2019 Shanghai Dragons season

2019 Shanghai Dragons season
Head coachWe Seong-hwan
General managerYang Van
OwnerNetEase
DivisionPacific
Results
Record13–15 (.464)
Place
Stage 1 PlayoffsDid not qualify
Stage 2 PlayoffsQuarterfinals
Stage 3 PlayoffsChampions
Season PlayoffsDid not qualify
Total Earnings$225,000

The 2019 Shanghai Dragons season was the second season of the Shanghai Dragons's existence in the Overwatch League and the team's first season under head coach We "BlueHaS" Seong-hwan. The Dragons looked to improve from their atrocious 0–40 season the prior year.

Shanghai opened the season with two consecutive losses, but on February 23, Shanghai snapped their 42-game losing streak – the longest losing streak in professional sports history – by defeating the Boston Uprising 3–1, marking the franchise's first ever win. The team picked up two more wins in Stage 1 for a respectable 3–4 record for the stage. The Dragons found more success in Stage 2, as they finished with a 4–3 record and qualified for their first ever stage playoffs; however, the fell 1–3 to the San Francisco Shock in the quarterfinals. After the All-Star break, the Dragons hit their stride, amassing a 5–2 Stage 3 record, and qualified for the Stage 3 Playoffs. The team put on an unprecedented playoff run, taking down the top-seeded New York Excelsior 3–1 and the second-seeded Vancouver Titans 4–1 in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. The team then took down the third-seeded San Francisco Shock 4–3 in the finals to claim their first-ever stage championship. Shanghai's success did not last, however; after the implementation of a 2-2-2 role lock by the league in Stage 4, the Dragons only won one match in their final seven to finish the season with a 13–15 record.

In eleventh place in the regular season standings, Shanghai had to compete in the Play-In Tournament in order to qualify for the season playoffs. A 4–2 win over the Philadelphia Fusion sent the Dragons to the second round, where they faced the London Spitfire. The match against London went to an OWL record eight maps, but the Dragons fell 3–4 to end their playoff hopes.