2019 London Spitfire season

The 2019 London Spitfire season was the second season of the London Spitfire's existence in the Overwatch League. The Spitfire entered the season as the defending Overwatch League champions after winning the 2018 Grand Finals.

2019 London Spitfire season
Head coachKim Kwang-bok (rel. 24 July)
General managerLee Seung-hwan
OwnerJack Etienne
DivisionAtlantic
Results
Record16–12 (.571)
Place
Stage 1 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Stage 2 PlayoffsQuarterfinals
Stage 3 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Season PlayoffsLower Round 1
Total Earnings$225,000

Following a 0–3 loss to the Seoul Dynasty in Week 5 of Stage 1, the Spitfire fell to 3–4 and missed out on the Stage 1 Playoffs. London found success in Stage 2, as the team posted a 6–1 record and qualified for the Stage 2 Playoffs; however, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Hangzhou Spark after losing 1–3. The Spitfire parted ways with head coach Kwang-bok "Coach815" Kim in the middle of Stage 3, leaving the team without a head coach. A 0–4 loss to the Los Angeles Valiant in Stage 3 eliminated London from Stage 3 playoff contention as the team went on to post a 3–4 record for that stage. After a 4–3 win–loss record in Stage 4, London finished the regular season with a 16–12 record and qualified for the Play-In Tournament for a chance to make it to the season playoffs.

London took down the Shanghai Dragons 4–3 in an OWL record eight-map series to qualify for the season playoffs. In the first round, London was defeated by the New York Excelsior, 1–4, sending the team to the lower bracket. A 0–4 loss to the San Francisco Shock ended the Spitfire's playoff run.

Preceding offseason

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Player re-signings

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From 1 August to 9 September 2018, all Overwatch League teams that competed in the 2018 season could choose to extend their team's players' contracts. London was the only team to re-sign all of their players; during this time, the team also signed their new head coach, Kim "Coach815" Kwang-bok.[1]

Free agency

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All non-expansion teams could not enter the free agency period until 8 October; they were able to sign members from their respective academy team and make trades until then. On 15 October, Spitfire transferred Wonsik "Closer" Jung to Dallas Fuel.[2] A day later, London made their first free agency acquisition, signing former Element Mystic and DPS player Hee "Guard" Lee-dong.[3] The next day, Spitfire signed Jeong "Krillin" Yung-hoon, a relatively unknown player who had most recently played in the Overwatch Open Division.[4]

Regular season

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The London Spitfire walking to the stage for their first match of Stage 4.

London opened their season on 14 February against the Philadelphia Fusion – a rematch of the 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals. The team went on to lose the match by a score of 1–3.[5] The Spitfire finished Stage 1 with a 3–4 record, failing to advance to the Stage playoffs.[6]

In the middle of Stage 2, London signed support player Song "Quatermain" Ji-hoon, who had previously played for Cloud9 Kongdoo.[7] London traveled to the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas for the Dallas Fuel Homestand Weekend in week four of Stage 2. The team first took on the Paris Eternal on 20 April; after an hour-long power outage delayed the match, London swept the Eternal 4–0, improving their undefeated stage record to 5–0.[8] The Spitfire's second match of the weekend was against the Chengdu Hunters a day later. The Spitfire were handed their first loss of Stage 2, losing the match by a 1–3 scoreline.[9] London finished Stage 2 with a 6–1 record, giving them the second seed Stage 2 Playoffs.[10] London faced the seventh-seeded Hangzhou Spark in the Stage 2 Quarterfinals on 9 May; the Spitfire lost the match 1–3.[11]

In 24 July, in the middle of Stage 3, the Spitfire parted ways with head coach Kwang-bok "Coach815" Kim, leaving the team without a head coach.[12] The team finished Stage 3 with a 3–4 record.

The Spitfire's first match of Stage 4, along with the first match with an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, was against the Dallas Fuel on 26 July; the team went on to a 3–1 win.[13]

Postseason

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Play-In Tournament

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Finishing in seventh place in the regular season standings, the Spitfire qualified for the Play-In Tournament for the chance to qualify for the season playoffs. The team had a first-round bye in the tournament and faced the Shanghai Dragons on 31 August. The Spitfire looked dominant in the first two maps, completely shutting down the Dragons, to jump to an early 2–0 lead. However, the Dragon's DPS duo Yang "DDing" Jin-hyeok on Pharah and Jin "YoungJIN" Yong-jin on Doomfist came alive thereafter, helping Shanghai to claim the third map, Hanamura; with a tie on map six, King's Row, the team eventually tie the series 3–3 after seven maps. London sent the match to Ilios for the final map of the series. Both teams managed to take a point in the map, but London's coordination won out in the end, as they won 4–3 loss in an Overwatch League record 8-map series to qualify for the season playoffs.[14]

Playoffs

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With the win in the Play-In Tournament, the Spitfire qualified as the seventh seed in the season playoffs. London began their playoff run with a match against the second-seeded New York Excelsior on 6 September. New York took the first map, Busan, to take a quick 1–0 lead in the series. For the second map, London selected Numbani. Both teams were able to complete the map on their respective attacks, but New York came out on top in overtime rounds to take a two-map lead. After a match break, the Spitfire selected Temple of Anubis for map three; again, both teams were able to complete the map on their first attacks. While London was able to take the first point on their second attack, New York's but up a solid defensive performance and prevented the Spitfire from completing the map a second time, leading to a third map win for the Excelsior. For map four, the match went to Watchpoint: Gibraltar. London took a win on the map to close the gap to 3–1. However, New York won in two rounds on Ilios to win the match. The 1–4 loss sent the Spitfire to the lower bracket.[15]

For the first round of the lower bracket, London took on the third-seeded San Francisco Shock the following day. Despite London DPS Park "Profit" Joon-yeong putting on a stellar performance on Pharah throughout the match, the Shock were able to overcome everything London threw at them. Shock DPS Kwon "Striker" Nam-joo and main support Grant "Moth" Espe performed extremely well throughout the match to help the Shock rebound from their previous match, as the handed London a 0–4 sweep, ending their playoff run.[16]

Final roster

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2019 London Spitfire roster
Players Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality
Damage 10 Guard Lee Hee-dong South Korea
Damage 13 Profit Park Jun-yeung South Korea
Damage 20 birdring Kim Ji-hyeok South Korea
Tank 7 Gesture Hong Jae-hee South Korea
Tank 19 Fury Kim Jun-ho South Korea
Support 8 NUS Kim Jong-seok South Korea
Support 11 Krillin Jeong Yung-hoon South Korea
Support 22 Bdosin Choi Seung-tae South Korea
Support 27 Quatermain Song Ji-hoon South Korea
Head coach
  • Vacant

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (2W) Two-way player
  •   Substitute
  •   Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: 26 April 2019.

Transactions

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

  • On 26 April, Spitfire signed Song "Quatermain" Ji-hoon.[7]

Standings

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Record by stage

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Stage Pld W L Pct MW ML MT MD Pos
1 7 3 4 .429 12 16 2 -4 13
2 7 6 1 .857 21 5 2 +16 3
3 7 3 4 .429 11 17 1 -6 14
4[a] 7 4 3 .571 14 14 1 ±0 9
Overall 28 16 12 .571 58 52 6 +6 7
  Qualified for playoffs •   Qualified for play-in tournament
  1. ^ No stage playoffs were held for Stage 4.

League

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Pos Div Team Pld W L PCT MW ML MT MD Qualification
1 PAC Vancouver Titans 28 25 3 0.893 89 28 0 +61 Advance to season playoffs (division leaders)
2 ATL New York Excelsior 28 22 6 0.786 78 38 3 +40
3 PAC San Francisco Shock 28 23 5 0.821 92 26 0 +66 Advance to season playoffs
4 PAC Hangzhou Spark 28 18 10 0.643 64 52 4 +12
5 PAC Los Angeles Gladiators 28 17 11 0.607 67 48 3 +19
6 ATL Atlanta Reign 28 16 12 0.571 69 50 1 +19
7 ATL London Spitfire 28 16 12 0.571 58 52 6 +6 Advance to play-ins
8 PAC Seoul Dynasty 28 15 13 0.536 64 50 3 +14
9 PAC Guangzhou Charge 28 15 13 0.536 61 57 1 +4
10 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 28 15 13 0.536 57 60 3 −3
11 PAC Shanghai Dragons 28 13 15 0.464 51 61 3 −10
12 PAC Chengdu Hunters 28 13 15 0.464 55 66 1 −11
13 PAC Los Angeles Valiant 28 12 16 0.429 56 61 4 −5
14 ATL Paris Eternal 28 11 17 0.393 46 67 3 −21
15 PAC Dallas Fuel 28 10 18 0.357 43 70 3 −27
16 ATL Houston Outlaws 28 9 19 0.321 47 69 3 −22
17 ATL Toronto Defiant 28 8 20 0.286 39 72 4 −33
18 ATL Washington Justice 28 8 20 0.286 39 72 6 −33
19 ATL Boston Uprising 28 8 20 0.286 41 78 2 −37
20 ATL Florida Mayhem 28 6 22 0.214 36 75 5 −39
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head map differential


Game log

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Regular season

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2019 game log (Regular season record: 16–12)
Stage 1 (3–4)
1 14 February Philadelphia Fusion 3 1 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
   Recap Blizzard Arena
2 Ilios 1
3 Hollywood 2
4 Volskaya Industries 5
1 Rialto 0
2 16 February London Spitfire 1 3 Paris Eternal Burbank, CA
   Recap Blizzard Arena
0 Ilios 2
2 King's Row 1
2 Volskaya Industries 3
0 Route 66 3
3 21 February 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
4 24 February Hangzhou Spark 1 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
   Recap Blizzard Arena
0 Ilios 2
1 Numbani 2
0 Horizon Lunar Colony 2
3 Dorado 2
5 1 March Los Angeles Gladiators 1 2 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
   Recap Blizzard Arena
1 Busan 2
3 Numbani 3
3 Volskaya Industries 2
1 Dorado 2
6 10 March London Spitfire 2 3 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA
   Recap Blizzard Arena
2 Nepal 0
0 King's Row 3
1 Temple of Anubis 0
0 Route 66 3
1 Ilios 2
7 16 March London Spitfire 0 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA
   Recap Blizzard Arena
1 Nepal 2
2 Hollywood 3
2 Temple of Anubis 2
2 Route 66 3

Stage 2 (6–1)
8 5 April London Spitfire 2 1 Florida Mayhem Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena
2 Lijang Tower 0
2 Hanamura 3
3 Eichenwalde 3
1 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 0
9 7 April Atlanta Reign 0 4 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
1:45 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena
0 Oasis 2
1 Temple of Anubis 2
3 Blizzard World 4
3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 4
10 13 April London Spitfire 2 1 Philadelphia Fusion Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Recap Blizzard Arena
2 Lijiang Tower 1
2 Hanamura 2
3 Blizzard World 4
3 Rialto 2
11 20 April London Spitfire 4 0 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Recap Blizzard Arena
2 Busan 0
3 Paris 2
6 King's Row 5
2 Junkertown 0
12 27 April Paris Eternal 0 4 London Spitfire Allen, TX
9:00 am PST    Recap Allen Event Center
0 Busan 2
1 Temple of Anubis 2
4 King's Row 5
1 Junkertown 3
13 28 April Chengdu Hunters 3 1 London Spitfire Allen, TX
11:45 am PST    Recap Allen Event Center
2 Oasis 1
4 Paris 5
3 Eichenwalde 0
2 Rialto 1
14 4 May London Spitfire 4 0 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Recap Blizzard Arena
2 Lijiang Tower 0
2 Hanamura 0
3 King's Row 2
2 Junkertown 0

Stage 2 Playoffs
Quarterfinals 9 May Hangzhou Spark 3 1 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
8:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
1 Oasis 2
3 Blizzard World 0
1 Hanamura 0
1 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 0

Stage 3 (3–4)
15 7 June Boston Uprising 0 4 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Oasis 2
0 Horizon Lunar Colony 1
1 Eichenwalde 2
1 Dorado 2
16 9 June New York Excelsior 4 0 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena
2 Ilios 0
1 Horizon Lunar Colony 0
4 Hollywood 3
3 Havana 0
17 14 June Toronto Defiant 1 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
2 Ilios 1
0 Volskaya Industries 1
3 Hollywood 4
2 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3
18 21 June London Spitfire 2 3 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
1 Nepal 2
4 Paris 3
2 Eichenwalde 3
5 Dorado 4
0 Ilios 2
19 22 June 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
20 28 June London Spitfire 0 4 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA
5:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
1 Nepal 2
3 Volskaya Industries 4
0 Hollywood 3
0 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3
21 30 June London Spitfire 0 4 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA
1:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Oasis 2
5 Horizon Lunar Colony 6
0 Numbani 1
4 Havana 5

Stage 4 (4–3)
22 26 July Dallas Fuel 1 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
2 Ilios 1
1 Hanamura 2
2 King's Row 3
1 Route 66 2
23 28 July London Spitfire 3 1 Toronto Defiant Burbank, CA
1:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Ilios 2
1 Temple of Anubis 0
3 Hollywood 0
3 Junkertown 2
24 1 August Guangzhou Charge 1 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
1 Lijiang Tower 2
3 Hanamura 4
1 Blizzard World 3
2 Havana 1
25 3 August Florida Mayhem 3 0 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
1:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
2 Lijiang Tower 0
1 Volskaya Industries 0
3 Blizzard World 3
3 Junkertown 2
26 8 August London Spitfire 2 3 Vancouver Titans Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
2 Busan 0
1 Temple of Anubis 2
1 Hollywood 0
4 Route 66 5
1 Ilios 2
27 10 August Houston Outlaws 1 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Lijiang Tower 2
3 Volskaya Industries 4
2 King's Row 3
1 Route 66 0
28 18 August London Spitfire 0 4 Atlanta Reign Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Busan 2
0 Hanamura 2
0 Blizzard World 3
2 Havana 3

Playoffs

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2019 playoff game log
Play-In Tournament (1–0)
Quarterfinals   First-round bye  


Semifinals 31 August Shanghai Dragons 3 4 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Busan 2
0 Numbani 1
1 Hanamura 0
4 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 5
2 Lijiang Tower 1
3 King's Row 3
3 Dorado 1
1 Ilios 2

Season Playoffs (0–2)
First round 6 September London Spitfire 1 4 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
0 Busan 2
3 Numbani 4
3 Temple of Anubis 4
2 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 1
0 Ilios 2
Losers Round 1 7 September London Spitfire 0 4 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA
9:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena
1 Busan 2
2 Numbani 3
1 Horizon Lunar Colony 2
1 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 2

Awards

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On 8 May, Kim "Fury" Jun-Ho, Hong "Gesture" Jae-Hui, and Park "Profit" Jun-Young were named as a reserves for the 2019 Overwatch League All-Star Game.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Hangen, Christopher (14 September 2019). "ESPN Stats & Info: OWL signing window analysis". ESPN. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  2. ^ Binkowski, Justin (15 October 2018). "Dallas Fuel acquire Closer from London Spitfire for Overwatch League season 2". Dot Esports. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. ^ O'Brien, Joe (16 October 2018). "Overwatch League Champions London Spitfire announce first new addition for Season Two". Dexerto. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. ^ Rodriguez, Veronika (17 October 2018). "London Spitfire Signs Newcomer Krillin Ahead of Overwatch League Season 2". DBLTAP. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  5. ^ Richardson, Liz (14 February 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion take down London Spitfire in Overwatch League grand finals rematch". Dot Esports. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  6. ^ August, Charlotte (17 March 2019). "Overwatch League Recap | Stage 1 | Week 5 | Day 1". ESTNN. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b Richardson, Liz (26 April 2019). "London Spitfire signs Quatermain". Dot Esports. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  8. ^ Geracie, Nick (27 April 2019). "London Spitfire shakes off power outage delay, sweeps Paris Eternal". Inven Global. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  9. ^ Rand, Emily; Torres, Xander; Qu, Bonnie (30 April 2019). "Overwatch League power rankings through Stage 2, Week 4". ESPN. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  10. ^ Bower, Steven (4 May 2019). "Overwatch League Recap: London Spitfire vs. Houston Outlaws". The Game Haus. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  11. ^ Cooney, Bill (10 May 2019). "Unfortunate C9 leads to London suffering tragic upset in Overwatch League playoff match". Dexerto. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  12. ^ Heinisch, Sascha (24 July 2019). "London Spitfire releases Coach815". Upcomer. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  13. ^ Katherine, Tory (29 July 2019). "Exciting Recap of Stage 4 Week 1". Overklass. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  14. ^ Richardson, Liz (31 August 2019). "London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty advance to Overwatch League 2019 season playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Reign upset Shock to advance in Overwatch League playoffs". ESPN. Reuters. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  16. ^ Richardson, Liz (7 September 2019). "Seoul Dynasty and London Spitfire eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  17. ^ Chillerón, Lucas (8 May 2019). "OWL All-Star event lineup finally complete with reserve players announced". Daily Esports. Retrieved 12 June 2019.