San Francisco Shock Sign Striker

Overwatch League team San Francisco Shock announced the signing of DPS Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo, who will rejoin the team for the remainder of the season. The 22-year-old was last part of the Shock in 2021 and was an inactive player since May 2021 when he left the team.

Striker is a 22-year-old Overwatch DPS player who started his esports career in 2017 with Boston Uprising, who picked him up for the organization’s inaugural Overwatch League roster. Striker remained with the Uprising for one season, helping the team achieve reasonable success.

In his tournament debut, Striker helped Uprising place second at OWL – Inaugural Season Stage 3 Title Matches and finished the regular season in third place. Unfortunately, Boston Uprising couldn’t deliver in the playoffs, ending the year in fifth-sixth place.

Following his departure from Boston Uprising, Striker joined San Francisco Shock, where he achieved immense success. In the first year with the team, Striker won Overwatch League – 2019 Stage 2 Playoffs, claimed silver from Stage 1 and 3 Playoffs, ended the regular season in second place, and won the OWL title.

In the 2020 season, Striker and San Francisco Shock once again dominated the league, winning two tournaments and the organization’s second OWL title, beating Seoul Dynasty 4-2 in the Grand Finals.

Throughout the two years, Striker proved himself as a key part of the Shock’s championship wins, but despite his past success, things turned sour at the start of the 2021 season. Shock, who were a force to be reckoned with in 2019 and 2020, struggled in the OWL 2021 season, finishing Overwatch League 2021 – May Melee in ninth-10th and Overwatch League 2021 – June Joust in fifth-eight.

After two disappointing runs, Striker left San Francisco Shock and announced his retirement from competitive play. But it seems like he changed his mind and decided to return to the OWL.

Striker’s arrival at Shock, while big news in the OWL scene, does not come without controversy. The 22-year-old DPS signed for Boston Uprising at the end of the 2021 season, returning to the team he was on during the inaugural season of the OWL.

However, even before the 2022 OWL season began, Striker got cut from the team and was given a very unfriendly goodbye. Later, rumors surfaced stating that Striker had been prioritizing himself over the team and had proven himself as a tough player to work with.

Whether that was the case remains to be seen, but it seems like San Francisco Shock paid no attention to the controversial rumors as the former OWL champions decided to pick up Striker to join its active lineup.

With the addition of Striker, San Francisco Shock are now working with four DPS players, including Samuel “s9mm” Santos, Jung “Kilo” Jin-woo, and Kim “Proper” Dong-hyun. So while it may be tough to fit Striker in the rotation, it seems like San Francisco Shock have a good idea of what they intend to achieve with its lineup.

As the most successful team in the Overwatch esports history, San Francisco Shock’s signing of Striker might be exactly what the team needs to improve upon their performances so far this season. Although the Shock haven’t looked bad, they’ve consistently fallen apart at the final hurdle.

The Shock kicked off the year with a fourth-place finish at Overwatch League 2022 – Kickoff Clash and have since added two strong performances in the Midseason Madness and Summer Showdown. They reached the finals of both events but lost both finals.

Nevertheless, despite not winning a single title, San Francisco Shock are the current best OWL team with a 17-3 record and 23 OWL points, which guarantees them a top-six seed for the playoffs.

The Shock will debut its new-look roster on Friday, September 30, when they clash with Toronto Defiant in Week 22 of the OWL season.