Chengdu Hunters

Chengdu Hunters
成都猎人
The logo features a panda.
Founded2018
Folded2023
LeagueOverwatch League
RegionEast
Team historyChengdu Hunters
(2018–present)
Based inChengdu, China
Colors       
OwnerHuya, Inc.
Head coachZhang "yaoxie" Jihang
General managerChen "Cc" Jiancheng
Affiliation(s)Team Chaser
Main sponsorHuya
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese成都猎人
Traditional Chinese成都獵人
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChéngdū Lièrén

Chengdu Hunters (simplified Chinese: 成都猎人; traditional Chinese: 成都獵人; pinyin: Chéngdū Lièrén) were a Chinese professional Overwatch esports team based in Chengdu, China. The Hunters competed in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. The team was owned by Huya, Inc., a Chinese interactive broadcast platform and was operated by Royal Never Give Up (RNG) throughout the 2019 and 2020 OWL seasons. The Hunters also formerly had partnership with Overwatch Contenders the team LGE.Huya to act as the team's academy team. Founded in 2018, Chengdu Hunters began play as one of eight expansion teams in 2019 and was one of four professional Overwatch teams in China. Since inception, the Hunters had qualified for the season playoffs once, in 2021. The team disbanded in 2023.

Franchise history

On September 7, 2018, Activision Blizzard announced that domestic game livestream platform Huya, Inc. had purchased an expansion team based in Chengdu, later revealed as Chengdu Hunters,[1] for the Overwatch League's second season.[2] While the team was owned by Huya, they would be operated by Chinese esports organization Royal Never Give Up. The Hunters signed an all-Chinese roster and staff, aside from two Taiwanese members, which would be led by head coach Wang "RUI" Xingrui.[3]

Hunters walking on stage in 2019

Chengdu's first ever regular season OWL match was a 3–2 victory over the Guangzhou Charge on February 15, 2019.[4] After posting three consecutive 3–4 records for the first three stages of the season, the Hunters failed to qualify for any of the stage playoffs.[5] Chengdu finished the regular season with a 13–15 record and qualified for the play-in tournament. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the play-in tournament after a loss to the Guangzhou Charge.[6]

In the offseason preceding the 2020 season, head coach Wang "RUI" Xingrui announced that he would be stepping down from his position due to health issues.[7] The Hunters promoted assistant coach Chang "Ray" Chia-Hua and signed former LGE.Huya head coach Wu "Dokkaebi" Xiuqing as the team's new co-head coaches.[8] Chengdu made several roster changes prior to the season, including officially signing rookie Xin "Leave" Huang.[9] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hunters were not able to play their first match of the season several months after the season officially began.[10] Prior to the final midseason tournament of the season, the Countdown Cup, Chen Murong was signed as the team's new co-head, replacing Wu "Dokkaebi" Xiuqing.[11] Chengdu finished the season in sixth, out of seventh, place in the league's Asia region, with an effective 8–14 record.[12] The Hunters defeated the London Spitfire in the first round of the Asia play-in tournament;[12] however, they lost to the New York Excelsior in the following round, ending their season.[13]

Entering the 2021 season, Xingrui "RUI" Wang was brought back as the team's new head coach.[14] The Hunters six players in the offseason, all of whom were rookies.[15] Additionally, the Hunters ended their partnership with Royal Never Give Up, who had been operating the team since its inception.[16] The Hunters qualified for three of the league's four midseason tournaments, reaching the finals twice, but they failed to secure a title in any of them.[17][18][19] At the end of the regular season, Huang "Leave" Xin won the season's Most Valuable Player award.[20] Chengdu had their best regular season finish in franchise history, placing as the third seed in the season playoffs.[21] They defeated the Atlanta Reign in the first round of the double-elimination tournament.[22] However consecutive losses to the Dallas Fuel and San Francisco Shock ended their playoff run.[23][24]

In January 2023, the Hunters posted on their Twitter, "Goodbye and see you again." The post followed the end of the licensing agreement between Activision Blizzard and NetEase, which disallowed Overwatch 2 to be played in China. On April 13, 2023, the Overwatch League announced that the Hunters would not be competing at the start of the 2023 season. On May 3, 2023, The Esports Advocate reported that the Chengdu Hunters had been disbanded.[25][26]

Team identity

On November 12, 2018, the Chengdu Hunters brand was officially unveiled. The team name was chosen "as a symbol of the team’s dedication to pursuing the honor of the league." The logo, a black and gold giant panda, was chosen because "it is the national treasure of China, the symbol of Chengdu, and a symbol of peace and good luck. At the same time, the panda also boasts powerful fighting strength and represents the Chinese spirit of perseverance, and collectively with the team’s name, represents the team’s determination to achieve victory." The colors represent vigor and steadiness, and contain the main colors of Huya and RNG, meant to represent the collaboration of the two companies.[27]

Personnel

Head coaches

Handle Name Seasons Record Notes Ref.
Rui Wang Xingrui 2019 13–15 (.464) [3][7]
Ray Chang Chia-Hua 2020 7–14 (.333) Co-head coach with Dokkaebi. Co-head coach with Chen. [8][14]
Dokkaebi Wu Xiuqing 2020 7–14 (.333) Co-head coach with Ray. Released prior to 2020 postseason. [8][11]
Chen Chen Murong 2020 0–0 (–) Co-head coach with Ray. [11][14]
Rui Wang Xingrui 2021 11–5 (.688) [14][28]
yaoxie Zhang Jihang 2022 9–15 (.375) [29]

Awards and records

Seasons overview

Season P W L W% Finish Playoffs
2019 28 13 15 .464 8th, Pacific Did not qualify
2020 21 7 14 .333 9th, Asia Did not qualify
2021 16 11 5 .688 2nd, East Lost in Lower Round 2, 2–3 (Shock)
2022 24 9 15 .375 6th, East Did not qualify

Individual accomplishments

Season MVP

Role Star selections

  • Leave (Xin Huang) – 2021

All-Star Game selections

  • Yveltal (Li Xianyao) – 2019
  • Ameng (Menghan Ding) – 2019, 2020
  • JinMu (Yi Hu) – 2019

Academy team

Main article: LGE.Huya

On January 27, 2019, LinGan e-Sports Club announced their partnership with the Chengdu Hunters and became the academy team. LinGan e-Sports changed the name of their Overwatch team to LGE.Huya.[30]

References

  1. ^ Byers, Preston (November 11, 2018). "Chengdu's Overwatch League team reveals its name and logo—Chengdu Hunters". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  2. ^ Rand, Emily (September 7, 2018). "Overwatch League reveals Toronto, Paris, and four other new franchises". ESPN. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Qu, Bonnie (February 8, 2019). "Hunters bank on Chinese talent for Overwatch League debut". ESPN. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  4. ^ August, Charlotte (February 16, 2019). "Overwatch Esports: Overwatch League Day 2 Recap". ESTNN. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  5. ^ M., Admir (July 30, 2019). "Chengdu Hunters announce signing of hot prospect and OWWC star Leave". win.gg. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  6. ^ "Charge, Dragons advance in OWL play-in tourney". ESPN. Reuters. August 31, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  7. ^ a b McHale, Violet (November 17, 2019). "Chengdu Hunters Head Coach Announces Departure". The Game Haus. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c "Hunters officially add Leave in revealing 2020 roster". Reuters. January 15, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Hook, Brennon (January 20, 2020). "2020 Team Preview: Chengdu Hunters". Overwatch League. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  10. ^ Richardson, Liz (March 23, 2020). "Panda power: Chengdu Hunters team preview". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "Hunters replace coach Dokkaebi with Chen". Reuters. July 27, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Hunters top Spitfire to begin Asian-Pacific region playoffs". Reuters. September 4, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  13. ^ "Dynasty, Excelsior advance in Asia-Pacific region playoffs". Reuters. September 5, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d Michael, Cale (September 19, 2020). "Chengdu Hunters welcomes back RUI as Overwatch League head coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  15. ^ Richardson, Liz (May 31, 2021). "Chaos enabled: Chengdu Hunters 2021 team preview". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  16. ^ Chengdu Hunters [@ChengduHunters] (September 18, 2020). "Thanks for our previous partner Royal Never Give Up" (Tweet). Retrieved October 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Czar, Michael (May 8, 2021). "How the Chengdu Hunters and Florida Mayhem dropped out of the May Melee". Upcomer. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  18. ^ Richardson, Liz (July 17, 2021). "Shanghai Dragons win the Overwatch League Summer Showdown". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  19. ^ Richardson, Liz (August 21, 2021). "Los Angeles Gladiators win the Overwatch League Countdown Cup". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  20. ^ Richardson, Liz (September 21, 2021). "Leave wins 2021 Overwatch League MVP award". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  21. ^ Czar, Michael (September 9, 2021). "How to watch Overwatch League 2021 Season Playoffs and Grand Finals". Upcomer. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  22. ^ "Overwatch League playoffs recap: Day 1". Upcomer. September 22, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  23. ^ "Overwatch League 2021 playoffs recap: Day 2". Upcomer. September 23, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  24. ^ "Overwatch League 2021 playoffs recap: Day 3". Upcomer. September 24, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  25. ^ Fudge, James (May 3, 2023). "Confirmed: Chinese Overwatch League Team Chengdu Hunters Disbands". The Esports Advocate. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  26. ^ Nordland, Jake (May 4, 2023). "Chinese Overwatch League franchise Chengdu Hunters reportedly disbands". Esports Insider. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  27. ^ "Huya Announces Brand New Team—Chengdu Hunters—for 2019 Overwatch League Season" (PDF). Overwatch League. November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  28. ^ Richardson, Liz (January 4, 2022). "Chengdu Hunters head coach RUI steps down". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  29. ^ Chengdu Hunters [@ChenduHunters] (April 30, 2022). "成都猎人队 #OWL2022 赛季大名单公布" (Tweet) (in Chinese). Retrieved April 30, 2022 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ "LinGan e-Sports partners with Chengdu Hunters". Weibo (Chinese). Retrieved 12 April 2019.
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