2020 San Francisco Shock season explained

Championship Win:yes
Team:San Francisco Shock
Year:2020
Conference:Pacific
Region:North America
Division:West
Record:18–3
Region Place:2nd
League Place:3rd
Coach:Park "Crusty" Dae-hee
Owner:Andy Miller
Gm:Chris "thugnasty" Chung
Tournament1name:May Melee
T1playoffs:Champions
Tournament2name:Summer Showdown
T2playoffs:Semifinals
Tournament3name:Countdown Cup
T3playoffs:Champions
Playoffs:Champions
Earnings:$2,850,000

The 2020 San Francisco Shock season was the third season of the San Francisco Shock's existence in the Overwatch League and their second under head coach Park "Crusty" Dae-hee. The team entered the season as the defending Overwatch League champions, after winning the 2019 Grand Finals. The Shock planned to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley and the San Jose Civic in downtown San Jose,[1] [2] but both were cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shock ended the regular season with 18 wins, 7 bonus wins, and 3 losses. San Francisco faced the eighth-seeded Washington Justice on September 5 in the first round of the 2020 North America playoffs bracket, and after falling 0–2 in the match, the Shock won three straight maps to move on to the second round of the upper bracket.[3] The team next defeated the seventh-seeded Atlanta Reign by a score of 3–1.[4] Moving on to the upper bracket finals, the Shock faced the top-seeded Philadelphia Fusion. Despite keeping the maps close, the Shock came out with a 3–1 victory and advanced to the Grand Finals bracket.[5] As the top North America seed in the Grand Finals bracket, the Shock faced Asia's second-seeded Seoul Dynasty in the bracket's first round on October 8. After the Shock came out with a quick 2–0 lead, the Dynasty evened up the score, winning the following two maps; however, San Francisco won the final map of the match and moved on to the Upper Bracket finals.[6] The team faced Asia's top-seeded Shanghai Dragons in the upper finals, where, again, the Shock started the match with a 2–0 lead, but the Dragons tied up the series after four maps. The Shock won the final map of the match to advance to the Grand Finals match.[7] In the Grand Finals match, the Shock defeated the Seoul Dynasty by a score of 4–2 to win their second consecutive OWL championship.[8]

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

On October 18, it was announced that assistant coach Kim "NineK" Beom-hoon had signed with the Paris Eternal as a coach.[9] The Shock signed Talon Esports head coach Lee "Arachne" Ji-won as a coach a month later.[10]

Roster changes

The Shock enter the new season with one free agent, no players which they have the option to retain for another year, and nine players under contract.[11] The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.[12]

On October 9, the Shock announce that they would not re-sign their only free agent off-tank Andreas "Nevix" Karlsson, who had been with the team since their inception in 2017.[13] On December 23, the team picked up sniper specialist Lee "ANS" Seon-chang, who had been retired since January 2019.[14]

Roster

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2020 regular season:

Game log

Midseason tournaments

| style="text-align:center;" | Bonus wins awarded: 7

Postseason

Notes and References

  1. News: Field Level Media . San Francisco Shock move first homestand to Berkeley . December 20, 2019 . Gwinnett Prep Sports . December 19, 2019.
  2. News: Knudsen . Connor . San Francisco Shock Announce 2020 Schedule and Homestand Venues . The Game Haus . August 20, 2019 . October 11, 2019.
  3. News: Sebastian . Richard . OWL – New York Excelsior, San Francisco Shock Advances In Playoffs As The League Nears Its Conclusion . October 9, 2020 . Happy Gamer . September 6, 2020.
  4. News: Richardson . Liz . Paris Eternal, Los Angeles Gladiators eliminated from Overwatch League playoffs . October 9, 2020 . Dot Esports . September 6, 2020.
  5. News: Richardson . Liz . Shanghai Dragons, San Francisco Shock lock in Overwatch League Grand Finals spots . October 9, 2020 . Dot Esports . September 12, 2020.
  6. News: Cruz . Migg Dela . Dynasty get Shocked, Dragons burn Fusion in OWL Winners' Semis . October 9, 2020 . Inquirer . October 9, 2020.
  7. News: Richardson . Liz . San Francisco Shock and Seoul Dynasty will face off in 2020 Overwatch League Grand Finals championship . October 9, 2020 . Dot Esports . October 9, 2020.
  8. News: Rand . Emily . San Francisco Shock win second consecutive Overwatch League title . October 12, 2020 . ESPN . October 10, 2020.
  9. News: Richardson . Liz . Paris Eternal add NineK as coach . November 15, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 18, 2019.
  10. News: Snivy . Talon Esports head coach Arachne joins the Shock . November 15, 2019 . Over.gg . November 14, 2019.
  11. News: Morello . Matt . 2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status . October 19, 2019 . Overwatch League . July 30, 2019.
  12. News: Richardson . Liz . Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league . October 10, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 4, 2019.
  13. News: Richardson . Liz . Nevix released from San Francisco Shock . October 11, 2019 . Dot Esports . October 9, 2019.
  14. News: Richardson . Liz . San Francisco Shock add ANS . December 24, 2019 . Dot Esports . December 23, 2019.
  15. News: Erzberger . Tyler . Wolf . Jacob . Sources: Overwatch League MVP Sinatraa to retire, join Sentinels VALORANT team . October 9, 2020 . ESPN . April 28, 2020.
  16. News: Ocal . Arda . San Francisco Shock transfer Architect, sign Twilight . October 9, 2020 . ESPN . May 17, 2020.
  17. News: Richardson . Liz . San Francisco Shock adds Ta1yo to Overwatch League roster . October 12, 2020 . Dot Esports . July 21, 2020.