# 2021 Toronto Defiant season

The 2021 Toronto Defiant season will be the third season of Toronto Defiant's existence in the Overwatch League and the team's first under head coach Kim "KDG" Dong-gun.

## Preceding offseason
### Roster changes

Free agents :
| Position | Handle | Name | 2021 team | Date signed | Notes |
| Damage | Agilities | Brady Girardi | Los Angeles Valiant | December 9 | Option declined |
| Tank | Beast | Adam Denton | Toronto Defiant | November 6 | Option declined |
| Support | Kariv | Bak Young-seo | Guangzhou Charge | November 10 | Option declined |
| Support | Kruise | Harrison Pond | Young and Beautiful (OWC) | March 10 | – |
| Damage | Logix | Andreas Berghmans | Toronto Defiant | October 23 | – |
| Damage | Mangachu | Liam Campbell | – | – | – |
| Tank | Nevix | Andreas Karlsson | – | – | Option declined |
| Tank | Numlocked | Sebastian Barton | – | – | Option declined |
| Support | Roky | Park Joo-sung | – | – | – |
| Damage | Surefour | Lane Roberts | – | – | Option declined |
| Damage | Zykk | Thomas Hosono | – | – | Option declined |
| Legend  Light green background indicates a player was re-signed by the Defiant.  Light red background indicates a player departed from the Defiant. ||||||
The Defiant entered free agency with eleven free agents, seven of which became free agents due to the Defiant not exercising the option to retain the player for another year.

#### Acquisitions

The Defiant's first offseason acquisition was Park "Aztac" Jeong-su, a rookie support player coming off of an Overwatch Contenders Korea championship on team WSG Phoenix while on a loan from Uprising Academy, who was signed on November 17, 2020. Two days later, they signed An "Ansoonjae" Soon-jae, another rookie support player previously playing for Contenders team Element Mystic. On November 21, Toronto signed Kim "Sado" Su-min, a veteran tank player coming off of a season with the Philadelphia Fusion in which he was a top-five main tank player in the league. Two days later, the Defiant acquired damage player Jeong "Heesu" Hee-su from the Philadelphia Fusion. The following day, they signed Choi "Michelle" Min-hyuk, a "consistently impressive" veteran tank player coming off a 2020 Grand Finals season with the Seoul Dynasty. The Defiant made one acquisition in December; on December 11, they signed "Na1st" Lee Ho-sung, a rookie damage player specializing in projectile heroes coming from Contenders team T1. The team's final acquisition was Mun "Lastro" Jung-won, a support player who had recently been released from the Los Angeles Valiant, signing on February 10, 2021.

#### Departures

Nine of the Defiant's eleven free agents did not return, three of which signed with other teams, beginning with support player Bak "Kariv" Young-seo signing with the Guangzhou Charge on November 10, 2020. On December 9, damage player Brady "Agilities" Girardi signed with the Los Angeles Valiant. The team's final free agent to sign to another team was support player Harrison "Kruise" Pond, who signed with Overwatch Contenders team Young and Beautiful on March 10, 2021. Four of the Defiant's free agents announced their retirements in the offseason: damage player Lane "Surefour" Roberts, damage player Thomas "Zykk" Hosono, tank player Sebastian "Numlocked" Barton, and support player Park "Roky" Joo-sung. Damage player Liam "Mangachu" Campbell and tank player Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson did not sign with a team in the 2020 offseason.

## Regular season

The Defiant began their 2021 season on April 17, playing against Canadian rivals Vancouver Titans in the May Melee qualifiers. They won their opener 3–1. Despite starting their following match against the Atlanta Reign with a 0–2 deficit, Toronto defeated the Reign 3–2 to close the week undefeated.
On May 25, the Defiant announced that it had three positive COVID-19 cases within the organization, including damage player Andreas "Logix" Berghmans. Two days later, they signed Luka "Aspire" Rolovic, a damage player from Overwatch Contenders team American Tornado, on a 30-day contract.

## Final roster
### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2020 regular season:
* On May 27, the Defiant signed damage player Luka "Aspire" Rolovic on a 30-day contract.
* On June 21, tank player Adam "Beast" Denton retired.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | Pts | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| 1 | Dallas Fuel | 16 | 11 | 5 | 17 | 0.688 | 40 | 26 | 3 | +14 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 2 | Los Angeles Gladiators | 16 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 0.688 | 41 | 21 | 0 | +20 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 3 | Atlanta Reign | 16 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 0.688 | 41 | 21 | 0 | +20 | Advance to season playoffs |
| 4 | San Francisco Shock | 16 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 0.750 | 43 | 24 | 2 | +19 | Advance to play-ins |
| 5 | Houston Outlaws | 16 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 0.688 | 34 | 24 | 3 | +10 | Advance to play-ins |
| 6 | Washington Justice | 16 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 0.563 | 29 | 26 | 2 | +3 | Advance to play-ins |
| 7 | Toronto Defiant | 16 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 0.563 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 | Advance to play-ins |
| 8 | Paris Eternal | 16 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0.500 | 32 | 32 | 2 | 0 | Advance to play-ins |
| 9 | Boston Uprising | 16 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0.438 | 27 | 31 | 1 | −4 | Advance to play-ins |
| 10 | Florida Mayhem | 16 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 0.313 | 26 | 38 | 2 | −12 | |
| 11 | London Spitfire | 16 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0.063 | 12 | 47 | 1 | −35 | |
| 12 | Vancouver Titans | 16 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0.063 | 10 | 45 | 0 | −35 | |

## Game log
### Regular season

2021 game log :
May Melee
Qualifier match 1
April 17
Toronto Defiant
3
1
Vancouver Titans
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
2
Busan
1
3
Eichenwalde
2
1
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
2
2
Hanamura
1
Qualifier match 2
April 18
Toronto Defiant
3
2
Atlanta Reign
Online
6:00 pm EDT
   Details
0
Nepal
2
2
Blizzard World
3
3
Dorado
2
2
Temple of Anubis
1
2
Busan
0
Qualifier match 3
April 30
Toronto Defiant
0
3
Washington Justice
Online
6:00 pm EDT
   Details
0
Oasis
2
0
Temple of Anubis
2
0
Blizzard World
1
Qualifier match 4
May 01
London Spitfire
1
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
4:30 pm EDT
   Details
1
Lijiang Tower
2
3
Volskaya Industries
2
1
King's Row
2
2
Havana
3
Regional semifinals
May 02
Toronto Defiant
0
3
Florida Mayhem
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
0
Ilios
2
1
Temple of Anubis
2
1
King's Row
2 :
June Joust
Qualifier match 1
May 21
Paris Eternal
1
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
0
Busan
2
3
Eichenwalde
1
2
Dorado
3
1
Temple of Anubis
2
Qualifier match 2
May 22
Toronto Defiant
0
3
Boston Uprising
Online
6:00 pm EDT
   Details
0
Ilios
2
2
Numbani
3
3
Rialto
4
Qualifier match 3
May 29
San Francisco Shock
3
1
Toronto Defiant
Online
4:30 pm EDT
   Details
2
Oasis
0
1
Junkertown
2
2
Hanamura
1
3
Hollywood
1
Qualifier match 4
May 30
Toronto Defiant
1
3
Houston Outlaws
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
2
Lijiang Tower
1
0
Rialto
3
0
Volskaya Industries
2
0
Numbani
3 :
Summer Showdown
Qualifier match 1
June 26
Florida Mayhem
2
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
4:30 pm EDT
   Details
1
Ilios
2
2
Hollywood
1
3
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
1
2
Hanamura
3
0
Lijiang Tower
2
Qualifier match 2
June 27
Toronto Defiant
3
0
Vancouver Titans
Online
6:00 pm EDT
   Details
2
Oasis
1
3
Eichenwalde
0
2
Route 66
0
Qualifier match 3
July 09
Los Angeles Gladiators
3
0
Toronto Defiant
Online
4:30 pm EDT
   Details
2
Lijiang Tower
1
5
Temple of Anubis
4
1
Eichenwalde
0
Qualifier match 4
July 10
Toronto Defiant
1
3
Dallas Fuel
Online
4:30 pm EDT
   Details
0
Busan
2
1
Volskaya Industries
2
2
King's Row
1
1
Junkertown
3 :
Countdown Cup
Qualifier match 1
August 06
London Spitfire
1
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
1
Ilios
2
1
Rialto
0
1
Temple of Anubis
2
2
Numbani
3
Qualifier match 2
August 07
Toronto Defiant
3
0
Washington Justice
Online
6:00 pm EDT
   Details
2
Lijiang Tower
0
2
Havana
1
2
Hanamura
1
Qualifier match 3
August 12
Paris Eternal
2
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
1
Oasis
2
2
Volskaya Industries
3
6
King's Row
5
3
Route 66
2
1
Nepal
2
Qualifier match 4
August 14
San Francisco Shock
3
1
Toronto Defiant
Online
6:00 pm EDT
   Details
1
Busan
2
2
Hanamura
1
2
Numbani
0
Regional semifinals
August 15
Paris Eternal
2
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
2
Lijiang Tower
1
0
Volskaya Industries
1
1
Blizzard World
2
3
Rialto
2
1
Oasis
2
Regional finals
August 15
Toronto Defiant
1
3
Atlanta Reign
Online
6:15 pm EDT
   Details
1
Busan
2
3
Volskaya Industries
3
3
King's Row
5
1
Route 66
0
1
Oasis
2 :
2021 season schedule :

### Postseason

2021 playoff game log :
West Play-ins
Semifinals
September 4
Boston Uprising
0
3
Toronto Defiant
Online
5:30 pm EDT
   Details
1
Busan
2
1
Temple of Anubis
2
1
King's Row
3
Finals
September 5
Toronto Defiant
0
3
San Francisco Shock
Online
3:00 pm EDT
   Details
0
Oasis
2
1
Volskaya Industries
2
0
Numbani
3 :