Florida Mayhem

Florida Mayhem is an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Miami and Orlando, Florida. The team competes in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West Division. Founded in 2017, Florida Mayhem is one of the league's twelve founding members and is owned and operated by Florida-based esports organization Misfits Gaming and CEO Ben Spoont. The organization also ran Mayhem Academy, an academy team for the Mayhem that competed in Overwatch Contenders. The Mayhem made their first season playoffs appearance in franchise history in the 2020 season. Florida won their first OWL championship in the 2023 season after defeating the Houston Outlaws, 4–0, in the 2023 Grand Finals.[1]

Florida Mayhem
The logo for the Florida Mayhem features a stylized bomb circumscribed around the letter 'M' with a palm tree-shaped fuse.
FoundedJuly 12, 2017
LeagueOverwatch League
RegionWest
Team historyMisfits
(2016–2017)
Florida Mayhem
(2017–present)
Based inMiami–Orlando, United States
Colors     
OwnerMisfits Gaming
CEOBen Spoont
Head coachJordan "Gunba" Graham
Championships2023
Main sponsorTezos
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms

Franchise history

Team creation: 2016–2017

The team that would become the Florida Mayhem was formed in June 2016 as the first foray into Overwatch for Misfits Gaming, after Misfits picked up the European team Graviton Surge. The original roster included Sebastian "Zebbosai" Olsson, who would play in the inaugural season of the Overwatch League as the main support player for the Mayhem.[2]

On July 12, 2017, Overwatch developer Activision Blizzard officially announced that Misfits, which is partially owned by the NBA team Miami Heat, had acquired an Overwatch League franchise for the Miami–Orlando area.[3] On November 2, the organization revealed that the franchise would be named the Florida Mayhem and announced the transfer of the existing Misfits Overwatch roster to the Mayhem. With no further roster moves, the Mayhem headed into the inaugural Overwatch League season with only six players, the minimum required for the Overwatch League and the fewest players among the 12 inaugural season teams.[4][5]

Early years: 2018–present

On January 11, 2018, the Mayhem played their first Overwatch League match, a 1–3 loss to the London Spitfire.[6][7] The following week, on January 19, they notched their first-ever victory after defeating the Shanghai Dragons 4–0; this would be their only win during Stage 1 of the season.[8][9] On May 2, head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis temporarily stepped down from his position, citing that he had been experiencing "various health issues" and burnout since stage two. Assistant coach Choi "r2der" Hyun-jin and analyst Albert Yeh lead the team in his absence until his return at the beginning of Stage 4.[10] The team ended the 2018 regular season with a 7–33 record, second-to-last in the League (ahead of only the winless Dragons).[11]

The Mayhem were not able to find much more success in their 2019 season. After finishing Stage 1 with only one win, the Mayhem announced their intention to implement an all-Korean team and fired two coaches, including head coach Mineral.[12] The team's struggles continued in Stage 2, as they did not win a single match. Prior to Stage 3, the Mayhem's all-Korean overhaul continued, as they made several roster changes. Florida hired Oh "Unread" Nam-hun amidst a one-win Stage 3 as the team's new head coach.[13] The Mayhem found success in Stage 4, when the league implemented a 2-2-2 role lock, as they were able to win four of their final five matches.[14]

For their 2020 season, the Mayhem debuted new colors, trading the yellow and red color scheme that the team had used for two years in favor of a 1980s Miami color scheme, featuring pink, teal, and black.[15] The Mayhem opened the season going 7–4 heading into the May Melee tournament, where they reached the finals before being defeated by the San Francisco Shock.[16] Florida finished the season with 14 wins, 3 bonus wins from midseason tournaments, and 7 losses to claim the fourth seed in the North America season playoffs.[17] A 0–3 loss to the Washington Justice on September 12 eliminated the Mayhem from the North America bracket.[18]

The Mayhem's 2021 season began on April 17, 2021, against the Atlanta Reign in the May Melee qualifiers; they won their opener 1–3.[19] Florida won three of their four qualifier matches and advanced to the regional knockouts.[20] After defeating the Toronto Defiant and the Washington Justice in the regional knockouts, the Mayhem advanced to the interregional tournament bracket.[21] In the first match in the double-elimination tournament, the Mayhem lost to the Shanghai Dragons, sending them to the lower bracket of the tournament.[22] In the first round of the lower bracket, Florida defeated the Chengdu Hunters, but they lost, again, to the Dragons in the following round, eliminating them from the tournament.[23] After the strong start to the season, Florida struggled to continue their success. Florida won only two more games in the season, finishing with a 5–11 record and did not qualify for the season playoffs.[24][25]

Team identity

The Mayhem's branding was officially unveiled on November 2, 2017.[4] The team's logo features the letter M inscribed in a bomb (representing competitive impact) with a palm tree-shaped fuse (representing Florida). The team colors were originally red, to pay homage to the original Misfits team; yellow, to represent Florida, the "Sunshine State;" and black, tying in with the Miami Heat.[4][26] Prior to the 2020 season, the colors were changed to black, pink, and teal, similar to the Miami Vice-inspired alternate jerseys that were used in the 2019 season.[15]

Personnel

Current roster
Florida Mayhem roster
PlayersCoaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality
Head coach
  • Vacant
Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: October 20, 2023.

Head coaches
Handle Name Seasons Record Notes Ref.
Mineral Vytis Lasaitis 2018–2019 7–28 (.200) Fired after seven games in 2019. [4][27]
Unread Oh Nam-hun 2019 5–7 (.417) [13][28]
KuKi Kim Dae-kuk 2020–2021 19–18 (.514) [29][30]
Gunba Jordan Graham 2022–2023 26–14 (.650) [30]

Awards and records

Seasons overview
Season P W L W% Finish Playoffs
2018 40 7 33 .175 6th, Atlantic Did not qualify
2019 28 6 22 .214 10th, Atlantic Did not qualify
2020 21 14 7 .667 3rd, North America Lost in NA Lower Round 3, 0–3 (Justice)
2021 16 5 11 .313 10th, West Did not qualify
2022 24 12 12 .500 7th, West Lost in Lower Round 2, 1–3 (Spark)
2023 16 14 2 .875 2nd, West OWL Champions, 4–0 (Outlaws)

Individual accomplishments

All-Star Game selections

  • Sayaplayer (Ha Jeong-woo) – 2018, 2019
  • Yaki (Kim Jun-ki) – 2020

All-Star Game head coaches

  • KuKi (Kim Dae-kuk) – 2020

Academy team

On February 22, 2018, the Mayhem formally announced their academy team for Overwatch Contenders North America would be called "Mayhem Academy" (MA).[31] In 2019 Season One, Mayhem Academy became the first team ever to defeat Fusion University, which had never lost a regular season or playoff match in three seasons of play. Mayhem Academy temporarily ceased play following 2019 Season One to "retool" the team as a whole.[32] Many of the former MA players formed Revival, a team that competed in 2019 Season Two.

Seasons overview
Year Season Region OWC regular season OWC playoffs Interregional
Finish[lower-alpha 1] Wins Losses Win %
Mayhem Academy
20181North America4th23.400Quarterfinals
2North America4th23.400QuarterfinalsNone held
3North America5th14.200
20191North America East1st61.857Semifinals
Regular season record1111.500
Playoff record03.000
  1. Placements prior to 2019 reflect standings in the team's respective group and not the entire region.

References
  1. Richardson, Liz (October 3, 2023). "Florida Mayhem Wins the 2023 – and Possibly Final – Overwatch League Championship". Esports Illustrated. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  2. Kulasingham, Nilu (June 23, 2016). "Overwatch team Graviton Surge signs with Misfits". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  3. "Overwatch: Bigger than the Premier League?". BBC News. BBC. July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  4. Carpenter, Nicole (November 2, 2017). "Florida Mayhem is Overwatch League's newest team". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  5. Carpenter, Nicole (August 16, 2017). "Misfits roster finalized ahead of Overwatch Contenders". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  6. Craffey, Liam (January 15, 2018). "Fusion, Spitfire, Excelsior snag wins on Day 2 of Overwatch League". ESPN. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  7. "London Spitfire vs. Florida Mayhem". Overwatch League. January 11, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  8. Waltzer, Noah (January 20, 2018). "Seoul Dynasty dominates in Week 2, Day 3 Overwatch League opener". ESPN. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  9. "Shanghai Dragons vs. Florida Mayhem". Overwatch League. January 19, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  10. Carpenter, Nicole (May 2, 2018). "Florida Mayhem coach temporarily steps down from Overwatch League team". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  11. Nash, Anthony (June 28, 2018). "Good, bad, and ugly from the Florida Mayhem regular season". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  12. Samples, Rachel (April 4, 2019). "Florida Mayhem detail plans for all-Korean roster, release 3 players". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  13. Samples, Rachel (June 19, 2019). "Florida Mayhem look to bolster roster with 3 new player signings". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  14. Czar, Michael (September 1, 2019). "Season 2 OWL team review: Florida Mayhem". Daily Esports. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  15. Duwe, Scott (January 6, 2020). "Florida Mayhem reveals new hot pink color scheme". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  16. Richardson, Liz (May 24, 2020). "Shanghai Dragons, San Francisco Shock win Overwatch League May Melee tournament". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  17. Field Level Media (September 4, 2020). "Ailing Decay leads Justice past Fuel in OWL playoffs". Reuters. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  18. Weyrich, Matt (September 12, 2020). "Washington Justice pull to within one win of Grand Finals in South Korea". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  19. Field Level Media (April 17, 2021). "SP9RK1E leads Fuel past Gladiators in Overwatch Week 1". Reuters. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  20. Field Level Media (May 1, 2021). "Trio of teams set for May Melee with critical wins". Reuters. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  21. Richardson, Liz (May 3, 2021). "Here are the Overwatch League May Melee teams". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  22. Field Level Media (May 7, 2021). "OWL's May Melee opens with two upsets". Reuters. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  23. Czarnowski, Michael (May 8, 2021). "How the Chengdu Hunters and Florida Mayhem dropped out of the May Melee". Upcomer. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  24. Richardson, Liz (August 26, 2021). "How the Overwatch League 2021 postseason and playoffs will work". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  25. "2021 OWL Standings". The Overwatch League. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  26. Vejnovic, Tatjana (November 2, 2017). "Florida Mayhem Confirmed for Overwatch League". Overwatch Wire. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  27. Samples, Rachel (April 4, 2019). "Florida Mayhem detail plans for all-Korean roster, release 3 players". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  28. Scrubasaurus (November 19, 2019). "Mayhem replace head coach with KuKi, add assistant coach". over.gg. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  29. Peres, Pedro (November 19, 2019). "Florida Mayhem sign Kuki as head coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  30. "Mahyem begin reconstruction with new head coach". Reuters. October 18, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  31. Carpenter, Nicole (February 22, 2018). "Florida Mayhem reveal Overwatch Contenders roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  32. Richardson, Liz (May 20, 2019). "Mayhem Academy drop out of Contenders season 2". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
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