With the Overwatch League Grand Finals resolved and the Overwatch World Cup underway, attention now turns to the OWL offseason. With many teams looking to build off their early successes, there are others looking to rebound after a hard fought season one. One team in particular is quietly having a very successful offseason.
The San Francisco Shock offseason has seen plenty of roster changes. After finishing fifth in division and ninth overall, their priority this offseason was to rid their roster of expendable players, while filling those holes with game-changing talent to join an already talented roster.
Roster Balancing
August came and with it, the SF Shock began their rebuild. David “Nomy” Ramirez, Daniel “dhaK” Martínez and André “iddqd” Dahlström would be the first players to be released. Their departure opened up room for acquisitions to be made.
dhaK’s release didn’t come as any surprise. With both Nikola “Sleepy” Andrews, and Grant “Moth” Espe maintaining a firm hold on the starting support roles, dhaK’s departure seemed imminent.
Nomy’s release created a new need at Main Tank, while iddqd was simply the odd man out for the Shock in the damage department. The already DPS-heavy team was highlighted by Jay “Sinatraa” Won, Minho “Architect” Park, Andrej “Babybay” Francisty and Dante “Danteh” Cruz. There was simply no reason for the Shock to retain Iddqd any longer.
Trades and Signings
The hole left through Nomy’s release would soon be filled via trade with the Houston Outlaws. San Francisco DPS Danteh was dealt to Houston in exchange for Myeong-hwan “Smurf” Yoo. Smurf most recently played main tank for Houston’s Contenders academy team, GG Esports Academy.
Smurf’s addition would help balance out the usage of the Shock’s Flex players, Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson and Matthew “Super” Delisi. The three will form an exellent rotation with Hyo-Bin “Choihyobin” Choi at the tank position for the Shock.
Following Danteh’s exit, the shock would soon announce the signing of star DPS, Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim and his promotion to the main roster.
Rascal will now join Sinatra, Architect, and Babybay on one of the deepest DPS rosters in the league.
Winning Mentality
Team USA had found early success throughout the second group stage of the World Cup. The inferior opposition allowed Shock teammates Sinatra and Moth to really show their stuff on the world’s stage for their home country.
Team USA repeatedly ran with out-of-the-ordinary compositions and seemed to handle their opponents with great ease. Moth’s superior flexibility and preference for the lesser utilized support heroes was well received throughout Team USA’s matches. Sinatra also showed great flexibility and efficiency on a variety of heroes. His opening pick of Reinhardt verses Team Canada and his frequent Brigitte usage show that he is a player that cannot be taken for granted under any role.
The SF Shock are working hard towards building a contender. These types of players are the foundations winning teams are made of. SF Shock player’s continued World Cup success and the team’s recent acquisitions put the rest of the league on notice. The Pacific Division may very well be up for grabs in Season Two!
Featured photo courtesy of San Francisco Shock
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