It seems as a Tiger Nation fan that many teams have parts and pieces of old Dynasty members. The players that used to be on Seoul have found homes not only in APAC but also in the North American region. That means that diehard Tiger Nation has both regions’ game time matches to watch. As the Overwatch League enters Week 2, the OWL community has seen all the teams play in Season 4. With this in mind, how are former Seoul Dynasty Players performing so far?
Toronto Defiant (Rank #5)
Minhyuk ‘Michelle’ Choi was on the Season 3 Seoul Dynasty team. He was a huge member in Season 2 when he came in alongside Minseo ‘Marve1’ Hwang as a Tank duo.
Michelle has shown many sides of himself already on the Toronto Defiant pulling out D.Va, Sigma, and Zarya in the few matches that have been played. Donggun ‘KDG’ Kim is the head coach of the Toronto Defiant. He was the coach for the Seoul Dynasty the season that Michelle was brought in. No doubt he knows all the potential that Michelle has. With a lackluster season with little to no playtime, Michelle is looking to show the community that he is still in his prime. His synergy with Sumin ‘Sado’ Kim has been as good as his previous duo with Marve1.
These two have been thriving with +3 undefeated 2 matches so far. It has been great to see Michelle in the starting lineup again. Hopefully, he will be able to flex his DPS muscles a little bit in the future and see that iconic Michelle Sombra or Pharah again.
Dallas Fuel (Rank #7)
Seungsoo ‘Jecse’ Lee was the main support of the Seoul Dynasty in Season 2. He was a part of the team when Seoul had a full roster of 12. Though the other main support was Jinmo ‘Tobi’ Yang he got a good amount of playtime. He is a thoughtful player. His strategic playstyle and smart shot-calling made him valuable to the team not only for Seoul but also the Houston Outlaws. Anytime that he stepped away from the shadow of Tobi, he was praised for his aggressive play and clutch moments while on the Houston Outlaws.
The Dallas Fuel have had a trying time during the first two weeks of the Overwatch League. Due to circumstances out of their control, the team has had to play off-meta. IT hasn’t helped that they have had difficult matchups against the LA Gladiators, Houston Outlaws and the Washington Justice. But when the team went up against the Boston Uprising they showed a dominant win. Jecse has shared his playtime with Joon ‘Fielder’ Kwon and Junkeun ‘Rapel’ Kim. When in Jecse has been on Brig, Mercy and his signature Lucio. He has yet to have an amazing boop or stand-out moment, but his solid support has kept the team afloat during this time.
Philadelphia Fusion (Rank #1)
Tobi had been the solid rock for the Seoul Dynasty throughout three whole seasons. In the current season, he has been signed to the Fusion to stand in for Daniel ‘FunnyAstro’ Hathaway while visas are being figured out.
Tobi finds himself again as the only main support on the team, within Korea. That means he has been starting in each lineup. He has been playing a large number of heroes from Bap, Mercy, Brig and of course Lucio. Against the Hangzhou Spark Tobi showed that he doesn’t need to be on Lucio to still get his signature boops off of the Einchenwalde Bridge. So far, Tobi has done his job. It looks like the synergy of the team and timings are still being hammered down as there have been a couple of missed overtime triggers. Tiger Nation is taking each game in stride and savoring the moments that Tobi is in as there is no telling how many games he will play once FunnyAstro is able to rejoin the team.
Florida Mayhem (Rank #4)
Sungjun ‘Slime’ Kim and Daekuk ‘Kuki’ Kim are on the two sides of the Seoul Dynasty. Kuki was a main tank with Jinhyuk ‘Miro’ Gong in the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. Meanwhile, Slime was a late addition to the team mid-season in Season 3. Neither player saw much time over their Lunatic-Hai counterparts when on the Seoul Dynasty.
Both of these players have connections not only to the Seoul Dynasty but also Runaway where they both did a stint working with the iconic Korean team in contenders. Kuki has been a great coach for the Florida Mayhem for over a season now. He has guided the players to many playoffs. He brought Slime into the Mayhem family in the offseason before Season 4 started.
Slime is the third main support that is no longer with the Seoul Dynasty but is still with the League. Similarly to Jecse, he values his time alongside Tobi which he talked about in his interview with Danny Lim after his match against his old organization of the Vancouver Titans. He is a highly regarded Lucio as well as main support in the Overwatch community. Like so many main supports he doesn’t hog the limelight but makes sure his teammates are able to pop off during the match.
Shanghai Dragons (Rank #11)
Last but not least is Season 3’s MVP, Byungsun ‘Fleta’ Kim. Fleta was on the Dynasty for two seasons, where he showed his potential to the world. Previously, he was a part of Flashlux, which wasn’t a well-known team outside of Korea. While on the Dynasty he was able to flex on heroes like Widow, Pharah and Zarya to make himself a household name. The Fleta deadlift helped the Dynasty out many times throughout the first two seasons.
Big time player made a big time play pic.twitter.com/Sh8vwDcBHA
— Shanghai Dragons (@ShanghaiDragons) April 18, 2021
His move to the Shanghai Dragons in Season 3, was when all the stars aligned for him. It was a highlight season. Coming into Season 4 the Dragons have only played one weekend of matches so far. They are 1-1 after Week 2, which puts them at an overall rank of 11. Though initially fans were confused with the loss to Chengdu, it is now seen how strong the Hunters are. Fleta himself showed that he is still the ever-present DPS on the team. Though there were a few questionable times of the team not switching him to certain heroes, he was still able to shoulder what was needed to pull the team through the maps.
Always a Tiger
On the IBM Watson power rankings, Michelle, Tobi and Slime all make their way onto the list. Michelle at the highest at rank 13 and Slime at the bottom at 19. That is still a large feat with so many players that are within the league. None of these players are DPS, which is the role that is most acclaimed by many as they get the fancy kills and Reddit-worthy moments.
It is obvious that the Seoul Dynasty has great scouting for major talent. It is bittersweet seeing the old Tigers on other teams but also gratifying to see them thriving in their new environments. Hopefully, the Seoul Dynasty will be able to face all of their old friends in this upcoming season so they can have a friendly match for bragging rights.
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