Guangzhou Charge

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Guangzhou Charge
广州冲锋
The logo features 2 stylized letters "G" and "Z",representing Guangzhou.
Founded2 August 2018
LeagueOverwatch League
RegionEast
Team historyGuangzhou Charge
(2018–present)
Based inGuangzhou, China
Arena
  • Foshan International Sports
    and Cultural Center
  • Tianhe Gymnasium[1]
Colors     
OwnerZhong Naixiong
Head coachHong "Sungwoo" Sung-woo
General managerJohn "M4ND4R4" Song
Affiliation(s)Ultra Prime Academy
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms
Guangzhou Charge Jersey.svg
Guangzhou Charge
Simplified Chinese广州冲锋
Traditional Chinese廣州衝鋒

Guangzhou Charge (simplified Chinese: 广州冲锋; traditional Chinese: 廣州衝鋒; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Chōngfēng) is a Chinese professional Overwatch esports team based in Guangzhou, China. The Charge compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region.

Founded in 2018, Guangzhou Charge began play as one of eight expansion teams in 2019 and is one of four professional Overwatch teams based in China. The team is owned by Nenking Group and is now managed by Ultra Prime (the esports brand of Nenking).[2]

Franchise history[]

OWL expansion[]

On 2 August 2018, Activision Blizzard announced that Nenking Group, owner of Guangzhou Loong Lions, purchased a seat for Guangzhou in Overwatch League.[3][4] On 15 October 2018, Nenking announced that Sonny Xiao, the vice president of Nenking and the president of basketball operations for the Guangzhou Long Lions, would be the CEO of the team, Overwatch developer Eddy Meng would be the COO, and Overwatch management veteran Ethan Liu would be the general manager.[5]

On 8 November, the Nenkeng Group announced that the Guangzhou team would be called the Guangzhou Charge.[6] Two weeks later, the Charge announced nine players of their inaugural roster – four DPS, four supports, and one tank.[7] The Charge signed Cho "J1N" Hyo-jin as the team's head coach on 3 December 2018.[8]

Inaugural season[]

Main article: 2019 Guangzhou Charge season

On 15 February 2019, Guangzhou Charge played their first regular season OWL match against the Chengdu Hunters, in which the charge lost 2–3.[9] The team's first victory came a week later – a 4–0 sweep against the Dallas Fuel.[10] The team had a subpar performance throughout the first three stages of the season, posting a 9–12 record through 21 matches with no stage playoff appearances. After the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the league, the Charge flourished, losing only one match in their final seven matches to give them a 15–13 record for the season. Finishing in 9th place in the overall standings, Guangzhou qualified for the Play-In Tournament, where they defeated the Chengdu Hunters in the first round, 4–1.[11] However, they were unable to make it season playoffs, as they fell to the Seoul Dynasty by a score of 1–4 the following day.[12]

Team identity[]

On 9 November 2018, the Nenking Group officially announced the brand of their franchise, the Guangzhou Charge. The name was chosen because it expressed the team's "vision to lead the esports movement in China, and to be at the forefront of innovation. It also [expressed the] vision for a competitive team that plays aggressive and bold."[6]

The logo features two stylized letters "G" and "Z", representing Guangzhou. A lightning bolt symbol can be seen in-between the white space of the two letters. The colors represent the scenery of the region, while the name "Charge" represents bold playstyles and innovation in Chinese esports.[6]

"We want to build an international organization and fanbase, so the goal for our team brand was to create a symbol for Guangzhou that people from all of the world can instantly recognize," the team's Marketing and Creative Director Chris Hwang said. "We took inspiration from iconic sports logos where simple letters have grown to represent an entire city"[6]

Personnel[]

Roster[]

Guangzhou Charge roster
Players Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality
Damage  0 Eileen  Ou Yiliang  China 
Damage  13 ChoiSehwan  Choi Se-hwan  South Korea 
Damage  27 Develop  Chae Rak-hoon  South Korea 
Tank  14 Rio  Oh Seung-pyo  South Korea 
Tank  10 Cr0ng  Nam Ki-cheol  South Korea 
Support  Unique  Yoo Dong-hyun  South Korea 
Head coach
  • Hong "Sungwoo" Sung-woo
Legend
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injury / Illness

Latest roster transaction: October 31, 2021.

Head coaches[]

Guangzhou Charge head coaches
Handle Name From To Span Ref.
J1N Cho Hyo-Jin(조효진) 4 December 2018 5 October 2020 1 year, 306 days [8][13]
Arachne Lee Ji-won 29 October 2020 6 May 2021 189 days [14][15]
Sungwoo Hong Sung-woo 17 June 2021 – 192 days [16]

Awards and records[]

Seasons overview[]

Season P W L W% Finish Playoffs
2019 28 15 13 .536 6th, Pacific Did not qualify
2020 21 14 7 .667 3rd, Asia Lost in Asia Lower Round 1, 0–3 (Excelsior)
2021 16 5 11 .313 7th, East Did not qualify

Individual accomplishments[]

Role Star selections

  • Cr0ng (Nam Ki-cheol) – 2020

All-Star Game selections

  • Shu (Kim Jin-Seo) – 2019, 2020
  • Cr0ng (Nam Ki-cheol) – 2020

All-Star Game head coaches

  • J1n (Cho Hyo-Jin) – 2020

Academy team[]

See also: Ultra Prime (eSports)

On 13 March 2019, GZ Academy, also known as GZA, was founded as the academy team of Guangzhou Charge.[17] After a 1–4 finish in their first season of Overwatch Contenders, team shut down on 30 May, citing a focus on preparations for the Charge's 2020 home arena and teamhouse.[18] On 2 July, in the middle of the second season of 2019 Contenders, it was announced that the roster of Chinese Contenders team The One Winner (T1w) had been signed as the new academy team of Guangzhou Charge, rebranding themselves to T1w.GZA.[19] On 2020, the Charge ended their partnership with T1w. Another OWC team Ignition One (IO) was rebranded to Ultra Prime Academy as the academy team of the Charge.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Richardson, Liz (20 August 2019). "Here is the full Overwatch League 2020 season schedule". Dot Esport. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Nenking announced that a new eSports brand called Ultra Prime was founded". 8 August 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  3. ^ Hume, Mike (2 August 2018). "Overwatch League expansion wave begins in Atlanta, Guangzhou". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Atlanta and Guangzhou take the stage". Blizzard Entertainment. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Guangzhou Overwatch League Team Announces Executive Leadership". The Esports Observer. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Nenking Group (8 November 2018). "Feel The Charge! Nenking Group Unveils Its Guangzhou Overwatch League Team Branding". Business Wire. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  7. ^ Viana, Bhernardo (23 November 2018). "Guangzhou Charge signs an international roster for its debut in the Overwatch League". Dot Esports. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b Rodriguez, Veronika (4 December 2018). "Guangzhou Charge Signs J1N, TyDolla, and Sungwoo to Overwatch League Coaching Staff". DBLTAP. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. ^ August, Charlotte (16 February 2019). "Overwatch Esports: Overwatch League Day 2 Recap". ESTNN. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  10. ^ August, Charlotte (22 February 2019). "Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 2 Day 1 Recap". ESTNN. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Charge, Dragons advance in OWL play-in tourney". ESPN. Rueters. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  12. ^ Richardson, Liz (31 August 2019). "London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty advance to Overwatch League 2019 season playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  13. ^ Guangzhou Charge. "We are now announcing that our contracts with Head Coach J1N and Assistant Coach Tydolla and Sungwoo have ended". Twitter. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  14. ^ Guangzhou Charge. "Let's welcome @Arachne_esports to the team as our new Head Coach!". Twitter. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  15. ^ Johnson, Xavier (6 May 2021). "Guangzhou Charge releases head coach Arachne, assistant coach Daemin". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  16. ^ Guangzhou Charge [@GZCharge] (17 June 2021). "Welcome Sung-woo "Sungwoo" Hong returns to Guangzhou Charge as our new Head Coach!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Guangzhou Academy (GZA) was founded as the academy team of Guangzhou Charge and will take part in the Overwatch Contenders". GZA Esports Club. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  18. ^ GZA Esports Club (30 May 2019). "Guangzhou Academy will be temporarily shutting down" (in Chinese). Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  19. ^ Richardson, Liz (3 July 2019). "Guangzhou Charge pick up T1w for Contenders China team". Dot Esports. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

External links[]

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