2019 Chengdu Hunters season

The 2019 Chengdu Hunters season was the first season of Chengdu Hunters's existence in the Overwatch League as one of eight expansion franchises added for the 2019 season. After posting three consecutive 3–4 records for the first three stages, the Hunters failed to qualify for any of the Stage Playoffs. A 4–3 record in Stage 4 gave Chengdu 13–15 record for the season and qualified them for the Play-In Tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Guangzhou Charge by a 1–4 scoreline.

2019 Chengdu Hunters season
Head coach	Wang Xingrui (王星睿)
Owner	Huya
Division	Pacific
Results
Record	13–15 (.464)
Place	Pacific: 8th League: 12th
Stage 1 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 2 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 3 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify

Preceding offseason

Chengdu announced the entirety of their initial starting roster in late November, consisting of the following players:[1]

• Kong "Kyo" Chun-ting,
• Li "Yveltal" Xian-yao,
• Guan "GARRY" Li,
• Luo "Elsa" Wen-jie,
• Ding "ameng" Meng-han,
• Ma "lateyoung" Tian-bin,
• Yi "JinMu" Hu,
• Lo "Baconjack" Tzu-Heng, and
• Zhang "YangXiaoLong" Zhi-hao.

The team also had signed Ted "silkthread" Wang, but silkthread retired from professional Overwatch on November 30.[2] On January 16, Chengdu signed Wei "jiqiren" Yan-song.[3]

Regular season

Stage 1

Chengdu opened their 2019 season on February 15 with a victory over fellow Chinese expansion franchise Guangzhou Charge.[4] After their second week of play, which resulted in a loss to Seoul Dynasty and a win over Florida Mayhem, it became apparent that Chengdu was generally not playing to the triple tank, triple support meta that the majority of the league was; instead, the team primarily featured a DPS-heavy composition.[5] Chengdu would go on to lose three matches straight before defeating Atlanta Reign in their final match of Stage 1 to finish the stage with a 3–4 record.[6]

Stage 2

Hunters began Stage 2 with a match against Paris Eternal on April 6. Sticking with their off-meta team composition strategy, Chengdu swept Paris 4–0.[7] Chengdu defeated Washington Justice 3–1 a day later in a match that featured an Overwatch League record 27 out of the 30 possible heroes in the game.[8] Despite the strong start, Chengdu went on a three-game losing streak before finding their next win against London Spitfire on April 28.[9] Chengdu's final match of the stage was against Los Angeles Valiant. Hunters lost the match 2–3 to put them out of playoff contention and for the second stage in a row, finish the stage with a 3–4 record.[10]

Stage 3

Chengdu Hunters post-match handshake after defeating Dallas Fuel in Stage 3.

The Hunters opened Stage 3 on June 6 with a 1–3 loss to the Guangzhou Charge.[11] Two days later, the team was swept 0–4 by the Los Angeles Valiant.[12] Chengdu took on the Dallas Fuel a week later, looking to rebound from the previous two losses. The team kept Dallas guessing throughout the match and took a decisive 3–1 victory.[13] The team's next match was on June 21, when they faced the undefeated Vancouver Titans. While Chengdu was able to take the first map of the match, they dropped the following three, leading to a 1–3 loss.[14] The Hunters rebounded two days later, when they swept the Dallas Fuel 4–0 in a rematch of the previous week.[15] For the final week of the stage, Chengdu first took on the Stage 2 Champions San Francisco Shock on June 27. The match went to a fifth tiebreaker map, and the Hunters managed to pull out a 3–2 victory.[16] Chengdu was unable to close out the stage with a winning record, however, as they fell 0–3 to the Seoul Dynasty three days later and ended the stage with another 3–4 record.[16]

Stage 4

A day prior to their first match of Stage 4, which would include the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, the Hunters brought in DPS prospect Xin "leave" Huang. The 17-year-old would not be eligible to officially sign with the Hunters until 2020 season.[17]

The team's first match of the stage was against the Philadelphia Fusion on July 26. The match went the distance, needing a fifth map to determine the winner; Chengdu was able to take map five to win 3–2.[18] Two days later, the team faced the Boston Uprising. The match also went the distance, and with game MVP performance from support Xianyao "Yveltal" Li on Mercy, Chengdu took another 3–2 win.[19] The following week, the Hunters faced the Los Angeles Gladiators. For the third match in a row, the game went to a fifth tiebreaker map; this time, Chengdu was unable to pull out the win and lost the match 2–3.[20] The team came back in full force two days later with a match against the Atlantic Champions New York Excelsior. DPS Yi "Jinmu" Hu on Pharah gave New York troubles throughout the series; that, along with Chengdu's ability to dive NYXL's Jeong "Nenne" Yeon-kwan on Widowmaker, proved to be too much for the Excelsior to handle, as handed New York their first 4–0 sweep in franchise history.[21] The following week, Chengdu faced the Hangzhou Spark; the team fell 1–3 in the match.[22] The Hunter's final week of play saw them first face the San Francisco Shock on August 16. Chengdu was dominated throughout the match and was swept 0–4.[23] Needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, the Hunters faced the Houston Outlaws in their final match of the season. Chengdu pulled out a 3–2 victory after the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map.[24] The team finished the season with a 13–15 record and qualified for the Play-In Tournament.

Postseason

As the twelfth seed in the overall standings, the Hunters qualified for the Play-In Tournament, where they took on the ninth-seeded Guangzhou Charge on August 30. After dropping the first two maps, Ilios and Eichenwalde, the Hunters closed the gap by taking map three, Horizon Lunar Colony. However, the Charge would not yield another map, as the Hunters lost the match 1–4 and ended their 2019 season.[25]

Final roster

2019 Chengdu Hunters roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 24 JinMu  Yi Hu  China  Damage 74 Baconjack  Lo Tzu-Heng  Taiwan  Damage 88 YangXiaoLong  Zhang Zhihao  China  Damage leave (I)  Huang Xin  China  Tank 3 Elsa  Luo Wenjie  China  Tank 5 Ameng  Ding Menghan  China  Tank 64 LateYoung  Ma Tianban  China  Tank 99 jiqiren  Wei Yansong  China  Support 7 Kyo (C)  Kong Chunting  China  Support 29 Yveltal  Li Xianyao  China  Support 77 GARRY  Li Guan  China	Head coach Wang Xingrui Legend (C) Team captain (2W) Two-way player (I) Inactive (S) Suspended Injury/Illness Latest roster transaction: January 16, 2019.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:

• On July 25, Hunters signed Huang "leave" Xin.[17]

Standings

Record by stage

Stage	Pld	W	L	Pct	MW	ML	MT	MD	Pos
1	7	3	4	.429	12	20	0	-8	16
2	7	3	4	.429	15	14	0	+1	9
3	7	3	4	.429	12	16	1	-4	13
4[lower-alpha 1]	7	4	3	.571	16	16	0	±0	9
Overall	28	13	15	.464	55	66	1	-11	12
Qualified for playoffs •   Qualified for play-in tournament

1. No stage playoffs were held for Stage 4.

League

2019 Overwatch League standings
#	Team	Division	W	L	PCT	P	MR	MD	STK
Division leaders
1	Vancouver Titans	PAC	25	3	.893	28	89–28–0	+61	W1
2	New York Excelsior	ATL	22	6	.786	28	78–38–3	+40	L1
Wild cards
3	San Francisco Shock	PAC	23	5	.821	28	92–26–0	+66	W8
4	Hangzhou Spark	PAC	18	10	.643	28	64–52–4	+12	W3
5	Los Angeles Gladiators	PAC	17	11	.607	28	67–48–3	+19	W1
6[lower-alpha 1]	Atlanta Reign	ATL	16	12	.571	28	69–50–1	+19	W9
Play-in tournament
7[lower-alpha 1]	London Spitfire	ATL	16	12	.571	28	58–52–6	+6	L1
8[lower-alpha 2]	Seoul Dynasty	PAC	15	13	.536	28	64–50–3	+14	L1
9[lower-alpha 2]	Guangzhou Charge	PAC	15	13	.536	28	61–57–1	+4	W4
10[lower-alpha 2]	Philadelphia Fusion	ATL	15	13	.536	28	57–60–3	-3	W1
11[lower-alpha 3]	Shanghai Dragons	PAC	13	15	.464	28	51–61–3	-10	L5
12[lower-alpha 3]	Chengdu Hunters	PAC	13	15	.464	28	55–66–1	-11	W1
Did not qualify for playoffs
13	Los Angeles Valiant	PAC	12	16	.429	28	56–61–4	-5	L2
14	Paris Eternal	ATL	11	17	.393	28	46–67–3	-21	L1
15	Dallas Fuel	PAC	10	18	.357	28	43–70–3	-27	L12
16	Houston Outlaws	ATL	9	19	.321	28	47–69–3	-22	L5
17	Toronto Defiant	ATL	8	20	.286	28	39–72–4	-33	L4
17	Washington Justice	ATL	8	20	.286	28	39–72–6	-33	W1
19	Boston Uprising	ATL	8	20	.286	28	41–78–2	-37	L8
20	Florida Mayhem	ATL	6	22	.214	28	36–75–5	-39	W2
Tiebreakers
Atlanta placed ahead of London based on map differential. Seoul placed ahead of Guangzhou based on map differential. Guangzhou placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential. Shanghai placed ahead of Chengdu based on map differential.

Game log

Regular season

2019 game log (Regular season record: 13–15)
Stage 1 (3–4) 1 February 15 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 2 Guangzhou Charge Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Busan 2 3 Numbani 2 2 Volskaya Industries 3 2 Dorado 1 2 Nepal 1 2 February 21 Seoul Dynasty 4 – 0 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 1 2 Hollywood 1 4 Horizon Lunar Colony 3 3 Rialto 2 3 February 23 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 2 Florida Mayhem Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 1 2 King's Row 3 2 Temple of Anubis 0 2 Rialto 3 2 Busan 0 4 March 01 Shanghai Dragons 4 – 0 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 1 3 Numbani 2 5 Volskaya Industries 4 2 Dorado 1 5 March 07 Toronto Defiant 3 – 1 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 1 1 King's Row 0 2 Volskaya Industries 3 3 Route 66 2 6 March 10 Vancouver Titans 3 – 2 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 0 1 Hollywood 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 3 Route 66 2 2 Nepal 0 7 March 16 Atlanta Reign 2 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Nepal 2 4 Numbani 3 0 Horizon Lunar Colony 1 3 Rialto 2 0 Busan 2
Stage 2 (3–4) 8 April 06 Chengdu Hunters 4 – 0 Paris Eternal Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 1 4 Hanamura 3 4 Blizzard World 3 2 Rialto 1 9 April 07 Washington Justice 1 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Oasis 2 1 Temple of Anubis 0 0 King's Row 1 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 4 10 April 12 Chengdu Hunters 1 – 3 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA 8:30 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Lijiang Tower 2 1 Paris 0 2 King's Row 3 2 Junkertown 3 11 April 20 Los Angeles Gladiators 3 – 1 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 4:30 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 0 1 Hanamura 2 2 Eichenwalde 1 1 Junkertown 0 12 April 27 Hangzhou Spark 3 – 1 Chengdu Hunters Allen, TX 11:25 am PST    Recap Allen Event Center 2 Busan 1 3 Temple of Anubis 2 1 Blizzard World 2 5 Junkertown 4 13 April 28 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 1 London Spitfire Allen, TX 11:45 am PST    Recap Allen Event Center 2 Oasis 1 4 Paris 5 3 Eichenwalde 0 2 Rialto 1 14 May 04 Chengdu Hunters 2 – 3 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA 4:30 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Lijiang Tower 2 2 Paris 1 2 King's Row 3 2 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 0 0 Busan 2
Stage 3 (3–4) 15 June 06 Guangzhou Charge 3 – 1 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 7:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 0 5 Volskaya Industries 4 6 Eichenwalde 5 2 Dorado 3 16 June 08 Los Angeles Valiant 4 – 0 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 0 5 Horizon Lunar Colony 4 5 Numbani 3 3 Havana 2 17 June 13 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 7:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 3 Paris 2 1 Hollywood 3 2 Dorado 3 18 June 21 Chengdu Hunters 1 – 3 Vancouver Titans Burbank, CA 9:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 1 2 Volskaya Industries 3 3 Hollywood 4 0 Havana 2 19 June 23 Chengdu Hunters 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 1 1 Horizon Lunar Colony 0 4 Numbani 3 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 0 20 June 27 San Francisco Shock 2 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 9:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 4 Volskaya Industries 3 4 Eichenwalde 5 2 Dorado 0 1 Oasis 2 21 June 30 Chengdu Hunters 0 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 5 Paris 5 1 Eichenwalde 2 1 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3
Stage 4 (4–3) 22 July 26 Philadelphia Fusion 2 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 9:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Busan 2 3 Hanamura 2 2 Blizzard World 3 2 Junkertown 1 1 Ilios 2 23 July 28 Boston Uprising 2 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 1 Busan 2 3 Volskaya Industries 2 0 Blizzard World 3 2 Havana 0 0 Ilios 2 24 August 02 Chengdu Hunters 2 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA 7:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Lijiang Tower 1 1 Volskaya Industries 2 1 King's Row 2 5 Junkertown 4 0 Busan 2 25 August 04 Chengdu Hunters 4 – 0 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 Temple of Anubis 1 4 King's Row 3 2 Route 66 1 26 August 10 Chengdu Hunters 1 – 3 Hangzhou Spark Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 1 0 Hanamura 1 2 King's Row 3 3 Havana 4 27 August 16 Chengdu Hunters 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA 5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 1 Hanamura 2 0 Hollywood 1 1 Route 66 2 28 August 17 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 2 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 2 Temple of Anubis 1 2 Hollywood 1 2 Junkertown 3 2 Lijiang Tower 1

Playoffs

2019 playoff game log
Play-In Tournament (0–1) Quarterfinals August 30 Chengdu Hunters 1 – 4 Guangzhou Charge Burbank, CA 6:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 1 Eichenwalde 2 3 Horizon Lunar Colony 2 2 Rialto 3 0 Lijiang Tower 2

References

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2. Binkowski, Justin (December 1, 2018). "Silkthread retires from professional Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
3. Rodriguez, Veronika (January 16, 2019). "Chengdu Hunters Sign Jiqiren Ahead of Overwatch League Season 2". DBLTAP. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
4. Rand, Emily (February 18, 2019). "New names dominate opening week of Overwatch League". ESPN. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
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17. "Chengdu Hunters add DPS prospect Leave". ESPN. Reuters. July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
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