Overwatch: Architect Leaves San Francisco Shock For Hangzhou Spark

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Overwatch: Architect Leaves San Francisco Shock For Hangzhou Spark

Minho “Architect” Park, flex DPS for San Francisco Shock, joins Hangzhou Spark.


Overwatch League vice-champion Minho “Architect” Park left San Francisco Shock to join Hangzhou Spark.

From fears of leaving his country to winning the Overwatch League

Park’s adventure with San Francisco Shock began in 2018. Back then, he was the only South Korean player in the team, as most of his teammates were from the USA. Park shared on Twitter his initial fears when joining San Francisco Shock. He was worried about being the only South Korean player in the team and having to leave his country to move to the other side of the globe, in America. Despite his concerns of feeling like a black sheep in the team, the staff and players welcomed him as part of the Shock’s family.

Architect embraces fellow team mates from San Francisco Shock after a win

Park and his former teammates from San Francisco Shock are the first and only players to ever complete a golden stage in the Overwatch League, not losing a single map during a whole stage. The team’s stellar performance in the stages led San Francisco to the Overwatch League 2019 playoffs. They swept the competition, winning the Grand Finals 4-0 against Vancouver Titans.

Architect holds up the OWL trophy on stage, surrounded by his fellow team mates

Despite his performance in the Overwatch League, Park said that he didn’t think he was the best San Francisco Shock player. He believes he owes his Overwatch League 2020 Championship title to his team hard work and dedication.

Park represented South Korea in the Overwatch World Cup

Park also represented his home country, South Korea, during the Overwatch World Cup 2019. Team South Korea was the undisputed champion of the 2017 and 2018 World Cups, with a team skill level way above any other team.

Architect gasps, leaning back in his chair with his hand over his heart during a difficult moment in a game of Overwatch

However, in 2019, South Korea dropped its world champion title to Team USA, losing 1-3 to the Americans in Semifinals. Team South Korea ended the competition on the 3rd place, winning the loser’s bracket 3-0 against Team France.

What is next for Architect?

Despite losing Jay “sinatraa” Won to Valorant earlier this year, San Francisco Shock still had four DPS players in its roster. Seonchang “ANS” Lee and Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon are the hitscan specialists of the team, while Park and Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim play as flex DPS. Rascal was playing more often as the team’s flex DPS than Park, leaving the player little game time.

Park is now joining the Hangzhou Spark for the rest of the Overwatch League season. He takes the empty DPS spot left by Jun-Ki “Bazzi” Park, as the player retires from competitive Overwatch.

Hangzhou Spark already has two other flex DPS players: Gihyeon “Ado” Chon and Jaehwan “Adora” Kang. Despite this competition, the Overwatch League vice-champion is most likely to see more playtime with Hangzhou Spark than he did with San Francisco Shock. His experience in the Overwatch League should secure him a place in Hangzhou Spark’s starting six, alongside hitscan player Kyeong-bo “GodsB” Kim.

Overwatch: Architect Leaves San Francisco Shock For Hangzhou Spark
Ophelie Castelot
Ophelie is both an esport and journalism lover. She is the former head of the CS:GO section for a major esport website. Ophelie has been analyzing Overwatch ever since its release in 2016.