2018 Dallas Fuel season

2018   Dallas Fuel season
Head coach	Kyle "KyKy" Souder (Released April 16) Aaron "Aero" Atkins
Owner	Mike Rufail Kenneth Hersh
Division	Pacific
Results
Record	12–28 (.300)
Place	Pacific: 5th League: 10th
Stage 1 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 2 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 3 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 4 Playoffs	Semifinals
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$50,000
Dallas Fuel 2019  →

The 2018 Dallas Fuel season was the first season of the Dallas Fuel's existence in the Overwatch League (OWL). After Envy Gaming acquired the Dallas franchise slot for the OWL on October 5, 2017, the roster and staff of Team EnVyUs was transferred to the Dallas Fuel. The Fuel struggled throughout the first three quarters of the season, winning only six games, largely due to the instability of their roster. The team also went through a head coaching change, releasing Kyle "KyKy" Souder and signing Aaron "Aero" Atkins. Dallas had their most successful stage in Stage 4 and qualified for the Stage 4 playoffs. However, they lost in the semifinals to the New York Excelsior. The team finished with a regular season record of 12–28 placing them tenth overall and did not qualify for the season playoffs.

Preceding offseason

On September 20, 2017, Blizzard officially announced that Envy Gaming had acquired the Dallas-based Overwatch League franchise spot. ^[1] All of the existing members of Team EnVyUs were transferred to the new team, the Dallas Fuel, which consisted of: ^[2]

• Timo "Taimou" Kettunen
• Jonathan "HarryHook" Tejedor Rua
• Sebastian "Chipshajen" Widlund
• Christian "cocco" Jonsson
• Hyeon "EFFECT" Hwang
• Pongphop "Mickie" Rattanasangchod

The team announced the signing of popular player and streamer Brandon "Seagull" Larned three days later. ^[3] Dallas rounded out their roster in late October, signing support player Scott "Custa" Kennedy on October 27 and tank player Félix "xQc" Lengyel on October 28. ^{[4] [5]}

Regular season

Aaron "Aero" Atkins took over as head coach in 2018 Stage 4.

Fuel's first-ever OWL regular season match was on January 10, 2018, and resulted in a 1–2 loss to the Seoul Dynasty. ^[6] The first three quarters of the Fuel's season was plagued with player discipline issues and an inconsistent roster. On January 19, the Overwatch League suspended xQc for four games after he made anti-gay remarks towards a Houston Outlaws player the day before. The Fuel extended the suspension to the entirety of Stage 1 shortly after. ^[7] Between Stages 1 and 2, the Fuel acquired damage players Dylan "aKm" Bignet and Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun from free agency and the London Spitfire, respectively. ^{[8] [9]} On March 8, in the middle of Stage 2, the Fuel signed tank player Son "OGE" Min-seok, maxing out their roster at 12 players. ^[10] Two days later, xQc was suspended for another four matches, after he "used an emote in a racially disparaging manner on the league’s stream and on social media, and used disparaging language against Overwatch League casters and fellow players on social media and on his personal stream." ^[11] The following day, on March 11, the Fuel released xQc. ^[12] The Fuel's player discipline issues continued later on in the stage, as OGE received a four-game suspension on March 23 for account boosting, a process in which a player is paid to increase another player's skill rating, back in Summer 2017. ^[13] On April 2, prior to the start of Stage 3, Dallas traded Custa to the Los Angeles Valiant in exchange for support player Benjamin "uNKOE" Chevasson. ^[14] On April 15, the Fuel released head coach Kyle "KyKy" Souder and assistant coach Emanuel "Peak" Uzoni was named the interim head coach. Additionally, Rascal was released due to commitment issues and his unwillingness to communicate. ^[15] Along with periodical absences, including missing most of Stage 3, during the season from Hwang "EFFECT" Hyeon, ^[16] the Fuel amassed 24 losses in the first three stages; the six matches they won included three over the winless Shanghai Dragons. ^[17]

On May 15, a day before the start of Stage 4, Dallas announced the signing of former Fusion University head coach Aaron "Aero" Atkins as their new head coach. ^[18] The stage also saw the support hero Brigitte become a strong character to play; Fuel's Pongphop "Mickie" Rattanasangchod performed particularly well with the hero throughout the stage. ^{[19] [20]} The Fuel doubled their number of wins Stage 4, going 6–4, which included victories over top teams such as the Valiant, Uprising, Spitfire, and Fusion. The record would be good enough to claim the fourth seed in the Stage 4 playoffs. ^[17] In the stage semifinals on June 16, the team lost to the New York Excelsior, 2–3. ^[21] Dallas ended the season 10th place with a record of 12–28. ^[22]

On August 23, Mickie, OGE, and Seagull were announced to represent the Fuel in the 2018 All-Star Game; however, Seagull announced his retirement before the game and was subsequently replaced by Los Angeles Gladiators tank player Bischu. ^[23]

Final roster

2018 Dallas Fuel roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage   10 aKm  Bignet, Dylan   France  Damage   13 Taimou  Kettunen, Timo   Finland  Damage   39 EFFECT  Hwang Hyeon  South Korea  Tank   2 OGE  Son Min-seok  South Korea  Tank   55 cocco  Jonsson, Christian   Sweden  Support   4 Chipshajen  Widlund, Sebastian   Sweden  Support   9 HarryHook  Tejedor, Jonathan   Spain  Support   24 Unkoe  Chevasson, Benjamin   France  Flex  7 Mickie  Rattanasangchod, Pongphop   Thailand  Flex  7 Seagull   Larned, Brandon   United States	Head coach Aaron Atkins
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: April 16, 2018.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2018 regular season:

• On February 13, Fuel signed Dylan "aKm" Bignet. ^[24]
• On February 13, Fuel acquired Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun from London Spitfire. ^[24]
• On March 8, Fuel signed Son "OGE" Min-seok. ^[10]
• On March 11, Fuel released Félix "xQc" Lengyel. ^[12]
• On April 2, Fuel traded Scott "Custa" Kennedy to Los Angeles Valiant in exchange for Benjamin "Unkoe" Chevasson. ^[14]
• On April 15, Fuel released Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun. ^[15]

Standings

Record by stage

Stage	Pld	W	L	Pct	MW	ML	MT	MD	Pos
1	10	3	7	.300	14	25	3	-11	10
2	10	2	8	.200	13	28	1	-15	11
3	10	1	9	.100	9	30	2	-21	11
4	10	6	4	.600	22	17	1	+5	4
Overall	40	12	28	.300	58	100	7	-42	10
Qualified for playoffs

League

2018 Overwatch League standings v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	PCT	P	MR	MD
Division leaders
1	New York Excelsior	ATL	34	6	.850	40	126–43–4	+83
2	Los Angeles Valiant	PAC	27	13	.675	40	100–64–7	+36
Wild cards
3	Boston Uprising	ATL	26	14	.650	40	99–71–3	+28
4	Los Angeles Gladiators	PAC	25	15	.625	40	96–72–3	+24
5 [lower-alpha 1]	London Spitfire	ATL	24	16	.600	40	102–69–3	+33
6 [lower-alpha 1]	Philadelphia Fusion	ATL	24	16	.600	40	93–80–2	+13
Did not qualify for playoffs
7 [lower-alpha 2]	Houston Outlaws	ATL	22	18	.550	40	94–77–2	+17
8 [lower-alpha 2]	Seoul Dynasty	PAC	22	18	.550	40	91–78–3	+13
9	San Francisco Shock	PAC	17	23	.425	40	77–84–5	-7
10	Dallas Fuel	PAC	12	28	.300	40	58–100–7	-42
11	Florida Mayhem	ATL	7	33	.175	40	42–120–5	-78
12	Shanghai Dragons	PAC	0	40	.000	40	21–141–2	-120
Tiebreakers
London placed ahead of Philadelphia based on map differential. Houston placed ahead of Seoul based on map differential.

Game log

Preseason

2018 preseason game log
Preseason (2–0) 1 December 7 Dallas Fuel 3 – 2 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA 2 December 9 Florida Mayhem 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA

Regular season

2018 game log (Regular season record: 12–28)
Stage 1 (3–7) 1 January 10 Dallas Fuel 1 – 2 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA 2 January 12 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 3 January 18 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA 4 January 19 London Spitfire 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 5 January 26 Dallas Fuel 3 – 0 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA 6 January 27 Dallas Fuel 2 – 3 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 7 February 01 Philadelphia Fusion 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 8 February 03 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA 9 February 07 Shanghai Dragons 2 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 10 February 09 Los Angeles Gladiators 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA
Stage 2 (2–8) 11 February 21 Dallas Fuel 3 – 1 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA 12 February 23 Dallas Fuel 3 – 1 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA 13 February 28 Seoul Dynasty 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 14 March 02 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA 15 March 07 San Francisco Shock 3 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 16 March 10 Florida Mayhem 3 – 2 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 17 March 14 Boston Uprising 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 18 March 17 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Philadelphia Fusion Burbank, CA 19 March 22 New York Excelsior 3 – 2 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 20 March 24 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA
Stage 3 (1–9) 21 April 04 Shanghai Dragons 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 22 April 06 Los Angeles Gladiators 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 23 April 11 Dallas Fuel 2 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA 24 April 13 Los Angeles Valiant 2 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 25 April 18 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA 26 April 21 Houston Outlaws 3 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 27 April 25 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Florida Mayhem Burbank, CA 28 April 27 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 29 May 02 Philadelphia Fusion 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 30 May 03 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA
Stage 4 (6–4) 31 May 16 Dallas Fuel 3 – 1 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA 32 May 18 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA 33 May 23 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 34 May 26 Dallas Fuel 3 – 1 Philadelphia Fusion Burbank, CA 35 May 31 San Francisco Shock 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 36 June 02 London Spitfire 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 37 June 06 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA 38 June 08 Florida Mayhem 0 – 4 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 39 June 13 Seoul Dynasty 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 40 June 15 Dallas Fuel 3 – 1 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA Semifinals June 16 Dallas Fuel 2 – 3 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA

References

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3. Goslin, Austen (September 27, 2017). "North American streamer and pro player Seagull joins Team Envy". Heroes Never Die. Polygon . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
4. Carpenter, Nicole (October 27, 2017). "Dallas Fuel signs new support player to Overwatch League roster". Dot Esports . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
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6. Donigan, Wyatt (15 January 2018). "Dynasty survives Fuel, Valiant tops Shock, Gladiators squashes Dragons as OWL regular season begins". ESPN . Retrieved 12 July 2018.
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11. Mastin, Sabriel (March 10, 2018). "xQc receives a new fine and suspension". Overwatch Wire. USA Today. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018.
12. Wolf, Jacob (March 11, 2018). "xQc released from Dallas Fuel after receiving second Overwatch League suspension". ESPN . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
13. Goslin, Austen (March 23, 2018). "Dallas Fuel's OGE suspended for 4 games". Heroes Never Die. Polygon . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
14. Carpenter, Nicole (April 2, 2018). "Dallas Fuel and Los Angeles Valiant swap support players". Dot Esports . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
15. Goslin, Austen (April 16, 2018). "Dallas Fuel release coach Kyky and DPS player Rascal". Heroes Never Die. Polygon . Retrieved March 9, 2022.
16. Baker, Harry (May 12, 2018). "Dallas Fuel DPS player EFFECT states he will not play in Stage Four". Overwatch Wire. USA Today. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018.
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21. Donigan, Wyatt (June 17, 2018). "Los Angeles Valiant beats New York Excelsior in Stage 4 final". ESPN . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
22. Erzberger, Tyler (July 3, 2018). "See you next season: Overwatch League send-offs". ESPN . Retrieved April 4, 2022.
23. "Full All-Star Rosters Revealed". Overwatch League. August 23, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
24. Wolf, Jacob (February 13, 2018). "Sources: Rascal to join Dallas Fuel". ESPN . Retrieved April 4, 2022.