by San Francisco Shock, a North American esports team, revealed their 2023 Overwatch League (OWL) roster at the LAN showmatch on Tuesday.
The roster had three new players, which included Chae “HeeSang” Hee-sang, Choi “MAX” Su-min, and Park “Vindaim” Jun-woo, all of whom will be replacing Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo, Colin “Coluge” Arai, Michael “mikeyy” Konicki, and Samuel “s9mm” Santos, who parted ways with the team in November.
The other two players who remained on the team from the old roster are support player Oh “FiNN” Se-jin, DPS Kim “Proper” Dong-hyun, as well as Park “Crusty” Dae-hee, their head coach, and Bumhoon “NineK” Kim, who will serve as their assistant coach.
WE ARE YOUR 2023 SAN FRANCISCO SHOCK@Ow_Proper | @Ow_HeeSang | @OW_MAX1 | @SEjFiNN | @vinda_im pic.twitter.com/N82ExXXwRX
— San Francisco Shock (@SFShock) December 27, 2022
It is not surprising why the team decided to keep Prosper on the roster. The 19-year-old DPS player, who has been with the team since October 2021, has won numerous team awards, including Role Star Damage at the 2022 OWL league and Rookie of the Year at the same event. This year, prosper was also named the regular season MVP.
FiNN joined the team in 2021, at the same time as Prosper. Prior to joining the North American squad, the 19-year-old support player had represented a few Korean teams, such as MVP and O2 Blast, like the rest of the other players on the team, who were signed to O2 Blast at some point.
HeeSang, who is one of the new players, is a 17-year-old South Korean who has represented teams such as Element Mystic, Talon Esports, and most recently O2 Blast. The DPS player has competed in a handful of domestic tournaments and came out on top in these events.
The most recent matches in which the rookie participated while representing O2 Blast include the 2022 OWL Contenders Run It Back: Korea, in which the team came in first, and also the Pacific Shutdown of the same event.
The new team member MAX is an 18-year-old tank player who started his career in late 2019 while representing the now-disbanded team NTP.
Subsequently, he played for other teams such as Ares Gaming, Wave Laboratory, and most recently, O2 Blast, which he represented at the 2022 OWL Contenders Summer Series: Korea A-Sides, where they won first place.
Vindiam, who is the third-newest player, is a 19-year-old former Seoul Dynasty player. He will be representing the San Francisco Shock as their new support player.
The South Korean has also represented other Korean regional teams such as the tiger nation, Gen.B, and O2 Blast, which he represented on loan.
The San Francisco Shock is known as one of the top-tier OWL teams in North America. The team had back-to-back second-place finishes in Overwatch League 2022 Midseason Madness, Summer Showdown, the regular season, and the grand finals.
Although the team came close to winning the tournament they lost to Dallas Fuel in a 3-4 score. With this roster overhaul, the San Francisco Shock are hoping to replicate their impressive 2022 run in 2023, and even win the OWL title.
