# 2018 Seoul Dynasty season

The 2018 Seoul Dynasty season was the first season of the Seoul Dynasty's existence in the Overwatch League. The team finished with a regular season record of 22–18, placing them eighth overall, behind the Houston Outlaws due to tiebreakers, who had the same record. Seoul did not qualify for any of the Stage Playoffs and did not qualify for the Season Playoffs.

## Preceding offseason

On August 21, 2017, the team announced the acquisition of the players and coaching staff of Korean Overwatch esports team Lunatic-Hai, which consisted of the following players:
* Kim "EscA" In-jae
* Ryu "ryujehong" Je-hong
* Yang "tobi" Jin-mo
* Kim "zunba" Joon-hyeok
* Moon "gido" Gi-do
* Gong "Miro" Jin-hyuk
In September, the team signed an additional coach in veteran Kim "nuGget" Yo-han. In late October, they revealed 3 additional players to their Seoul-based roster, Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun, Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom, and Koo "xepheR" Jae-mo. On October 27, the addition of Choi "Wekeed" Seok-woo was broadcast in the Dynasty's roster preview video. The final two members for the inaugural season, Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok and Kim "KuKi" Dae-kuk, were revealed by Blizzard in November. Before the season started, Kim "EscA" In-jae retired.

## Review
### Regular season

The Dynasty began the first stage of the regular season well, winning their first five games. However, after key losses to New York Excelsior, London Spitfire, and Los Angeles Valiant they fell out of Stage 1 playoff contention and finished the stage in fifth place, sparking discussions about a disappointing start to the season for a team favored to win it. They went on to finish fourth in the second stage as well, once again missing the stage playoffs. After the stage playoffs were expanded to include the team in fourth place, the Dynasty were predicted to be able to clinch a playoff spot thanks to their consistent fourth-place finishes in the prior stages, though their inability to defeat the top placing teams in the league brought up concerns over team management. With a rocky start to the third stage, coverage for the Dynasty shifted towards continued failure, with an article by ESPN's Emily Rand stating "Seoul's dynasty is already starting to crumble."
They once again failed to reach the playoffs in both the third and fourth stages of the regular season, going 5–5 in Stage 3 and 3–7 in Stage 4. Falling further behind the top teams in map differential. After finishing all four stages with worsening map scores, starting the first stage with a map differential of +9 and ending the last stage with a map differential of -6, the Dynasty fell out of season playoffs contention and finished the season in eighth place overall with a record of 22–18, a far cry from the expected and predicted success.
In response to their inability to clinch a playoff spot, the team underwent large coaching and staffing changes in July.

## Final roster
### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:
* On February 26, Dynasty signed Heo "Gambler" Jin-woo.
* On March 30, Dynasty transferred Chae "Bunny" Jun-hyeok to Los Angeles Valiant.

## Standings
### League

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| 1 | ATL | New York Excelsior | 40 | 34 | 6 | 0.850 | 126 | 43 | 4 | +83 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
| 2 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 40 | 27 | 13 | 0.675 | 100 | 64 | 7 | +36 | Advance to season playoffs semifinals |
| 3 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 40 | 26 | 14 | 0.650 | 99 | 71 | 3 | +28 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 4 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 40 | 25 | 15 | 0.625 | 96 | 72 | 3 | +24 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 5 | ATL | London Spitfire | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.600 | 102 | 69 | 3 | +33 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 6 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0.600 | 93 | 80 | 2 | +13 | Advance to season playoffs quarterfinals |
| 7 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 94 | 77 | 2 | +17 | |
| 8 | PAC | Seoul Dynasty | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 91 | 78 | 3 | +13 | |
| 9 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 40 | 17 | 23 | 0.425 | 77 | 84 | 5 | −7 | |
| 10 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 40 | 12 | 28 | 0.300 | 58 | 100 | 7 | −42 | |
| 11 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 40 | 7 | 33 | 0.175 | 42 | 120 | 5 | −78 | |
| 12 | PAC | Shanghai Dragons | 40 | 0 | 40 | 0.000 | 21 | 141 | 2 | −120 | |

## Game log
### Preseason

2018 preseason game log :
Preseason (3–0)
1
December 6
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Shanghai Dragons
Burbank, CA
2
December 8
Seoul Dynasty
2
1
Houston Outlaws
Burbank, CA
3
December 9
Seoul Dynasty
3
1
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA :

### Regular season

2018 game log (Regular season record: 22–18) :
Stage 1 (7–3)
1
January 10
Dallas Fuel
1
2
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
2
January 13
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
3
January 17
Florida Mayhem
0
4
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
4
January 19
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Boston Uprising
Burbank, CA
5
January 24
Shanghai Dragons
1
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
6
January 26
Seoul Dynasty
2
3
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA
7
February 01
London Spitfire
4
0
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
8
February 02
Seoul Dynasty
3
2
Houston Outlaws
Burbank, CA
9
February 07
Los Angeles Valiant
3
0
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
10
February 09
Seoul Dynasty
3
2
San Francisco Shock
Burbank, CA :
Stage 2 (7–3)
11
February 21
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
12
February 23
San Francisco Shock
1
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
13
February 28
Seoul Dynasty
3
1
Dallas Fuel
Burbank, CA
14
March 02
Los Angeles Gladiators
1
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
15
March 07
Seoul Dynasty
3
1
Shanghai Dragons
Burbank, CA
16
March 08
Philadelphia Fusion
1
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
17
March 14
New York Excelsior
3
2
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
18
March 17
Seoul Dynasty
0
4
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA
19
March 22
Houston Outlaws
3
1
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
20
March 23
Seoul Dynasty
3
1
Florida Mayhem
Burbank, CA :
Stage 3 (5–5)
21
April 04
Los Angeles Valiant
4
0
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
22
April 06
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
San Francisco Shock
Burbank, CA
23
April 11
Dallas Fuel
2
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
24
April 13
Seoul Dynasty
2
3
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
25
April 18
Shanghai Dragons
1
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
26
April 20
Boston Uprising
2
1
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
27
April 26
Seoul Dynasty
3
2
Philadelphia Fusion
Burbank, CA
28
April 28
Seoul Dynasty
0
4
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA
29
May 04
London Spitfire
3
2
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
30
May 05
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Houston Outlaws
Burbank, CA :
Stage 4 (3–7)
31
May 16
Seoul Dynasty
2
3
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
32
May 18
San Francisco Shock
3
1
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
33
May 25
New York Excelsior
4
0
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
34
May 26
Seoul Dynasty
2
3
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA
35
May 30
Seoul Dynasty
4
0
Shanghai Dragons
Burbank, CA
36
June 01
Florida Mayhem
2
3
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
37
June 06
Seoul Dynasty
1
3
Boston Uprising
Burbank, CA
38
June 08
Philadelphia Fusion
3
2
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA
39
June 13
Seoul Dynasty
3
1
Dallas Fuel
Burbank, CA
40
June 15
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
1
Seoul Dynasty
Burbank, CA :