2021 London Spitfire season explained

Team:London Spitfire
Year:2021
Region:West
Record:1–15
Region Place:11th
League Place:18th
Gm:Ysabel "Noukky" Müller[1]
Owner:Jack Etienne
Tournament1name:May Melee
T1playoffs:Did not qualify
Tournament2name:June Joust
T2playoffs:Did not qualify
Tournament3name:Summer Showdown
T3playoffs:Did not qualify
Tournament4name:Countdown Cup
T4playoffs:Did not qualify
Playoffs:Did not qualify
Earnings:$0

The 2021 London Spitfire season will be the fourth season of the London Spitfire's existence in the Overwatch League and the team's first under head coach Justin "reprize" Hand.[2]

Preceding offseason

Roster changes

The Spitfire entered the free agency with no free agents, although eight players became free agents beginning due to mutual agreements with the players and the Spitfire prior to free agency beginning.[3]

Acquisitions

The Spitfire's first offseason acquisition was on 26 December 2020 with the signing of Jeffrey "Blasé" Tsang, a damage player and four-year veteran of the league that competed with the Houston Outlaws in the 2020 season.[4] The team promoted support player Riku "Ripa" Toivanen from their Overwatch Contenders academy team British Hurricane on 4 January.[5] The next day, the Spitfire promoted three more players from British Hurricane: support player Kristian "Kellex" Keller, tank player Hadi "Hadi" Daniel Bleinagel, and tank player Mikkel "Molf1g" Djernes.[6] The Spitfire signed two more players the following day: Dominic "Hybrid" Grove, a damage player who competed with Overwatch Contenders team Team Doge the previous season, and William "SparkR" Andersson, a damage player from British Hurricane who would not become eligible to play until June 2021 due to age restrictions.[7] London's final offseason acquisition was on 8 February with the signing of Johannes "Shax" Nielsen, a damage player and hitscan specialist who signed with the Los Angeles Valiant in the offseason but was released after the team dropped its entire roster.[8]

Departures

The Spitfire released seven of its players from their contracts on 15 October, bringing validity to rumors that the team was preparing to field a roster composed entirely of Western players. The team dropped damage players Jung "Although" Hyeon-wook, Park "Babel" Sang-jun, and Lee "Schwi" Dong-jae; tank players Cho "Clestyn" Geon-hee and Kim "Jihun" Ji-hun; and support players Lee "Highly" Sung-hyuk and Jeong "Krillin" Young-hoon. Two days later, London released tank player Choi "Jmac" Dae-han,[9] London continued its roster overhaul in November, releasing tank player Shin "Bernar" Se-won and support player Lim "SanGuiNar" Gyu-min on 17 November.[10] Four days later, they released damage player Lim "Glister" Gil-seong.[11] The team's final departure of the offseason was support player Kim "Fuze" Tae-hoon, who was released on 4 January 2021.[12]

Regular season

On 21 May, head coach Justin "reprize" Hand retired; in his replacement, the Spitfire promoted assistant coach Mads "fischer" Jehg to head coach.[13]

Game log

Regular season

|2021 season schedule

Notes and References

  1. News: Field Level Media . London Spitfire announce 'Noukky' as new GM . 20 January 2021 . Reuters . 16 October 2020.
  2. News: Richardson . Liz . London Spitfire adds Reprize as head coach . 20 January 2021 . Dot Esports . 12 November 2020.
  3. News: 2021 Player Contract Status . 21 April 2021 . Overwatch League . 21 October 2020.
  4. News: Michael . Cale . London Spitfire signs blasé ahead of 2021 Overwatch League season . 18 January 2021 . Dot Esports . 26 December 2020.
  5. News: Field Level Media . London Spitfire add Ripa to roster . 19 January 2021 . Reuters . 4 January 2021.
  6. News: Lyons . Ben . London Spitfire sign Kellex, Hadi and Molf1g . 19 January 2021 . Gamereactor UK . 6 January 2021.
  7. News: Field Level Media . London Spitfire announce additions of Hybrid, SparkR . 19 January 2021 . Reuters . 6 January 2021.
  8. News: O'Dwyer . Samuel . London Spitfire signs former LA Valiant DPS Shax . 8 February 2021 . Dot Esports . 8 February 2021.
  9. News: Overwatch League free agency 2021 -- signings, rosters and schedules . 19 January 2021 . ESPN . 10 November 2020.
  10. Spitfire . London Spitfire . 1328791059309203457 . Another really tough day for us at the Spitfire as we announce the release of... . 17 November 2020 . 19 January 2021.
  11. Spitfire . London Spitfire . 1330118146099998720 . An incredibly tough morning for the team as we farewell... . 21 November 2020 . 19 January 2021.
  12. News: Lyons . Ben . London Spitfire add Ripa, part ways with Fuze . 19 January 2021 . Gamereactor UK . 5 January 2021.
  13. News: Castelot . Ophelie . Overwatch: London Spitfire Changes Head Coach . 22 May 2021 . ESTNN . 21 May 2021.