2019 Dallas Fuel season

The 2019 Dallas Fuel season was the second season of the Dallas Fuel's existence in the Overwatch League and was their first full season under head coach Aaron "Aero" Atkins. The team looked to improve on their disappointing 12–28 record from 2018, where they did not qualify for the season playoffs.

2019 Dallas Fuel season
Head coach	Aaron Atkins
General manager	Mathew Taylor
Owner	Mike Rufail Kenneth Hersh
Division	Pacific
Results
Record	10–18 (.357)
Place	Pacific: 10th League: 15th
Stage 1 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 2 Playoffs	Quarterfinals
Stage 3 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$25,000
← 2018 Dallas Fuel 2020 →

Dallas began the season posting an impressive 4–2 record through six games, but a 2–3 loss to the Boston Uprising eliminated the team from Stage 1 Playoff contention. The team hit their stride in Stage 2, amassing a 5–2 record, and qualified for the Stage 2 Playoffs. However, they were knocked out in the quarterfinals round by the Vancouver Titans in a 0–3 loss. The Fuel fell apart in the final half of the season, finding only one win in their final fourteen matches. With a 10–18 record for the season, the Fuel again did not qualify for the season playoffs.

Preceding offseason

The Dallas Fuel roster at the beginning of the 2019 season. From left to right: EFFECT, rCk, uNKOE, ZachaREEE, HarryHook, aKm, Closer, Mickie, Taimou, OGE.

Player re-signings

From August 1 to September 9, 2018, all Overwatch League teams that competed in the 2018 season could choose to extend their team's players' contracts. Along with the retirement of star tank player Brandon "Seagull" Larned, Fuel released support Sebastian "Chipshajen" Widlund and tank Christian "cocco" Jonsson.^[1]

Free agency

All non-expansion teams could not enter the free agency period until October 8, 2018; they were able to sign members from their respective academy team and make trades until then. On October 15, Fuel acquired Jung "Closer" Won-sik from London Spitfire; Closer signed with Fuel on a two-way contract with Team Envy.^[2] On November 11, Fuel signed off-tank Richard "rCk" Kanerva from Overwatch Contenders team Team Gigantti to a two-year contract.^[3] Fuel's final offseason transaction was on December 3, when the team signed former Fusion University and United States Overwatch World Cup team player Zachary "ZachaREEE" Lombardo.^[4]

Regular season

Stage 1

Dallas began their 2019 season splitting their two matches in week one – a 0–4 loss against San Francisco Shock and a 3–1 win over Seoul Dynasty.^[5] The team repeated their inconsistent performance the following week, as Fuel fell 0–4 to Guangzhou Charge and defeated Philadelphia Fusion 3–1.^[6] After a pair of wins against Shanghai Dragons, Fuel took on Boston Uprising in their final match of the stage.^[7] Dallas took the first two maps of the match, but Boston was able to engineer a reverse sweep, placing Fuel at a 4–3 Stage 1 record and one match out from the Stage 1 Playoffs.^[8]

Stage 2

The Dallas Fuel Homestand took place at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas.

Dallas had a multitude of player and coaching changes at the start of Stage 2. On April 2, Dallas traded Richard "rCk" Kanerva to Boston Uprising in exchange for Lucas "NotE" Meissner.^[9] On the same day, assistant coach Christian "cocco" Jonsson retired from the Overwatch League;^[10] Dallas signed former Paris Eternal head coach Julien "daemoN" Ducros as an assistant coach a day later.^[11] Three days later, Fuel's Hyeon "EFFECT" Hwang retired from professional Overwatch due to mental health issues.^[12]

Fuel's first two matches of Stage 2 were not until week two, where Dallas swept Toronto Defiant 4–0 and edged over Paris Eternal 2–1.^[13] Week three was not as fortunate for Dallas, as the team was swept 0–4 by both Vancouver Titans and Seoul Dynasty.^[14] Fuel took both of their matches in their "Dallas Fuel Homestand Week", defeating Los Angeles Valiant and in-state rivals Houston Outlaws and clinching a Stage 2 Playoff berth.^[15] Dallas capped off the regular season of Stage 2 with a win over Florida Mayhem, ending the stage with a 5–2 record and the sixth seed in the Stage 2 Playoffs.^[16]

Two days before their quarterfinal match against the undefeated Vancouver Titans, Fuel promoted Ashley "Trill" Powell form their academy team Team Envy.^[17] Dallas was not able to put up much of a challenge for Titans, as Fuel was swept 0–3 in the match.^[18]

Homestand Weekend

Week four saw the "Dallas Fuel Homestand Weekend" – the first of three Overwatch League "Homestand Weekends" of the 2019 season. The two-day event, which took place at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas, sold out 4,500 seats each day.^[19] Held in part to test whether or not the league's plan to hold matches locally, Dallas Fuel was responsible for every aspect of the weekend aside from the broadcast, which was aired on ESPN2.^[20] During the first match of the weekend, a regional power outage delayed the event for 45 minutes.^[21] Marking the highest viewership of Stage 2, the homestand showed that the local-match model has promise.^[22][23]

Stage 3

The Fuel were reversed swept by Excelsior in the final match of Stage 3.

Dallas opened Stage 3 on June 7 with a match against the Los Angeles Gladiators. The Fuel could not find a footing throughout the match, and was swept 0–4.^[24] Dallas turned it around two days later with a 3–0 victory over the Washington Justice. Notably, Dylan "aKm" Bignet tied an Overwatch League record set by Kelsey "Colourhex" Birse for highest average energy on Zarya in at map at 82%.^[25] The following week, the Fuel first took on the Chengdu Hunters on June 13. Dallas was unable to adapt to the off-meta compositions ran by the Hunters and lost the match 1–3.^[26] Two days later, the team faced the undefeated Vancouver Titans; the Fuel were dominated throughout the match and were swept 0–4.^[27]

The Fuel's struggles continued the following week, losing 0–3 to the Hangzhou Spark in a match where the Dallas roster looked to be falling apart.^[28] Three days later, the Fuel were swept 4–0 by the Hunters in a rematch of the previous week.^[29] Dallas' final match of the stage was against the New York Excelsior on June 29. After winning the first two maps, Dallas look primed to take a win from New York, but the Excelsior made the proper adjustments after halftime, and completing a reverse sweep by taking three consecutive maps to hand Dallas a 2–3 loss.^[30]

Stage 4

The Fuel's first match of Stage 4, along with the first match with an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, was against the London Spitfire on July 26. Dallas' tank line and DPS were outplayed that of London's, as the team fell in a 1–3 loss.^[31] The following week, the team lost to the Los Angeles Valiant by a 1–3 scoreline.^[32] Trying to find wins to realistically keep their playoff hopes alive, the Fuel took on the Los Angeles Gladiators on August 9. Dallas found themselves up 2–0 going into halftime, but the team crumbled thereafter, losing three consecutive maps to fall 2–3.^[33] Two days later, the team was swept 0–4 by the San Francisco Shock in a match that was as close as the scoreline.^[34] The following week, the Fuel fell to the Hangzhou Spark by a score of 1–3.^[35] The team's next match was against the Guangzhou Charge on August 18. Dallas found another loss in the matchup, as they were swept 0–4. Notably, an in-game bug cause an hour-long delay in the final map of the series – the longest delay in Overwatch League history.^[36] Officially eliminated from season playoff contention, the Fuel headed to The Novo in Los Angeles to play in the Kit Kat Rivalry Weekend, hosted by the Los Angeles Valiant. Their only match of the weekend was against the Atlanta Reign August 24. After the Reign took the first map with little resistance, both teams completed Volskaya Industries twice, to push the map to a second overtime round, but Dallas came out victorious, tying the series 1–1. Coming out of halftime, close losses on King's Row and Havana gave Dallas a 1–3 match loss. The loss ended Dallas' season with a 12-match losing streak.^[37]

Final roster

2019 Dallas Fuel roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 10 aKm Bignet, Dylan France Damage 13 Taimou Kettunen, Timo Finland Damage 22 ZachaREEE Lombardo, Zachary United States Tank 2 OGE Son Min-seok South Korea Tank 3 NotE Meissner, Lucas Canada Tank 7 Mickie Rattanasangchod, Pongphop Thailand Tank 30 Trill Powell, Ashley Australia Support 9 HarryHook (C) Tejedor, Jonathan Spain Support 17 Closer Jung Won-sik South Korea Support 24 Unkoe Chevasson, Benjamin France	Head coach Aaron Atkins
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: May 7, 2019.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:

• On April 2, Fuel traded Richard "rCk" Kanerva to Boston Uprising in exchange for Lucas "NotE" Meissner.^[38]
• On April 6, Hwang "EFFECT" Hyeon retired.^[12]
• On May 7, Fuel promoted Ashley "Trill" Powell from Team Envy.^[17]

Standings

Record by stage

Stage	Pld	W	L	Pct	MW	ML	MT	MD	Pos
1	7	4	3	.571	15	15	0	±0	9
2	7	5	2	.714	16	11	1	+5	6
3	7	1	6	.143	6	21	2	-15	16
4[a]	7	0	7	.000	6	23	0	-17	19
Overall	28	10	18	.357	43	70	3	-27	15
Qualified for playoffs •   Qualified for play-in tournament

1. No stage playoffs were held for Stage 4.

League

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	PAC	Vancouver Titans	28	25	3	0.893	89	28	0	+61	Advance to season playoffs (division leaders)
2	ATL	New York Excelsior	28	22	6	0.786	78	38	3	+40
3	PAC	San Francisco Shock	28	23	5	0.821	92	26	0	+66	Advance to season playoffs
4	PAC	Hangzhou Spark	28	18	10	0.643	64	52	4	+12
5	PAC	Los Angeles Gladiators	28	17	11	0.607	67	48	3	+19
6	ATL	Atlanta Reign	28	16	12	0.571	69	50	1	+19
7	ATL	London Spitfire	28	16	12	0.571	58	52	6	+6	Advance to play-ins
8	PAC	Seoul Dynasty	28	15	13	0.536	64	50	3	+14
9	PAC	Guangzhou Charge	28	15	13	0.536	61	57	1	+4
10	ATL	Philadelphia Fusion	28	15	13	0.536	57	60	3	−3
11	PAC	Shanghai Dragons	28	13	15	0.464	51	61	3	−10
12	PAC	Chengdu Hunters	28	13	15	0.464	55	66	1	−11
13	PAC	Los Angeles Valiant	28	12	16	0.429	56	61	4	−5
14	ATL	Paris Eternal	28	11	17	0.393	46	67	3	−21
15	PAC	Dallas Fuel	28	10	18	0.357	43	70	3	−27
16	ATL	Houston Outlaws	28	9	19	0.321	47	69	3	−22
17	ATL	Toronto Defiant	28	8	20	0.286	39	72	4	−33
18	ATL	Washington Justice	28	8	20	0.286	39	72	6	−33
19	ATL	Boston Uprising	28	8	20	0.286	41	78	2	−37
20	ATL	Florida Mayhem	28	6	22	0.214	36	75	5	−39

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head map differential

Game log

Regular season

2019 game log (Regular season record: 10–18)
Stage 1 (4–3) 1 February 15 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 San Francisco Shock Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Nepal 2 1 King's Row 3 2 Horizon Lunar Colony 3 1 Rialto 3 2 February 17 Seoul Dynasty 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 1 Busan 2 3 King's Row 4 4 Volskaya Industries 3 0 Rialto 1 3 February 21 Guangzhou Charge 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 0 2 Hollywood 1 2 Temple of Anubis 0 3 Route 66 2 4 February 23 Philadelphia Fusion 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Busan 2 1 Numbani 3 4 Horizon Lunar Colony 3 2 Dorado 3 5 March 02 Shanghai Dragons 2 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 3 Numbani 2 5 Volskaya Industries 4 4 Dorado 5 0 Nepal 2 6 March 09 Dallas Fuel 4 – 0 Shanghai Dragons Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 1 3 Hollywood 2 3 Temple of Anubis 2 5 Route 66 4 7 March 16 Boston Uprising 3 – 2 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA    Recap Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 2 King's Row 3 4 Volskaya Industries 3 3 Dorado 0 2 Nepal 1
Stage 2 (5–2) 8 April 13 Dallas Fuel 4 – 0 Toronto Defiant Burbank, CA 3:00 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 0 5 Paris 4 3 King's Row 0 3 Rialto 2 9 April 14 Dallas Fuel 2 – 1 Paris Eternal Burbank, CA 12:00 noon PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 0 2 Paris 2 4 Blizzard World 3 1 Rialto 2 10 April 18 Vancouver Titans 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 8:30 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 Hanamura 1 4 Blizzard World 3 3 Junkertown 2 11 April 20 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Seoul Dynasty Burbank, CA 3:00 pm PST    Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Lijiang Tower 2 2 Hanamura 3 1 Eichenwalde 2 4 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 5 12 April 27 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 4 Dallas Fuel Allen, TX 2:55 pm PST    Recap Allen Event Center 0 Oasis 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 1 Eichenwalde 2 4 Junkertown 5 13 April 28 Houston Outlaws 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Allen, TX 4:15 pm PST    Recap Allen Event Center 0 Lijiang Tower 2 2 Temple of Anubis 1 2 King's Row 3 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 4 14 May 02 Dallas Fuel 3 – 1 Florida Mayhem Burbank, CA 5:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 1 5 Temple of Anubis 6 3 King's Row 2 3 Rialto 0
Stage 3 (1–6) 15 June 07 Los Angeles Gladiators 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 9:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 0 2 Paris 0 3 Hollywood 2 3 Havana 1 16 June 09 Washington Justice 0 – 3 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 3:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Oasis 2 4 Volskaya Industries 4 2 Eichenwalde 3 0 Havana 3 17 June 13 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 7:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 3 Paris 2 1 Hollywood 3 2 Dorado 3 18 June 15 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Vancouver Titans Burbank, CA 3:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 2 Volskaya Industries 3 2 Eichenwalde 3 2 Dorado 3 19 June 20 Hangzhou Spark 3 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 7:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 0 4 Horizon Lunar Colony 4 3 Numbani 1 3 Havana 1 20 June 23 Chengdu Hunters 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 1 1 Horizon Lunar Colony 0 4 Numbani 3 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 0 21 June 29 Dallas Fuel 2 – 3 New York Excelsior Burbank, CA 12:00 noon PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 0 2 Paris 1 2 Hollywood 3 2 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3 1 Nepal 2
Stage 4 (0–7) 22 July 26 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 London Spitfire Burbank, CA 5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 1 1 Hanamura 2 2 King's Row 3 1 Route 66 2 23 August 03 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Los Angeles Valiant Burbank, CA 3:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 1 4 Volskaya Industries 5 2 Hollywood 3 3 Route 66 4 24 August 09 Dallas Fuel 2 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA 5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Lijiang Tower 1 2 Temple of Anubis 1 2 King's Row 3 0 Junkertown 2 0 Busan 2 25 August 11 San Francisco Shock 4 – 0 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA 3:30 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 0 2 Temple of Anubis 0 3 Blizzard World 2 3 Junkertown 1 26 August 15 Dallas Fuel 1 – 3 Hangzhou Spark Burbank, CA 5:45 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 Hanamura 3 0 Blizzard World 2 3 Junkertown 4 27 August 18 Dallas Fuel 0 – 4 Guangzhou Charge Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 0 Hanamura 2 1 Hollywood 3 3 Havana 4 28 August 24 Atlanta Reign 3 – 1 Dallas Fuel Los Angeles, CA 2:00 pm PST    Details The Novo 2 Busan 0 4 Volskaya Industries 5 3 King's Row 2 2 Havana 1

Playoffs

2019 playoff game log
Stage 2 Playoffs (0–1) Quarterfinals May 10 Dallas Fuel 0 – 3 Vancouver Titans Burbank, CA 8:00 pm PST    Details Blizzard Arena 0 Oasis 2 2 King's Row 3 0 Temple of Anubis 1