2020 Guangzhou Charge season

Last updated
2020   Guangzhou Charge season
Head coachCho Hyo-Jin
General managerI-Ting Liu
Owner Zhong Naixiong
ConferencePacific
DivisionEast
RegionAsia
Results
Record14–7 (.667)
Place
May Melee Semifinals
Summer Showdown Champions
Countdown Cup Quarterfinals
Season Playoffs Asia Lower Round 1
Total Earnings$145,000

The 2020 Guangzhou Charge season was the second season of Guangzhou Charge's existence in the Overwatch League. The Charge planned to hold a league-high five homestands in the 2020 season; the firth three homestands were to be held at be held at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center, with the final two at Tianhe Gymnasium. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all homestand events were cancelled.

Contents

Preceding offseason

Roster changes

Free agents
RolePlayerContract
status
Date signed2020 team
HandleName
Tank BischuAaron KimFree agentNovember 15 Los Angeles Gladiators [1]
Tank FragiJoona LaineFree agent
Tank HotbaHong-Jun ChoiFree agentNovember 15 New York Excelsior [2]
Legend
  Re-signed/Retained by the Charge.
  Departed from the Charge.

The Charge enter the new season with three free agents, six players which they have the option to retain for another year, and two players under contract. [3] 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. [4]

On November 11, the Charge announced the departure of several players. The team did not re-sign free agents Choi "HOTBA" Hong-jun, Joona "fragi" Laine, and Kim "Bischu" Hyung-seok. Additionally, they released Lizhen "OnlyWish" Chen, and Lee "Rise" Won-jae retired from professional Overwatch. [5] The Charge's first acquisitions of the season were announced on November 14 with the signings of former Philadelphia Fusion support Alberto "neptuNo" González and off-tank Nam "Cr0ng" Ki-cheol, along with the promotion of Qi "Wya" Haomiao from their academy team T1w.GZA. [6]

Organizational changes

On October 30, the Charge announced that they had parted ways with assistant coach Rohit "Curryshot" Nathani. [7]

Homestand events

In August 2019, the Charge announced that they would hold a league-high five homestand events; the events would take place at Tianhe Gymnasium and the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center. [8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Charge decided to relocate their team to South Korea with no specific return time. Additionally, the league cancelled all February and March matches planned in China, which cancelled the Charge's first three homestands; all were to at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center from February 22 to 23, March 14 to 15, and March 21 to 22. [9] The Overwatch League announced that the cancelled homestand events in China would be rescheduled for Weeks 5 through 7 in a studio in Seoul, South Korea; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, these matches were cancelled as well. [10]

Roster

2020 Guangzhou Charge roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationality
Damage  0Eileen Ou Yiliang China 
Damage  20Happy Lee Jeong-woo South Korea 
Damage  7Krystal (2W) Cai Shilong China 
Damage  42nero Zwarg, Charlie  United States 
Tank  14Rio Oh Seung-pyo South Korea 
Tank  10Cr0ng Nam Ki-cheol South Korea 
Support  11Wya (2W) Qi Haomiao China 
Support  1shu Kim Jin-seo South Korea 
Support  3Chara (C) Kim Jung-yeon South Korea 
Support  27neptuNo González, Alberto  Spain 
Head coach
  • Cho Hyo-Jin

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • Emojione BW 1F503.svg Substitute
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injury / Illness
  

Latest roster transaction: July 14, 2020.

Standings

#TeamConferenceWBWLPCTPMRMD
Playoffs
1 Shanghai Dragons PAC1982.9052159–15–1 +44
2 Guangzhou Charge PAC1447.6672144–39–1 +5
Play-ins
3 New York Excelsior ATL1338.6192150–30–2 +20
4 Hangzhou Spark PAC10211.4762136–40–2 -4
5 Seoul Dynasty PAC9312.4292133–40–2 -7
6 Chengdu Hunters PAC7114.3332133–47–1 -14
7 London Spitfire ATL6015.2862127–51–0 -24

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log (Regular season record: 14–7)
February–April: 4–6
1March 28Guangzhou Charge03 Shanghai Dragons Online
8:00 am UTC    
2March 29Guangzhou Charge32 Hangzhou Spark Online
10:00 am UTC    
3April 05Guangzhou Charge32 Chengdu Hunters Online
10:00 am UTC    
4April 06Guangzhou Charge23 Hangzhou Spark Online
10:00 am UTC    
5April 11Guangzhou Charge30 Vancouver Titans Online
10:00 am UTC    
6April 12Guangzhou Charge03 Shanghai Dragons Online
10:00 am UTC    
7April 18Guangzhou Charge03 Chengdu Hunters Online
8:00 am UTC    
8April 19Guangzhou Charge31 Hangzhou Spark Online
8:00 am UTC    
9April 25Guangzhou Charge03 Shanghai Dragons Online
9:00 am UTC    
10April 26Guangzhou Charge03 New York Excelsior Online
10:30 am UTC    

May Melee qualifiers: 4–0
11May 02Guangzhou Charge30 Seoul Dynasty Online
8:00 am UTC    
12May 09Guangzhou Charge31 New York Excelsior Online
12:00 noon UTC    
13May 10Guangzhou Charge31 London Spitfire Online
10:00 am UTC    
14May 17Guangzhou Charge32 Chengdu Hunters Online
8:00 am UTC    

Summer Showdown qualifiers: 4–0
15June 20Guangzhou Charge32 Seoul Dynasty Online
8:00 am UTC    
16June 21Guangzhou Charge32 Hangzhou Spark Online
8:00 am UTC    
17June 27Guangzhou Charge31 Chengdu Hunters Online
8:00 am UTC    
18June 28Guangzhou Charge32 New York Excelsior Online
12:00 noon UTC    

Countdown Cup qualifiers: 2–1
19July 18Guangzhou Charge31 London Spitfire Online
10:00 am UTC    
20July 25Guangzhou Charge03 New York Excelsior Online
12:00 noon UTC    
21August 01Guangzhou Charge31 Seoul Dynasty Online
8:00 am UTC    

Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log
May Melee: 0–1
Quarterfinals  First-round bye  


SemifinalsMay 24Guangzhou Charge23 Seoul Dynasty Online
8:00 am UTC    

Summer Showdown: 3–0
QuarterfinalsJuly 04Guangzhou Charge30 Chengdu Hunters Online
8:00 am UTC    
SemifinalsJuly 05Guangzhou Charge30 New York Excelsior Online
10:00 am UTC    
FinalsJuly 05Guangzhou Charge42 Shanghai Dragons Online
12:00 noon UTC    

Countdown Cup: 0–1
QuarterfinalsAugust 08Guangzhou Charge23 New York Excelsior Online
12:00 noon UTC    

Bonus wins awarded: 4

Postseason

2020 playoff game log
Asia Bracket: 0–2
Upper Round 1September 06Guangzhou Charge03 Seoul Dynasty Online
11:00 am UTC    
Lower Round 1September 12Guangzhou Charge03 New York Excelsior Online
9:00 am UTC    

Related Research Articles

Guangzhou Charge Chinese professional esports team

Guangzhou Charge is a Chinese professional Overwatch esports team based in Guangzhou, China. The Charge compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2018, Guangzhou Charge began play as one of eight expansion teams in 2019 and is one of four professional Overwatch teams based in China. The team is owned by Nenking Group and is managed by the esports brand of Nenking, Ultra Prime Esports.

The 2019 Philadelphia Fusion season was the second season of the Philadelphia Fusion's existence in the Overwatch League and their first under co-head coaches Go Se-hwi and Elliot Hayes. They entered the season looking to bounce back after their 2018 Grand Finals loss to the London Spitfire.

The 2019 Guangzhou Charge season was the first season of Guangzhou Charge's existence in the Overwatch League as one of eight expansion franchises added for the 2019 season. The team had a subpar performance throughout the first three stages of the season, posting a 9–12 record through 21 matches with no stage playoff appearances. After the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the league, the Charge flourished, losing only one match in their final seven matches to give them a 15–13 record for the season. Finishing in 9th place in the overall standings, Guangzhou qualified for the Play-In Tournament, where they defeated the Chengdu Hunters in the first round, 4–1. However, they were unable to make it season playoffs, as they fell to the Seoul Dynasty by a score of 1–4 the following day.

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