2020 Dallas Fuel season explained

Team:Dallas Fuel
Year:2020
Conference:Pacific
Region:North America
Division:West
Record:9–12
Region Place:8th
League Place:13th
Arena:Esports Stadium Arlington
Coach:Aaron Atkins (Aug 3)
Kim Yong-jin (Interim)
Gm:Mathew Taylor
Owner:Mike Rufail
Kenneth Hersh
Tournament1name:May Melee
T1playoffs:Quarterfinals
Tournament2name:Summer Showdown
T2playoffs:Knockouts
Tournament3name:Countdown Cup
T3playoffs:Quarterfinals
Playoffs:Did not qualify
Earnings:$10,000

The 2020 Dallas Fuel season was the third season of the Dallas Fuel's existence in the Overwatch League. The Fuel planned to host a league-high five homestand weekends in the 2020 season at Esports Stadium Arlington, Toyota Music Factory, the Allen Event Center, and two more undetermined locations.[1] While the first homestand at Esports Stadium Arlington took place, all other homestands were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a 7–10 start to the season and failure to make it past the quarterfinals in any of the three midseason tournaments, the Fuel released head coach Aaron "Aero" Atkins on August 3 and announced that assistant coach Kim Yong-jin served would as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.[2] Dallas finished the season with a 9–12 record, marking their third consecutive season with a losing regular season record. A 0–3 loss to the Washington Justice on September 4 in the North America play-ins tournament took the Fuel out of postseason contention.[3]

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

On November 15, assistant coach Justin "Jayne" Conroy announced that he would be stepping down from his position to move to a content creation role within Envy Gaming.[4] Weeks later, on December 5, the Fuel mutually parted ways with assistance coach Julien "daemoN" Ducros.[5] The Fuel finalized their coaching staff heading into the 2020 season on December 9, announcing the return of head coach Aaron "Aero" Atkins, the return of Louis "Tikatee" Lebel-Wong and Kang "Vol’Jin" Min-gyu as assistant coaches, and the signing of former Element Mystic assistant coach Kim "Yong" Yong-Jin as an assistant coach.[6]

Roster changes

Heading into the 2020 season, the Fuel's only free agent is only off-tank Lucas "NotE" Meissner, who was traded from the Boston Uprising to Dallas the previous season. Free agency officially began on October 7.[7] NotE was re-signed to the Fuel on October 30.[8]

The Fuel's first transaction of the offseason took place on October 29, when they traded main tank Son "OGE" Min-seok to the Los Angeles Gladiators in exchange for flex DPS Jang "Decay" Gui-un.[9] In OGE's replacement, the team announced the signing of former Shanghai Dragons main tank Noh "Gamsu" Young-jin on November 4.[10] A week later, the team signed Element Mystic DPS Kim "Doha" Dong-ha.[11] On January 8, the team sent DPS Timo "Taimou" Kettunen down to their academy team Team Envy.[12] The Fuel parted way with tank player Pongphop "Micke" Rattanasangchod just under two weeks before the beginning of the season; Micke moved to a content creator role for Envy Gaming.[13] On February 3, Dallas announced their full roster, which included the promotion of support player William "Crimzo" Hernandez from Team Envy.[14]

Roster

Transactions

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

Game log

Midseason tournaments

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Postseason

Notes and References

  1. News: Magelssen . Tommy . 2020 Dallas Fuel schedule released: Esports Stadium Arlington gets opening-weekend fixtures . October 8, 2019 . The Dallas Morning News . August 20, 2019.
  2. News: Collins . Sean . Monday was a day of turmoil for the Dallas Fuel. A shift was brewing for a while. . October 14, 2020 . The Dallas Morning News . August 3, 2020.
  3. News: Collins . Sean . 'It's me that failed': 'Yong,' Dallas Fuel’s underwhelming season com's to abrupt halt in 3-0 loss to Washington Justice . October 14, 2020 . The Dallas Morning News . September 4, 2020.
  4. News: Richardson . Liz . Dallas Fuel coach Jayne moves to content creation role . November 16, 2019 . Dot Esports . November 15, 2019.
  5. News: Field Level Media . Fuel part ways with coach 'daemoN' . December 6, 2019 . Gwinnett Prep Sports . December 5, 2019.
  6. News: Bishop . Sam . Dallas Fuel's new coaching team includes Aero once more . December 10, 2019 . GameReactor UK . December 10, 2019.
  7. News: Richardson . Liz . Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league . October 9, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 4, 2019.
  8. News: Magelssen . Tommy . Dallas Fuel re-sign Lucas ‘NotE’ Meissner, paving the way for more roster moves . October 30, 2019 . The Dallas Morning News . October 30, 2019.
  9. News: Magelssen . Tommy . Dallas Fuel ship OGE to Los Angeles Gladiators for Decay in blockbuster trade, more moves appear on the horizon . October 29, 2019 . The Dallas Morning News . October 29, 2019.
  10. News: Samples . Rachel . Gamsu signs with Dallas Fuel for 2020 Overwatch League season . November 4, 2019 . Dot Esports . November 4, 2019.
  11. News: Samples . Rachel . Dallas Fuel sign former Element Mystic DPS Doha . November 13, 2019 . Dot Esports . November 12, 2019.
  12. News: Duwe . Scott . Taimou joins Team Envy’s Overwatch Contenders squad . January 10, 2020 . Dot Esports . January 8, 2020.
  13. News: Collins . Sean . Dallas Fuel’s Mickie is now a full-time content creator for Envy . January 29, 2020 . The Dallas Morning News . January 28, 2020.
  14. News: Collins . Sean . Meet the Dallas Fuel: A look at the Overwatch League team’s newly constructed roster . February 3, 2020 . The Dallas Morning News . February 3, 2020.
  15. News: Michael . Cale . ZachaREEE retires from Overwatch, will pursue VALORANT . October 14, 2020 . Dot Esports . June 3, 2020.
  16. News: Samples . Rachel . Dallas Fuel acquires Paintbrush from Los Angeles Gladiators . October 14, 2020 . Dot Esports . June 7, 2020.
  17. News: Richardson . Liz . Dallas Fuel adds Onigod to Overwatch League roster . October 14, 2020 . Dot Esports . June 19, 2020.
  18. News: Ocal . Arda . Decay, coach Aero leave Dallas Fuel . October 14, 2020 . ESPN . August 3, 2020.
  19. News: Ocal . Arda . Dallas Fuel release HarryHook due to player misconduct . October 14, 2020 . ESPN . August 5, 2020.