Vancouver Titans
Founded | September 7, 2018 |
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League | Overwatch League |
Region | West |
Team history | Vancouver Titans (2018–present) |
Based in | Vancouver, Canada |
Colours | |
Owner | Canucks Sports & Entertainment |
Website | Official website |
Uniforms | |
The Vancouver Titans are a professional Overwatch esports team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Titans compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2018, the Vancouver Titans began play as one of eight expansion teams in 2019 and is one of two professional Overwatch teams in Canada (the other, Toronto Defiant). The team is owned by Canucks Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Vancouver Warriors of the National Lacrosse League (NLL).
For their inaugural season, the Titans signed a roster consisting of mostly members from Korean Overwatch Contenders team RunAway. In their first year, they reached all three of the stage playoffs, made two stage final appearances, won one stage title, finished at the top of the regular season standings, and reached the 2019 Grand Finals, where they ultimately lost to the San Francisco Shock. However, conflicts between players and management resulted in the Titans organization parting ways with their entire roster at the beginning of the 2020 season. Since then, the Titans have failed to reach any playoffs and had their worst season in 2021, ending it with a 1–15 regular season record.
History
On September 7, 2018, Activision Blizzard announced that NHL's Vancouver Canucks ownership Aquilini Group had purchased a slot for the Vancouver-based franchise for a reported $30 million to $60 million.[1][2] "Esports has seen extraordinary success and continues to be one of the fastest growing industries in the world," said Aquilini Group managing director Francesco Aquilini in a statement. "We can't wait to launch the team in Vancouver."[3] On October 18, the team announced they had partnered with Canadian esports organization Luminosity Gaming to add esports expertise to the organization.[4]
On December 1, a video revealed the Vancouver Titans' brand during the second intermission of a Vancouver Canucks game, concluding with "Today, we release the Titans." The team also announced that it had signed all eight members of the Korean Overwatch Contenders champions RunAway and Hwang "Pajion" Ji-sub as the team's head coach.[5]
2019: Grand Finals appearance
Vancouver's first OWL match was a 4–0 sweep over the
2020–present: Roster collapse and years of rebuilding
Following the 2019 season, the Vancouver Titans parted ways with four of their players, including Bumper and TiZi.
Prior to the start of the 2021 season, the Titans retained half of their roster from the previous season and picked up underperforming players who were dropped or traded from other OWL teams to fill their holes.[25] The team did not outperform expectations, going on a 12-game losing streak to start the season. Vancouver picked up its first win of the season on August 6, 2021, with a 3–0 win over the Boston Uprising — their first win in nearly a year.[26] The Titans ended the season with a 1–15 record, marking their worst finish in franchise history.[27]
After an abysmal 2021 season, the Titans again dropped their entire roster.[27] The team picked up seven players, forming a mixed nationality roster, in the offseason, including former Toronto Defiant hitscan player Luka "Aspire" Rolovic and former Atlanta Reign support player Petja "Masaa" Kantanen.[28][29]
Team identity
On December 1, 2018, the Aquilini Group officially unveiled the Vancouver Titans brand. The name Titans is "indicative of the traits associated with the
Partnerships
In August 2019, the Vancouver Titans announced a partnership with Circle K on limited edition souvenir cups that featured images of Titans players Twilight, Haksal, Bumper, and SeoMinSoo.[31][32]
Personnel
Current roster
Vancouver Titans roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend:
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Latest roster transaction: July 11, 2023. |
Head coaches
Handle | Name | Seasons | Record | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pajion | Hwang Ji-sub | 2019–2020 | 27–5 (.844) | Released after four games in 2020. | [5][21] |
Flubby | Steven Coronel | 2020–2022 | 5–34 (.128) | Released after six games in 2022. | [23][33] |
dpei | David Pei | 2022 | 5–13 (.278) | [34][35] | |
Ascoft | Valentin Wulfman | 2023–present | 8–8 (.500) | [36] |
Awards and records
Seasons overview
Season | P | W | L | W% | Finish | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 28 | 25 | 3 | .893 | 1st, Pacific | Lost in Grand Finals, 0–4 (Shock) |
2020 | 21 | 6 | 15 | .286 | 10th, North America | Did not qualify |
2021 | 16 | 1 | 15 | .063 | 12th, West | Did not qualify |
2022 | 24 | 5 | 19 | .208 | 11th, West | Did not qualify |
2023 | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | 5th, West | Did not qualify |
Individual accomplishments
Rookie of the Year
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Role Star selections
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All-Star Game selections
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All-Star Game head coaches
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References
- ^ Rand, Emily (September 7, 2018). "Overwatch League reveals Toronto, Paris, and four other new franchises". ESPN. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (September 7, 2018). "It's official: All 8 new teams coming to Overwatch League have been revealed". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ Black, Matthew; Haberstroh, Max (September 7, 2018). "Canucks owners bring pro esports team to Vancouver". CBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ "Vancouver Overwatch team partners with Luminosity Gaming". ESPN.com. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
- ^ a b c "Overwatch: Vancouver Titans reveal branding, roster". ESPN. Reuters. December 1, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ Fossett, Wyatt (February 17, 2019). "Vancouver Titans win their Overwatch League debut". Daily Hive. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ Erzberger, Tyler (March 24, 2019). "Vancouver Titans crush Overwatch League in Stage 1". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Fossett, Wyatt (June 23, 2019). "LA Valiant End Vancouver Titans' 19-Game OWL Winning Streak". Twin Galaxies. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Heinisch, Sascha (July 14, 2019). "Shanghai Dragons unexpectedly make Stage 3 playoff finals". Upcomer. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Franco, Joseph (September 27, 2019). "Breaking down Overwatch League's season two finale". Polygon. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (August 31, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals Role Stars awards". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (September 5, 2019). "Haksal is Overwatch League's Rookie of the Year". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ a b "Overwatch League's Vancouver Titans sign ryujehong, release Bumper". ESPN. November 27, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Amenabar, Teddy (September 30, 2019). "Shock and Awe: San Francisco's versatility sweeps aside Vancouver Titans for Overwatch League title". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ "Vancouver Titans officially part with remaining roster". Reuters. May 6, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Wolf, Jacob; Rand, Emily (May 6, 2020). "Vancouver Titans release majority of roster, will sign Second Wind players". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ a b Webster, Andrew (May 6, 2020). "The Overwatch League's troubles continue as top team drops entire roster". The Verge. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ a b Plana, Vincent (May 8, 2020). "Vancouver Titans unveil brand new team after parting with entire roster". Daily Hive. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Richardson, Liz (September 3, 2020). "Houston Outlaws, Vancouver Titans eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ "Vancouver Titans sign Skairipa, Seicoe". Reuters. January 5, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ "Introducing the Vancouver Titans: The New Overwatch League Team Competing in the 2019 Season". Gamasutra. December 3, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- Sports Business Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Dot Esports. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- ^ Spies, Julian (June 3, 2022). "OWL: Titans ziehen Konsequenzen" [OWL: Titans are taking action]. Sport1 (in German). Retrieved June 8, 2022.
- ^ Vancouver Titans [@VancouverTitans] (June 6, 2022). "Welcome to the team @dpei_ow" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Gamereactor UK. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
- ^ Vancouver Titans [@VancouverTitans] (November 25, 2022). "Please give a warm welcome to @Ascoft_OW!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.