2020 Toronto Defiant season

2020   Toronto Defiant season
Head coach	Félix Münch (rel. Apr 14) David Moschetto (Interim)
General manager	Won Jae-sun
Owner	Chris Overholt
Conference	Atlantic
Division	North
Region	North America
Results
Record	7–14 (.333)
Place	North America: 9th League: 15th
May Melee	Knockouts
Summer Showdown	Semifinals
Countdown Cup	Knockouts
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$20,000
←  2019 Toronto Defiant 2021  →

The 2020 Toronto Defiant season was the second season of Toronto Defiant's existence in the Overwatch League. The Defiant were scheduled to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season at Roy Thomson Hall in the Toronto Entertainment District, ^[1] but both were cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic as the league transitioned to online play. ^[2] The team ended the season with a 7 wins, 1 bonus win, and 14 losses. The Defiant and were knocked out of postseason contention by the Los Angeles Gladiators in the North American Play-ins bracket.

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

In early September 2019, assistant coach Matthew "Optidox" Sims, who assisted the team with head coaching duties in 2019 after head coach Lee "Bishop" Beoum-jun was released, left the team. ^[3] The following month, the team announced that former Paris Eternal head coach Félix "Féfé" Münch would be Toronto's new head coach. ^[4] In late October, the team parted ways with assistant coach Sim "Mobydik" Seung-Bo and, one day later, hired David "Lilbow" Moschetto as a coach. ^[5]

Roster changes

The Defiant enter the new season with no free agents, ten players which they have the option to retain for another year, and no players under contract. ^[6] 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. ^[7]

Acquisitions

The Defiant's first offseason pick-up was on October 23, when the team acquired Young-seo "KariV" Park from the Los Angeles Valiant. ^[8] A week later, KariV was joined by his former teammate, as DPS Brady "Agilities" Girardi signed with Toronto. ^[9] The team signed tank Adam "Beast" Denton from Philadelphia Fusion's academy team Fusion University on October 30. ^[10]

On November 4, the Defiant announced the signing of former Los Angeles Gladiators DPS player Lane "Surefour" Roberts. ^[11] The following day, they signed former Boston Uprising support Kristian "Kellex" Keller. ^[12] The team then picked up former San Francisco Shock flex-tank Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson on November 7. ^[13]

Departures

On October 7, the Defiant announced that they would not exercise their option to retain flex tank Daniel "Gods" Graeser. ^[14] The following day, they announced that they would elect to not retain DPS Hong "im37" Jin-ui, support Go "Aid" Jae-yoon, and tank Normunds "sharyk" Faterins. ^[14] Their roster overhaul continued, as Toronto announced they would not pick up main tank Jo "Yakpung" Gyeong-mu's option the following week. ^[15] In late October, the Defiant announced that they would also not retain Lee "Ivy" Seung-hyun, ^[16] and they would not retain support Park "Neko" Se-hyeon. ^[17]

Regular season

Season start

The Defiant opened the season with a 3–1 win over the Paris Eternal. A subsequent close 3–2 loss to the Philadelphia Fusion marked the first loss of the season, followed by consecutive losses to the Atlanta Reign, Florida Mayhem, and Houston Outlaws. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic forced all OWL matches into online play, and led the league to introduce a new format involving multiple midseason tournaments: the May Melee, Summer Showdown, and Countdown Cup.

Head coach Féfé announced his retirement from professional Overwatch for personal reasons on April 14, 2020. ^[18] Assistant coach David "Lilbow" Moschetto was promoted to interim head coach in his place.

May Melee

May was marked with several roster changes for the Defiant. On May 1, 2020, support player Kellex announced his retirement from professional Overwatch. ^[19] The team signed Harrison "Kruise" Pond from the Paris Eternal to fill his role; ^[20] due to the constraints of the ongoing pandemic, Kruise competed for the Defiant from the Paris Eternal team house. Damage player Mangachu transitioned to a full-time coaching role on May 13, 2020. ^[21] Toronto also signed damage player Thomas "zYKK" Hosono to a 14-day contract on May 22, 2020. ^[22]

Toronto entered the May Melee as the 12th seed, facing off with the retooled Vancouver Titans in a qualification match they won 3–2. However, the Defiant were promptly swept by the Atlanta Reign 3–0 and eliminated from the tournament.

Summer Showdown

On June 2, 2020, the Defiant announced the signing of tank player Seb "numlocked" Barton, initially as an assistant coach but then as a player. ^[23] Barton had formerly been signed to the Los Angeles Valiant, but had been released by the Valiant at the end of the 2017-2018 season. ^[24] The team primarily fielded numlocked as the starting main tank for the remainder of the season over Beast.

General Manager Jae-sun Won announced his departure from the Defiant and retirement from professional Overwatch on June 7, 2020. ^[25]

The Defiant entered the Summer Showdown as the 11th seed, and were selected by the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Valiant for their knockout stage matchup. However, with the prevailing Genji-focused metagame at the time, ushered in by buffs to the hero's abilities prior to the tournament, the Defiant were able to best the Valiant 3–1 with former Valiant player Agilities' Genji as the centrepiece. ^[26] The Defiant narrowly defeated the Atlanta Reign 3–2 in the subsequent quarterfinal, before falling 3–0 at the hands of the Philadelphia Fusion in the tournament semifinals.

On June 21, 2020, the team announced that zYKK had been upgraded to a long-term contract. ^[27]

Countdown Cup

Toronto entered the Countdown Cup as the eighth seed following victories over the Washington Justice and Vancouver Titans, 3–0 and 3–2, respectively, but were knocked out in the first round by the Los Angeles Gladiators, 3–2. ^[28]

Postseason

Leading up to the playoffs, Toronto lost back-to-back games to the San Francisco Shock and Dallas Fuel, entering the playoffs as the ninth seed. The team went up against the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators once more in their first match-up and lost 3–2 to end their season. ^[29]

Roster

2020 Toronto Defiant roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 22 Logix Berghmans, Andreas Belgium Damage 51 Mangachu Campbell, Liam Canada Damage 9 Agilities Girardi, Brady Canada Damage 10 zYKK Hosono, Thomas France Damage 4 Surefour Roberts, Lane Canada Tank 3 Beast Denton, Adam United States Tank 28 numlocked Barton, Seb United Kingdom Tank 6 Nevix Karlsson, Andreas Sweden Support 7 RoKy Park Joo-seong South Korea Support 18 Kruise Pond, Harrison United Kingdom Support 8 KariV Park Young-seo South Korea	Head coach David "Lilbow" Moschetto
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: June 3, 2020.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2020 regular season:

• On May 1, support Kristian "Kellex" Keller retired. ^[19]
• On May 2, the Defiant acquired support Harrison "Kruise" Pond from the Paris Eternal. ^[20]
• On May 22, the Defiant signed DPS Thomas "zYKK" Hosono to a 14-day contract. ^[22]
• On June 2, the Defiant signed tank Seb "numlocked" Barton. ^[23]
• On June 21, the Defiant extended Thomas "zYKK" Hosono to a long-term contract. ^[27]

Standings

Pos	Con	Team v t e	Pld	W	BW	L	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	ATL	Philadelphia Fusion	21	19	5	2	0.905	59	19	0	+40	Advance to playoffs
2	PAC	San Francisco Shock	21	18	7	3	0.857	56	17	2	+39
3	ATL	Paris Eternal	21	15	4	6	0.714	50	31	0	+19
4	ATL	Florida Mayhem	21	14	3	7	0.667	48	30	0	+18
5	PAC	Los Angeles Valiant	21	11	1	10	0.524	41	41	0	0
6	PAC	Los Angeles Gladiators	21	11	0	10	0.524	43	39	5	+4	Advance to play-ins
7	ATL	Atlanta Reign	21	10	0	11	0.476	43	35	0	+8
8	PAC	Dallas Fuel	21	9	0	12	0.429	35	44	0	−9
9	ATL	Toronto Defiant	21	7	1	14	0.333	32	48	0	−16
10	ATL	Houston Outlaws	21	6	0	15	0.286	32	50	3	−18
11	PAC	Vancouver Titans	21	6	0	15	0.286	23	48	0	−25
12	ATL	Washington Justice	21	4	0	17	0.190	21	54	1	−33
13	ATL	Boston Uprising	21	2	0	19	0.095	14	61	4	−47

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) Wins plus bonus wins 2) winning percentage (excluding bonus wins); 3) map differential; 4) head-to-head record; 5) head-to-head map differential

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log (Regular season record: 7–14)
February–April: 4–5 1 February 08 Toronto Defiant 3 – 1 Paris Eternal New York City, NY 1:00 pm EST     Hammerstein Ballroom Hosted by New York Excelsior 0 Lijiang Tower 2 4 Eichenwalde 3 3 Horizon Lunar Colony 2 3 Havana 0 2 February 23 Toronto Defiant 2 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Washington, DC 5:00 pm EST     The Anthem Hosted by Washington Justice 0 Oasis 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 2 Dorado 1 6 King's Row 5 0 Nepal 2 3 February 29 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign Houston, TX 5:00 pm EST     Revention Music Center Hosted by Houston Outlaws 0 Nepal 2 0 Blizzard World 1 1 Temple of Anubis 2 4 March 01 Toronto Defiant 1 – 3 Houston Outlaws Houston, TX 7:00 pm EST     Revention Music Center Hosted by Houston Outlaws 2 Nepal 1 3 King's Row 4 0 Horizon Lunar Colony 1 1 Dorado 2 5 March 07 Toronto Defiant 1 – 3 Florida Mayhem Washington, DC 3:00 pm EST     The Anthem Hosted by Washington Justice 2 Busan 1 0 Junkertown 1 1 Blizzard World 2 0 Hanamura 1 6 March 28 Toronto Defiant 3 – 1 Boston Uprising Online 8:00 pm UTC     7 April 04 Toronto Defiant 3 – 1 Washington Justice Online 8:00 pm UTC     8 April 12 Toronto Defiant 2 – 3 Houston Outlaws Online 8:00 pm UTC     9 April 18 Toronto Defiant 3 – 1 Boston Uprising Online 1:00 am UTC
May Melee qualifiers: 0–3 10 May 03 Toronto Defiant 1 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 11:00 pm UTC     11 May 10 Toronto Defiant 1 – 3 San Francisco Shock Online 9:00 pm UTC     12 May 17 Toronto Defiant 2 – 3 Los Angeles Valiant Online 11:00 pm UTC
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 1–2 13 June 14 Toronto Defiant 3 – 0 Vancouver Titans Online 9:00 pm UTC     14 June 20 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign Online 9:00 pm UTC     15 June 27 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Dallas Fuel Online 9:00 pm UTC
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 2–2 16 July 18 Toronto Defiant 3 – 0 Washington Justice Online 9:00 pm UTC     17 July 19 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Paris Eternal Online 7:00 pm UTC     18 July 26 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Online 9:00 pm UTC     19 August 01 Toronto Defiant 3 – 2 Vancouver Titans Online 9:00 pm UTC
August: 0–2 20 August 16 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 San Francisco Shock Online 7:00 pm UTC     21 August 22 Toronto Defiant 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Online 9:00 pm UTC

Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log
May Melee: 1–1 Qualifier match May 22 Toronto Defiant 3 – 2 Vancouver Titans Online 5:00 pm UTC     Knockouts May 22 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign Online 11:15 pm UTC
Summer Showdown: 2–1 Knockouts July 03 Toronto Defiant 3 – 1 Los Angeles Valiant Online 11:00 pm UTC     Quarterfinals July 04 Toronto Defiant 3 – 2 Atlanta Reign Online 9:00 pm UTC     Semifinals July 05 Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Online 8:00 pm UTC
Countdown Cup: 0–1 Knockouts August 08 Toronto Defiant 2 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 1:00 am UTC
Bonus wins awarded: 1

Postseason

2020 playoff game log
North America Play-ins: 0–1 Round 1   First-round bye   Round 2 September 04 Toronto Defiant 2 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 7:00 pm UTC

Awards

Agilities, Kariv, and Nevix were selected to play in the 2020 All-Star Game. Logix, while not selected as an all-star, was invited to the Widowmaker 1v1 tournament during All-Star weekend. ^[30]

References

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2. "Toronto Defiant August Homestand". Roy Thomson Hall. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
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4. Richardson, Liz (October 16, 2019). "Paris Eternal head coach goes to Toronto Defiant". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
5. Scrubasaurus (October 29, 2019). "Lilbow joins Defiant coaching staff". Over.gg. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
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14. "Toronto Defiant continue overhaul, release three". ESPN. Reuters. October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
15. Samples, Rachel (October 16, 2019). "Toronto Defiant part ways with Yakpung". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
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17. Field Level Media (October 31, 2019). "Toronto Defiant part ways with Neko". Field Level Media. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
18. "Toronto Defiant coach 'Fefe' retires". Reuters. 2020-04-14. Retrieved 2020-10-11.^{[ dead link ]}
19. McMahon, Mallory (2020-05-01). "Kellex Retires from Professional Overwatch". The Game Haus. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
20. "Toronto Defiant acquire support 'Kruise'". Reuters. 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2020-10-11.^{[ dead link ]}
21. Duwe, Scott (2020-05-13). "Mangachu transitions to coaching role for Toronto Defiant". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
22. "Toronto Defiant sign zYKK to 14-day contract". Reuters. 2020-05-22. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
23. "Toronto Defiant sign Numlocked as player". Reuters. 2020-06-03. Retrieved 2020-10-11.^{[ dead link ]}
24. Binkowski, Justin (2018-09-08). "Overwatch League's Los Angeles Valiant release 3 players and an assistant coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
25. "Defiant GM Jae leaves team, retires". Reuters. 2020-06-07. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
26. Butler, Ethan (2020-07-08). "Underdogs come alive in the Overwatch League Summer Showdown". The Game Haus. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
27. "Overwatch League: Toronto Defiant Signs zYKK To Long Term Contract". Esports News Network | ESTNN. 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
28. Gvora, Joe (2020-08-10). "Los Angeles Gladiators Countdown Cup Recap". The Game Haus. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
29. McMahon, Mallory (2020-09-14). "The Good, The Bad and The Impossible: Reviewing The Toronto Defiant's 2020 Season". The Game Haus. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
30. Richardson, Liz (2020-10-02). "Everything you need to know about the 2020 Overwatch League North America All-Stars event". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2020-10-11.