2018 Seoul Dynasty season
# 2018 Seoul Dynasty season

The 2018 Seoul Dynasty season was the first season of the Seoul Dynasty's existence in the Overwatch League. The team finished with a regular season record of 22–18, placing them eighth overall, behind the Houston Outlaws due to tiebreakers, who had the same record. Seoul did not qualify for any of the Stage Playoffs and did not qualify for the Season Playoffs.

## Preceding offseason

On August 21, 2017, the team announced the acquisition of the players and coaching staff of Korean Overwatch esports team Lunatic-Hai, which consisted of the following players:

* Kim "EscA" In-jae
* Ryu "ryujehong" Je-hong
* Yang "tobi" Jin-mo
* Kim "zunba" Joon-hyeok
* Moon "gido" Gi-do
* Gong "Miro" Jin-hyuk

In September, the team signed an additional coach in veteran Kim "nuGget" Yo-han. 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. On October 27, the addition of Choi "Wekeed" Seok-woo was broadcast in the Dynasty's roster preview video. The final two members for the inaugural season, Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok and Kim "KuKi" Dae-kuk, were revealed by Blizzard in November. Before the season started, Kim "EscA" In-jae retired.

## Review

### Regular season

The Dynasty began the first stage of the regular season well, winning their first five games. However, after key losses to New York Excelsior, London Spitfire, and Los Angeles Valiant they fell out of Stage 1 playoff contention and finished the stage in fifth place, sparking discussions about a disappointing start to the season for a team favored to win it. They went on to finish fourth in the second stage as well, once again missing the stage playoffs. 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."

They once again failed to reach the playoffs in both the third and fourth stages of the regular season, going 5–5 in Stage 3 and 3–7 in Stage 4. Falling further behind the top teams in map differential. 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 with a record of 22–18, a far cry from the expected and predicted success.

In response to their inability to clinch a playoff spot, the team underwent large coaching and staffing changes in July.

## Final roster

### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:

* On February 26, Dynasty signed Heo "Gambler" Jin-woo.
* On March 30, Dynasty transferred Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok to Los Angeles Valiant.

## Standings

### League

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ATL | New York Excelsior | 40 | 34 | 6 | 0.85 | 126 | 43 | 4 | +83 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
| 2 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 40 | 27 | 13 | 0.68 | 100 | 64 | 7 | +36 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
| 3 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 40 | 26 | 14 | 0.65 | 99 | 71 | 3 | +28 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 4 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 40 | 25 | 15 | 0.63 | 96 | 72 | 3 | +24 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 5 | ATL | London Spitfire | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.60 | 102 | 69 | 3 | +33 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 6 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.60 | 93 | 80 | 2 | +13 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 7 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.55 | 94 | 77 | 2 | +17 | |
| 8 | PAC | Seoul Dynasty | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.55 | 91 | 78 | 3 | +13 | |
| 9 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 40 | 17 | 23 | 0.43 | 77 | 84 | 5 | −7 | |
| 10 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 40 | 12 | 28 | 0.30 | 58 | 100 | 7 | −42 | |
| 11 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 40 | 7 | 33 | 0.18 | 42 | 120 | 5 | −78 | |
| 12 | PAC | Shanghai Dragons | 40 | 0 | 40 | 0.00 | 21 | 141 | 2 | −120 | |

## Game log

### Preseason

2018 preseason game log :

Preseason (3–0)

1

December 6

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

Shanghai Dragons

Burbank, CA

2

December 8

Seoul Dynasty

2

1

Houston Outlaws

Burbank, CA

3

December 9

Seoul Dynasty

3

1

New York Excelsior

Burbank, CA :

### Regular season

2018 game log (Regular season record: 22–18) :

Stage 1 (7–3)

1

January 10

Dallas Fuel

1

2

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

2

January 13

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

Los Angeles Gladiators

Burbank, CA

3

January 17

Florida Mayhem

0

4

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

4

January 19

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

Boston Uprising

Burbank, CA

5

January 24

Shanghai Dragons

1

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

6

January 26

Seoul Dynasty

2

3

New York Excelsior

Burbank, CA

7

February 01

London Spitfire

4

0

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

8

February 02

Seoul Dynasty

3

2

Houston Outlaws

Burbank, CA

9

February 07

Los Angeles Valiant

3

0

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

10

February 09

Seoul Dynasty

3

2

San Francisco Shock

Burbank, CA :

Stage 2 (7–3)

11

February 21

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

Los Angeles Valiant

Burbank, CA

12

February 23

San Francisco Shock

1

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

13

February 28

Seoul Dynasty

3

1

Dallas Fuel

Burbank, CA

14

March 02

Los Angeles Gladiators

1

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

15

March 07

Seoul Dynasty

3

1

Shanghai Dragons

Burbank, CA

16

March 08

Philadelphia Fusion

1

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

17

March 14

New York Excelsior

3

2

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

18

March 17

Seoul Dynasty

0

4

London Spitfire

Burbank, CA

19

March 22

Houston Outlaws

3

1

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

20

March 23

Seoul Dynasty

3

1

Florida Mayhem

Burbank, CA :

Stage 3 (5–5)

21

April 04

Los Angeles Valiant

4

0

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

22

April 06

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

San Francisco Shock

Burbank, CA

23

April 11

Dallas Fuel

2

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

24

April 13

Seoul Dynasty

2

3

Los Angeles Gladiators

Burbank, CA

25

April 18

Shanghai Dragons

1

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

26

April 20

Boston Uprising

2

1

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

27

April 26

Seoul Dynasty

3

2

Philadelphia Fusion

Burbank, CA

28

April 28

Seoul Dynasty

0

4

New York Excelsior

Burbank, CA

29

May 04

London Spitfire

3

2

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

30

May 05

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

Houston Outlaws

Burbank, CA :

Stage 4 (3–7)

31

May 16

Seoul Dynasty

2

3

Los Angeles Valiant

Burbank, CA

32

May 18

San Francisco Shock

3

1

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

33

May 25

New York Excelsior

4

0

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

34

May 26

Seoul Dynasty

2

3

London Spitfire

Burbank, CA

35

May 30

Seoul Dynasty

4

0

Shanghai Dragons

Burbank, CA

36

June 01

Florida Mayhem

2

3

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

37

June 06

Seoul Dynasty

1

3

Boston Uprising

Burbank, CA

38

June 08

Philadelphia Fusion

3

2

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA

39

June 13

Seoul Dynasty

3

1

Dallas Fuel

Burbank, CA

40

June 15

Los Angeles Gladiators

3

1

Seoul Dynasty

Burbank, CA :

