2021 Guangzhou Charge season

The 2021 Guangzhou Charge season was the third season of Guangzhou Charge's existence in the Overwatch League and was their first season under head coach Lee "Arachne" Ji-won. After a poor start to the season, the Charge released head coach Lee "Arachne" Ji-won on May 6 and signed Sung-woo "Sungwoo" Hong as their new head coach on June 17. They finished the season with a 5–11 record and did not qualify any postseason matches for the first time in franchise history.

2021 Guangzhou Charge season
Head coach	Lee "Arachne" Ji-won (Released May 6) Sung-woo "Sungwoo" Hong
Owner	Zhong Naixiong
Region	East
Results
Record	5–11 (.250)
Place	East: 7th League: 17th
May Melee	Did not qualify
June Joust	Did not qualify
Summer Showdown	Did not qualify
Countdown Cup	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$0
← 2020 Guangzhou Charge 2022 →

Preceding offseason

Roster changes

The Charge entered free agency with seven free agents, four of which became free agents due to the Charge not exercising the option to retain the player for another year.^[1]

Acquisitions

The Charge's first offseason acquisition was Park "KariV" Young-seo, a veteran support player coming off of a struggling year with the Toronto Defiant who signed on November 10, 2020.^[2] The next day, they signed Kim "Mandu" Chan-hee, a second-year support player who spent most of the 2020 season on the New York Excelsior's bench.^[2] The Charge announced two more signings in the following two days: Zou "MyKaylee" Zijie, a rookie damage player coming from the Hangzhou Spark's Overwatch Contenders academy team Bilibili Gaming, and Choi "ChoiSehwan" Se-hwan, a rookie damage player from Contenders team Element Mystic.^[3] The Charge did not sign another player until January 2021; on January 21, they signed Kim "Jihun" Ji-hun, a second-year tank player who did not see much playing time in his rookie season with the London Spitfire.^[4]

Departures

None of the Charge's seven free agents returned, six of which signed with other teams, beginning with support player Kim "Shu" Jin-seo, who signed with the Los Angeles Gladiators on November 9, 2020.^[5] Later that month, on November 25, damage player Lee "Happy" Jeong-woo signed with the Houston Outlaws.^[6] Five days later, damage player Charlie "Nero" Zwarg signed with the San Francisco Shock.^[7] The Charge lost support player Alberto "Neptuno" González Molinillo on December 9 after he signed with the Paris Eternal.^[8] Two of the Charge's free agents, damage player Cai "Krystal" Shilong and support player Qi "Wya" Haomiao signed with the Los Angeles Valiant on March 18, 2021.^[9] The Charge's final free agent, support player Kim "Chara" Jeong-yeon announced his retirement in the offseason.^[10]

Organizational changes

On October 6, 2020, the Charge released their entire Korean coaching staff, consisting of head coach Cho "J1N" Hyo-jin and assistant coaches Jung "Tydolla" Seung-min and Hong "Sungwoo" Sung-woo.^[11] Several weeks later, they signed former San Francisco Shock assistant coach Lee "Arachne" Ji-won as their new head coach for the upcoming season.^[12]

Regular season

The Charge began their 2021 season on April 17, playing against the Shanghai Dragons in the May Melee qualifiers. They were swept in their opener 0–3.^[13] After a 1–3 record to start the season, the Charge released head coach Lee "Arachne" Ji-won and assistant coach Kim "Daemin" Dae-min on May 6.^[14] Three days later, the Charge released assistant coach Park "Neko" Se-hyeon and signed Zheng "Extra" Jiawen as an assistant coach.^[15] The Charge signed Sung-woo "Sungwoo" Hong as their new head coach on June 17.^[16]

With a 5–11 record, the Charge finished the regular season in second-to-last place in the Eastern region, only ahead of the winless Los Angeles Valiant, marking the first time in franchise history that the team would not qualify for any postseason matches.^[17]

Final roster

2021 Guangzhou Charge roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 34 MYKaylee (2W) Zou Zijie China Damage 0 Eileen Ou Yiliang China Damage 13 ChoiSehwan Choi Se-hwan South Korea Tank 14 Rio Oh Seung-pyo South Korea Tank 2 Jihun (2W) Kim Ji-hun South Korea Tank 10 Cr0ng Nam Ki-cheol South Korea Support 2 Mandu Kim Chan-hee South Korea Support 8 KariV Park Young-seo South Korea	Head coach Vacant
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: January 21, 2021.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	Pts	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	Shanghai Dragons	16	12	4	20	0.750	38	19	2	+19	Advance to season playoffs
2	Chengdu Hunters	16	11	5	15	0.688	38	22	2	+16
3	Seoul Dynasty	16	12	4	12	0.750	40	22	0	+18	Advance to play-ins
4	Philadelphia Fusion	16	10	6	10	0.625	37	24	3	+13
5	Hangzhou Spark	16	7	9	7	0.438	32	31	0	+1
6	New York Excelsior	16	7	9	7	0.438	29	32	0	−3
7	Guangzhou Charge	16	5	11	5	0.313	20	38	4	−18
8	Los Angeles Valiant	16	0	16	0	0.000	2	48	1	−46

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) winning percentage (including tournaments); 3) regular season wins; 4) regular season map differential

Game log

Regular season

2021 game log
May Melee Qualifier match 1 April 17 Guangzhou Charge 0 – 3 Shanghai Dragons Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 1 Lijang Tower 2 3 Blizzard World 3 0 Dorado 1 0 Temple of Anubis 2 Qualifier match 2 April 18 Guangzhou Charge 0 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 0 Busan 2 3 King'S Row 4 2 Havana 3 Qualifier match 3 April 30 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Guangzhou Charge Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 1 Ilios 2 0 Hanamura 1 1 Eichenwalde 2 Qualifier match 4 May 01 Guangzhou Charge 0 – 3 Hangzhou Spark Online 6:30 pm CST    Details 1 Oasis 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 2 Blizzard World 3
June Joust Qualifier match 1 May 22 Guangzhou Charge 1 – 3 Hangzhou Spark Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 Eichenwalde 3 1 Dorado 3 3 Temple of Anubis 4 Qualifier match 2 May 23 New York Excelsior 1 – 3 Guangzhou Charge Online 6:30 pm CST    Details 1 Nepal 2 1 Hollywood 3 3 Junkertown 1 0 Hanamura 1 Qualifier match 3 June 04 Guangzhou Charge 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Hangzhou, CN 5:00 pm CST    Details Future Sci-Tech City Hosted by Hangzhou Spark 0 Oasis 2 3 Hanamura 3 1 Hollywood 3 1 Junkertown 3 Qualifier match 4 June 05 Guangzhou Charge 0 – 3 Seoul Dynasty Hangzhou, CN 6:30 pm CST    Details Future Sci-Tech City Hosted by Hangzhou Spark 1 Busan 2 1 Volskaya Industries 2 2 Numbani 3
Summer Showdown Qualifier match 1 June 26 Guangzhou Charge 3 – 2 New York Excelsior Online 8:00 pm CST    Details 2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 King's Row 3 4 Junkertown 3 3 Volskaya Industries 4 2 Oasis 1 Qualifier match 2 June 27 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 0 Guangzhou Charge Online 6:30 pm CST    Details 2 Busan 1 3 Eichenwalde 0 3 Route 66 2 Qualifier match 3 July 03 Philadelphia Fusion 3 – 0 Guangzhou Charge Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 2 Ilios 0 3 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 2 2 Hanamura 2 3 Hollywood 2 Qualifier match 4 July 04 Seoul Dynasty 3 – 2 Guangzhou Charge Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 1 Oasis 2 2 Junkertown 3 2 Volskaya Industries 1 3 King's Row 2 2 Nepal 1
Countdown Cup Qualifier match 1 August 07 Chengdu Hunters 3 – 1 Guangzhou Charge Online 8:00 pm CST    Details 2 Oasis 0 0 Route 66 1 1 Temple of Anubis 1 2 Blizzard World 1 2 Nepal 0 Qualifier match 2 August 08 Shanghai Dragons 3 – 1 Guangzhou Charge Online 8:00 pm CST    Details 2 Lijiang Tower 0 3 Havana 0 0 Hanamura 1 4 Numbani 3 Qualifier match 3 August 13 Los Angeles Valiant 0 – 3 Guangzhou Charge Online 6:30 pm CST    Details 1 Nepal 2 1 Hanamura 2 1 King's Row 2 Qualifier match 4 August 14 Guangzhou Charge 3 – 2 Hangzhou Spark Online 5:00 pm CST    Details 2 Ilios 0 3 Volskaya Industries 4 4 Numbani 5 3 Rialto 2 2 Lijiang Tower 1
2021 season schedule

References

1. "2021 Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. October 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
2. Howard, Brandon (November 12, 2020). "Guangzhou Charge Add KariV, Mandu". TheGamer. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
3. Field Level Media (November 14, 2020). "Charge sign MYKaylee, ChoiSehwan". Reuters. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
4. Alford, Aaron (January 21, 2021). "Guangzhou Charge signs former Spitfire player Jihun". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
5. Howard, Brandon (November 11, 2020). "Los Angeles Gladiators Sign Shu". TheGamer. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
6. Richardson, Liz (November 25, 2020). "Happy joins the Houston Outlaws". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
7. Richardson, Liz (November 30, 2020). "San Francisco Shock picks up DPS nero". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
8. Richardson, Liz (December 9, 2020). "Paris Eternal adds Naga, Onigod, and neptuNo". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
9. Alford, Aaron (March 18, 2021). "LA Valiant Sign New Chinese Roster for OWL Season 4". Hotspawn. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
10. Michael, Cale (December 15, 2020). "Chara joins T1's Overwatch Contenders coaching staff". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
11. O'Dwyer, Samuel (October 6, 2020). "Guangzhou Charge parts ways with entire Korean coaching staff". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
12. Heinisch, Sascha (October 29, 2020). "Arachne Signed As Head Coach For The Guangzhou Charge". GGRecon. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
13. Field Level Media (April 17, 2021). "Philadelphia Fusion open strong in Week 1 of Overwatch League". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
14. Johnson, Xavier (May 6, 2021). "Guangzhou Charge releases head coach Arachne, assistant coach Daemin". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
15. Lyons, Ben (June 9, 2021). "Guangzhou Charge announce changes to its coaching staff". GamereactorUK. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
16. Guangzhou Charge [@GZCharge] (June 17, 2021). "Welcome Sung-woo "Sungwoo" Hong returns to Guangzhou Charge as our new Head Coach" (Tweet). Retrieved August 14, 2021 – via Twitter.
17. Datuin, Sage (January 21, 2022). "Guangzhou Charge welcomes former Shanghai Dragons flex support Molly". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 6, 2022.