2021 Shanghai Dragons season
# 2021 Shanghai Dragons season

The 2021 Shanghai Dragons season was the fourth season of the Shanghai Dragons's existence in the Overwatch League and their second under head coach Moon Byung-chul.

## Preceding offseason

### Roster changes

Free agents :

| Position | Handle | Name | 2021 team | Date signed | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Damage | Dding | Yang Jin-hyeok | – | – | – |
| Damage | Diem | Bae Min-sung | Shanghai Dragons | December 2 | – |
| Damage | Diya | Lu Weida | – | – | – |
| Tank | Geguri | Kim Se-yeon | – | – | – |
| Support | Luffy | Yang Sung-hyeon | – | – | – |
| Legend  Light green background indicates a player was re-signed by the Dragons.  Light red background indicates a player departed from the Dragons. ||||||

The Dragons entered free agency with five free agents.

**Acquisitions**

The Dragons's first offseason acquisition was Koo "Fate" Pan-seung, a veteran tank player, who was acquired from the Florida Mayhem on November 11, 2020. Six days later, the Dragons signed Jeong "Erster" Jun, a "generally adaptable" damage player who played with the Atlanta Reign in 2020. Shanghai's final acquisition of the offseason was He "Molly" Chengzhi, a support formerly with the Chengdu Hunters who was signed on November 24.

**Departures**

Four of the Dragons' five free agents did not return, none of which were signed with other teams, which included damage player Yang "Dding" Jin-hyeok, damage player Lu "Diya" Weida, tank player Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon, and support player Yang "Luffy" Sung-hyeon. Outside of their free agents, the Dragons' first departure was tank player Lee "Fearless" Eui-seok, who was transferred to the Dallas Fuel on November 7. Twenty days later, on November 27, the Dragons released tank player Seo "Stand1" Ji-won.

## Regular season

The Dragons' first match of the 2021 season resulted in a win over the Guangzhou Charge in the May Melee qualifiers. After defeating the Philadelphia Fusion in the Eastern regional knockouts, the Dragons entered the May Melee tournament, the first of four midseason double-elimination tournaments in the regular season, as the second-seeded Eastern team. The team fell to the Dallas Fuel in the upper bracket finals, dropping them to the lower bracket of the tournament; the Dragons reached the finals of the tournament through the lower bracket, where they once again lost to the Fuel.

Prior to the start of the June Joust qualifiers, damage player Joon "Erster" Jeong retired. Looking to add depth to their roster, the Dragons signed damage player Lee "WhoRU" Seung-jun several days later. The team won three of their four June Joust qualifying matches to advance them to the regional knockouts. Several days before the knockouts began, the Dragons lost another player to retirement in damage player Bae "Diem" Min-seong; once again looking for depth, the team signed damage player Chae "Develop" Rak-hoon shortly afterwards. The Dragons advanced to the June Joust tournament after defeating the Seoul Dynasty in the regional knockouts. The team lost their first match of the tournament, again to the Fuel; however, after making it to the finals through the lower bracket, the Dragons defeated the Fuel to claim their first title of the 2021 season.

The Dragons continued their success throughout the Summer Showdown, winning all four of their qualifying matches and advancing past the regional qualifiers. Prior to the start of the Summer Showdown tournament, the team added former Dragons player Kim "Daemin" Dae-min as a coach. The Dragons went undefeated in the tournament, and after defeating the Chengdu Hunters in the finals, they claimed their second consecutive midseason tournament title.

In the final tournament cycle of the regular season, the Countdown Cup, the Dragons went 2–2 in the qualifiers, failing to advance to the regional knockouts for the first time in the season; Dragons' head coach Moon "Moon" Byung-chul stated that they were "resting" their players during the tournament cycle. The team finished the regular season with 12 wins, 4 losses, 20 league points, and the top seed in the season playoffs.

Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun, Lee "Lip" Jae-won, and Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul were all MVP candidates for the 2021 regular season. Additionally, Lee "Lip" Jae-won, Kang "Void" Jung-woo, Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul, and Lee "Leejaegon" Jae-gon were awarded Role Star commendations for damage, tank, support, and support, respectively.

## Playoffs

Shanghai selected the sixth-seeded San Francisco Shock as their opponent for the first round of the season playoffs; the Dragons swept the Shock, 3–0. The team next defeated the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators by a score of 3–1. Moving on to the upper bracket finals, the Dragons faced the second-seeded Dallas Fuel, marking the fifth time the two teams had played each other in a midseason or season playoff match in the 2021 season. Despite keeping the maps close, the Dragons came out with a 3–1 victory to advance the Grand Finals bracket.

In the Grand Finals match, the Dragons swept the Reign by a score of 4–0 to win their first OWL championship.

## Final roster

### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2021 regular season:

* On May 21, damage player Jeong "Erster" Joon retired.
* On May 25, the Dragons signed damage player Lee "WhoRU" Seung-jun.
* On June 3, damage player Bae "diem" Min-seong retired.
* On June 10, the Dragon signed damage player Chae "Develop" Rak-hoon.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Shanghai Dragons | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0.75 | 38 | 19 | 2 | +19 | 20 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 2 | Chengdu Hunters | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0.69 | 38 | 22 | 2 | +16 | 15 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 3 | Seoul Dynasty | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0.75 | 40 | 22 | 0 | +18 | 12 | Advance to play-ins |
| 4 | Philadelphia Fusion | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0.63 | 37 | 24 | 3 | +13 | 10 | Advance to play-ins |
| 5 | Hangzhou Spark | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0.44 | 32 | 31 | 0 | +1 | 7 | Advance to play-ins |
| 6 | New York Excelsior | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0.44 | 29 | 32 | 0 | −3 | 7 | |
| 7 | Guangzhou Charge | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0.31 | 20 | 38 | 4 | −18 | 5 | |
| 8 | Los Angeles Valiant | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0.00 | 2 | 48 | 1 | −46 | 0 | |

## Game log

### Regular season

2021 game log :

May Melee

Qualifier match 1

April 17

Guangzhou Charge

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

5:00 pm CST

   Details

1

Lijang Tower

2

3

Blizzard World

3

0

Dorado

1

0

Temple of Anubis

2

Qualifier match 2

April 18

Chengdu Hunters

3

0

Shanghai Dragons

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

2

Oasis

0

1

Eichenwalde

0

4

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

3

Qualifier match 3

April 30

Shanghai Dragons

3

2

Hangzhou Spark

Online

8:00 pm CST

   Details

2

Nepal

0

2

Volskaya Industries

4

0

King's Row

3

1

Havana

0

2

Busan

0

Qualifier match 4

May 01

Shanghai Dragons

3

0

New York Excelsior

Online

8:00 pm CST

   Details

2

Ilios

1

2

Temple of Anubis

1

3

Blizzard World

1

Regional finals

May 02

Shanghai Dragons

3

2

Philadelphia Fusion

Online

5:00 pm CST

   Details

2

Nepal

1

2

Volskaya Industries

2

1

Eichenwalde

2

0

Havana

1

2

Ilios

1

5

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

4

Tournament first round

May 07

Shanghai Dragons

3

2

Florida Mayhem

Online

10:00 am CST

   Details

2

Ilios

0

1

Hanamura

1

1

King's Row

2

1

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

0

0

Oasis

2

3

Dorado

2

Upper finals

May 08

Dallas Fuel

3

2

Shanghai Dragons

Online

9:00 am CST

   Details

2

Ilios

0

2

Temple of Anubis

2

1

Blizzard World

2

3

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

2

0

Oasis

2

2

Dorado

0

Lower finals

May 08

Shanghai Dragons

3

0

Florida Mayhem

Online

1:30 pm CST

   Details

2

Oasis

0

1

Hanamura

0

2

King's Row

1

Grand finals

May 09

Shanghai Dragons

2

4

Dallas Fuel

Online

9:00 am CST

   Details

0

Lijiang Tower

2

1

Temple of Anubis

0

2

King's Row

3

2

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

3

2

Ilios

0

1

Blizzard World

2 :

June Joust

Qualifier match 1

May 22

Shanghai Dragons

3

0

Chengdu Hunters

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

2

Oasis

0

2

Hollywood

1

6

Junkertown

5

Qualifier match 2

May 23

Shanghai Dragons

0

3

Hangzhou Spark

Online

5:00 pm CST

   Details

1

Nepal

2

3

Numbani

4

0

Rialto

1

Qualifier match 3

May 29

Shanghai Dragons

3

0

Los Angeles Valiant

Online

5:00 pm CST

   Details

2

Busan

0

3

Rialto

1

1

Volskaya Industries

1

1

Numbani

0

Qualifier match 4

May 30

Seoul Dynasty

1

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

1

Lijiang Tower

2

1

Dorado

2

3

Temple of Anubis

2

0

Eichenwalde

3

Regional finals

June 06

Seoul Dynasty

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Hangzhou, CN

6:30 pm CST

   Details

Future Sci-Tech City

Hosted by the Hangzhou Spark

0

Lijiang Tower

2

1

Temple of Anubis

2

0

Hollywood

2

Tournament first round

June 11

Dallas Fuel

3

0

Shanghai Dragons

Online

10:30 am CST

   Details

2

Busan

0

2

Volskaya Industries

1

3

Numbani

2

Lower round 1

June 12

New York Excelsior

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

10:45 am CST

   Details

0

Busan

2

0

Temple of Anubis

2

2

Numbani

3

Lower finals

June 12

Shanghai Dragons

3

0

Atlanta Reign

Online

12:00 noon CST

   Details

2

Lijiang Tower

1

3

Hanamura

2

4

Numbani

3

Grand finals

June 13

Shanghai Dragons

4

3

Dallas Fuel

Online

9:00 am CST

   Details

0

Lijiang Tower

2

0

Volskaya Industries

2

2

Numbani

1

3

Rialto

4

2

Busan

1

3

Eichenwalde

2

2

Junkertown

1 :

Summer Showdown

Qualifier match 1

July 03

Seoul Dynasty

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

0

Busan

2

0

Route 66

1

1

Temple of Anubis

2

Qualifier match 2

July 04

Philadelphia Fusion

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

1

Lijiang Tower

2

2

Junkertown

3

1

Volskaya Industries

2

Qualifier match 3

July 09

Los Angeles Valiant

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Shanghai, CN

8:00 pm CST

   Details

Jing'An Sports Center

Hosted by the Shanghai Dragons

1

Nepal

2

0

Volskaya Industries

1

2

King's Row

3

Qualifier match 4

July 10

Hangzhou Spark

1

3

Shanghai Dragons

Shanghai, CN

8:00 pm CST

   Details

Jing'An Sports Center

Hosted by the Shanghai Dragons

0

Ilios

2

1

Hanamura

2

2

Hollywood

1

1

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

2

Regional finals

July 11

New York Excelsior

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Shanghai, CN

5:12 pm CST

   Details

Jing'An Sports Center

Hosted by the Shanghai Dragons

0

Ilios

2

2

Volskaya Industries

3

4

King's Row

5

Tournament first round

July 16

Atlanta Reign

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

11:00 am CST

   Details

0

Nepal

2

1

Hanamura

2

0

King's Row

3

Upper finals

July 17

Chengdu Hunters

2

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

9:00 am CST

   Details

1

Ilios

2

1

Temple of Anubis

2

4

Eichenwalde

3

3

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

2

0

Busan

2

Grand finals

July 18

Chengdu Hunters

1

4

Shanghai Dragons

Online

9:00 am CST

   Details

2

Ilios

0

1

Temple of Anubis

2

1

Eichenwalde

3

2

Route 66

3

0

Nepal

2 :

Countdown Cup

Qualifier match 1

July 31

Philadelphia Fusion

3

0

Shanghai Dragons

Online

8:00 pm CST

   Details

2

Busan

0

1

Numbani

0

2

Rialto

1

Qualifier match 2

August 01

Shanghai Dragons

2

3

New York Excelsior

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

1

Ilios

2

3

King's Row

2

1

Havana

2

3

Volskaya Industries

2

1

Lijiang Tower

2

Qualifier match 3

August 07

Seoul Dynasty

2

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

6:30 pm CST

   Details

2

Nepal

0

2

Route 66

3

2

Temple of Anubis

0

1

Blizzard World

2

0

Busan

2

Qualifier match 4

August 08

Shanghai Dragons

3

1

Guangzhou Charge

Online

8:00 pm CST

   Details

2

Lijiang Tower

0

3

Havana

0

0

Hanamura

1

4

Numbani

3 :

2021 season schedule :

### Postseason

2021 playoff game log :

Season Playoffs

Upper round 1

September 22

San Francisco Shock

0

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

10:00 am CST

   Details

1

Ilios

2

0

Hanamura

1

2

King's Row

3

Upper round 2

September 23

Los Angeles Gladiators

1

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

1:30 pm CST

   Details

0

Ilios

2

2

Hanamura

0

0

Numbani

1

0

Havana

1

Upper final

September 23

Dallas Fuel

1

3

Shanghai Dragons

Online

10:30 am CST

   Details

0

Ilios

2

3

Volskaya Industries

2

2

Numbani

3

1

Dorado

3

Grand Finals

September 25

Atlanta Reign

0

4

Shanghai Dragons

Online

9:00 am CST

   Details

0

Ilios

2

2

Hanamura

3

5

King's Row

6

2

Havana

3 :

