2020 Washington Justice season explained

Team:Washington Justice
Year:2020
Conference:Atlantic
Region:North America
Division:South
Record:4–17
Region Place:12th
League Place:19th
Arena:The Anthem
Coach:Seetoh Jian Qing (Jun 5)
Han Seung-jun
Gm:Analynn Dang
Owner:Mark Ein
Tournament1name:May Melee
T1playoffs:Knockouts
Tournament2name:Summer Showdown
T2playoffs:Quarterfinals
Tournament3name:Countdown Cup
T3playoffs:Knockouts
Playoffs:NA Lower Finals
Earnings:$255,000

The 2020 Washington Justice season was the second season of Washington Justice's existence in the Overwatch League. The Justice planned to host a league-high five homestand weekends in the 2020 season; the first three would take place at The Anthem, while the second two would be at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.[1] While the first two homestands at took place, all other homestand events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 5, the Justice parted ways with head coach Seetoh "JohnGalt" Jian Qing.[2] On June 17, Washington promoted assistant coach Han "Sup7eme" Seung-jun to head coach.[3] After finishing the regular season with a 4–17 record, the Justice swept both the Vancouver Titans and Dallas Fuel in the North America play-in tournament to qualify to the season playoffs.[4] In their first match in the North America bracket, Washington squandered an early 2–0 lead over the San Francisco Shock and lost by a score of 2–3, sending them to the lower bracket.[5] The following day, on September 6, the Justice swept the third-seeded Paris Eternal, 3–0.[6] Washington continued their playoff run, taking down the fourth-seeded Florida Mayhem on September 11 and needing one more win to qualify for the Grand Finals Bracket.[7] However, the team fell to the top-seeded Philadelphia Fusion the following day by a score of 0–3, ending their playoff run.[8]

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

In late September 2019, the Justice parted ways with their entire coaching staff from their inaugural season, including head coach Kim "WizardHyeong" Hyeong-seok.[9] The team signed Seetoh "JohnGalt" Jian Qing, who was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Gladiators, as their new head coach in October.[10] Washington added two more coaches to their staff on November 8, with the hiring of former Hangzhou Spark assistant coach Han "Sup7eme" Seung-jun as a development coach and former XL2 Academy coach Lee "Wiz" Hae-joon as a strategic coach.[11] [12] A month later, on December 5, the Justice signed former Houston Outlaws support player Chris "Bani" Banell as an assistant coach.[13]

Roster changes

Free agents
Role Player Contract
status 		Date signed 2020 team
Handle Name
Ado Free agent – –
Ark Free agent October 31 Washington Justice[14]
Hyeonu Free agent – –
Janus Free agent – –
Sansam Free agent – –
Sleepy Free agent – –
Legend
  • Re-signed/Retained by the Justice.
  • Departed from the Justice.

    • The Justice enter the new season with six free agents, two players which they have the option to retain for another year, and three players under contract.[15] 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.[16]

    Acquisitions

    The Justice's first offseason acquisition was on October 18, when they agreed to acquire main tank Gye "rOar" Chang-hoon from the Los Angeles Gladiators, pending approval from the league.[17] The team made their first signing on October 23 in flex DPS Lee "TTuba" Ho-sung.[18] On November 7, Washington signed former Boston Uprising flex support Kwon "AimGod" Min-seok.[19]

    Departures

    On October 7, the Justice announced that they would not re-sign free agents main tank Song "Janus" Joon-hwa, off-tank Kim "SanSam" Hyang-gi, DPS Chon "Ado" Gi-Hyeon, and support Jo "Hyeonu" Hyeon-woo.[20] Days later, they announced that they would not re-sign support Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews, and they would not exercise their option to retain flex support Mun "Gido" Gi-do.[21]

    Roster

    Transactions

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

    Game log

    Midseason tournaments

    | style="text-align:center;" | Bonus wins awarded: 0

    Postseason

    Notes and References

    1. News: Byrum . Tyler . Overwatch League coming to The Anthem and the Entertainment and Sports Arena . October 11, 2019 . NBC Sports Washington . July 16, 2019.
    2. washjustice . Washington Justice . Today we say thank you and goodbye to JohnGalt as he steps away from the Justice to further his education . 1268996220552388615 . June 5, 2020 . October 13, 2020.
    3. News: Richardson . Liz . Washington Justice promotes Sup7eme to head coach . October 13, 2020 . Dot Esports . June 17, 2020.
    4. News: Weyrich . Matt . Washington Justice Pull Off Series of Upsets in Overwatch Playoffs . February 3, 2021 . NBC Washington . September 11, 2020.
    5. News: Richardson . Liz . Hangzhou Spark, Chengdu Hunters eliminated in Overwatch League playoffs . February 3, 2021 . Dot Esports . September 5, 2020.
    6. News: Field Level Media . Fusion, Shock hold form at OWL NA playoffs . February 3, 2021 . Reuters . September 6, 2020.
    7. News: Weyrich . Matt . Washington Justice Pull to Within One Win of Grand Finals in South Korea . February 3, 2021 . NBC Washington . September 12, 2020.
    8. News: Jansen . Eric . Boykin . Nick . Digital Cinderella story Washington Justice make Overwatch playoffs amid pandemic, team shakeup . February 3, 2021 . WUSA9 . September 14, 2020.
    9. News: Washington Justice part ways with coaching staff . October 11, 2019 . ESPN . ESPN . September 30, 2019.
    10. News: Howard . Brandon . Washington Justice Find New Head Coach . October 11, 2019 . TheGamer . October 10, 2019.
    11. News: Field Level Media . Justice hire 'Wiz' as strategic coach . November 9, 2019 . Gwinett Prep Sports . November 8, 2019.
    12. News: Scrubasaurus . Sup7eme joins Washington Justice . November 9, 2019 . over.gg . November 8, 2019.
    13. News: Richardson . Liz . Washington Justice add Bani as coach . December 6, 2019 . Dot Esports . December 5, 2019.
    14. News: Valiant, Defiant, Justice make moves in Overwatch League . October 31, 2019 . ESPN . Reuters . October 31, 2019.
    15. News: Morello . Matt . 2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status . October 19, 2019 . Overwatch League . July 30, 2019.
    16. News: Richardson . Liz . Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league . October 10, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 4, 2019.
    17. News: Richardson . Liz . Washington Justice acquire rOar from Los Angeles Gladiators . October 19, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 18, 2019.
    18. News: Richardson . Liz . TTuba joins Washington Justice . October 23, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 23, 2019.
    19. News: Justice round out Overwatch League roster with AimGod . November 8, 2019 . ESPN . Reuters . November 7, 2019.
    20. News: Richardson . Liz . Washington Justice release 4 players . October 11, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 7, 2019.
    21. News: Richardson . Liz . Washington Justice release Sleepy and Gido . October 12, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 11, 2019.
    22. News: Gott . Jared . Washington Justice Star Corey Retires From OWL To Pursue VALORANT . February 3, 2021 . TheGamer . May 9, 2020.
    23. News: Richardson . Liz . Washington Justice DPS Stratus leaves competition for content creation role . February 3, 2021 . Dot Esports . May 8, 2020.
    24. News: Long . Bradley . Washington Justice Sign Stitch and JJANU . February 3, 2021 . Hotspawn . May 16, 2020.
    25. News: Peres . Pedro . Washington Justice signs JJANU to long-term contract, promotes PRE to GM . February 3, 2021 . Dot Esports . May 22, 2020.
    26. News: Castelot . Ophelie . Overwatch League: Washington Justice Signs Stitch To Long Term Contract . February 3, 2021 . ESTNN . June 1, 2020.
    27. News: Weiss . Adelaide . Washington Justice parts ways with off-tank ELLIVOTE . February 3, 2021 . Dot Esports . June 4, 2020.
    28. News: Wolf . Jacob . Decay signs with Washington Justice . February 3, 2021 . ESPN . August 12, 2020.
    29. News: Peres . Pedro . Washington Justice parts ways with LullSiSH following visa issues . February 3, 2021 . Dot Esports . September 1, 2020.

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