Fuel coach ‘RUSH’ wants Dallas reaching for its ceiling in offseason before Overwatch 2 takes over

An offseason without sweeping changes was unfamiliar territory for the Dallas Fuel before now. In the past, it’s been the entire team leaving and being replaced, or at the very least half of it.

The Fuel have their core after an 11-5 season and third-place finish in the Overwatch League playoffs -- that’s the best season in franchise history by every standard.

That doesn’t mean there won’t still be significant change. Dallas’ departure from main support player Lee “Jecse” Seung-soo, a need for a hitscan specialist and looming changes that Overwatch 2 will bring suggest otherwise.

The Fuel are in the market for at least two more players and an assistant coach. Their standards are high, but also simplistic. Everyone needs to be good. Very good.

“We realize that the strategies that we’ve been using may not work in a 5-vs-5, so I think we will definitely have to rely heavily on mechanics,” Fuel assistant coach Go “Aid” Joon said via interpreter. “So if we were to just get down to like the basics, if we were able to pick a good player with good mechanics, we may be able to adjust to the meta and learn more about it.”

The Fuel are holding open tryouts for coaches and players. So open that they posted the Google doc on Twitter for people to apply. Dallas head coach Yun “RUSH” Hee-Won told The Dallas Morning News this could be the first of a couple rounds.

The unknowns of Overwatch 2 make it hard to know exactly what teams should want. There will be new heroes and fresh takes on a game most pros have played for years.

While there are plenty of veteran players that could be picked up, Yun felt the Fuel didn’t need that. The current roster of Kim “SP9RK1E” Yeonghan, Kim ‘Doha” Dong-ha, Lee “Fearless” Euiseok, Choi “Hanbin” Hanbeen and Kwon “Fielder” Jun provides that.

Young players are the way to go.

“What we look for in a player the most is whether they have a high ceiling and if they have a possibility to improve,” Yun said via interpreter. “So given that, you know when we look at an older player, it’s really hard to tell whether they’re capable of reaching their ceiling at that point.”

Yun added that he felt the Fuel players didn’t improve enough over the course of the 2021 season. If they did, there may be a world championship trophy heading to Dallas. Fielder was the most improved, Yun felt.

It’s not all about improvement. The Fuel want players that can shape the way Overwatch 2 is played.

“There is the right way of playing, if you would call it that,” Go said. “But a new player, despite that traditional or classic play, is able to discover their own way to play. That creates a new variable and that may surprise everyone and that’s something that they are capable of.”

Getting another coach could be a bit trickier, as Yun may never be satisfied with the options. Former Fuel assistant coach Kim “Yong” Yong-Jin, who once took over as interim head coach during the 2020 season, brought great experience with the Fuel organization to the current team. He’s off fulfilling his military duties at home in South Korea now.

“But I do say that (Yong) doesn’t meet my standards perfectly,” Yun said. “And that’s really not his fault because the role of a coach is quite new in Overwatch and there are not a lot of people who have enough experience and I don’t think that perfect coach that fits my standard exists.”

As the professional Overwatch scene continues to develop, so will the Dallas Fuel. They see this offseason as an opportunity to get ahead of the curve. The Fuel did that in the early stages of the recent season, and that led to a May Melee title.

The Fuel can’t help but want more.

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