The 2020 New York Excelsior season was the third season of

New York Excelsior The New York Excelsior (often stylized as NYXL) is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in New York City, New York. The Excelsior compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017 ...

's (NYXL) existence in the

Overwatch League The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting lea ...

and their first under head coach Jeong "imt" Yong-cheol. New York planned to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season at the

Hammerstein Ballroom The Hammerstein Ballroom is a ballroom located within the Manhattan Center at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; it seats 2,500 people for theat ...

in the

Manhattan Center The Manhattan Center is a building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street, it houses Manhattan Center Studios, the location of two recording studios; its Grand Ballroom; and the Hammerstein Ballroo ...

. While the first homestand took place, all other homestand events were canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

On October 21, 2019, New York parted ways with head coach Ty "Pavane" Hyun-sang, as he joined the

London Spitfire London Spitfire is a professional ''Overwatch'' team representing the city of London, United Kingdom. The Spitfire compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, London Spitfire is one of the le ...

as an assistant coach. Pavane had been with the team since its inception and led them to a 56–12 regular season record over his career with the team. In his replacement, New York promoted assistant coach Jeong "imt" Yong-cheol as their new head coach on November 19. On December 1, NYXL signed former

Seoul Dynasty Seoul Dynasty is a South Korean professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Seoul, South Korea. The Dynasty compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2017, Seoul Dynasty is one of the league' ...

assistant coach Lee "WhyNot" Ju-hyub as an assistant coach.

Roster changes

The Excelsior enter the new season with one free agents, one players which they have the option to retain for another year, and seven players under contract. The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.

Acquisitions

NYXL's first offseason acquisition was on February 15, when the team announced the signing of former

Guangzhou Charge Guangzhou Charge () is a Chinese professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The Charge compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2018, Guangzhou Charge began play as on ...

off-tank Choi "HOTBA" Hong-jun. The following week, the team promoted off-tank Kim "BiaNcA" Dong-wook from their academy team,

XL2 Academy XL2 Academy is an American esports team for the video game ''Overwatch'' that competed in Overwatch Contenders (OWC) as an academy team for the New York Excelsior of the Overwatch League (OWL). The team is based in New York City, New York and pl ...

. On November 26, New York signed support player Kim "Mandu" Chan-hee from Korean Contenders team O2 Blast. The following week, on December 4, the team signed DPS player Lee "WhoRU" Seung-joon from

Fusion University Fusion University (FU) was an American esports team for the video game ''Overwatch'' competing in Overwatch Contenders (OWC) and an academy team for the Philadelphia Fusion of the Overwatch League (OWL). The team is based in Philadelphia, Penns ...

Departures

On October 8, the Excelsior announced that they would not pick up their option to keep DPS Yeon-Oh "Fl0w3r" Hwang on the roster another year. A week later, the team announced that they would not re-sign off-tank Kim "MekO" Tae Hong, who had been with the team since their inception in 2017. On December 6, the team announced that DPS player Kim "Pine" Do-hyeon had retired from professional ''Overwatch'' and would become a

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Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

Roster changes

Acquisitions

Departures

Roster

Standings

Game log

Regular season

Midseason tournaments

Postseason

References