a match against the Atlanta Reign. Despite some strong performances by DPS Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström and flex tank Jae-mo "xepheR" Koo, Florida was swept 0–4 in the match. A week later, Florida took on the Philadelphia Fusion in their first match of week two. With a standout performance by Lee "BQB" Sang-bum on Sombra and Zarya, the Mayhem were able to edge a win over the Fusion by a score of 2–1. A day after the victory, Mayhem announced the signing of flex tank Caleb "McGravy" McGarvey. Florida's next match was against the Chengdu Hunters on February 23. After splitting the first four maps 2–2, the match went to a tiebreaker map; Florida was unable to win the final map of Busan, losing the match 2–3. 

The Mayhem faced the Guangzhou Charge on February 28 in their first match of week three. The match saw the debut of McGravy, but similarly to their previous match, the team lost 2–3 after falling in a tiebreaker map. The team took on the Houston Outlaws two days later; the team dropped the first three maps en route to a 1–3 loss. Florida's lone match of week four was against the Boston Uprising on March 10. Unable to pick up a map, Florida was swept for the second time in Stage 1, losing 0–4. The team's final match of Stage 1 was against the winless Washington Justice on March 17. For the third time in the Mayhem's 2019 season, the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map, and for the third time, Florida was unable to win map five, falling to the Justice 2–3 and ending their first stage with a 1–6 record.

Stage 2 
One day prior to their first match of Stage 2, Florida announced its plan to implement an all-Korean roster, citing that there were "multiple issues with communication and overall team synergy, in part due to the lack of a common language among players and coaching staff." As such, Mayhem released head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis and assistant coach Jung "Yeah" Young-su; additionally, all non-Korean players (Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström, Damon "Apply" Conti, and Caleb "McGravy" McGarvey) were inactive for the entirety of Stage 2. 

Florida began Stage 2 with a match against the 2018 champions London Spitfire on April 5. After splitting the two maps and tying the third map, Florida was full-held on the fourth map Watchpoint: Gibraltar, leading to a 1–2 loss. A day later, the Mayhem took on the Philadelphia Fusion, who Florida defeated in their only victory of Stage 1. Despite taking the first map Oasis in convincing fashion, the Mayhem dropped the following three maps, falling to the Fusion 1–3. In their first match of week two, the Mayhem took on the Paris Eternal. Florida struggled in the first half of the match, going 0–2 into halftime, but put up a stronger showing in the second half; however, they were only able to split the final two maps, losing 1–3. Three days later, on April 14, Florida faced the undefeated New York Excelsior. The Mayhem were unable to contain the Excelsior throughout the entirety of the match, getting swept 0–4. 

Florida's first match of week three was against the Los Angeles Gladiators on April 18. The team was able to win the first map Busan but subsequently lost the final three to lose the match 1–3. Two days later, the Mayhem took on the Shanghai Dragons, the only team they placed ahead of in the 2018 season. Despite strong showings from DPS Lee "BQB" Sang-bum and tank Yoon "Swon" Seong-won, Florida was unable to secure a win, losing the match by a 1–3 scoreline. After a week off, the Mayhem, for their final match of Stage 2, faced the Dallas Fuel on May 2. Looking to find their first win of the stage, Florida was able to split the first two maps to head into halftime 1–1. However, after losing a close map three, Florida was rolled in the final map Rialto to lose 1–3 and end the stage without a win.

Stage 3 
After the end of Stage 2, Mayhem made several roster moves. Mayhem traded Caleb "Mcgravy" McGarvy and Mayhem Academy players Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell and Johannes "Shax" Nielsen to Los Angeles Valiant in exchange for Koo "Fate" Pan-seung on May 10, signed Lee "Byrem" Seong-ju on May 13, released Damon "Apply" Conti on May 29, and released Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström and Kim "SNT" Sung-hoon on June 2. 

The Mayhem opened Stage 3 with a match against the Seoul Dynasty on June 7. The match saw the debut of two of Florida's new players Fate and Byrem; however, the team was rolled by the Dynasty, getting swept 0–4. In their only match of week two, Florida took on the Paris Eternal on June 16. After falling 0–2 going into halftime, the Mayhem managed to take the third map Numbani but dropped the forth map Havana to lose the match 1–3. 

In the following days after the Paris loss, Florida's all-Korean roster overhaul continued. The team signed support Park "RaiN" Jae-ho from Overwatch Contenders team O2 Blast on June 17, and two days later, they signed three players from Korean Contenders team Armament Esports: off-tank Lee "Gargoyle" Beom-jun, flex DPS Choi "DPI" Yong-joon, and main tank Choi "Karayan" San-ha. Additionally, the team signed three staff members: head coach Oh "Unread" Nam-hun, assistant coach Kim "KH1" Hyung-il, and analyst Daumantas "RyuuTsubasa" Krugliakovas. 

In their first match of week three, the Mayhem faced the Stage 2 champions San Francisco Shock. The match went as expected, as Florida was swept 0–4 for the fifth time of the season. Two days later, Florida took on the Houston Outlaws, who had just defeated the Shock two weeks prior. After dropping the first map to the Outlaws, the Mayhem were able to edge out three consecutive map victories, defeating Houston 3–1 to claim their second win of the season and snap their 15-game losing streak. Looking to carry that momentum into week four, Florida took on the Hangzhou Spark on June 29. The match saw the debut of Florida's Gargoyle and DPI, but the team was ultimately swept 0–4 by the Spark, who set the record for the fastest completion of Eichenwalde at 4 minutes and 12 seconds in the process. In the last week of the stage, the Mayhem headed to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta to play at the "Atlanta Reign Homestand Weekend". Their first match at the homestand was against the New York Excelsior on July 6. After dropping the first map, Florida was able to force a tie on map two Volskaya Industries to enter halftime down 0–1. The final two maps did not go the way of the Mayhem, as they dropped both and lost the match by a 0–3 scoreline. The next day, Florida faced the Atlanta Reign. The Mayhem were unable to close Stage 3 on a high note, as they were swept by the Reign 0–4 to end Stage 3 with a 1–6 record.

Stage 4 
Although not announced at the time, the team mutually parted ways with head coach Unread at some point in Stage 4.

The Mayhem's first match of Stage 4, along with the first match with an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, was against the Vancouver Titans on July 28. Florida was dominated by Vancouver's DPS Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong on Genji, as he amassed 27 Dragonblade kills during the match to set an Overwatch League record for most Dragonblade kills per 10 minutes, as the Titans went on to sweep the Mayhem 4–0. The loss marked the fourth match in a row in which Mayhem had failed to secure a map win. The following week, Florida took on the Washington Justice, who only had three wins on the season. The Mayhem jumped out to a quick 2–0 lead after taking the first two maps but subsequently was reverse swept and lost the match 2–3. Two days later, August 3, the Mayhem faced the London Spitfire. Despite being heavy underdogs, strong performances by Lee "BQB" Sang-bum on Mei and Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo on Widowmaker pushed the Mayhem to a 3–0 victory. 

The Mayhem's next match was against the Toronto Defiant on August 8. After dropping the first map, the Mayhem strung together three straight map wins to win 3–1 and claim their first back-to-back victories of season. Two days later, Florida took on the Los Angeles Valiant. Florida's DPS Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo broke the record for most final blows in a map at 42, but the effort was not enough, as the team lost the match 1–2. For their final week of the regular season, the Mayhem first took on the Boston Uprising. Florida did not allow Boston to win a map in the series and full-held them on two of them, as they swept them, 4–0. The team's final match of the season was on August 18, against the Toronto Defiant. The Mayhem closed out the season on a high note, sweeping the Defiant, 4–0.

Final roster

Transactions 
Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:
On February 22, Mayhem signed Caleb "Mcgravy" McGarvy.
On May 10, Mayhem traded Caleb "Mcgravy" McGarvy, Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell, and Johannes "Shax" Nielsen to Los Angeles Valiant in exchange for Koo "Fate" Pan-seung.
On May 13, Mayhem signed Lee "Byrem" Seong-ju.
On May 29, Mayhem released Damon "Apply" Conti.
On June 2, Mayhem released Kevyn "TviQ" Lindström and Kim "SNT" Sung-hoon.
On June 17, Mayhem signed Park "RaiN" Jae-ho.
On June 19, Mayhem signed Lee "Gargoyle" Beom-jun, Choi "DPI" Yong-joon, and Choi "Karayan" San-ha.

Standings

Record by stage

League

Game log

Awards 
On May 8, Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-Woo was named as a reserve for the 2019 Overwatch League All-Star Game.

References 

Category:2019 Overwatch League seasons by team
Florida Mayhem
Category:Florida Mayhem seasons