The Seoul Dynasty had a large chunk of time in the beginning and middle of Season 3 where they weren’t playing due to Covid-19. That means that the required number of games that each team needs to play was not reached by the Dynasty. Week 27 was the original end date for the Overwatch League with being the date of the last home stand in Toronto, but the dates have been extended out. The Seoul Dynasty will have a grueling three matches within Week 28. These matches symbolically represent where they are in the history of the Overwatch.
London Spitfire (Twice, Friday and Sunday):
The Seoul Dynasty’s last win was against the London Spitfire in the playoffs for the Summer Showdown on July 3. That was also the first time that these two teams had met in Season 3. The London Spitfire represents what the Seoul Dynasty could’ve been.
When Season 3 rolled around the London team that was recognized from Season 1 and 2 was completely overhauled. The team went the direction of new and upcoming talent for their roster. Many of the new players came from Gen.G. That would be Gilseong ‘Glister’ Lim, Kyumin ‘Sanguinar’ Lim, Sunghyeok ‘Highly’ Lee, Taehoon ‘Fuze’ Kim (though he was already departed from Gen. G by the time he was picked up), and Hyunwook ‘ALTHOUGH’ Jung. This could’ve been the future of the Seoul Dynasty if they had picked the direction of signing new green talent for Season 3.
GGs @SeoulDynasty 오늘 완전 똥귀나르 였네요.. 아직 서울전 많이 남았으니 칼 갈고 오겠습니다
— SanGuiNar (@SanGuiNar_14) July 4, 2020
Though it isn’t exactly a rivalry, the London Spitfire players that came from the parent org, want to prove themselves by beating the Seoul Dynasty. Such as a younger sibling would want to beat their older sibling to show that they are just as good. On the other hand, the Dynasty won’t want to lose to the London Spitfire as they would want to show that their choice of going with the more proven talent of Junyoung ‘Profit’ Park, Jaehui ‘Gesture’ Hwang, and Seungtae ‘Bdosin’ Choi was the correct path.
What do the Seoul Dynasty need to do to win?
Many people in the NA region have the joke that it is the Dallas vs the Fuel in matches. Can the team beat and overcome themselves to win? In a sense that seems comparable to Seoul. There are many times when the Dynasty seem to have it almost in the bag, and then things fall apart. The Dynasty need to watch out for the staggers. They tend to burn their own time off of the clock with not fully retreating or staggering themselves. London as a young team can get overexcited when they are up and overextend. The Seoul Dynasty need to capitalize on those moments and punish these players. The most knowing moment is going to be the third map after the break. Can the Dynasty move forward with a win as that break seems to mess with the team’s focus and momentum?
Prediction:
Friday 3:1 Seoul Dynasty || Sunday 3:2 Seoul Dynasty
The last time these two teams faced each other it was a 3-0 win for the Dynasty. Currently, Seoul are on a losing streak that needs to be broken. It could be said that with the Chengdu Hunter’s move towards the top with the Chengdu Meta, that now the Spitfire are on the lower end of the APAC region. The Dynasty will be facing the Spitfire twice, and both will be Seoul victories, though Sunday will be closer as the Spitfire will make adjustments. It should be noted that both Seoul and London face the NYXL and Shanghai respectively so the first match might be on the fly with the majority of their prep work going into their harder matches that weekend.
Player to Watch: Minseo ‘Marve1’ Hwang
It is undeniable at the beginning of the Sigma era that Marve1 was one of the best Sigma players. He helped carry the Seoul Dynasty out of the play-in tournament in Season 2. Now, when looking at all the tanks players that have picked up on Sigma, he seems to be lagging behind the rest. It is unfair to rest the blame on any one player’s shoulders as Overwatch in a team sport, but there is a skill gap forming between Marve1 and the rest in a negative way. Marve1 needs to step up and show himself and the community that he is still the ‘SigmaKing’ like his alternate account says he is. Tanks are essential in these times in Overwatch and without the proper space created there is little that the DPS can do to help turn the match.
The NYXL (Saturday):
The NYXL are on the up and up. Though Genji is out of the meta, with the addition of Dongwook ‘Bianca’ Kim, the NYXL’s synergy has been looking on point. Their deep DPS pools allow for multiple combinations of dangerous duos that could be matched. Seungjun ‘Whoru’ Lee would love to face against Jinmo ‘Tobi’ Yang, but whether he is given the opportunity to will wait to be seen.
The NYXL represent the older times in Overwatch. The cores of both of these teams go back to APEX of the LW and Lunatic-Hai era. That shift in moving from APEX to the Overwatch League has been stronger for the NYXL. The old glory days still shine through in the interactions, but it has a faded reminiscing feel to it. The meta is ironically Genji dive. Though new heroes and players have been added, history repeats itself. These two teams and the ghosts of what they were will be looming over this match. Who is the king of the dive, and can a new era between these two teams begin now?
What do the Seoul Dynasty need to do to win?
The NYXL are looking hot. In their match against the Shanghai Dragons, they showed that they can win the neutral fights and not just the big ultimate fights. If the Seoul Dynasty have any hopes of winning, they can’t run odd compositions. Because of new hero bans, everyone is still trying to find the meta. Seoul need to stick with what they are comfortable with. During the Countdown Cup, there were moments of indecision that the enemy team punished. At the end of it all, the Dynasty just need to play solid Overwatch. A Chengdu approach of just sticking to their comfort heroes that the team knows individuals can pop off on could be a key in a tough matchup like the NYXL.
Prediction: 3:1 NYXL
Genji being out of the hero pool is a saving grace for the Seoul Dynasty. On the other side Brig, who has become a standout for Tobi and Tracer who is Profit’s well-known signature here are both out. Will this be a Mei, Reaper, double shield moment which in the early season Seoul found success with? If the Dynasty win against London on Friday there is a greater chance of them bringing the NYXL to a map five. Even with a key hero out of rotation for the NYXL, can the Dynasty capitalize on this moment to bring home a W?
Player to Watch: Hyojong ‘Haksal’ Kim
With Genji out of the meta, can Haksal still come up big for the team? The community might remember the disastrous Haksal Sombra ordeal during APEX that no one wants to see again. Haksal was seen on Reaper during the Countdown Cup and is a proficient Mei player. The hot streak of the Genji meta that he experienced may glide him through this week? Can he live up to his namesake even without his signature hero of Genji and still be a massacre? Fans will have to see as an important weekend of games happens for the Dynasty.
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