The academy team of the Guangzhou Charge Guangzhou Charge OWL Rank #9 Cr0ng Nam Ki-cheol (남기철) off tank Farway1987 Cao Jiale (曹家乐) flex support choisehwan Choi Se-Hwan (최세환) dps Develop Chae Rak-hoon (채락훈) dps Rio Oh Seung-pyo (오승표) tank Unique Yoo Dong-hyun support has been announced on Weibo. Going by the name Guangzhou Academy Guangzhou Academy Inactive mg Wu Dongjian (吴董健) off tank Rise Lee Won-jae flex support nero Charlie Zwarg dps Moowe Chi-Yeung Yip dps TiZi Hwang Jang-hyeon (황장현) tank CENTURY Liu Shiji (刘世纪) support OnlyWish Chen Lizhen (陈李桢) support (abbreviated GZA), the team have also revealed their roster for the upcoming season of Contenders China.
Joining GZA are Moowe , nero , mg , TiZi , Rise , CENTURY , and OnlyWish . Additionally, Cuddles and Kant make up the coaching staff.
The seven-man roster and two-man coaching staff span a grand total of six nationalities. Three of the players: nero, Rise, and OnlyWish, are also a part of the main team. Both nero and Rise are currently ineligible to play in the Overwatch League due to age restrictions.
GZA boast many veteran talents across the globe. Aside from the three two-way players as mentioned above, two more players and their head coach have previously been with an Overwatch League team.
Off-tank mg played for the Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #5 Izayaki Kim Min-chul (김민철) flex support Void Kang Jun-woo (강준우) off tank Fleta Kim Byung-sun (김병선) dps LIP Lee Jae-won (이재원) dps Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support in 2018, when the team had a record-breaking result by finishing 0-40 in the regular season. He has since played domestically, most recently with Flag Gaming Flag Gaming Inactive ShowCheng Cheng Yu (程宇) off tank 800 Huang Li Hongding (黄李鸿定) tank , finishing second in Season 3 of Contenders China 2018.
TiZi joined the London Spitfire London Spitfire OWL Rank #12 Landon flex support SparkR William Andersson dps Backbone Jamie O'Neill dps Hadi Daniel Bleinagel tank Admiral Oliver Vahar support in 2018, but never played a game on the world's biggest stage. He left shortly after in June 2018 alongside three other members. He joined XL2 Academy XL2 Academy Inactive Haku flex support Speedily Nicholas Zou dps Kai Kai Collins dps GIG Rick Salazar tank buds Casey McIlwaine flex Ojee Christian Han support , and clinched second place in Contenders 2018 Season 2: North America.
CENTURY previously played for Team CC Team CC Contenders KR Rank #6 innovation Oh Seok-hyun (오석현) dps superich Wu Gengtuo (吴梗拓) support in Contenders China. The team ended up as a semifinalist in Season 1 and a quarterfinalist in Season 2 of Contenders China last year. He was replaced by former Shanghai Dragon SIO in September.
Moowe was a veteran member of the Pacific scene before joining GZA. He played for Hong Kong Attitude Hong Kong Attitude Inactive vKei Ju SeungJun off tank ShaiuLin Lin Keng-Yu dps Perfact An Yeseung dps ATing Chen Shao-Hua tank ManGoJai Kin-Long Wong support CQB Yang Hao-Cheng support during Seasons 1 and 2 of Contenders Pacific 2018. He also gained international recognition when he played for team Hong Kong during the World Cup 2018. After briefly retiring from professional play, Moowe is ready to make his triumphant return as the third player from Hong Kong in Contenders China history.
Cuddles and Kant join the coaching staff of GZA. Cuddles previously coached the Los Angeles Valiant Los Angeles Valiant OWL Rank #15 Molly He Chengzhi (何诚智) flex support Diya Lu Weida (陆炜达) dps innovation Oh Seok-hyun (오석현) dps Becky Il-ha Kim (김일하) dps Ezhan dps Marve1 Hwang Min-seo (황민서) tank Lengsa Chen Jingyi (陈婧逸) support before leaving in Stage 1 of the inaugural season. He was replaced by Moon. Kant played for Machi Esports Machi Esports Inactive Burst Jo Seong-Min (조성민) support in Contenders 2018 Season 1: Pacific. His team finished in the quarterfinals. He also played for the Taiwanese team in the World Cup 2018. This will be his first coaching role.
GZA are seeking to make a splash in Contenders China with their multinational roster. They play Lucky Future Lucky Future China Rank #2 on March 16.
Guangzhou Academy Guangzhou Academy Inactive mg Wu Dongjian (吴董健) off tank Rise Lee Won-jae flex support nero Charlie Zwarg dps Moowe Chi-Yeung Yip dps TiZi Hwang Jang-hyeon (황장현) tank CENTURY Liu Shiji (刘世纪) support OnlyWish Chen Lizhen (陈李桢) support are:
- Charlie "nero" Zwarg (Two-way DPS)
- Yip "Moowe" Chi-Yeung (DPS)
- Wu "mg" Dongjian (吴董健) (Off-tank)
- Hwang "TiZi" Jang-hyeon (황장현) (Tank)
- Lee "Rise" Won-jae (Two-way flex support)
- Liu "CENTURY" Shiji (刘世纪) (Support)
- Chen "OnlyWish" Lizhen (陈李桢) (Two-way support)
- Henry "Cuddles" Coxall (Head coach)
- Kao "Kant" Wei-Teng (Assistant coach)