The 2019 Chengdu Hunters season was the first season of Chengdu Hunters's existence in the Overwatch League as one of eight expansion franchises added for the 2019 season. After posting three consecutive 3âÂÂ4 records for the first three stages, the Hunters failed to qualify for any of the Stage Playoffs. A 4âÂÂ3 record in Stage 4 gave Chengdu 13âÂÂ15 record for the season and qualified them for the Play-In Tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Guangzhou Charge by a 1âÂÂ4 scoreline.
Chengdu announced the entirety of their initial starting roster in late November, consisting of the following players:
The team also had signed Ted "silkthread" Wang, but silkthread retired from professional Overwatch on November 30. On January 16, Chengdu signed Wei "jiqiren" Yan-song.
Chengdu opened their 2019 season on February 15 with a victory over fellow Chinese expansion franchise Guangzhou Charge. After their second week of play, which resulted in a loss to Seoul Dynasty and a win over Florida Mayhem, it became apparent that Chengdu was generally not playing to the triple tank, triple support meta that the majority of the league was; instead, the team primarily featured a DPS-heavy composition. Chengdu would go on to lose three matches straight before defeating Atlanta Reign in their final match of Stage 1 to finish the stage with a 3âÂÂ4 record.
Hunters began Stage 2 with a match against Paris Eternal on April 6. Sticking with their off-meta team composition strategy, Chengdu swept Paris 4âÂÂ0. Chengdu defeated Washington Justice 3âÂÂ1 a day later in a match that featured an Overwatch League record 27 out of the 30 possible heroes in the game. Despite the strong start, Chengdu went on a three-game losing streak before finding their next win against London Spitfire on April 28. Chengdu's final match of the stage was against Los Angeles Valiant. Hunters lost the match 2âÂÂ3 to put them out of playoff contention and for the second stage in a row, finish the stage with a 3âÂÂ4 record.
The Hunters opened Stage 3 on June 6 with a 1âÂÂ3 loss to the Guangzhou Charge. Two days later, the team was swept 0âÂÂ4 by the Los Angeles Valiant. Chengdu took on the Dallas Fuel a week later, looking to rebound from the previous two losses. The team kept Dallas guessing throughout the match and took a decisive 3âÂÂ1 victory. The team's next match was on June 21, when they faced the undefeated Vancouver Titans. While Chengdu was able to take the first map of the match, they dropped the following three, leading to a 1âÂÂ3 loss. The Hunters rebounded two days later, when they swept the Dallas Fuel 4âÂÂ0 in a rematch of the previous week. For the final week of the stage, Chengdu first took on the Stage 2 Champions San Francisco Shock on June 27. The match went to a fifth tiebreaker map, and the Hunters managed to pull out a 3âÂÂ2 victory. Chengdu was unable to close out the stage with a winning record, however, as they fell 0âÂÂ3 to the Seoul Dynasty three days later and ended the stage with another 3âÂÂ4 record.
A day prior to their first match of Stage 4, which would include the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, the Hunters brought in DPS prospect Xin "leave" Huang. The 17-year-old would not be eligible to officially sign with the Hunters until 2020 season.
The team's first match of the stage was against the Philadelphia Fusion on July 26. The match went the distance, needing a fifth map to determine the winner; Chengdu was able to take map five to win 3âÂÂ2. Two days later, the team faced the Boston Uprising. The match also went the distance, and with game MVP performance from support Xianyao "Yveltal" Li on Mercy, Chengdu took another 3âÂÂ2 win. The following week, the Hunters faced the Los Angeles Gladiators. For the third match in a row, the game went to a fifth tiebreaker map; this time, Chengdu was unable to pull out the win and lost the match 2âÂÂ3. The team came back in full force two days later with a match against the Atlantic Champions New York Excelsior. DPS Yi "Jinmu" Hu on Pharah gave New York troubles throughout the series; that, along with Chengdu's ability to dive NYXL's Jeong "Nenne" Yeon-kwan on Widowmaker, proved to be too much for the Excelsior to handle, as handed New York their first 4âÂÂ0 sweep in franchise history. The following week, Chengdu faced the Hangzhou Spark; the team fell 1âÂÂ3 in the match. The Hunter's final week of play saw them first face the San Francisco Shock on August 16. Chengdu was dominated throughout the match and was swept 0âÂÂ4. Needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, the Hunters faced the Houston Outlaws in their final match of the season. Chengdu pulled out a 3âÂÂ2 victory after the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map. The team finished the season with a 13âÂÂ15 record and qualified for the Play-In Tournament.
As the twelfth seed in the overall standings, the Hunters qualified for the Play-In Tournament, where they took on the ninth-seeded Guangzhou Charge on August 30. After dropping the first two maps, Ilios and Eichenwalde, the Hunters closed the gap by taking map three, Horizon Lunar Colony. However, the Charge would not yield another map, as the Hunters lost the match 1âÂÂ4 and ended their 2019 season.
Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season: