Overwatch: Shanghai Dragons Announce Drastic Coaching Changes
| Tags: Overwatch
| Author Ophelie Castelot
The Shanghai Dragons announce drastic changes to their coaching staff.
Please welcome Byung-chul “Moon” Moon to the Shanghai Dragons family. Formerly of our academy team Team CC, Coach Moon will be joining us as head coach going into Season 3 of the Overwatch League. #ShanghaiDragons #Breakthrough pic.twitter.com/kd4I28BK4K
— Shanghai Dragons (@ShanghaiDragons) September 24, 2019
Head coach Seong-hwan “BlueHaS” We and assistant coach Chung-Hyeok “Levi” Jeong leave the team, while Byung-chul “Moon” Moon joins as head coach going into Season 3 of the Overwatch League.
The coaching history of the Shanghai Dragons is a long and difficult one. The first season of the Overwatch League was a disaster for the Dragons, finishing the season with a 0-40 record and a -120 map differential, without winning a single match. During this first season, Shanghai hired three different head coaches to overcome their losing streak, with no success. For the second season of the OWL, the Shanghai Dragons released most of their roster and hired Seong-hwan “BlueHaS” We as the new head coach. Two months later, Chung-Hyeok “Levi” Jeong joins the team to help the Dragons win games in the second season of the Overwatch League.
Shanghai Dragons' initial Season 2 matches were defeats against the Hangzhou Spark and Vancouver Titans, bringing their losing streak to 42 games. On February 22, the team finally broke its losing streak by winning against Boston Uprising, and eventually winning the Stage 3 Finals against San Francisco Shock.
Five days away from the Grand Finals between San Francisco Shock and Vancouver Titans, Shanghai Dragons announce major changes to their coaching staff: head coach Seong-hwan “BlueHaS” We and assistant coach Chung-Hyeok “Levi” Jeong leave the team, while Byung-chul “Moon” Moon joins as head coach going into Season 3 of the Overwatch League.
Former coach for Los Angeles Valiant, Byung-chul “Moon” Moon has experience coaching an OWL team. His main difficulty with the Valiant was the language barrier: the South Korean coach needed a translator to coach his American team. This won’t be much of an issue going on with the Shanghai Dragons, as most of the players are South Korean. Moreover, Moon was the head coach for Team CC, the Dragons’ academy team in Overwatch Contenders. Team CC ended up at the second place of the Overwatch Contender 2019 Season 2: China, losing to the Chengdu Hunter academy team LGE.Huya.
This drastic change in the coaching staff leaves fans puzzled, as Seong-hwan “BlueHaS” We helped the team overcome the longest losing streak in any professional sports history. Byung-chul “Moon” Moon has some pressure on his shoulders, but he may start a new era in the Shanghai Dragons’ history.
Ophelie is both an esport and journalism lover. She is the former head of the CS:GO section for a major esport website. Ophelie has been analyzing Overwatch ever since its release in 2016.