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.

2018 London Spitfire season
Overwatch League champions
Spitfire after winning the 2018 Grand Finals
Head coachLee Beom-joon (rel. 7 Mar)
OwnerJack Etienne
DivisionPacific
Results
Record24–16 (.600)
Place
Stage 1 PlayoffsChampions
Stage 2 PlayoffsSemifinals
Stage 3 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Stage 4 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Season PlayoffsChampions
Total Earnings$1,200,000

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.[1][2] Shortly afterwards, they disclosed their 12-player inaugural season roster, the maximum permitted, which would be entirely composed of the following South Korean players:[3]

The roster would mainly be an amalgamation of their current Cloud9 KONGDOO core and OGN's Overwatch APEX Season 4 champions GC Busan.[4]

Review
The Spitfire won the 2018 Grand Finals.

Regular season

On 11 January, the Spitfire played their first regular season Overwatch League match in a 3–1 victory over the Florida Mayhem.[5][6] 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.[7]

On 7 March 2018, midway through Stage 2, the Spitfire parted ways with head coach Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon for undisclosed reasons.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] London won both games against the Los Angeles Valiant in the semifinals, winning 3–0 in match one and 3–1 in match two.[11] 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.[12][13]

Final roster
2018 London Spitfire roster
PlayersCoaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality
Damage 13 Profit Park Jun-yeung South Korea
Damage 20 birdring Kim Ji-hyeok South Korea
Tank 7 Gesture Hong Jae-hee South Korea
Support 4 Closer Jung Won-sik South Korea
Support 8 NUS Kim Jong-seok South Korea
Support 22 Bdosin Choi Seung-tae South Korea
Flex 19 Fury Kim Jun-ho South Korea
Head coach
  • Vacant
Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: 18 June 2018.

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.[14]
  • On 21 February, Spitfire released Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun.[15]
  • On 8 March, Spitfire signed Hwang "TiZi" Jang-hyeon.[16]
  • On 18 June, Spitfire released Jo "HaGoPeun" Hyeon-woo, Hwang "TiZi" Jang-hyeon, Seong "WooHyaL" Seung-hyun, and Lee "Hooreg" Dong-eun.[17]

Standings

Record by stage
StagePldWLPctMWMLMTMDPos
11073.70029140+153
21082.80031110+202
31055.50024211+36
41046.40018232-59
Overall402416.600102693+335
  Qualified for playoffs

League
Pos Div Team 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
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
5 ATL London Spitfire 40 24 16 0.600 102 69 3 +33
6 ATL Philadelphia Fusion 40 24 16 0.600 93 80 2 +13
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
Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head map differential; 4) head-to-head record

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



References
  1. Handrahan, Matthew (10 August 2017). "Overwatch League adds first UK franchise". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  2. Carpenter, Nicole (1 November 2017). "Cloud9's Overwatch League team is the London Spitfire". Dot Esports. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  3. Carpenter, Nicole (4 November 2017). "London Spitfire reveals its 12-man South Korean roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  4. Nguyen, Steven (21 October 2017). "GC Busan completes Royal Road at APEX". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  5. Craffey, Liam (15 January 2018). "Fusion, Spitfire, Excelsior snag wins on Day 2 of Overwatch League". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. "London Spitfire vs. Florida Mayhem". Overwatch League. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  7. Waltzer, Noah (11 February 2018). "London Spitfire beats Houston, New York to win Overwatch League Stage 1 playoffs". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  8. Woodward, Ben (7 March 2018). "London Spitfire Parts Ways With Bishop". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  9. Craffey, Liam (26 March 2018). "Stage 2 semifinal". ESPN. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  10. "Spitfire shuts down LA Gladiators, advances to OWL semis". ESPN. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  11. Lingle, Samuel (20 July 2018). "London Spitfire sweep Los Angeles Valiant, will play in OWL finals". Dot Esports. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  12. Waltzer, Noah (28 July 2018). "London Spitfire wins inaugural Overwatch League title". ESPN. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  13. Bright, Ryan (28 July 2018). "London Spitfire duo master Philadelphia Fusion to claim first Overwatch League title". NBC Sports. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  14. Woodward, Ben (20 February 2018). "London Spitfire Transfer Fissure to LA Gladiators". London Spitfire.
  15. Woodward, Ben (21 February 2018). "Rascal moves on to the Dallas Fuel". London Spitfire.
  16. Ring, Oliver (8 March 2018). "Welcome T1zi!". London Spitfire.
  17. Nomis, John (18 June 2018). "London Spitfire Release Quartet". London Spitfire.
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