2021 New York Excelsior season

2021   New York Excelsior season
Head coach	Lee "WhyNot" Ju-hyeop
General manager	Kim Yo-han
Owner	Jeff Wilpon
Region	East
Results
Record	7–9 (.438)
Place	East: 6th League: 14th
May Melee	Did not qualify
June Joust	Lower round 1
Summer Showdown	Regional finals
Countdown Cup	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$20,000
←  2020 New York Excelsior 2022 →

The 2021 New York Excelsior season will be the fourth season of New York Excelsior's (NYXL) existence in the Overwatch League and their first under head coach Lee "WhyNot" Ju-hyeop.

Preceding offseason

Roster changes

Free agents

Position	Handle	Name	2021 team	Date signed	Notes
Support	Anamo	Jung Tae-sung	Seoul Dynasty	November 29 [1]	Option declined
Tank	Bianca	Kim Dong-wook	New York Excelsior	December 11 [2]	Option declined
Damage	Haksal	Kim Hyo-jong	–	–	Option declined
Damage	Libero	Kim Hae-seong	–	–	Option declined
Tank	Mano	Kim Dong-gyu	Philadelphia Fusion	November 2 [3]	Option declined
Damage	Saebyeolbe	Park Jong-ryeol	Seoul Dynasty	November 29 [1]	Option declined
Damage	WhoRU	Lee Seung-jun	–	–	Option declined
Legend   Light green background indicates a player was re-signed by the Excelsior.   Light red background indicates a player departed from the Excelsior.

The NYXL entered free agency with seven free agents, all of which became free agents due to the team not exercising the option to retain the player for another year. ^[4]

Acquisitions

The Excelsior's first offseason acquisition was Jo "Yakpung" Gyeong-mu, a tank player coming off of an Overwatch Contenders Korea championship with O2 Blast who signed on December 11, 2020. ^[2] Six days later, they signed rookie Lee "Friday" Seung-woo, a "skilled and flexible" support player coming from Contenders team OZ Gaming. ^[5] On December 22, the team announced the signing of four damage players: Jo "FEATH5R" Min-jae, a rookie coming from OZ Gaming, Lim "Flora" Young-woo, a rookie hitscan player coming from Contenders team Team Diamond, Kim "Gwangboong" Gwang-won, another rookie hitscan player coming from Contenders team Team Cat, and Lee "Ivy" Seung-hyun, a veteran who was "one of the most flexible and deadly" damage players with the Philadelphia Fusion in 2020. ^[5]

Departures

The Excelsior released two of their contracted players on October 22, 2020: damage player Jeong "Nenne" Yeon-gwan and tank player Choi "Hotba" Hong-jun. ^[6] Six of the NYXL's seven free agents did not return, three of which signed with other teams, beginning with tank player Kim "Mano" Dong-gyu signing with the Philadelphia Fusion on November 2. ^[3] On November 29, support player Jung "Anamo" Tae-sung and tank player Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong-ryeol signed with the Seoul Dynasty. ^[1] Damage players Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong and Lee "WhoRU" Seung-jun both announced their retirements in the offseason. ^{[7] [8]} The team's final free agent, damage player Kim "Libero" Hae-seong did not sign with a team in the offseason.

Final roster

2021 New York Excelsior roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 14 FEATH5R Jo Min-jae South Korea Damage 12 Flora Lim Young-woo South Korea Damage 83 Gwangboong Kim Gwang-won South Korea Tank 29 Yakpung Jo Gyeong-mu South Korea Tank 13 BiaNcA Kim Dong-wook South Korea Tank 5 Kalios Wooyeol Shin South Korea Support 1 Friday Jo Min-jae South Korea Support 44 JJonak Bang Seong-hyun South Korea	Head coach Lee "WhyNot" Ju-hyeop
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: July 16, 2021.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2021 regular season:

• On June 30, the Excelsior signed tank player Shin "Kalios" Woo-yeol. ^[9]
• On July 16, damage player Lee "Ivy" Seung-hyun retired. ^[10]

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	Pts	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	Shanghai Dragons	16	12	4	20	0.750	38	19	2	+19	Advance to season playoffs
2	Chengdu Hunters	16	11	5	15	0.688	38	22	2	+16
3	Seoul Dynasty	16	12	4	12	0.750	40	22	0	+18	Advance to play-ins
4	Philadelphia Fusion	16	10	6	10	0.625	37	24	3	+13
5	Hangzhou Spark	16	7	9	7	0.438	32	31	0	+1
6	New York Excelsior	16	7	9	7	0.438	29	32	0	−3
7	Guangzhou Charge	16	5	11	5	0.313	20	38	4	−18
8	Los Angeles Valiant	16	0	16	0	0.000	2	48	1	−46

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) winning percentage (including tournaments); 3) regular season wins; 4) regular season map differential

Game log

Regular season

2021 game log
May Melee Qualifier match 1 April 24 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 0 New York Excelsior Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   2 Nepal 0 1 Dorado 0 2 Temple of Anubis 0 Qualifier match 2 April 25 Hangzhou Spark 1 – 3 New York Excelsior Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   1 Busan 2 2 Havana 3 2 Volskaya Industries 0 1 King's Row 3 Qualifier match 3 April 30 Seoul Dynasty 3 – 0 New York Excelsior Online   6:30 am EDT     Details   2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 Hanamura 1 3 Eichenwalde 2 Qualifier match 4 May 01 Shanghai Dragons 3 – 0 New York Excelsior Online   8:00 am EDT     Details   2 Ilios 1 2 Temple of Anubis 1 3 Blizzard World 1
June Joust Qualifier match 1 May 22 New York Excelsior 3 – 1 Philadelphia Fusion Online   8:00 am EDT     Details   2 Lijiang Tower 0 3 Numbani 0 2 Rialto 3 2 Volskaya Industries 0 Qualifier match 2 May 23 New York Excelsior 1 – 3 Guangzhou Charge Online   6:30 am EDT     Details   1 Nepal 2 1 Hollywood 3 3 Junkertown 1 0 Hanamura 1 Qualifier match 3 May 29 New York Excelsior 1 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Online   6:30 am EDT     Details   1 Oasis 2 3 Junkertown 2 0 Hanamura 1 3 Hollywood 4 Qualifier match 4 May 30 New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   2 Ilios 0 1 Dorado 0 1 Temple of Anubis 0 Regional finals June 06 New York Excelsior 3 – 1 Hangzhou Spark Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   0 Oasis 2 2 Temple of Anubis 0 3 Numbani 2 1 Dorado 0 Tournament first round June 10 New York Excelsior 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign Online   9:00 pm EDT     Details   0 Lijiang Tower 2 2 Temple of Anubis 4 3 Numbani 4 Lower round 1 June 11 New York Excelsior 0 – 3 Shanghai Dragons Online   10:45 pm EDT     Details   0 Busan 2 0 Temple of Anubis 2 2 Numbani 3
Summer Showdown Qualifier match 1 June 26 Guangzhou Charge 3 – 2 New York Excelsior Online   8:00 am EDT     Details   2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 King's Row 3 4 Junkertown 3 3 Volskaya Industries 4 2 Oasis 1 Qualifier match 2 June 27 New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   8:00 am EDT     Details   2 Ilios 0 3 Hollywood 0 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 1 Qualifier match 3 July 09 Hangzhou Spark 3 – 2 New York Excelsior Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   1 Oasis 2 3 Volskaya Industries 2 3 King's Row 2 2 Junkertown 3 2 Nepal 0 Qualifier match 4 July 10 New York Excelsior 3 – 1 Philadelphia Fusion Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   2 Busan 1 2 Temple of Anubis 1 2 Eichenwalde 3 2 Route 66 1 Regional finals July 11 New York Excelsior 0 – 3 Shanghai Dragons Online   5:12 am EDT     Details   0 Ilios 2 2 Volskaya Industries 3 4 King's Row 5
Countdown Cup Qualifier match 1 July 31 New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Los Angeles Valiant Online   6:30 am EDT     Details   2 Oasis 1 3 Blizzard World 2 3 Rialto 1 Qualifier match 2 August 01 Shanghai Dragons 2 – 3 New York Excelsior Online   6:30 am EDT     Details   1 Ilios 2 3 King's Row 2 1 Havana 2 3 Volskaya Industries 2 1 Lijiang Tower 2 Qualifier match 3 August 07 New York Excelsior 1 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Online   5:00 am EDT     Details   1 Lijiang Tower 2 0 Route 66 3 2 Hanamura 1 2 Numbani 3 Qualifier match 4 August 08 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 1 New York Excelsior Online   6:30 am EDT     Details   0 Nepal 2 3 Rialto 1 2 Volskaya Industries 1 3 King's Row 1 Regional finals August 15 New York Excelsior 1 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Online   5:05 am EDT     Details   0 Ilios 2 4 Hanamura 3 4 King's Row 5 2 Havana 3
2021 season schedule

References

1. Richardson, Liz (November 29, 2020). "Saebyeolbe and Anamo join Seoul Dynasty". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
2. Richardson, Liz (December 11, 2020). "NYXL adds Yakpung and BiaNcA". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
3. Czar, Michael (November 3, 2020). "Mano moves to the Philadelphia Fusion". Daily Esports. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
4. "2021 Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. October 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
5. Alford, Aaron (December 23, 2020). "NYXL Complete 2021 Lineup". Hotspawn. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
6. Duwe, Scott (October 21, 2020). "NYXL parts ways with Nenne, Hotba, Bianca, and WhoRU". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
7. Richardson, Liz (October 20, 2020). "Haksal retires from professional Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
8. Field Level Media (January 18, 2021). "Seoul's Bdosin, New York's WhoRu retire from OWL". Reuters. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
9. Castelot, Ophelie (June 30, 2021). "Overwatch League: NYXL Signs Kalios". ESTNN: Esports News Network. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
10. Biazzi, Leonardo (July 16, 2021). "Ivy parts ways with NYXL, retires from pro Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 16, 2021.