Fans of the San Francisco Shock have little to worry about for the fourth season of the Overwatch League as the CEO of NRG (the parent organization for SFS) has stated on the teams’ official Discord that the core and coach of the San Francisco Shock have been resigned already for the coming season of the Overwatch League.
This stands to tell us that the Overwatch League is already eyeing what the next season will bring as the playoffs bleed into finals, and teams drop out left right and center against fierce competition that has managed to surprise fans and teams alike.
The Boston Uprising surprised everyone with their first match against the Outlaws, managing to eke out a win while the Outlaws looked dumb-founded that the worst team of the season (and second-worst, ever).
Further, the League itself had a tumultuous year; players left in a mass exodus towards the new flavor from Riot, the competitive first-person shooter Valorant that has begun its grassroots tournament and competitive scene.
The pandemic also played a massive role: 2020 was to be the beginning of the homestands for the Overwatch League, theoretically allowing organizations an opportunity to make some of their money back from fans as they hold matches in their cities complete with merchandise booths and local partnerships. This was dashed due to COVID-19 as the homestands were canceled, followed by offline LANs in their entirety.
[embed]https://twitter.com/SFShock/status/1304184123456655362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]It was going to be a make-or-break year for the Overwatch League, and multiple factors frankly outside of their control ended up hurting their chances and, frankly speaking, the popularity of the league. Many point to the pain being somewhat self-inflicted, however, as Blizzard signed with Google to bring their leagues over to YouTube Gaming Live.
Regardless of how the current season has panned out, the next season is clearly already being committed to, at the very least by the San Francisco Shock; whether or not the pandemic will be under control, allowing the homestands to finally take place, is currently speculation at best.
The phrasing for ‘core’ however, has inviting speculation as to what Shock considers their core to be.
Super is more than likely cemented in, as his personality alone has accounted for a large draw for the Shock (much as Jake did for the Outlaws); it’s speculated that Ta1yo, Ans, and Twilight may very well be leaving the team come transfer season between the grand finals and the start of the fourth season of competitive play within the league.
Ultimately, however, we’ll need to wait until Shock specifies precisely what they consider their core to be, which is frankly unlikely to occur until the transfer season begins.