In a similar fashion to the San Francisco Shock in Season 1, the Guangzhou Charge came into the Overwatch League intending to fine tune young talent. They currently have the league’s youngest average roster, with two players unable to compete for several months. As a result, it is unlikely to expect the Charge to engage in many trades this season. Most of the core players and coaches are from the Korean Contenders team Meta Bellum, and have a long history of synergy with one another. However, there is one more player from that squad who could be a perfect addition for the Guangzhou Charge. That player is Jae-hoon “Hoon” Choi.
Who is Hoon?
Hoon is a highly capable Korean flex tank from the early days of Overwatch. He completed in the very first APEX Challengers tournament as part of Meta Athena, the sister team to Meta Bellum, back in November of 2016. Since then he’s played in three seasons of APEX under Meta Athena, and two seasons of Korean Contenders with Meta Bellum. In that time, Hoon has established quite a name for himself on D.Va and Zarya.
Where is Hoon?
In November of 2018, Hoon went back to Meta Athena to participate in 2018 Contenders Season 3. Shortly after, it was revealed that players Kim “Chara” Jung-yeon, Oh “Rio” Seung-pyo, Lee “Rise” Won-jae and Lee “Happy” Jung-woo were all leaving for the newly formed Guangzhou OWL team. Coaches Hyojin “J1N” Cho and Seungmin “Tydolla” Jung were picked up as well. Meanwhile, after an underwhelming last place finish in the season, Meta Athena was forced to go back to open division. Many people assumed Hoon would likely follow. However on March 25th, the parent org Meta Gaming tweeted the following, which announced Hoon was leaving the organization and would be a free agent. As the Overwatch League just finished up its first stage, this would be the perfect time to pick Hoon up.
안녕하세요. #MetaGaming 입니다.#MetaAthena 의 @00h00n 선수가 팀을 떠나게 되었습니다. 그동안 메타팀에서 항상 웃는 얼굴과 성실한 성격으로 모두에게 사랑받은 #HooN 선수에게 진심으로 감사의 인사를 전합니다. 오랜시간 함께한 #HooN 선수의 앞날에 항상 행복이 가득하길 바랍니다. #Meta4ever pic.twitter.com/Se4JC9UOXZ
— MetaGaming (@TheMetaGaming) March 25, 2019
Why Hoon?
Out of anyone, Hoon would be one of the smartest potential additions to the Charge’s roster. It is true that the Charge do already have an extremely capable flex tank in Hongjun “HOTBA” Choi. However, Hoon would fill an easily overlooked but much needed hole in the Charge’s lineup. While HOTBA plays a strong D.Va, Pharah and Tracer, he has not shown any Zarya play so far in the league. If the meta shifts to where Zarya is the optimal off-tank over D.Va, Guangzhou could use Hoon as a Zarya specialist. Plus, if HOTBA is sick or if the Charge want him on dps, they could need a second off-tank.
Additionally, from his history on Meta Bellum, Hoon has worked with two of the coaches and three of the current players on the team. This would make integration fairly easy, and given that J1N taught all his players English, he should hopefully adjust well. Even Hoon’s age fits in well with the rest of the team. He’s 18, so he’s currently eligible to play, and has an extensive history with Overwatch. Yet he’s still young enough to improve together with his squad.
The timing seems perfect, and if Guangzhou hasn’t already secretly picked up Hoon they should absolutely consider it.
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