Alright, after that spicy LA Gladiators post yesterday, I think it's time to begin discussing my personal Top 5 from 2019, beginning with my 5th-placed team, the Seoul Dynasty.
The Dynasty haven't made a ton of changes this off-season, but the ones they have made are pretty big, so let's break this team's lineup for 2020 down role-by-role.
The Dynasty haven't made a ton of changes this off-season, but the ones they have made are pretty big, so let's break this team's lineup for 2020 down role-by-role.
TANK
Seoul currently has Marve1 and Gesture on main tank, and Michelle on off-tank.
After Fissure's 'retirement' from this team last year, Marve1 was taken off the bench and fielded as the starting main tank for the Dynasty for the remainder of the season, and he did not disappoint. He was pretty solid on Reinhardt, surprisingly good on Winston, and decent on Orisa. He also played a great Sigma during the Playoffs, which made it even more shocking that Seoul got knocked out in the fashion they did. Essentially, Marve1 is a pretty versatile tank player, and he never felt like a downgrade from Fissure, which is a true testament to his skill. Gesture from the Spitfire has also been added to this roster, and he's also a versatile player. 2019 just wasn't his year though, as there were other main tanks outperforming him on nearly every hero, but despite that, I don't think he ever looked bad. We saw his Reinhardt improve quite a bit by the end of Stage 2, and he was one of the few players who consistently managed to set up those Halt-Dragon combos as Orisa. He's also one of the OG Winston Gods, and I'm sure his ability to play each of these heroes is going to be very helpful to the Dynasty. I do believe Marve1 is better than him on both Sigma and Wrecking Ball, but Gesture is better on Orisa, and at a similar level to him on Rein and Winston. Regardless of that, these two are brilliant main tanks.
Michelle is the sole off-tank on this roster, and he had the most impact on Seoul's victories in Stage 1, where he flexed to Sombra and did a great job at countering traditional Goats comps. He was also one of the best defensive D.Vas in my opinion, as he was great at peeling and taking up safe positions to protect his entire team from. He also played a decent Roadhog in Stage 4, and Orisa during the Playoffs, which makes him fairly versatile in my books. There surely are better off-tanks in the League, so I won't tout Michelle as one of the best, but he's still a pretty good player.
Overall, I absolutely love Dynasty's main tank duo. Gesture and Marve1 are both beasts in their own right, and I'm sure they can wreck face in any meta, because they essentially cover all the main tanks, plus Sigma. Can you imagine if Double Barrier continues to be a thing (God no), and Seoul puts Gesture on Orisa and Marve1 on Sigma? GGEZ. On the off-tank side, Michelle is fairly good, and even though he isn't a top-tier player, he's versatile enough to supplement his talented main tank duo. I could see this trio forming a Top 5, and maybe even a Top 3 tank line if Michelle ups his game on Zarya and gets comfortable on Sigma.
DPS
The trio of FITS, ILLICIT and Profit will form Season 3's damage line for the Dynasty.
FITS is a jack of two trades: hitscan and flanker play. Last year, he was great at farming EMPs as Sombra during the late Goats era, got a ton of work done as Doomfist during Double Barrier, and also added Reaper to his hero pool in the later stages of the competition. I think he's grown, throughout 2019, to be quite a flexible player, and even though he may not be a playmaker, he tries his best and never lets his team down, and I think that's very important when you consider that more drastic meta shifts might happen in 2020. The second player with a fully-capitalised name on this team is ILLICIT, who is a projectile player, and he didn't see a lot of playtime in 2019. Even when he did, he rarely got to play his signature heroes, and overall, he just didn't do much. I think the only time he looked good was when he played Genji (on Anubis, I think), so that's a little unfortunate. I've watched him play a bit back when he was on BlossoM, and I think he plays a pretty good Pharah, a pretty good Genji as we saw in OWL, and also apparently a good Hanzo (based on what I've heard on PlatChat). I think he's a pretty good player, but he needs the right meta to show off his skills, and until that happens, he's definitely not going to see much playtime.
That said, ILLICIT might not see much playtime anyway, because Profit has joined this team along with Gesture. If you don't know who Profit is by now, you're seriously living under a rock. He's one of the best DPS players out there, being proficient on a variety of projectile heroes and a couple of flankers. He's the guy you want on your team if you want to get carried, and he is meta-proof. In 2019, he didn't get to showcase much of his talent because the meta got a little stale and didn't feature his signature picks, quite similar to ILLICIT, but he was still putting up consistent performances across the board. No matter if he was on Brigitte, Zarya, Hanzo or Mei, Profit never disappointed, and he's one of the best pickups the Dynasty could've made this off-season.
I think all-in-all, this trio can be a Top 10 DPS line. If FITS and ILLICIT step up their game, they could even push for Top 5, and with Profit on the team, that shouldn't be too hard.
SUPPORT
The Dynasty currently have tobi on main support, and Creative and Bdosin on flex support.
Tobi is an Overwatch League veteran, and he's got a ton of experience playing in a variety of different metas. Unfortunately, he wasn't very consistent in the 2019 season, and was outclassed by a few other main supports in the League (other than that occasion on which he got 8 environmental kills on Eichenwalde; that was insane), and that leads me to wonder how well he'll play in 2020, especially now that his years-old support partner, ryujehong, is no longer with the team. I've seen a few people ask the question, "Is Tobi washed?" and I don't think so. I feel like he's still got talent, but since the League is facing some major 'power creep', especially in the support sector, he may look unimpressive compared to his direct competitors.
Creative was picked up from Gen.G, and he's had a pretty good track record with them in the past year. I have watched him play a little bit, and he's good, but not someone you'd expect to come into the League and make a splash. I don't think he's going to impress us this season, and I don't even think he's going to be fielded much, since Bdosin, from the Spitfire, is here as well. Now, it's not like Bdosin played amazingly well last season or anything, but he's got more experience and also has two of his former teammates playing with him on his new team, which could help boost his performance a little bit.
I don't think I have any further points about this trio, honestly. They're all good players but I don't think they're exceptional, which is why I believe they'll be a bottom-half support line in Season 3, possibly even creeping into bottom-5 if the meta is unfavourable.
THE RAW LOOK VS. REALITY
On paper, the Seoul Dynasty look like they can make Top 6, thanks to their versatile tank and DPS lines. Their supports are good enough to supplement their teammates well, so getting wins shouldn't be much of a problem for them. As long as the Dynasty enables their star players like Gesture and Profit, I don't think there's many teams that can stand confidently in their path.
If you simply eliminate how Seoul looks on paper, and take a look at their players' track records, they've got 3 inaugural season champions, a talented second main tank, two adept supplementary DPS players, and two other supports who can hold their own. I don't think any meta can challenge this team, and believe that outclassing them is the only way to hand them those Ls.
I'm going to conclude by saying that the Dynasty looks like a Top 5 team to me once again, and I'm confident they will make their way directly into the Playoffs by the end of the season. No Play-Ins, no bottom-8, Seoul is going to try and go big once again.
I hope I was able to break this roster down coherently, and that you guys see the logic in my arguments. If you do, please share this post around with other OWL fans and spread the word. If you disagree with a few points and want to express your views, please do so politely and respectfully in the comments section. I really hope you're enjoying this roster review period on The OverSeer, and I'm super grateful that you're taking the time to read my articles. We're nearly at the end of this series with just 4 teams to go, so brace yourselves for tomorrow's review, which will be about the NYXL...and bring some aloe vera along, coz my oh my have I got some hot takes in there.
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