The Hangzhou Spark starts its offseason move for the Overwatch League. The organization dropped five players today, including two tanks, two damage players, and a support main. These players will go to the growing free agent pool and will start looking for either a new team or a new game.
The Chinese team part ways with tank players Sungwook “Ria” Park and Sanghyun “Sasin” Song; DPS players Gi-hyeon “Ado” Chon and Jaehwan “Adora” Kang; and support player Huichang “BeBe” Yoon. At the moment, Spark still have seven active players on their roster.
The tweet released on October 17 at about 9 P.M. PST reads, “Today we say goodbye to @Ria_970922 @bebezzangv @ow_adora @OW_Ado & @sasin_ow. We thank them for all the contributions to our team and wish them the best of luck! You’ll always be a part of the Spark family.” All the released players are Koreans, while the China-based team retained three local players of the seven.
Though the move has chunk the lineup almost half of their 2020 OWL roster, the Spark managed to keep ahold of most of their core players. The squad’s main tank Xu “Guxue” Qiulin, former OWL champion and San Francisco Shock Park “Architect” Min-ho, and the Lucio-main Park “IDK” Ho-jin.
The 21-year old BeBe has been an integral part of Spark’s success as the main healer and shot-caller. On another dedicated tweet, the team thanked his leadership and calls throughout his career with the organization since their installment in 2019. The off-tank Ria has been playing with several Overwatch Contenders team before being signed with the main team. His former teams include the Bon’s Spirit Gaming and X6-Gaming.
DPS player Adora debut with the Nc Wolves for the Open Division Season 1 of Korea in 2017. Since then, he has also been a staple for the Tier 2 circuit for Foxes and Seven. The 22-year old is known for his Tracer, Genji, Mei and even Echo gameplay. Flex DPS/off-tank SASIN has been in the competitive scene since 2016 and has also played for the Contenders teams such as Foxes and White Whale Incheon Esports.
Of the five released today, Ado is the only one who did not start his career with the Spark. The damage dealer joined Shanghai Dragons in 2018 after performing superbly with the MVP Space. In October 2019, he was transferred to the Washington Justice and was signed to the Chinese team in February of this year.
Tune in for further moves in the offseason of the Overwatch League, as well as Hangzhou Spark.