Any OWL team with a full twelve-man roster is going to have some options, and the Shock are no exception. San Francisco features a backup player for almost every role, which gives them many more options than most Overwatch League teams have. Being able to do anything and everything in a game like Overwatch is obviously a hugely valuable asset. How can the Shock specifically utilize their twelve players to their fullest extent?
Tanks
The Shock’s roster currently features two main tank players and two off tank players. Everyone in this role could potentially be in the hunt for a starting spot. The main tank role is especially interesting.
Matthew “Super” DeLisi and Myeong-hwan “Smurf” Yoo are the two main tanks currently on the roster. Both of them have a lot to prove. Super didn’t exactly light the world on fire during his first season in the league, and Smurf is a bit of an unknown. It’s also worth noting that Super played noticeably better than Smurf in the California Cup.
The California Cup discrepancy could definitely be attributed to Super knowing the team better. However, it did show that the starting spot for this role is up for grabs.
The off tank role is a little clearer. Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson and Hyo-bin “ChoiHyoBin” Choi have both proven themselves on D.Va. ChoiHyoBin took the starting role from Nevix after he was acquired mid season, although both of them are solid choices for the role. Safe bet is on ChoiHyoBin starting again, but if Nevix shows something special he could potentially usurp ChoiHyoBin’s spot on stage.
DPS
The Shock are, to put it bluntly, squared away in this department.
It’s not just that the Shock have five DPS players. It’s the fact that all of the DPS players complement each other perfectly. Every DPS hero can be run with ease, and some players (Most notably Jay “Sinatraa” Won) can potentially flex onto a few other roles as well.
This insane flexibility may not end up being super necessary later in the season. It is entirely likely that the Shock will end up sticking with two or three DPS players.
The point is that the Shock will have plenty of options for every situation. This is immensely valuable in a game like Overwatch. The Shock’s DPS players can run anything from dive to GOATs to anything in between. Want to run Quad DPS in the classic Team Liquid style? Go ahead! (Although meta wise that might be a poor decision.)
The Shock’s DPS can do it all. Synergy is definitely a question, so some struggles in the beginning while the Shock figure that out could happen. But overall, the DPS lineup is looking very strong.
Supports
Main support is pretty easy for the Shock, as Grant “Moth” Espe is the only main support on the roster. Moth has proven his worth many times, and was even good enough to achieve a sport on Team United States.
The other support slot is a little more interesting. The Shock went with Nikola “Sleepy” Andrews last season. Sleepy was a bit of an unknown heading into the season, but he certainly proved himself. He wasn’t the flashiest player, but he was consistently above average and has a few spurts of absolute brilliance. The Moth and Sleepy duo is in contention for the best purely NA support duo, and for good reason.
Logically, the only thing the Shock could do is add an upgrade. San Francisco took the software developer route of “If it ain’t broke, fix it” and brought on Min-ki “Viol2t” Park. Lauded by many as one of the best support players in the world, Viol2t is looking to bring the heat and improve on an already good support lineup in the coming season.
It is unknown how Viol2t will adjust to the pressures of OWL. Fortunately, the Shock have another option in Sleepy if Viol2t doesn’t work out. And if Viol2t does work out the Shock will have a very good backup in Sleepy. It’s a win-win.
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