# 2019 Washington Justice season

The 2019 Washington Justice season was the first season of Washington Justice's existence in the Overwatch League as one of eight expansion franchises added for the 2019 season. The Justice struggled throughout the first three stages of the season, posting a 2–19 record in the first 21 games. However, the Justice flourished after the League's implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock for Stage 4, as the team lost only one match in their final seven games to finish the season in 17th place with an 8–20 record.

## Preceding offseason

On September 12, Washington announced the signing of former New York Excelsior coach Kim "WizardHyeong" Hyeong-seok as the team's head coach. Eight days later, Washington signed Molly "AVALLA" Kim as an analyst; AVALLA is the first female coach to be signed in the history of the Overwatch League. Justice announced its inaugural season starting roster between September and December, consisting of the following players:
* Song "Janus" Junhwa,
* Kim "Sansam" Hyang-ki,
* Ethan "Stratus" Yankel,
* Corey "Corey" Nigra,
* Chon "Ado" Gi-hyeon,
* Moon "Gido" Gi-do,
* Riley "Fahzix" Taylor, and
* Cho "Hyeonu" Hyeon-woo.

## Regular season

The Justice's first regular season match was against the New York Excelsior on February 16; Washington lost the series 1–3. The team lost their first six matches of the season. Washington's final match of Stage 1 was against the Florida Mayhem on March 17; the Justice won 3–2, giving the franchise their first-ever win, and ended the stage with a 1–6 record. The following day, the Justice acquired support player Hong "ArK" Yeon-jun from New York Excelsior.
On April 19, in the middle of Stage 2, the Justice acquired support Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews from the San Francisco Shock. In Stage 2, the Justice again lost their first six matches. Their final match of Stage 2 was against the Boston Uprising. Washing took a 3–2 win and finished Stage 2 with a 1–6 record.
In Stage 3, week 2, the Justice faced the Hangzhou Spark on June 15. In the match, Washington was handed one of the most dominant map losses in the history of the Overwatch League on Hollywood, as the team only secured two eliminations in the entire map. The Justice lost all seven of their matches in Stage 3.
Prior to the start of Stage 4, which would include the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, the Justice signed tanks Elliot "ELLIVOTE" Vaneryd and Lukas "LullSiSH" Wiklund from the Dallas Fuel's academy team Team Envy. The Justice's first match of Stage 4 was against the Toronto Defiant on July 26; Washington came out of the match with a 3–1 victory, ending their seven-game losing streak. The following week, the team took on the league-leading Vancouver Titans. In a major upset, the Justice handed the Titans their first ever 0–4 loss and only their second loss in the entire regular season. DPS Corey "Corey" Nigra led the Justice throughout the match and broke the Overwatch League record for critical hit accuracy while playing as the hero Hanzo. The team continued to thrive under the 2-2-2 rule, going undefeated in their first four matches of the stage. The winning streak increased to five after defeating the Houston Outlaws on August 11. The Justice's first loss of the stage was on August 16 against the Atlanta Reign. The team's final match of the regular season was against the Paris Eternal two days later; Washington won 3–1.

## Final roster
### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:
* On March 18, Justice acquired Hong "ArK Yeon-jun from New York Excelsior.
* On April 19, Justice acquired Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews from San Francisco Shock.
* On July 14, Justice signed Elliot "ELLIVOTE" Vaneryd and Lukas "LullSiSH" Wiklund.
* On August 12, Justice released Riley "Fahzix" Taylor.

## Standings
### Record by stage

* ↑ No stage playoffs were held for Stage 4.

### League

| Pos | Div | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to season playoffs (division leaders) |
| 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 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 5 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0.607 | 67 | 48 | 3 | +19 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 6 | ATL | Atlanta Reign | 28 | 16 | 12 | 0.571 | 69 | 50 | 1 | +19 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 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 | Advance to play-ins |
| 9 | PAC | Guangzhou Charge | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0.536 | 61 | 57 | 1 | +4 | Advance to play-ins |
| 10 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0.536 | 57 | 60 | 3 | −3 | Advance to play-ins |
| 11 | PAC | Shanghai Dragons | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0.464 | 51 | 61 | 3 | −10 | Advance to play-ins |
| 12 | PAC | Chengdu Hunters | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0.464 | 55 | 66 | 1 | −11 | Advance to play-ins |
| 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 | |

## Game log

2019 game log (Regular season record: 8–20) :
Stage 1 (1–6)
1
February 16
Washington Justice
1
3
New York Excelsior
Burbank, CA
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
0
Ilios
2
0
King's Row
1
1
Horizon Lunar Colony
0
1
Rialto
2
2
February 21
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
3
February 28
Washington Justice
1
3
Philadelphia Fusion
Burbank, CA
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Ilios
1
1
Hollywood
2
3
Temple of Anubis
4
1
Route 66
3
4
March 02
San Francisco Shock
4
0
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Nepal
1
3
Numbani
2
2
Temple of Anubis
0
3
Route 66
1
5
March 09
Seoul Dynasty
3
1
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Busan
0
4
Hollywood
3
3
Temple of Anubis
2
3
Dorado
4
6
March 16
Washington Justice
1
2
Paris Eternal
Burbank, CA
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
0
Busan
2
3
King's Row
3
3
Volskaya Industries
2
2
Dorado
3
7
March 17
Washington Justice
3
2
Florida Mayhem
Burbank, CA
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Nepal
1
3
Hollywood
2
4
Volskaya Industries
5
4
Dorado
5
2
Ilios
1 :
Stage 2 (1–6)
8
April 05
Washington Justice
1
3
Toronto Defiant
Burbank, CA
5:45 pm PST
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
0
Lijang Tower
2
0
Hanamura
1
2
Eichenwalde
3
3
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
2
9
April 07
Washington Justice
1
3
Chengdu Hunters
Burbank, CA
5:15 pm PST
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
0
Oasis
2
1
Temple of Anubis
0
0
King's Row
1
3
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
4
10
April 11
New York Excelsior
4
0
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
5:30 pm PST
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Lijiang Tower
0
3
Hanamura
2
3
Eichenwalde
1
3
Junkertown
2
11
April 14
Atlanta Reign
3
1
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
1:30 pm PST
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Busan
0
0
Paris
1
2
Eichenwalde
1
4
Rialto
3
12
April 19
Los Angeles Valiant
3
1
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
7:00 pm PST
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Oasis
0
3
Temple of Anubis
4
3
King's Row
2
3
Rialto
0
13
May 03
Shanghai Dragons
3
1
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
8:30 pm PST
   Recap
Blizzard Arena
2
Busan
0
2
Paris
1
0
Blizzard World
1
2
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
1
14
May 05
Washington Justice
3
2
Boston Uprising
Burbank, CA
1:30 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
0
Lijiang Tower
2
0
Temple of Anubis
2
2
Blizzard World
1
4
Rialto
3
2
Busan
1 :
Stage 3 (0–7)
15
June 09
Washington Justice
0
3
Dallas Fuel
Burbank, CA
3:30 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
0
Oasis
2
4
Volskaya Industries
4
2
Eichenwalde
3
0
Havana
3
16
June 15
Washington Justice
0
3
Hangzhou Spark
Burbank, CA
12:00 noon PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
0
Ilios
2
1
Paris
1
0
Hollywood
3
0
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
3
17
June 16
Washington Justice
0
4
Los Angeles Gladiators
Burbank, CA
5:15 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
0
Nepal
2
0
Horizon Lunar Colony
2
0
Numbani
1
1
Havana
3
18
June 22
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
19
June 28
Houston Outlaws
3
0
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
9:00 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
2
Oasis
0
4
Volskaya Industries
4
3
Eichenwalde
2
1
Dorado
0
20
July 06
Philadelphia Fusion
3
1
Washington Justice
Atlanta, GA
10:15 am PST
   Details
Cobb Energy Center
1
Ilios
2
3
Horizon Lunar Colony
2
3
Hollywood
1
3
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
2
21
July 07
Washington Justice
0
4
Guangzhou Charge
Atlanta, GA
11:00 am PST
   Details
Cobb Energy Center
1
Nepal
2
0
Volskaya Industries
2
0
Eichenwalde
3
2
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
3 :
Stage 4 (6–1)
22
July 26
Toronto Defiant
1
3
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
1
Busan
2
2
Temple of Anubis
1
1
Blizzard World
2
2
Havana
3
23
August 01
Florida Mayhem
2
3
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
5:45 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
2
Busan
1
2
Volskaya Industries
0
1
King's Row
2
0
Havana
3
0
Ilios
2
24
August 04
Vancouver Titans
0
4
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
3:30 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
0
Ilios
2
1
Volskaya Industries
2
3
Hollywood
4
0
Havana
3
25
August 09
Boston Uprising
1
3
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
1
Lijiang Tower
2
1
Temple of Anubis
2
2
Blizzard World
1
1
Route 66
2
26
August 11
Washington Justice
3
2
Houston Outlaws
Burbank, CA
1:45 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
1
Lijiang Tower
2
2
Hanamura
1
1
King's Row
2
3
Route 66
2
2
Busan
1
27
August 16
Washington Justice
1
2
Atlanta Reign
Burbank, CA
4:00 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
1
Busan
2
1
Hanamura
1
1
Hollywood
0
2
Junkertown
3
28
August 18
Paris Eternal
1
3
Washington Justice
Burbank, CA
1:45 pm PST
   Details
Blizzard Arena
1
Ilios
2
1
Hanamura
2
6
King's Row
5
1
Junkertown
2 :