The 2021 Shanghai Dragons season was the fourth season of the Shanghai Dragons's existence in the Overwatch League and their second under head coach Moon Byung-chul.
Light green background indicates a player was re-signed by the Dragons.
Light red background indicates a player departed from the Dragons.
The Dragons entered free agency with five free agents.[2]
Acquisitions
The Dragons's first offseason acquisition was Koo "Fate" Pan-seung, a veteran tank player, who was acquired from the Florida Mayhem on November 11, 2020.[3] Six days later, the Dragons signed Jeong "Erster" Jun, a "generally adaptable" damage player who played with the Atlanta Reign in 2020.[4] Shanghai's final acquisition of the offseason was He "Molly" Chengzhi, a support formerly with the Chengdu Hunters who was signed on November 24.[5]
Departures
Four of the Dragons' five free agents did not return, none of which were signed with other teams, which included damage player Yang "Dding" Jin-hyeok, damage player Lu "Diya" Weida, tank player Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon, and support player Yang "Luffy" Sung-hyeon. Outside of their free agents, the Dragons' first departure was tank player Lee "Fearless" Eui-seok, who was transferred to the Dallas Fuel on November 7.[6] Twenty days later, on November 27, the Dragons released tank player Seo "Stand1" Ji-won.[7]
Regular season
The Dragons' first match of the 2021 season resulted in a win over the Guangzhou Charge in the May Melee qualifiers.[8] After defeating the Philadelphia Fusion in the Eastern regional knockouts, the Dragons entered the May Melee tournament, the first of four midseason double-elimination tournaments in the regular season, as the second-seeded Eastern team.[9] The team fell to the Dallas Fuel in the upper bracket finals, dropping them to the lower bracket of the tournament; the Dragons reached the finals of the tournament through the lower bracket, where they once again lost to the Fuel.[10]
Prior to the start of the June Joust qualifiers, damage player Joon "Erster" Jeong retired.[11] Looking to add depth to their roster, the Dragons signed damage player Lee "WhoRU" Seung-jun several days later.[12] The team won three of their four June Joust qualifying matches to advance them to the regional knockouts.[13] Several days before the knockouts began, the Dragons lost another player to retirement in damage player Bae "Diem" Min-seong;[14] once again looking for depth, the team signed damage player Chae "Develop" Rak-hoon shortly afterwards.[15] The Dragons advanced to the June Joust tournament after defeating the Seoul Dynasty in the regional knockouts.[13] The team lost their first match of the tournament, again to the Fuel;[16] however, after making it to the finals through the lower bracket, the Dragons defeated the Fuel to claim their first title of the 2021 season.[17]
The Dragons continued their success throughout the Summer Showdown, winning all four of their qualifying matches and advancing past the regional qualifiers.[18] Prior to the start of the Summer Showdown tournament, the team added former Dragons player Kim "Daemin" Dae-min as a coach.[19] The Dragons went undefeated in the tournament, and after defeating the Chengdu Hunters in the finals, they claimed their second consecutive midseason tournament title.[20]
In the final tournament cycle of the regular season, the Countdown Cup, the Dragons went 2–2 in the qualifiers, failing to advance to the regional knockouts for the first time in the season; Dragons' head coach Moon "Moon" Byung-chul stated that they were "resting" their players during the tournament cycle.[21] The team finished the regular season with 12 wins, 4 losses, 20 league points, and the top seed in the season playoffs.[22]
Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun, Lee "Lip" Jae-won, and Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul were all MVP candidates for the 2021 regular season.[23] Additionally, Lee "Lip" Jae-won, Kang "Void" Jung-woo, Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul, and Lee "Leejaegon" Jae-gon were awarded Role Star commendations for damage, tank, support, and support, respectively.[24]
Playoffs
Shanghai selected the sixth-seeded San Francisco Shock as their opponent for the first round of the season playoffs; the Dragons swept the Shock, 3–0.[25] The team next defeated the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators by a score of 3–1.[26] Moving on to the upper bracket finals, the Dragons faced the second-seeded Dallas Fuel, marking the fifth time the two teams had played each other in a midseason or season playoff match in the 2021 season. Despite keeping the maps close, the Dragons came out with a 3–1 victory to advance the Grand Finals bracket.[27]
In the Grand Finals match, the Dragons swept the Reign by a score of 4–0 to win their first OWL championship.[28]
Source: The Overwatch League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) winning percentage (including tournaments); 3) regular season wins; 4) regular season map differential
^Czar, Michael (December 2, 2020). "Diem returns to the Shanghai Dragons". Daily Esports. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
^"2021 Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. October 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (November 11, 2020). "Shanghai Dragons acquires main tank Fate". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
^O'Dwyer, Samuel (November 18, 2020). "Shanghai Dragons add Erster". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
^Shanghai Dragons [@ShanghaiDragons] (November 25, 2020). "Welcome to the party! Our newest pickup Molly is here!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 17, 2021 – via Twitter.
^Howard, Brandon (November 9, 2020). "Dallas Fuel Sign Fearless From Shanghai Dragons". TheGamer. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
^Shanghai Dragons [@ShanghaiDragons] (November 27, 2020). "After friendly negotiations, Stand1 has been released from his contract and is now a free agent" (Tweet). Retrieved January 29, 2021 – via Twitter.
^Field Level Media (April 17, 2021). "Philadelphia Fusion open strong in Week 1 of Overwatch League". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (May 3, 2021). "Here are the Overwatch League May Melee teams". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (May 8, 2021). "Dallas Fuel win Overwatch League May Melee". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ a bO'Dwyer, Samuel (May 21, 2021). "Erster retires from competitive Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ a bCzarnowski, Michael (May 25, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons sign highly-touted prospect WhoRU". Upcomer. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ a bRichardson, Liz (June 7, 2021). "Here are the Overwatch League June Joust teams". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ a bO'Dwyer, Samuel (June 3, 2021). "Diem retires from Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ a bCzarnowski, Michael (June 10, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons sign Develop to replace recent departures". Upcomer. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Collins, Sean (June 10, 2021). "Dallas Fuel tank player 'Hanbin': Shanghai Dragons 'not prepared' as Fuel continue dominance in June Joust". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (June 12, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons win Overwatch League June Joust". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (July 12, 2021). "Here are the Overwatch League Summer Showdown teams". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Czarnowski, Michael (July 14, 2021). "Daemin returns to the Shanghai Dragons as coach". Upcomer. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (July 17, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons win the Overwatch League Summer Showdown". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Qu, Bonnie (September 20, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons are the team to beat in Overwatch League playoffs". Upcomer. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^"Overwatch League 2021 Standings". Overwatch League. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Garcia, Ethan (August 13, 2021). "Fleta, Sp9rk1e among MVP candidates for 2021 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (September 24, 2021). "Overwatch League reveals 2021 Role Stars". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
^"Overwatch League playoffs recap: Day 1". Upcomer. September 22, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^"Overwatch League 2021 playoffs recap: Day 2". Upcomer. September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Collins, Sean (September 24, 2021). "After semifinal loss to Shanghai, Dallas Fuel will eventually have to slay Dragons to win OWL title". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Richardson, Liz (September 25, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons win the 2021 Overwatch League championship". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
