Even though the APAC season has been pushed back for two weeks, the teams are still ramping up for the upcoming season. The Seoul Dynasty did this by having an ‘Ask my Anything’ forum in the Gen.G Discord. Fans were able to ask questions that would be relayed to the coaches Jinmo ‘Tobi’ Yang and Seongwon ‘MMA’ Mun. Though it as initially done in Korean, Gen.G thoughtfully translated it for fans. Here is the top take aways from the AMA.
Courtesy of the Seoul Dynasty Instagram Story
Many fans were interested in hearing about the team. There hasn’t been much team interactions with the fans during the off season other than Twitch streams. Even those have been few and far between as the team has been focusing on the team atmosphere and presumably preparing for the season. It was fun to hear the answer on the team dynamics.
The interactions of the players during the AMA was hilarious to see. Junyoung ‘Profit’ Park, Dongeon ‘FITS’ Kim, and Myeonghwan ‘Smurf’ Yoo all made appearances during the AMA. It was great to see how comfortable the players were with both Tobi and MMA. Profit was bantering back and forth with MMA about his boring offseason of hiking and going to the gym. While FITS showed his sass with a mere “?” after Tobi’s honest answer about him. Smurf displayed his support of Tobi through his response asking if Tobi was going to be sending them to the finals. The overall interactions gave good vibes for the season.
Profit is now the eldest player on the team. This is crazy to think about for Seoul Dynasty fans, but as per usual in Korean culture, the oldest is usually the captain. With the retirement of Jehong ‘Ryujehong’ Ryu and Jaehui ‘Gesture’ Hong the two previous captains of the Seoul Dynasty, Profit will be the next in line to fill that position. He was ‘elected’ which would presume that he was voted upon by his peers to achieve this honor for Season 5.
Profit doesn’t just have age on his side but also the experience as a player as a veteran in community and Overwatch League. He has proved himself through winning not only the OWL season 1 but also APEX. Tobi explained in the AMA that Profit does a good job taking care of the younger players. This is so important with the Dynasty having a couple newbies on the team which will be social emotional support going into this new season as it will come as a new experience and expectations.
MMA talked about how the coaches want to anchor the team this season is the mentality. The players’ mentals acknowledged as important, before, during and after the matches. It isn’t that the team isn’t expecting to not run into hardships, but they are looking at how they can overcome up these obstacles together so when it is encountered the mental state isn’t shattered. MMA and the community know that all the Overwatch League players’ mechanics are great, as they are in the League, but teams make or break because of their mental. As both Tobi and MMA were ex-pro players they understand this challenge as good as any.
The players sass levels have always been a topic of great interest to the Tiger Nation. From Ryujehong with his minion of Gido ‘Gido’ Moon and Sangbeom ‘Munchkin’ Byeon in Season 1 all the way up to now the funny interactions have given crumbs to the fans. It looks like this season will continue that legacy.
Death matches and 1v1s have been a common Seoul Dynasty content of the past. The interest in who might be the forerunner for this season. Tobi answered the question of the best 1v1 players on the team is Hakyong ‘Stalk3r’ Jeong (who is the newest DPS player for the Seoul Dynasty). Stalk3r had the ‘cheat code’ of being one of the youngest on the team, making his mechanics and reactions top tier. While Stalk3r is impactful in the game, out of the game he was elected as the quietest member of the group. His foil being Profit who is the loudest, which is no surprise at all for Tiger Nation to hear.
Tobi holds a unique spot as head coach, but also have had played along side a few of the current players. Most of the players listen well to Tobi, but it seems like it isn’t always clear sailing from Tobi’s reaction to the question of which player listens the best and who is the naughtiest . FITS was marked one of the naughtier players who talks back one in a while, which would come to no fans’ surprise. No doubt that it was not in a rude manner, but just a sassy moment from FITS. But it is not just FITS who has been mischievous, but also the newest support player for the Dynasty. He has played cute pranks on his fellow members, such as hiding FITS’ pillow. It is nice to hear that one of the youngest new players are fitting right in with their hyungs.
There was a lot information that was presented in the AMA from favorite music, favorite food, and dramas that have been watched. Some of the most interesting parts was that if Seoul Dynasty won it all in Season 5 that Genjihun suggested that MMA would D.Va cosplay. MMA said that he would do anything if it meant that they could win it all. Tobi though is still undecided, but will get back to fans about it.
Tobi and MMA both acknowledged that scrims have been good. Though they bantered back and forth about saying that. If scrimbux matter, Tobi and MMA are self-reporting that things are going well! What wasn’t as good was Tobi’s plans to stream, where he acknowledged it never really started.
One of the responses that pulled on the heart strings of the fans was the mention of Jinhyuk ‘Miro’ Gong who is a coach for the Hangzhou Spark. This was in reference to the question of ‘Are there any teams you want to make sure you beat this season? For example, I know an old teammate is coaching at Hangzhou’ which could be about Miro or the head coach of the Spark is the old Seoul Dynasty coach Changgeun ‘Changgoon’ Park. Either way, Tobi responded that he would “like to beat the team that we meet in the finals’.
Courtesy of Seoul Dynasty Twitter
As the NDA was still in place the two coaches were not able to speak on Overwatch 2 openly. They did mention a few crumbs for the fans, but nothing ground breaking. With the alpha content being able to be released to the community and the closed beta coming soon fans might get even more information. It was great to see the community that the Seoul Dynasty are fostering within the team for the upcoming season. The AMA gave Tiger Nation a little to hang on to while the APAC off-season is extended a little even more.
If you are interested in looking at the full AMA head over to the Gen.G discord (http://discord.gg/tigernation) and view the interactions ama-seouldynasty channel.
Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage:
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus
“From Our Haus to Yours”
