The Dallas Fuel 2021 debut was anticlimactic for those looking for the franchise to open with a preseason win. The Shanghai Dragons, a top-three finisher from the 2020 Overwatch League season made sure of that in a 3-0 win over the Fuel in the NeXT Tournament early Saturday morning.
Dallas gets a quick turnaround in this tournament, matched with the Guangzhou Charge Sunday morning at 4 a.m. CT.
The Fuel, bootcamped in Korea with a roster that looks almost completely separate from its 2020 self, were competitive in two of the maps, but Shanghai looked like a team eying an OWL Grand Final again.
But this was a preseason match, and a Fuel win over the Dragons would’ve been a substantial early accomplishment. That didn’t stop the Fuel’s new head coach, Yun “RUSH” Hee-won, from having loftier expectations.
“It was great (to coach my first match with Dallas), but to be honest, our first match was very disappointing,” RUSH told The Dallas Morning News via interpreter. “It did not meet my expectations at all. Me, myself, have to prove a lot and be able to prove we can be better so that throughout our journey we can show improvement we make on the way.”
The Fuel haven’t had a winning season in its three years as an OWL organization under Envy Gaming. That’s not reflective of this current rendition of the roster, but this is also a group that has sparked hope in the Fuel fan base as a team that could seriously compete for the top spot.
Shanghai as a first opponent was a tough draw, but a usable measuring stick. The Dragons had the best record in the league last season, clocking in at 27-2 with a trip to the OWL final four.
The Fuel, on the other hand, blew up their roster in the offseason and only kept damage player. Kim “DoHa” Dongha and assistant coach Kim “Yong” Yong-Jin
Players Kim “Sp9rk1e” Yeong-han, Jung “Xzi” K-iyo, Choi “Hanbin” Han-been and Kwon “Fielder” Jun arrived from the Paris Eternal, coupled with RUSH and assistant coach Go “Aid’ Jae-yoon. Support players Lee “Jecse” Seung-Soo and Kim “Rapel” Jung-keun came from the Houston Outlaws while the Fuel’s main tank, Lee “Fearless” Eui-Seok got to play his 2020 team Saturday morning.
Granted most of this group played together on Element Mystic in Contenders, but they’ve only been practicing as Fuel members since January.
What did that mean for RUSH when preparing the Fuel for preseason? Learning the basics.
“I think we are lacking in basic things we are supposed to be doing,” RUSH said. “We’ve been providing a lot of feedback emphasizing the basic things, but there are things that have been clashing lately.”
An example RUSH gave was where the Fuel were fighting the Dragons on each map. Dallas was rolled by Shanghai on Volskaya Industries, the second map. Majority of the fights were over quickly, with the Fuel out of position.
With Dallas not having a practice available tomorrow and only having the option of video review, positioning will be a focus RUSH gives the Fuel.
“One of the most important things is being able to fight in the right location. Being in the right position is actually one of the very basic things we need to know and I will probably review that,” RUSH said. “That’s something we can fix in 24 hours.”
Dallas will look at Guangzhou, of course, but RUSH wants the Fuel players to look at themselves too. Improvement, no matter how early in the season, is a must for a team eying a top spot in a competitive league.
