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Overwatch – ChoiHyoBin Retires After San Francisco Shock Exit

Popular Overwatch League pro Choi “ChoiHyoBin” Hyo-bin has announced his retirement from the Overwatch scene. The South Korean veteran,... | 15. October 2021

Popular Overwatch League pro Choi “ChoiHyoBin” Hyo-bin has announced his retirement from the Overwatch scene. The South Korean veteran, who has made his name as one of the best off-tanks in the history of the game, had been with the San Francisco Shock since April 2018.

The organization broke the news on Thursday via Twitter, with their post having read: Today a legend retires. Since joining us in 2018, @Shock_CHB has been absolutely indispensable to the team as player, and as a friend. It was an honor to be part of your story. Thank you for making history with us, Hyobin.”

Why He Was a Key Part of the Success Over Recent Years

With ChoiHyoBin on board, the San Francisco Shock won two Grand Finals Championships, coming in 2019 and 2020. However, with an early version of Overwatch 2 being used for the 2022 season, the 24-year-old has perhaps chosen a good time to exit the scene. Teams will be made up of one less tank player next year, meaning that off-tank will be a difficult position, even for the most experienced pros.

ChoiHyoBin earned a reputation within the Overwatch community for always putting the team ahead of himself, with the former X6-Gaming pro having regularly talked up his teammates. He was named as the MVP back in 2019, meaning that it is no exaggeration to call him one of the leading Overwatch League off-tanks of all time.

Why It Has Been A Period Of Change for the Shock

The Shock also won numerous Stage Playoffs during the 2019 season, helping them on their way to success at the Grand Finals in the same year. However, San Francisco could only manage a 4th place finish at the end of the 2021 regular season, after the format switched to a tournament style. The team is now undergoing something of a rebuild, having dropped seven players on the same day earlier this month.

Matthew “Super” DeLisi and Minki ”Vio12t” Park are the only remaining players on the active Shock roster ahead of the 2022 season. Myeong-hwan “smurf” Yoo, Seonchang “ANS” Lee, Joo-seok “Twilight” Lee, Sean Taiyo “ta1yo” Henderson, Charlie “nero” Zwarg, Gil-seong “Glister” Lim and Brice “FDGod” Monsçavoir left the team, becoming free agents in the process.

While having not named any replacements to date, South Korean former NRG Esports, Paris Eternal and PHI Fusion coach, Bumhoon “NineK” Kim, has been named as the team’s new assistant coach.