San Francisco Shock

San Francisco Shock is an American professional Overwatch esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's Pacific West Division. They are currently the defending Overwatch League Grand Finals Champions.

San Francisco Shock
FoundedJuly 12, 2017
LeagueOverwatch League
ConferencePacific
DivisionWest
Team historySan Francisco Shock
(2017–present)
Based inSan Francisco, California
Arena
Colors              
OwnerAndy Miller
Head coachPark Dae-hee
General managerChris Chung
Championships2019
Main sponsorSennheiser
Parent groupNRG Esports
WebsiteOfficial website
Uniforms

Founded in 2017, San Francisco Shock is one of the twelve founding members of the OWL and is one of three professional Overwatch teams in California. The team is owned by Andy Miller, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings and NRG Esports. In the upcoming season, the team will play their home matches at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley and the San Jose Civic in downtown San Jose.[1][2]

Park "Crusty" Dae-hee was appointed as the team's head coach in 2018 and guided the Shock to three consecutive stage finals appearances, including one stage championship, before securing the team's first season championship in their second season by winning the 2019 OWL Grand Finals.

Franchise history

Beginnings

On July 12, 2017, Overwatch developer Activision Blizzard officially announced that Andy Miller, chairman of the American esports organization NRG Esports, had acquired a San Francisco-based Overwatch League franchise spot for an estimated $20 million.[3][4] "The local aspect of the league was the biggest attraction [for purchasing the spot]," said Miller in an interview. "One of the biggest issues with esports, and also part of its charm, is that you can create a global audience. You can have fans all over the world. But it’s always become a big challenge for fans to actually see their favorite teams. You have to fly to a major event or a finals somewhere in a major city. And there was never a hometown team."[5]

On September 28, 2017, NRG Esports announced its official inaugural roster including of eight players and head coach Bradford Rajani.[6][7] A month later, on October 16, the franchise name was revealed as the San Francisco Shock.[8]

Inaugural season
Main article: 2018 San Francisco Shock season

San Francisco Shocks first regular season OWL match was a 0–4 loss against the Los Angeles Valiant on January 10, 2018.[9] The team's first victory came two days later in a 3–1 win over the Shanghai Dragons.[10] The Shock did not find much success in the 2018 Overwatch League season; they finished with a 17–23 record and were 9th of 12th in the overall league standings.[11]

Championship in two years
Main article: 2019 San Francisco Shock season

Looking to qualify for their first stage or season playoffs, the team made several roster additions in the preceding offseason of the 2019 season, including acquiring main tank Yoo "Smurf" Myeong-hwan from the Houston Outlaws academy team,[12] promoting Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun from their academy team NRG Esports,[13] signing Park "Viol2t" Min-ki from Korean Overwatch Contenders team O2 Ardeont,[14] and acquiring DPS Kwon "STRIKER" Nam-joo from the Boston Uprising.[15]

The Shock won the 2019 OWL Grand Finals.

The Shock's first match of the 2019 regular season resulted in a 4–0 sweep over the Dallas Fuel.[16] The team followed the win by splitting the next six matches to finish Stage 1 with a 4–3 record and the sixth seed in the Stage 1 Playoffs.[17] The team made it to the Stage 1 Finals, but they fell to the Titans.[18] San Francisco hit their stride in Stage 2, as the team completed the "perfect stage" with a 7–0 record and 28–0 map record.[19] Qualified as the top seed in the Stage 2 Playoffs, the Shock defeated the Titans in the Stage 2 Finals.[20] San Francisco dropped two matches in Stage 3, against the Houston Outlaws and Chengdu Hunters, and fell to the Shanghai Dragons in the Stage 3 Finals.[21] The team finished the regular season with seven straight wins to post a 23–5 record, the second best in the league, and the third seed in the season playoffs.[22] Jay "sinatraa" Won, Matthew "Super" DeLisi, Choi "ChoiHyoBin" Hyo-bin, and Grant "Moth" Espe were awarded the Role Star commendation for DPS, tank, tank, and support, respectively.[23] Both sinatraa and Super were nominated for the league's most valuable player award, which sinatraa won for his ability to flex onto a multitude of different heroes and hold his own as a championship team member.[24]

San Francisco faced the sixth-seeded Atlanta Reign in the first round of the season playoffs, but the team fell in a heartbreaking 3–4 loss to drop to the losers bracket.[25] The Shock responded to the loss by pulling off a dominant run in losers bracket; the team swept the London Spitfire in the first round, the Los Angeles Gladiators in the second round, the Hangzhou Spark in the third round, and the New York Excelsior in the losers finals to secure a spot in the Grand Finals.[26] The Shock swept the Titans 4–0 in the Grand Finals to claim the title of Overwatch League Champions.[27]

For the 2020 season, the Shock debuted new colors, trading the orange, grey, and gold color scheme that the team had used for two years in favor black and silver, with orange as an accent, as an homage to the Oakland Raiders.[28]

In the middle of the 2020 season, amid the release of Valorant, 2019 MVP Sinatraa decided to retire from the team to pursue a career in Valorant with Sentinels.

Team identity

On October 16, 2017, the San Francisco brand was officially unveiled. The franchise name was revealed as San Francisco Shock. The team's logo features a seismograph in the shape of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in the team's colors of orange, grey, and gold. The name "Shock" and the logo were chosen to represent the large amounts of seismic energy that is present in the San Francisco area. The color gold was chosen to honor the 1849 California Gold Rush that swept the city. "We took great care to choose a logo and identity that would both represent the attributes and traditions of San Francisco, yet at the same time speak to the future of sports and the Shock’s ambitions to take its place as a fixture next to the Bay Area’s championship sports teams," Andy Miller, CEO of NRG Esports, said in a statement.[8][29] Prior to the 2020 season, the colors were changed to black, silver, and orange, with the black and silver paying tribute to the Oakland Raiders.[28]

Partnerships

In January 2019, San Francisco Shock announced an official partnership with German audio company Sennheiser.[30] The team features the Sennheiser logo on the team jersey's arm.[31]

Personnel

Current roster
San Francisco Shock roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleNo.HandleNameNationalityPrevious team
Damage 7 Striker  Kwon Nam-joo  South Korea  Boston Uprising 
Damage 27 Rascal  Kim Dong-jun  South Korea  NRG Esports 
Damage 47 ta1yo  Henderson, Sean Taiyo   Japan  JUPITER 
Damage 10 ANS  Lee Seon-chang  South Korea  BlossoM 
Tank 1 super  DeLisi, Matthew   United States  LG Evil 
Tank 5 smurf  Yoo Myeong-hwan  South Korea  GG Esports Academy 
Tank 11 ChoiHyoBin  Choi Hyo-bin  South Korea  X6-Gaming 
Support 64 Moth  Espe, Grant   United States  Toronto Esports 
Support 17 Viol2t  Park Min-ki  South Korea  O2 Ardeont 
Support 13 Twilight  Lee Joo-seok  South Korea  Vancouver Titans 
Head coach
  • Park Dae-hee
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: July 21, 2020.

Head coaches
San Francisco Shock head coaches
Handle Name From To Span Ref.
Brad Bradford Rajani September 28, 2017 May 7, 2018 221 days [7][32]
Crusty Park Dae-hee May 7, 2018 – 2 years, 95 days [32]

Awards and records

Seasons overview
Season P W L W% MW ML MT MD Pos. (league) Pos. (conf.) Playoffs Earnings
2018 401723.42577845-79th4thNot eligible$50,000
2019 28235.82192260+663rd2ndChampions$1,500,000
2020 24222.91747122+353rd2ndTBD$0

Individual accomplishments

Academy team

On February 26, 2018, the Shock formally announced their academy team would compete under the "NRG Esports" name for Overwatch Contenders North America. They also revealed the team would live, train, and play in Washington, D.C., operating under a training home provided by partners Events DC.[33]

On May 8, 2019, NRG Esports announced that the organization would no longer field an Overwatch Contenders roster.[34]

Seasons overview
Year Season Region OWC regular season OWC playoffs Interregional
Finish[lower-alpha 1] Wins Losses Win %
NRG Esports
20181North America4th32.600Quarterfinals
2North America3rd32.600SemifinalsNone held
3North America3rd32.600Quarterfinals
20191North America West5th34.429Semifinals
Regular season record1210.545
Playoff record24.333
  1. Placements in 2018 reflect standings in the team's respective group and not the entire region.
gollark: That sounds mean. You should avoid that.
gollark: Nailgun < nail railgun, actually.
gollark: They are of course wrong.
gollark: People often complain about my nails being unreasonably long.
gollark: You cannot escape Santa's wrath!

References
  1. Field Level Media (December 19, 2019). "San Francisco Shock move first homestand to Berkeley". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  2. Knudsen, Connor (October 11, 2019). "San Francisco Shock Announce 2020 Schedule and Homestand Venues". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  3. "Overwatch: Bigger than the Premier League?". BBC News. BBC. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  4. Chouadria, Adel (12 July 2017). "Blizzard announces team owners and locations for Overwatch League". ESPN. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. Hall, Charlie (July 12, 2017). "An inside look at the new Overwatch League, with 7 city-based teams". Heroes Never Die. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  6. Wolf, Jacob (September 28, 2017). "Lynch, Strahan, J.Lo part of $15 million investment in NRG Esports". ESPN.
  7. "San Francisco Overwatch Roster Reveal". NRG.gg. NRG Esports. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  8. Carpenter, Nicole (16 October 2017). "NRG's Overwatch League team will be known as the San Francisco Shock". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  9. Wood, Austin (January 11, 2018). "The Overwatch League Day One Results are in". IGN. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  10. Fuller, Garrett (January 13, 2018). "Overwatch League – San Francisco Shock vs Shanghai Dragons". IGN. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  11. Mejia, Ozzie (June 16, 2018). "Here are the Final Standings for the First Overwatch League Regular Season". Shack News. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  12. O'Brien, Joe (September 19, 2018). "Houston Outlaws acquire Danteh from San Francisco Shock in trade for academy player Smurf". Dexerto. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  13. Carpenter, Nicole (September 26, 2018). "San Francisco Shock bumps Rascal up to Overwatch League roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  14. Bishop, Sam (October 25, 2018). "San Francisco Shock signs Viol2t". Gamez Publishing. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  15. "Overwatch: Shock acquire Striker from Uprising". ESPN. Reuters. December 3, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  16. August, Charlotte (February 16, 2019). "Overwatch Esports: Overwatch League Day 2 Recap". ESTNN. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  17. Richardson, Liz (March 19, 2019). "SF Shock defeat Seoul Dynasty, Toronto Defiant win coin toss to finalize Overwatch League playoff bracket". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  18. Richardson, Liz (March 24, 2019). "Vancouver Titans are the Overwatch League stage one champions". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  19. Gemignani, Mike (May 5, 2019). "San Francisco Shock Set Multiple Records en Route to Stage 2 Playoffs". mxdwn.com. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  20. Polacek, Scott (May 12, 2019). "Overwatch League 2019 Stage 2 Finals: Shock's Top Plays, Prize Money". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  21. Rand, Emily (July 14, 2019). "Dragons fend off Shock to win Overwatch League Stage 3 final". ESPN. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  22. Hoskins, Ryan (September 3, 2019). "Overwatch League Season 2 Playoffs Preview". Hotspawn. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  23. Richardson, Liz (August 31, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals Role Stars awards". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  24. Richardson, Liz (September 5, 2019). "San Francisco Shock's sinatraa wins 2019 Overwatch League MVP award". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  25. Bennet, Connor (September 7, 2019). "Overwatch: Atlanta Reign win huge upset after SF Shock 'C9' at OWL Playoffs". Dexerto. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  26. John, Ian (September 16, 2019). "San Francisco Shock Face Vancouver Titans in Overwatch World League Grand Final". EsportsBets. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  27. "Shock sweep Titans in Overwatch League final". ESPN. Reuters. September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  28. Peres, Pedro (January 9, 2020). "San Francisco Shock shows off new skins for 2020 Overwatch League season". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  29. NRG Esports (October 16, 2017). "Esports Comes to Shake Up Northern California: Meet the San Francisco Shock". Business Wire. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  30. Duran, H.B. (January 29, 2019). "Sennheiser Gaming Becomes Audio Partner For San Francisco Shock". The Esports Observer. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  31. San Francisco Shock vs Vancouver Titans Stage 1 Finals (Stream). The Overwatch League. March 24, 2019. Event occurs at 8:16. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  32. Myers, Maddy (7 May 2018). "Coach Crusty Switches Overwatch League Teams After Ten-Match Winning Streak". Compete (Kotaku). Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  33. Carpenter, Nicole (26 February 2018). "San Francisco Shock Overwatch Contenders roster gets a team house in Washington, D.C." Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  34. Samples, Rachel (May 8, 2019). "NRG Esports to no longer field Overwatch Contenders team". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
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