2019 Washington Justice season
# 2019 Washington Justice season

The 2019 Washington Justice season was the first season of Washington Justice's existence in the Overwatch League as one of eight expansion franchises added for the 2019 season. The Justice struggled throughout the first three stages of the season, posting a 2–19 record in the first 21 games. However, the Justice flourished after the League's implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock for Stage 4, as the team lost only one match in their final seven games to finish the season in 17th place with an 8–20 record.

## Preceding offseason

On September 12, Washington announced the signing of former New York Excelsior coach Kim "WizardHyeong" Hyeong-seok as the team's head coach. Eight days later, Washington signed Molly "AVALLA" Kim as an analyst; AVALLA is the first female coach to be signed in the history of the Overwatch League. Justice announced its inaugural season starting roster between September and December, consisting of the following players:

* Song "Janus" Junhwa,
* Kim "Sansam" Hyang-ki,
* Ethan "Stratus" Yankel,
* Corey "Corey" Nigra,
* Chon "Ado" Gi-hyeon,
* Moon "Gido" Gi-do,
* Riley "Fahzix" Taylor, and
* Cho "Hyeonu" Hyeon-woo.

## Regular season

The Justice's first regular season match was against the New York Excelsior on February 16; Washington lost the series 1–3. The team lost their first six matches of the season. Washington's final match of Stage 1 was against the Florida Mayhem on March 17; the Justice won 3–2, giving the franchise their first-ever win, and ended the stage with a 1–6 record. The following day, the Justice acquired support player Hong "ArK" Yeon-jun from New York Excelsior.

On April 19, in the middle of Stage 2, the Justice acquired support Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews from the San Francisco Shock. In Stage 2, the Justice again lost their first six matches. Their final match of Stage 2 was against the Boston Uprising. Washing took a 3–2 win and finished Stage 2 with a 1–6 record.

In Stage 3, week 2, the Justice faced the Hangzhou Spark on June 15. In the match, Washington was handed one of the most dominant map losses in the history of the Overwatch League on Hollywood, as the team only secured two eliminations in the entire map. The Justice lost all seven of their matches in Stage 3.

Prior to the start of Stage 4, which would include the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, the Justice signed tanks Elliot "ELLIVOTE" Vaneryd and Lukas "LullSiSH" Wiklund from the Dallas Fuel's academy team Team Envy. The Justice's first match of Stage 4 was against the Toronto Defiant on July 26; Washington came out of the match with a 3–1 victory, ending their seven-game losing streak. The following week, the team took on the league-leading Vancouver Titans. In a major upset, the Justice handed the Titans their first ever 0–4 loss and only their second loss in the entire regular season. DPS Corey "Corey" Nigra led the Justice throughout the match and broke the Overwatch League record for critical hit accuracy while playing as the hero Hanzo. The team continued to thrive under the 2-2-2 rule, going undefeated in their first four matches of the stage. The winning streak increased to five after defeating the Houston Outlaws on August 11. The Justice's first loss of the stage was on August 16 against the Atlanta Reign. The team's final match of the regular season was against the Paris Eternal two days later; Washington won 3–1.

## Final roster

### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:

* On March 18, Justice acquired Hong "ArK Yeon-jun from New York Excelsior.
* On April 19, Justice acquired Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews from San Francisco Shock.
* On July 14, Justice signed Elliot "ELLIVOTE" Vaneryd and Lukas "LullSiSH" Wiklund.
* On August 12, Justice released Riley "Fahzix" Taylor.

## Standings

### Record by stage

* ↑ No stage playoffs were held for Stage 4.

### League

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | PAC | Vancouver Titans | 28 | 25 | 3 | 0.89 | 89 | 28 | 0 | +61 | Advance to season playoffs (division leaders) |
| 2 | ATL | New York Excelsior | 28 | 22 | 6 | 0.79 | 78 | 38 | 3 | +40 | Advance to season playoffs (division leaders) |
| 3 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 28 | 23 | 5 | 0.82 | 92 | 26 | 0 | +66 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 4 | PAC | Hangzhou Spark | 28 | 18 | 10 | 0.64 | 64 | 52 | 4 | +12 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 5 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0.61 | 67 | 48 | 3 | +19 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 6 | ATL | Atlanta Reign | 28 | 16 | 12 | 0.57 | 69 | 50 | 1 | +19 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 7 | ATL | London Spitfire | 28 | 16 | 12 | 0.57 | 58 | 52 | 6 | +6 | Advance to play-ins |
| 8 | PAC | Seoul Dynasty | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0.54 | 64 | 50 | 3 | +14 | Advance to play-ins |
| 9 | PAC | Guangzhou Charge | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0.54 | 61 | 57 | 1 | +4 | Advance to play-ins |
| 10 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0.54 | 57 | 60 | 3 | −3 | Advance to play-ins |
| 11 | PAC | Shanghai Dragons | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0.46 | 51 | 61 | 3 | −10 | Advance to play-ins |
| 12 | PAC | Chengdu Hunters | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0.46 | 55 | 66 | 1 | −11 | Advance to play-ins |
| 13 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0.43 | 56 | 61 | 4 | −5 | |
| 14 | ATL | Paris Eternal | 28 | 11 | 17 | 0.39 | 46 | 67 | 3 | −21 | |
| 15 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 28 | 10 | 18 | 0.36 | 43 | 70 | 3 | −27 | |
| 16 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 28 | 9 | 19 | 0.32 | 47 | 69 | 3 | −22 | |
| 17 | ATL | Toronto Defiant | 28 | 8 | 20 | 0.29 | 39 | 72 | 4 | −33 | |
| 18 | ATL | Washington Justice | 28 | 8 | 20 | 0.29 | 39 | 72 | 6 | −33 | |
| 19 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 28 | 8 | 20 | 0.29 | 41 | 78 | 2 | −37 | |
| 20 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 28 | 6 | 22 | 0.21 | 36 | 75 | 5 | −39 | |

## Game log

2019 game log (Regular season record: 8–20) :

Stage 1 (1–6)

1

February 16

Washington Justice

1

3

New York Excelsior

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

0

Ilios

2

0

King's Row

1

1

Horizon Lunar Colony

0

1

Rialto

2

2

February 21

Washington Justice

2

3

London Spitfire

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Busan

1

3

Numbani

2

2

Horizon Lunar Colony

4

2

Rialto

3

0

Nepal

2

3

February 28

Washington Justice

1

3

Philadelphia Fusion

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Ilios

1

1

Hollywood

2

3

Temple of Anubis

4

1

Route 66

3

4

March 02

San Francisco Shock

4

0

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Nepal

1

3

Numbani

2

2

Temple of Anubis

0

3

Route 66

1

5

March 09

Seoul Dynasty

3

1

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Busan

0

4

Hollywood

3

3

Temple of Anubis

2

3

Dorado

4

6

March 16

Washington Justice

1

2

Paris Eternal

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

0

Busan

2

3

King's Row

3

3

Volskaya Industries

2

2

Dorado

3

7

March 17

Washington Justice

3

2

Florida Mayhem

Burbank, CA

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Nepal

1

3

Hollywood

2

4

Volskaya Industries

5

4

Dorado

5

2

Ilios

1 :

Stage 2 (1–6)

8

April 05

Washington Justice

1

3

Toronto Defiant

Burbank, CA

5:45 pm PST

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

0

Lijang Tower

2

0

Hanamura

1

2

Eichenwalde

3

3

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

2

9

April 07

Washington Justice

1

3

Chengdu Hunters

Burbank, CA

5:15 pm PST

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

0

Oasis

2

1

Temple of Anubis

0

0

King's Row

1

3

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

4

10

April 11

New York Excelsior

4

0

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

5:30 pm PST

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Lijiang Tower

0

3

Hanamura

2

3

Eichenwalde

1

3

Junkertown

2

11

April 14

Atlanta Reign

3

1

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

1:30 pm PST

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Busan

0

0

Paris

1

2

Eichenwalde

1

4

Rialto

3

12

April 19

Los Angeles Valiant

3

1

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

7:00 pm PST

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Oasis

0

3

Temple of Anubis

4

3

King's Row

2

3

Rialto

0

13

May 03

Shanghai Dragons

3

1

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

8:30 pm PST

   Recap

Blizzard Arena

2

Busan

0

2

Paris

1

0

Blizzard World

1

2

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

1

14

May 05

Washington Justice

3

2

Boston Uprising

Burbank, CA

1:30 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

0

Lijiang Tower

2

0

Temple of Anubis

2

2

Blizzard World

1

4

Rialto

3

2

Busan

1 :

Stage 3 (0–7)

15

June 09

Washington Justice

0

3

Dallas Fuel

Burbank, CA

3:30 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

0

Oasis

2

4

Volskaya Industries

4

2

Eichenwalde

3

0

Havana

3

16

June 15

Washington Justice

0

3

Hangzhou Spark

Burbank, CA

12:00 noon PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

0

Ilios

2

1

Paris

1

0

Hollywood

3

0

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

3

17

June 16

Washington Justice

0

4

Los Angeles Gladiators

Burbank, CA

5:15 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

0

Nepal

2

0

Horizon Lunar Colony

2

0

Numbani

1

1

Havana

3

18

June 22

London Spitfire

2

1

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

12:00 noon PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

1

Nepal

2

2

Paris

2

4

Numbani

3

4

Dorado

3

19

June 28

Houston Outlaws

3

0

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

9:00 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

2

Oasis

0

4

Volskaya Industries

4

3

Eichenwalde

2

1

Dorado

0

20

July 06

Philadelphia Fusion

3

1

Washington Justice

Atlanta, GA

10:15 am PST

   Details

Cobb Energy Center

1

Ilios

2

3

Horizon Lunar Colony

2

3

Hollywood

1

3

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

2

21

July 07

Washington Justice

0

4

Guangzhou Charge

Atlanta, GA

11:00 am PST

   Details

Cobb Energy Center

1

Nepal

2

0

Volskaya Industries

2

0

Eichenwalde

3

2

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

3 :

Stage 4 (6–1)

22

July 26

Toronto Defiant

1

3

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

4:00 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

1

Busan

2

2

Temple of Anubis

1

1

Blizzard World

2

2

Havana

3

23

August 01

Florida Mayhem

2

3

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

5:45 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

2

Busan

1

2

Volskaya Industries

0

1

King's Row

2

0

Havana

3

0

Ilios

2

24

August 04

Vancouver Titans

0

4

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

3:30 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

0

Ilios

2

1

Volskaya Industries

2

3

Hollywood

4

0

Havana

3

25

August 09

Boston Uprising

1

3

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

4:00 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

1

Lijiang Tower

2

1

Temple of Anubis

2

2

Blizzard World

1

1

Route 66

2

26

August 11

Washington Justice

3

2

Houston Outlaws

Burbank, CA

1:45 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

1

Lijiang Tower

2

2

Hanamura

1

1

King's Row

2

3

Route 66

2

2

Busan

1

27

August 16

Washington Justice

1

2

Atlanta Reign

Burbank, CA

4:00 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

1

Busan

2

1

Hanamura

1

1

Hollywood

0

2

Junkertown

3

28

August 18

Paris Eternal

1

3

Washington Justice

Burbank, CA

1:45 pm PST

   Details

Blizzard Arena

1

Ilios

2

1

Hanamura

2

6

King's Row

5

1

Junkertown

2 :

