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sportsDallas Fuel

As Overwatch League Grand Finals loom, Dallas Fuel look to offseason to answer their championship aspirations

The Fuel look to Envy Gaming owner and chief gaming officer Mike Rufail for a franchise rebuild.

William “Crimzo” Hernandez would like to see the Shanghai Dragons win the Overwatch League Grand Finals.

Why?

“Their story,” Hernandez said. “It’s amazing.”

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If the Dragons were to win it all, it would put another recent accomplishment in the past. Shanghai holds the record for the longest losing streak in the history of professional sports -- 42 games, including a 0-40 inaugural season in 2018.

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Hernandez, currently a support player for the Dallas Fuel, knows what it’s like to struggle in professional Overwatch. His rookie season in Dallas didn’t pan out the way he wanted. While a 9-11 season was leaps and bounds ahead of 0-42, the Fuel haven’t met lofty expectations in each of their three seasons in the esport.

Seeing Shanghai erase such a depression in the team’s history could almost be a symbol for the Fuel that a turnaround in a short time is possible, even feasible.

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The OWL Grand Finals begin on Thursday and the Fuel can only watch with aspirations for 2021 and beyond.

All the remaining teams competing have built strong foundations with their culture and made necessary roster moves in previous offseasons. The Fuel need to do that soon.

Dallas can part ways with players on the bench and find new starters to build depth. Perhaps most importantly they can construct a new coaching staff that demands improvement.

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If the right moves are made, the Fuel can reach for a turnaround as swift as Shanghai’s. If not, it could be more of the same from Dallas.

All the team’s current components can do is wait.

“There’s definitely a weird uncertainty where nobody really knows what is going on with the team,” Hernandez said. “We are waiting and seeing how it is going to play out. I think we are just relaxing in the offseason and seeing where it takes us.”

Tough decisions

While the San Francisco Shock, Philadelphia Fusion, Seoul Dynasty and the Dragons prepare to square off in South Korea for the third OWL championship, the Fuel are already making offseason moves.

Those four squads represent what the Fuel would like to be: competing for championships, and built with sturdy culture. Dallas hit a minor reset button prior to the 2020 season by adding key players and searching for a unique playstyle.

The Fuel deteriorated over the course of the season, and fell apart in August with the departures of damage superstar Jang “Decay” Gui-un, former head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins and assistant coach Louis “Tikatee” Lebel-Wong.

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Envy Gaming owner and chief gaming officer Mike Rufail said the Fuel are still weighing options for the head coaching position. Dallas could keep interim head coach Kim “Yong” Yong-Jin or add a new leader.

Either way, the coaching staff requires a revamp for the Fuel to reach a future Grand Finals themselves.

Rufail already alluded to incoming adjustments in the offseason when he tweeted about “sweeping changes” in August. Dallas then made a few moves by parting ways with former assistant coach Kang “Vol’Jin” Min-Gyu, while support player Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson announced his transition to Valorant on Monday.

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That will likely only be the beginning.

Hernandez is hoping he can be a cornerstone for the Fuel, should Envy elect to keep him. He’s built an in-game and out-of-game bond with his support teammate, Nolan “Paintbrush” Edwards.

“Me and Paintbrush are two hard-working people and genuinely try our hardest every time to make people around us better,” Hernandez said. “We just want to win and will do whatever to get that win. We are very in sync with each other and it’s a good building block to go off of.”

Whether Crimzo and Paintbrush play Overwatch in Dallas in 2021 or not, the Fuel don’t have to rebuild for lack of talent.

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Both Atkins and Kim said the Fuel suffered from a lack of team camaraderie — a global pandemic didn’t help that cause.

But the Fuel players lost trust, and in some cases, the willingness to play.

Jang’s departure was loud. The Fuel parted ways with their most talented player. Decay went on to dominate in his short stint with the Washington Justice, nearly taking a team that lived in the bottom of the OWL standings on a final-four run.

The knock on Jang was his refusal to practice. Rufail went to Twitter to discuss that after the Fuel parted ways with the star in on Aug. 3.

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Hernandez shared his thoughts on the matter when the Decay and the Justice ended the Fuel’s season in the playoffs on Sept. 4.

“It was already a bad environment, where a lot of us had the same issues, but the way he handled things, put fire in flames and made everything worse,” Hernandez said. "I believe it could have improved.

“Who knows how much, but it could have improved simply by talking with each other.”

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The Fuel don’t want this happening with their players moving forward. Kim said via interpreter he saw Jang’s discomfort with the direction of the team as early as March, but nothing changed despite voicing concerns.

Rufail said he started being fed information about the situation in April or May, but he felt he was “hands-off” with the Fuel compared to his other Envy teams. That won’t be the case moving forward, and could be a boon for the Fuel’s future.

Being the answer

Rufail transitioned to chief gaming officer in July, allowing him to focus more closely on his teams and the path to building champions. He has built a long-standing resume that boasts success with that goal.

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Just this season he brought a Call of Duty League championship with the Dallas Empire in the CDL’s inaugural season.

Rufail brought on a Rocket League team and a Magic the Gathering: Arena player. Both have won titles. He built a Valorant team in the matter of a month and has already made roster moves with that same squad, having them compete for top placements against other contenders.

He wants that same success for the Fuel, and the days of being hands-off are over.

“When I hired Aero, I put 100% of the work and effort on him and stayed away from the team,” Rufail said. "Looking back I think that was a mistake because one of the reasons why we are one of the winningest teams in esports is because I have been involved with my teams and I do know what I’m doing.

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“Moving forward I think I will be much more involved with the Dallas Fuel.”

This week the Fuel can see whether Shanghai can complete one of the most miraculous turnarounds possible. At the same time, they can aspire for themselves to be in that spot. Maybe sooner rather than later.

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Find more Fuel stories from The Dallas Morning News here.

Find more esports stories from The News here.