The Seoul Dynasty has been on a roll during the Midseason Madness. The team has gone 5-1 in this sub-tournament. This is the first inter-regional tournament in which the two regions of North America and Asia will be competing against each other. Here is a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Seoul Dynasty.
Interregional Playoffs
APAC and North America, though both playing on the same patch will go in different directions for the meta. Because of the seeding, the Seoul Dynasty will have a pass to the second round. They are the only APAC team that has ranked high enough for that privilege. This will allow the Seoul Dynasty to scout out the North American meta that is being played.
Weaknesses
No doubt the biggest weakness that the Dynasty has is the rush comp. This was highlighted in their last match in the midseason madness regular season against the Philadelphia Fusion. When the Mei and Reinhardt came out on Midtown, the Dynasty was just not about to outplay. It isn’t as if Junyoung ‘Profit’ Park and Myeonghwan ‘Smurf’ Yoo are not good Mei and Reinhardt players, it just was not synergized.
Yes, we’ve set up systems to level the playing field by limiting East region practice time
— Sean Miller (@sean_mmills) July 10, 2022
Another weakness that is mutually shared in some parts is the difference in the schedule. As APAC is now playing in the time zone of Hawaii which is in North America. That means their normal playtime in APAC is disrupted. Both North America and APAC are going to have equal practice time so that it can be more uniform on that front.
Strengths
The Seoul Dynasty has their record to hold them in good standing with the North American teams. Their strengths really lie with their dive. Smurf and Profit’s ability to collapse is essential to their wins. Junwoo ‘Vindaim’ Park especially has been showing his prowess. Though he is labeled as the main support, he has been on multiple flex support heroes and really making an impact in the lobby. His aggressive support plays have a feast or famine effect, either getting a pick or getting picked. His synergy around Youngwan ‘Creative’ Kim has helped both support players be more sustainable with one less tank to protect them in Overwatch 2.
Other Circumstances
A strength that is more given to the APAC region rather than earned in the arrangement to play against the North American teams. The North American teams will be flying out to Hawaii, which means those teams lose a day of practice. Then it is not just flying out, but also jet lag that will mess with the players’ internal clocks. The new surroundings mean the set ups will be unfamiliar that can throw off players. This being in a hotel, airplane and a campus that are all open means that there is a higher chance of COVID infection as the environment cannot be controlled like in the team practice rooms.
-We're required to travel for 5-9 hours
-Lack of space to compete at an ACTIVE college campus, meaning we have to share the practice space with other teams
-Limited resources to set up PCs in hotel rooms for online participation (IF it's even allowed)— Dear 🦌 (@Loldear) July 8, 2022
Fortunately, the APAC teams do not have to deal with that. Except for the disruption of their normal schedule, the APAC teams will be able to play from their familiar practice rooms and not have to travel. It should be mentioned that last season at the end teams such as the Shanghai Dragons did travel to play the interregional playoff matches from the Blizzard’s own studios in Shanghai. At the time the Hunters and the Dragons were not located in Shanghai and both had to travel, but much less than the North American teams. It is unknown as of the publishing of this article if the APAC teams will be traveling for the Midseason Madness.
What Needs to be Done
The debate about which region is better is going to be semi-settled after the Midseason Madness. A lot of that pressure is on the backs of the Seoul Dynasty as they are the number one ranked team in the APAC region. There are a few things that need to be secured before their face-off with NA.
First, the Seoul Dynasty needs to learn how to counter the rush. No doubt that the North American teams will be playing the Rush sometime during the tournament. If Seoul doesn’t want to play it, that is okay, but they need to have a comfortable way to play around it then.
Second, the team needs to be in sync. If the map isn’t going their way then they need to reset their mentals and not just continue to throw themselves into team fights out of desperation. Third, they need each player to pop off. Profit really needs to be that playoff Profit. The best way for him to do that is to be on his signature hero of Tracer. But this goes for all the players, whichever support player is on Ana needs to be hitting the sleep darts, Smurf needs to be using his ults in a way to be getting an advantage overall.
Tiger Nation is excited to see the Dynasty in an international competition. The fandom will be hoping for good results and another star to be added to the Seoul Dynasty banner.
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