Shanghai Dragons

The Shanghai Dragons (Chinese: 上海龙之队; pinyin: Shànghǎi Lóngzhīduì) are a professional Overwatch esports team based in Shanghai, China. The Dragons compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region.

Shanghai Dragons
上海龙之队
FoundedJuly 12, 2017
LeagueOverwatch League
RegionEast
Team historyShanghai Dragons
(2017–present)
Based inShanghai, China
ArenaXinYeFang Studio[1]
Colors       
OwnerNetEase
Head coachMoon Byung-chul
General managerYang Van
Affiliation(s)Team CC
Championships2021
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms
Shanghai Dragons
Simplified Chinese上海龙之队
Traditional Chinese上海龍之隊

Founded in 2017, Shanghai Dragons are one of the league's twelve founding members and are one of four professional Overwatch teams based in China. The team is owned by Chinese internet technology company NetEase, who also own Team CC, an academy team for the Dragons that compete in Overwatch Contenders.

Shanghai Dragons did not win a single match in their first season in the OWL, going 0–40. The team holds the record for the longest losing streak in professional sports history at 42 losses. We "BlueHaS" Seong-hwan was appointed the team's head coach for the 2019 season and guided the team to their first OWL match victory on February 23, 2019; they went on to claim their first stage playoffs title. The Dragons won the 2021 Overwatch League Grand Finals after shutting out Atlanta Reign.

Franchise history

Beginnings

On July 12, 2017, Overwatch developer Activision Blizzard officially announced that NetEase, a Chinese technology company, would be the team owner of a Shanghai-based Overwatch League franchise.[2] "We're passionate about gaming at NetEase, and the Overwatch League is an opportunity we didn't want to miss," said William Ding, CEO of NetEase. "The commitment of Overwatch's players and fan community is an incredible foundation on which to build a successful global league, and we're looking forward to building a world-class team for Shanghai that inspires fans everywhere."[3] On September 27, NetEase revealed the franchise name as the Shanghai Dragons and was the first OWL team to release its branding.[4][5][6]

On October 31, the Dragons revealed their Overwatch League roster, consisting of eight members.[7] Three weeks later, on November 20, Shanghai Dragons announced their coaching staff, including head coach Chen "U4" Congshan.[8]

2018 season
Main article: 2018 Shanghai Dragons season

Shanghai Dragons' first regular season OWL match was a 1–3 loss to the San Francisco Shock.[9] Unfortunately, this result would become a trend for the Dragons throughout the season. The team did not win a match in Stage 1, obtaining a 0–10 record. On February 13, 2018, disappointed by their Stage 1 record, the Dragons signed 4 new players in hopes to improve their Stage 2 chances; most notably including the league's first female player, South Korean Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon.[10]

Amidst a disaster of a season, Shanghai went through three different head coaches.[11][12] The Dragons finished the season with a 0–40 record and a -120 map differential, having not won a single match. This marked the worst single-season record in professional sports history.[13]

2019 season
Main article: 2019 Shanghai Dragons season

In hopes of not reliving the 2018 season, the Shangai Dragons released 8 of 11 members of their roster on September 3, 2018.[14] On September 21, The Shanghai Dragons hired We "BlueHaS" Seong-hwan as the team's new head coach.[15]

Shanghai opened the season with two consecutive losses, but on February 23, Shanghai snapped their 42-game losing streak – the longest losing streak in professional sports history – by defeating the Boston Uprising 3–1, marking the franchise's first ever win.[16] The team picked up two more wins in Stage 1 for a respectable 3–4 record for the stage. The Dragons found more success in Stage 2, as they finished with a 4–3 record and qualified for their first ever stage playoffs;[17] however, the fell 1–3 to the San Francisco Shock in the quarterfinals.[18] After the All-Star break, the Dragons hit their stride, amassing a 5–2 Stage 3 record, and qualified for the Stage 3 Playoffs.[19] The team put on an unprecedented playoff run, taking down the top-seeded New York Excelsior 3–1 and the second-seeded Vancouver Titans 4–1 in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.[20][21] The team then took down the third-seeded San Francisco Shock 4–3 in the finals to claim their first-ever stage championship.[22] Shanghai's success did not last, however; after the implementation of a 2-2-2 role lock by the league in Stage 4, the Dragons only won one match in their final seven to finish the season with a 13–15 record.[23]

In eleventh place in the regular season standings, Shanghai had to compete in the Play-In Tournament in order to qualify for the season playoffs. A 4–2 win over the Philadelphia Fusion sent the Dragons to the second round, where they faced the London Spitfire.[24] The match against London went to an OWL record eight maps, but the Dragons fell 3–4 to end their playoff hopes.[25]

2020 season
Main article: 2020 Shanghai Dragons season

2021 season: First OWL title
Main article: 2021 Shanghai Dragons season

In the offseason preceding the 2021 season, the team made several roster changes. The team elected not to re-sign all five of their free agents: damage players Yang "Dding" Jin-hyeok, Lu "Diya" Weida, and Bae "Diem" Min-seong, tank player Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon, and support player Yang "Luffy" Sung-hyeon,[26] although Diem was signed back to the team later in the offseason.[27] Additionally, the Dragons transferred tank player Lee "Fearless" Eui-seok to the Dallas Fuel,[28] and released tank player Seo "Stand1" Ji-won.[29] Additions to the team included tank player Koo "Fate" Pan-seung, who was acquired from the Florida Mayhem, damage player Jeong "Erster" Jun,[30] and support player He "Molly" Chengzhi.[31]

The Dragons' first match of the 2021 season resulted in a win over the Guangzhou Charge in the May Melee qualifiers.[32] After defeating the Philadelphia Fusion in the Eastern regional knockouts, the Dragons entered the May Melee tournament, the first of four midseason double-elimination tournaments in the regular season, as the second-seeded Eastern team.[33] The team fell to the Dallas Fuel in the upper bracket finals, dropping them to the lower bracket of the tournament; the Dragons reached the finals of the tournament through the lower bracket, where they once again lost to the Fuel.[34] Prior to the start of the June Joust qualifiers, damage player Joon "Erster" Jeong retired.[35] Looking to add depth to their roster, the Dragons signed damage player Lee "WhoRU" Seung-jun several days later.[36] The team won three of their four June Joust qualifying matches to advance them to the regional knockouts.[37] Several days before the knockouts began, the Dragons lost another player to retirement in damage player Bae "Diem" Min-seong;[38] once again looking for depth, the team signed damage player Chae "Develop" Rak-hoon shortly afterwards.[39] The Dragons advanced to the June Joust tournament after defeating the Seoul Dynasty in the regional knockouts.[37] The team lost their first match of the tournament, again to the Fuel;[40] however, after making it to the finals through the lower bracket, the Dragons defeated the Fuel to claim their first title of the 2021 season.[41] The Dragons continued their success throughout the Summer Showdown, winning all four of their qualifying matches and advancing past the regional qualifiers.[42] Prior to the start of the Summer Showdown tournament, the team added former Dragons player Kim "Daemin" Dae-min as a coach.[43] The Dragons went undefeated in the tournament, and after defeating the Chengdu Hunters in the finals, they claimed their second consecutive midseason tournament title.[44] In the final tournament cycle of the regular season, the Countdown Cup, the Dragons went 2–2 in the qualifiers, failing to advance to the regional knockouts for the first time in the season; Dragons' head coach Moon "Moon" Byung-chul stated that they were "resting" their players during the tournament cycle.[45] The team finished the regular season with 12 wins, 4 losses, 20 league points, and the top seed in the season playoffs.[46] Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun, Lee "Lip" Jae-won, and Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul were all MVP candidates for the 2021 regular season.[47] Additionally, Lee "Lip" Jae-won, Kang "Void" Jung-woo, Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul, and Lee "Leejaegon" Jae-gon were awarded Role Star commendations for damage, tank, support, and support, respectively.[48]

Shanghai selected the sixth-seeded San Francisco Shock as their opponent for the first round of the season playoffs; the Dragons swept the Shock, 3–0.[49] The team next defeated the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators by a score of 3–1.[50] Moving on to the upper bracket finals, the Dragons faced the second-seeded Dallas Fuel, marking the fifth time the two teams had played each other in a midseason or season playoff match in the 2021 season. Despite keeping the maps close, the Dragons came out with a 3–1 victory to advance the Grand Finals bracket.[51] In the Grand Finals match, the Dragons swept the Reign by a score of 4–0 to win their first OWL championship.[52]

Team identity

On September 27, 2017, the Shanghai Dragons brand was officially unveiled. The name "dragons" was chosen as the dragon is a symbol of a sacred, powerful, and supreme spirit. The logo for the Shanghai Dragons features a stylized dragon in the shape of the letter 'S' in the team's official colors of red, yellow, white, and black. Specifically, red is a theme color for the logo, as it emphasizes the team's Chinese connection.[4]

Personnel

Current roster
Shanghai Dragons roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
Damage  70 LIP  Lee Jae-won  South Korea 
Damage  1 Fleta  Kim Byung-sun  South Korea 
Damage  23 WhoRU  Seung-jun Lee  South Korea 
Tank  7 Fate  Koo Pan-seung  South Korea 
Tank  57 Void  Kang Jun-woo  South Korea 
Support  2 LeeJaeGon  Lee Jae-gon  South Korea 
Support  22 Izayaki  Kim Min-chul  South Korea 
Support  66 Molly  He Chengzhi  China 
Head coach
  • Moon "Moon" Byung-chul
Legend

Latest roster transaction: October 3, 2021.

Head coaches
Shanghai Dragons head coaches
Handle Name From To Span Ref.
U4 Congshan Chen (陈丛山) November 20, 2017 March 6, 2018 106 days [8][11]
Kong[lower-alpha 1] Junyoung Son (손준영) March 6, 2018 March 29, 2018 23 days [11][53]
RUI Xingrui Wang (王星睿) March 29, 2018 May 9, 2018 41 days [54][12]
Kong[lower-alpha 1] Junyoung Son (손준영) May 9, 2018 September 9, 2018 123 days [12][53]
BlueHaS We Seong-hwan September 20, 2018 September 23, 2019 1 year, 3 days [15][55]
Moon Moon Byung-chul September 24, 2019 2 years, 78 days [56]
  1. Interim head coach

Awards and records

Seasons overview
Season P W L W% Finish Playoffs
2018 40 0 40 .000 6th, Pacific Did not qualify
2019 28 13 15 .464 7th, Pacific Did not qualify
2020 21 19 2 .905 1st, Asia Lost in GF Lower Round 2, 2–3 (Dynasty)
2021 16 12 4 .750 1st, East OWL Champions, 4–0 (Reign)

Individual accomplishments

Season MVP

Grand Finals MVP

  • LIP (Lee Jae-won) – 2021

Role Stars selections

  • DDing (Yang Jin-hyeok) – 2019
  • Fleta (Kim Byung-sun) – 2020
  • LIP (Lee Jae-won) – 2020, 2021
  • Fearless (Lee Eui-seok) – 2020
  • Void (Kang Jun-woo) – 2020, 2021
  • LeeJaeGon (Lee Jae-gon) – 2020, 2021
  • Izayaki (Kim Min-chul) – 2021

All-Star Game selections

  • Geguri (Kim Se-yeon) – 2018
  • Diem (Bae Min-sung) – 2019
  • Fearless (Lee Eui-seok) – 2020
  • Void (Kang Jun-woo) – 2020
  • Fleta (Kim Byung-sun) – 2020
  • LeeJaeGon (Lee Jae-gon) – 2020
  • Izayaki (Kim Min-chul) – 2020

All-Star Game head coaches

  • Moon (Moon Byung-chul) – 2020

Academy team
Main article: Team CC

On January 10, 2018, the Dragons revealed "Team CC", their academy team for Overwatch Contenders China.[57] In Season One, the team reached the playoff semi-finals before losing to eventual runners-up LGD Gaming 1–3.[58]

References
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