Seoul Have The Heart Of A Spitfire
Misery is to company as Overwatch is to nostalgia and on a vacation trip to the 2018 grand finals a striking narrative poked through, one that dares to shock us for the second time. The 2020 Seoul Dynasty have the same punching power, the same core fundamental building blocks that the London Spitfire did in 2018 when they won the inaugural Overwatch League title.
Their stories share the same ingredients and echoes of them seem to be resurfacing— but we’ve all sold them short. We’ve all forgotten that Seoul have the heart of a spitfire.
Many view the 2020 grand finals as a three-horse race. The Philadelphia Fusion were the dominant force in the regular season in North America, ending with a 24-2 record and multiple strong tournament placings. The San Francisco Shock came alive in the monthly events and won the May Melee, the Countdown Cup, as well as the North America Division.
While in Asia, the Shanghai Dragons were a marriage of both, dominating the regular season going 27-2 and winning multiple tournaments. How could they not be considered favourites? All of that is correct and within reason, but to discount Seoul, to write them off as a team that doesn't have what it takes is the same mistake we all made during the inaugural season. In much the same way that the 2018 London Spitfire made their Cinderella run in the playoffs, the 2020 Seoul Dynasty are echoing that story well.
While the playoff patch hasn't technically landed well within their wheelhouse, they have adapted well and found ways to flex how aggressive and skilled their DPS' are. Park "Profit" Joon-yeong and Hong "Gesture" Jae-hee, the most enigmatic duo in Overwatch history, have returned to form, and while Choi "Bdosin" Seung-tae hasn't seen the lion's share of playtime, he does add to that same firepower.
Click to enlargeWhile certain players have left or eroded away since 2018, most of their understudies have been lateral moves. All season long Kim "FITS" Dong-eon has shown himself to be a versatile threat that, at times, can rival his DPS partner in sheer lustre. As a tank line addition, few expected Hwang "Marve1" Min-seo to land as well as he did and exactly zero per cent of the population could have expected him to become such a strong flex tank. Top to it all off, this team, at its core, has this element of evolution, this prowess that comes alive during high-pressure situations.
Recall back to the May Melee, Seoul started the month losing to the Guangzhou Charge and the Hangzhou Spark. Their Week 14 victory over the Shanghai Dragons were waved away by the chaos of Hero Pools and which looked justified as they immediately went on to suffer a convincing loss to the Chengdu Hunters. Compare that to their seven-game nail bitter against the Shanghai Dragons in the May Melee finals, and they look like completely different teams. There is no doubt that some essence of that Spitfire squad that blitzed through the 2018 playoffs has found its way within this Seoul squad.
In that same way, this Seoul Dynasty roster cannot be slept on, they can not be discounted, and they certainly cannot be looked past. They are dangerous not only because of their strength, but because they are in their own home, and we can debate on whether or not "home field" advantage plays a role in esports—even with online competition—but to diminish the pride and the added preparation they have had during the COVID-19 pandemic is failing to see the forest for the trees. However, this doesn't mean their stories are identical.
One major difference between the two runs is the amount of time given to allow the playoff metagame to proof. The 2018 Spitfire capitalised on their momentum nearly immediately. The 2020 Dynasty now have to battle against nearly four weeks of added practice as they approach the semifinal. This inherently feels problematic for the Dynasty, but with this style of argument, we completely forget that they too have added time to practice. What we can't dismiss is their very stylised take on the current metagame, favouring Roadhog and Sigma over the other normalised compositions. Being so unorthodox isn't a cure, but a blessing. Who is going to play the composition that they popularised better than them? The amount of time between the playoffs and the grand finals allows them to widen their narrow playbook and diversify.
Yes, the format has changed, the rules of the game have changed, and obviously, the metagame isn’t the same, but the message still stands; at the end of the day, this is a dangerous team, one that has to be taken seriously. Across the board, Seoul has one of, if not the, most tenured roster in the 2020 grand finals. With players dating back to winning OGN’s Overwatch APEX to obviously winning the Overwatch League, the undertone of this Seoul Dynasty roster, the roots of this tree are all based in, near, and around success. You cannot discount that, and you certainly should not sleep on a team with this much raw skill.
Seoul have the heart of a spitfire. At the centre of this dynasty are multiple champions that hold within them some of the most electric, clubbing, and brutal firepower we have within the entire Overwatch League. Forgetting them, forgetting their journey and how closely this one mimics their last is at best a slip of the mind and at worst ignorant to how tenured these players are. Regardless of how one dimensional or limited or washed up, you may think the Seoul Dynasty are, they are former champions for a reason.
They say that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Is our record player skipping beats?
Images via Blizzard Entertainment
