With the Overwatch League postseason quickly approaching, the San Francisco Shock are staring at the very real possibility of other teams sniping away their lofty standing in the season leaderboards. There’s apparently no better way to reverse that luck than by bringing in a known clutch player, even if he’s been around the block a few times.
In a very surprising move, the Shock announced today that DPS Kwon “Striker” Nam-joo will be returning to the team for the remainder of the 2022 season.
Striker was a key part of both of the San Francisco Shock’s championship wins in 2019 and 2020. Three years ago today, he helped the team earn their first championship against the Vancouver Titans in 2019. In 2020, his Tracer play earned him the title of Grand Finals MVP against the Seoul Dynasty.
He retired from competitive play in 2021 and left the Shock for good—or so we thought.
The addition isn’t without controversy, however. Striker joined the Boston Uprising in late 2021, returning to the team he spent time on during the inaugural Overwatch League season. Several months into this season, he was dropped from the team and given an extremely cold “goodbye” post from the Uprising. Rumors swirled from other team staff members that he had been prioritizing himself over the team.
Since Striker didn’t have an Overwatch League contract active as of the league’s trade deadline, he’s available for the San Francisco Shock to pick up and add to their roster.
San Francisco is already working with three DPS players—Jung “Kilo” Jin-woo, Samuel “s9mm” Santos, and top 2022 Rookie of the Year candidate Kim “Proper” Dong-hyun. While Proper has skill on Tracer, a dedicated specialist frees up other players to take on additional roles or hero specializations.
The San Francisco Shock’s next game is against the Toronto Defiant at 5pm CT on Sept. 30. While Striker certainly could play tomorrow, he’s more likely to make an appearance during the postseason.