'Overwatch' League Seoul Dynasty Has "The Makeup of a Winning Team"

Seoul Dynasty failed to meet expectations for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. The roster full of Korean superstars dominated the APEX Series in Korea as Lunatic-Hai before getting purchased by esports organization Gen.G (formerly KSV Esports). Fans, analysts and reddit lurkers were hoping the same chemistry would lead to immediate success in Blizzard's franchise system. Starting off strong in the preseason, the team failed to surpass other full Korean rosters, like London Spitfire, ending the season in eighth place.

For season two, Seoul Dynasty hopes to do things differently. Over a third of their roster was traded or culled: Gi-do "Gido" Moon, Jin-hyuk "Miro" Gong, Seok-woo "Wekeed" Choi and Jae-mo "xepheR" Koo are gone. Lee "Hocury" Ho-cheol was promoted from head coach to general manager and Dong Gun "KDG" Kim has been brought on to fill that vacant coaching spot.

"We couldn't be more excited going into the 2019 season," Hocury told Newsweek. "The infectious positive energy and confidence around this leadership group is exactly what I envisioned when building our team and I fully believe it will translate into wins." Adding, the roster and coaching staff Gen.G has assembled "will have the makeup of a winning team."

KDG shares Hocury's enthusiasm for season two, and believes that this current roster acts professionally and has a sense of brotherhood. "Every player will be making contributions throughout the season, putting aside personal accolades in an effort to win games," KDG said. "Everyone has bought into the culture we're instilling, and as a coach, you can't ask for much more."

The most recent addition to the team has been all-star tank, Chan-hyung "Fissure" Baek. He joined the Overwatch League on the London Spitfire, but was then traded to the Los Angeles Gladiators before landing with Seoul Dynasty. Fissure took the Gladiators from the bottom of the bracket to the first place of stage four last season. On his main hero Winston, he's best known for making the most optimal decision in the heat of the moment. Whether it's balancing assaults on the enemy backline, peeling for his own carries or staying on the objective, Fissure proves that tanks require mechanical deftness.

"(Los Angeles Gladiators) was filled with really good teammates and I viewed them all as friends," Fissure said about the most recent swap. "However, I wanted to play in a team where I can communicate in my native language so that I can perform at the highest level with the team."

Fissure believes that working with an all-Korean roster improves play. "The game requires an extreme level of communication to be successful at the highest level," he said. LA Gladiators has players from Canada, Finland, America and Korea, with English being the main form of communication. Fissure tried to learn English as fast as possible, but when Seoul made him an offer after the end of the season, he knew he had to swap teams.

Rumors swirling around Fissure joining Seoul Dynasty have been around since July. Overwatch reporter Rod "Slasher" Breslau tweeted that Fissure was getting benched for a substitute because he was unhappy on the Gladiators and wanted to move to an all-Korean roster, most likely Seoul Dynasty. Fissure denied these claims, calling the statements "bullshit" and saying that he didn't know his "absence would affect the community this much."

"At that point, nothing was set in stone," Fissure said about the controversy. "I also wasn't allowed to confirm anything so I wanted to respect the organization's wishes… People sometimes believe in what they want to believe and I understand people love these rumors because they're entertaining. To be honest, some of these rumors that aren't truthful are really hurtful, but no matter what, I know that even though there is some negatives, on the other side there were fans who are so supportive, they're like doctors that treat my wounds so I can recover."

Seoul Dynasty is still the only localized Korean Overwatch League team, a fact that the organization and it's players are extremely proud of. "It is a great honor for me as a Korean to represent their national team," Fissure said. "It is a team that I have always dreamed of joining."