2020 Philadelphia Fusion season

The 2020 Philadelphia Fusion season was the third season of the Philadelphia Fusion's existence in the Overwatch League and their first under head coach Kim "KDG" Dong-gun. The Fusion planned to host three homestand weekends in the 2020 season, with the first two taking place at The Met in Philadelphia and the third at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.[1] While their first homestand weekend took place, all following homestand events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 Philadelphia Fusion season
North America Region champions
Head coachKim "KDG" Dong-gun
OwnerComcast Spectacor
Arena(s)The Met Philadelphia
ConferenceAtlantic
DivisionSouth
RegionNorth America
Results
Record19–2 (.905)
Place
May MeleeSemifinals
Summer ShowdownFinals
Countdown CupFinals
Season PlayoffsGF Lower Round 1
Total Earnings$430,000

On August 16, in their final regular season game, the Fusion clinched the top seed in the North America region for the season playoffs with a win over the San Francisco Shock.[2] In the first round of the North America bracket, Philadelphia swept the Los Angeles Gladiators, 3–0.[3] The following day, the Fusion swept the Los Angeles Valiant, 3–0, sending them to the North America upper bracket finals.[4] In the upper finals match, which took place on September 12, Philadelphia were handed their first lost of the postseason, falling to San Francisco by a score of 1–3.[5] The loss sent the Fusion to the North America lower bracket finals, where they swept the Washington Justice, 3–0, sending them to the Grand Finals bracket.[6]

The Fusion's first match in the Grand Finals bracket was on October 8, where they were swept, 0–3, by the Shanghai Dragons.[7] The following day, they were swept, 0–3, by the Seoul Dynasty, ending their postseason run.[8]

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

In September 2019, Director of Overwatch Operations Yann "Kirby" Luu, who was also the head coach of the team in 2018, left the team.[9] Less than a month later, both co-head coaches Se-hwi "NamedHwi" Go and Elliot "Hayes" Hayes announced their departures from the team.[10] The team found their replacement on October 25 with the hiring of former Seoul Dynasty head coach Kim "KDG" Dong-gun. Additionally, the team promoted Roston Yoo from team manager to assistant general manager the same day.[11]

Roster changes
Free agents
RolePlayerContract
status		Date signed2020 team
HandleName
DamageCarpeJae-Hyeok LeeFree agentOctober 23Philadelphia Fusion[12]
DamageSnilloSimon EkströmFree agentOctober 30Philadelphia Fusion[13]
Legend
  Re-signed/Retained by the Fusion.
  Departed from the Fusion.

The Fusion enter the new season with two free agents, four players which they have the option to retain for another year, and three players under contract.[14] The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.[15]

Acquisitions

The Fusion's first acquisitions of the offseason were announced on October 30. The team traded tank Shin "BERNAR" Se-won and support Kim "Fuze" Tae-hoon from Fusion University to the London Spitfire in exchange for tank Kim "Fury" Jun-ho, signed former Toronto Defiant DPS Lee "Ivy" Seung-hun, acquired support Daniel "FunnyAstro" Hathaway from the Atlanta Reign, and promoted support Kim "Alarm" Kyung-bo from Fusion University. Additionally, the team announced that DPS Josue "Eqo" Corona as part of their roster, although he had been let go from the team earlier in the month.[13] On November 25, the team announced that they had acquired DPS Jeong "Heesu" Hee-su from RunAway, although he would not turn 18, and thus ineligible to play, until late March.[16]

On November 26, the acquisition of DPS Philip "ChipSa" Graham, a popular streamer, was announced.[17] This signing proved to be controversial, as several figures in the professional Overwatch community criticized the signing. Namely, Envy Gaming content creator Justin "Jayne" Conroy noted his lack of professional experience and accused the Fusion of nepotism, as ChipSa's brother Chris "ChrisTFer" Graham works as an assistant coach for the team.[18]

Departures

The Fusion's first free agent to depart from the team was support Alberto "neptuNo" González, who had been with the team since its inception in 2017, as the team announced that they had parted ways with him on October 21.[19] The following day, the team elected not to exercise their option to retain DPS Josue "Eqo" Corona, who was also an inaugural season team member.[20] Support Elijah "Elk" Gallagher and DPS Finley "Kyb" Adisi, the final two players that were under team options, were released a day later.[21] Although he was announced as a part of the Fusion's roster in October, DPS Simon "Snillo" Ekström was released from the team on December 19.[22]

Roster
2020 Philadelphia Fusion roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
Damage 18 Carpe  Lee Jae-hyeok  South Korea 
Damage 2 Ivy  Lee Seung-hyun  South Korea 
Damage 15 EQO  Corona, Josue   Israel 
Damage 1 ChipSa  Graham, Philip   United Kingdom 
Damage 10 Heesu  Jeong Hee-su  South Korea 
Tank 9 SADO  Kim Su-min  South Korea 
Tank 21 Poko  Gouzerch, Gael   France 
Tank 19 Fury  Kim Jun-ho  South Korea 
Support 33 FunnyAstro  Hathaway, Daniel   United Kingdom 
Support 42 Boombox  Charles, Isaac   United Kingdom 
Support 17 Alarm  Kim Kyung-bo  South Korea 
Head coach
  • Kim "KDG" Dong-gun
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: December 19, 2019.

Standings
2020 Overwatch League North America standings
# Team Conference W BW L PCT P MR MD STK
Playoffs
1 Philadelphia Fusion ATL 19 5 2 .905 21 59–19–0 +40
2 San Francisco Shock PAC 18 7 3 .857 21 56–17–2 +39
3 Paris Eternal ATL 15 4 6 .714 21 50–31–0 +19
4 Florida Mayhem ATL 14 3 7 .667 21 48–30–0 +18
5 Los Angeles Valiant PAC 11 1 10 .524 21 41–41–0 ±0
Play-ins
6 Los Angeles Gladiators PAC 11 0 10 .524 21 43–39–5 +4
7 Atlanta Reign ATL 10 0 11 .476 21 43–35–0 +8
8 Dallas Fuel PAC 9 0 12 .429 21 35–44–0 -9
9 Toronto Defiant ATL 7 1 14 .333 21 32–48–0 -16
10[lower-alpha 1] Houston Outlaws ATL 6 0 15 .286 21 32–50–3 -18
11[lower-alpha 1] Vancouver Titans PAC 6 0 15 .286 21 23–48–0 -25
12 Washington Justice ATL 4 0 17 .190 21 21–54–1 -33
13 Boston Uprising ATL 2 0 19 .095 21 14–61–4 -47
Tiebreakers

  1. Houston placed ahead of Vancouver based on map differential.

Game log

Regular season
2020 game log (Regular season record: 19–2)
February–April: 9–1
May Melee qualifiers: 3–0
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 2–1
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 4–0
August: 1–0
2020 season schedule

Midseason tournaments
2020 midseason tournaments game log
May Melee: 1–1
Summer Showdown: 2–1
Countdown Cup: 2–1
Bonus wins awarded: 5

Postseason
2020 playoff game log
North America Bracket: 3–1
Grand Finals Bracket: 0–2
Upper Round 1 October 8 Philadelphia Fusion 0 – 3 Shanghai Dragons Online
1:00 pm UTC    
Lower Round 1 October 9 Philadelphia Fusion 0 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Online
11:00 am UTC    

References
  1. Chan, Eric (August 27, 2019). "The Fusion are bringing the Overwatch League home in 2020 with 3 homestand weekend events". NBC Sports Philadelphia. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  2. Field Level Media (August 16, 2020). "Fusion get revenge, top seed with win over Shock". Rueters. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  3. Field Level Media. "Trio of 5-map thrillers highlight wild day at OWL playoffs". Rueters. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  4. Richardson, Liz (September 6, 2020). "Paris Eternal, Los Angeles Gladiators eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  5. Richardson, Liz (September 12, 2020). "Shanghai Dragons, San Francisco Shock lock in Overwatch League Grand Finals spots". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  6. Richardson, Liz (September 13, 2020). "Seoul Dynasty, Philadelphia Fusion round out Overwatch League Grand Finals bracket". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  7. Alford, Aaron (October 8, 2020). "Shock, Dragons Advance to OWL Winners Bracket Finals". Hotspawn. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  8. Czar, Michael (October 9, 2020). "Philadelphia Fusion eliminated from Grand Finals weekend". Daily Esports. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  9. Richardson, Liz (September 23, 2019). "Shanghai Dragons, Philadelphia Fusion drop staff". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  10. Shepard, Kate (October 7, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion: Potential Moves for 2020 [Part II]". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  11. Richardson, Liz (October 25, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion hire new head coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  12. Esguerra, Tyler (October 23, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion re-sign Carpe to 3-year contract extension". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  13. "Fusion, Fuel, Defiant and more make Overwatch League roster moves". ESPN. Reuters. October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  14. Morello, Matt (July 30, 2019). "2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  15. Richardson, Liz (October 4, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  16. Peres, Pedro (November 25, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion sign Heesu". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  17. Richardson, Liz (November 26, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion sign ChipSa". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  18. Gwilliam, Michael (November 26, 2019). "Jayne says Fusion "spat in pros' faces" by signing Overwatch streamer". Dexerto.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  19. Shepard, Kate (October 21, 2019). "The Philadelphia Fusion Release Neptuno". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  20. Samples, Rachel (October 22, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion part ways with Eqo ahead of 2020 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  21. Samples, Rachel (October 23, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion release Elk and KYB". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  22. Richardson, Liz (December 19, 2019). "Philadelphia Fusion part ways with Snillo". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
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