# 2018 London Spitfire season

The 2018 London Spitfire season was the first season of the London Spitfire's existence in the Overwatch League. The team finished with a regular season record of 24–16, which was the fifth best in the Overwatch League.
London qualified for the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Playoffs. In the stage 1 playoffs, London defeated the Houston Outlaws in the semifinals and New York Excelsior in the finals. The team lost in the Stage 2 semifinals to the Philadelphia Fusion. The team also qualified for the Season Playoffs, in which they won in the Grand Finals against the Philadelphia Fusion.

## Preceding offseason

Cloud9 was awarded the London slot for an OWL franchise on 10 August 2017 and was later named the London Spitfire. Shortly afterwards, they disclosed their 12-player inaugural season roster, the maximum permitted, which would be entirely composed of the following South Korean players:
* Kim "birdring" Ji-hyeok
* Park "Profit" Joon-yeong
* Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun
* Lee "Hooreg" Dong-eun
* Hong "Gesture" Jae-hui
* Baek "Fissure" Chan-hyung
* Choi "Bdosin" Seung-tae
* Kim "NUS" Jong-seok
* Jung "Closer" Won-sik
* Jo "HaGoPeun" Hyeon-woo
* Kim "Fury" Jun-ho
* Seong "WooHyaL" Seung-hyun
The roster would mainly be an amalgamation of their current Cloud9 KONGDOO core and OGN's Overwatch APEX Season 4 champions GC Busan.

## Review
### Regular season

On 11 January, the Spitfire played their first regular season Overwatch League match in a 3–1 victory over the Florida Mayhem. They would end Stage 1 of the 2018 Season with a 7–3 record, earning them the third and final spot in the Stage 1 Playoffs. The team then became the first-ever stage playoffs champions, after achieving victories over the Houston Outlaws (3–1) and the New York Excelsior (3–2) in a reverse sweep.
On 7 March 2018, midway through Stage 2, the Spitfire parted ways with head coach Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon for undisclosed reasons. The team finished Stage 2 with an improved 8–2 record and attained another stage playoffs berth. However, they fell short to the Philadelphia Fusion in a thrilling 2–3 semi-finals series.
However, after stage 2, the Spitfire failed to make another stage playoffs, going 5–5 in stage 3 and 4–6 in stage 4. They had to bank on their earlier results to edge them over the finish line. They would end the season with a 24–16 record, good for 5th place and a spot in the postseason where they would face the Los Angeles Gladiators.

### Playoffs

London lost their first postseason matchup against the Gladiators on 11 July by a score of 0–3 in the quarterfinals. The Spitfire turned it around the next two games against the Gladiators, winning in 3–0 sweeps in matches two and three and advancing the team to the semifinals. London won both games against the Los Angeles Valiant in the semifinals, winning 3–0 in match one and 3–1 in match two. London claimed the 2018 Overwatch League championship after defeating the Philadelphia Fusion on 27 and 28 July by scores of 3–1 and 3–0, respectively.

## Final roster
### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:
* On 20 February, Spitfire transferred Baek "Fissure" Chan-hyung to Los Angeles Gladiators.
* On 21 February, Spitfire released Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun.
* On 8 March, Spitfire signed Hwang "TiZi" Jang-hyeon.
* On 18 June, Spitfire released Jo "HaGoPeun" Hyeon-woo, Hwang "TiZi" Jang-hyeon, Seong "WooHyaL" Seung-hyun, and Lee "Hooreg" Dong-eun.

## 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 (1–1)
1
7 December
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
2
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA
2
8 December
San Francisco Shock
0
4
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA :

### Regular season

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

### Playoffs

2018 playoff game log :
Stage 1 Playoffs (2–0)
Semifinals
10 February
London Spitfire
3
1
Houston Outlaws
Burbank, CA
Finals
10 February
London Spitfire
3
2
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA :
Stage 2 Playoffs (0–1)
Semifinals
25 March
Philadelphia Fusion
3
2
London Spitfire
Burbank, CA :
Season Playoffs (6–1)
Quarterfinals Match 1
11 July
London Spitfire
0
3
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
Quarterfinals Match 2
14 July
London Spitfire
3
0
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
Quarterfinals Match 3
14 July
London Spitfire
3
0
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
Semifinals Match 1
18 July
London Spitfire
3
1
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
Semifinals Match 2
20 July
London Spitfire
3
0
Los Angeles Valiant
Burbank, CA
Grand Finals Match 1
27 July
Philadelphia Fusion
1
3
London Spitfire
Brooklyn, NY
Grand Finals Match 2
28 July
Philadelphia Fusion
0
3
London Spitfire
Brooklyn, NY :