sinatraa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

sinatraa
upright={{{upright}}}
Current team
TeamSentinels
GameValorant
StatusInactive
Personal information
NameJay Won
BornMarch 18, 2000 (2000-03-18) (age 21)
Shoreline, Washington
NationalityAmerican
Career information
GamesOverwatch
Valorant
Playing career2016–present
Team history
2016–2017Selfless Gaming
2018–2020San Francisco Shock
2020–presentSentinels
Career highlights and awards
  • OWL champion (2019)
  • OWL Stage champion (2019)
  • OWL Most Valuable Player (2019)
  • OWL All-Star (2019)
  • OWL Role Star (2019)
  • OWWC champion (2019)
  • OWWC Most Valuable Player (2019)

Jay Won (born March 18, 2000),[1] better known as sinatraa, is an American professional Valorant player for Sentinels. He is best known as a former competitive Overwatch player for the San Francisco Shock of the Overwatch League (OWL). As an Overwatch competitor, Won represented Selfless Gaming before signing with the Shock. He was named the league's most valuable player and won the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals in the 2019 season. Internationally, he won the 2019 Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) as a member of Team USA and was named the 2019 OWWC most valuable player.

Early years[]

Won was born and raised in Shoreline, Washington.[2] His love for video games started at a young age, specifically with first-person shooters such as Halo 3, Call of Duty and Counter-Strike.[3] Won played baseball in high school and was going to play varsity as the starting second baseman, but he dropped out of traditional high school to pursue esports.[4]

Overwatch career[]

Selfless Gaming[]

Won's Overwatch career began with the game's competitive mode; by the third season, he reached the number one spot in the player rankings.[5] Looking to enter the competitive esports scene, Won signed with Selfless Gaming, dropped out of traditional high school in his junior year, and moved to Atlanta to live in the Selfless Gaming house.[3] Playing with popular Overwatch players Daniel "dafran" Francesca and Jeff "emongg" Anderson, the team did find some success; however, they never won a tournament and disbanded in July 2017. Won's performance with the team gained notable attention of the Overwatch community.[5]

San Francisco Shock[]

With the creation of the Overwatch League in 2017, scouts for the twelve franchises looked to sign the best players around the world to their respective teams. After a bidding war between NRG Esports and Cloud9, Won signed a $150,000-per-year contract – three times the league's minimum salary – with NRG Esports' team San Francisco Shock. The signing reunited Won with his former Selfless Gaming coach Brad "Sephy" Rajani, who was the head coach of NRG Esports' OWL team.[6] However, as he was only 17-year-old at the time, Won would not be eligible to play in league matches until he turned 18.

Won made his Overwatch League debut on March 21, 2018 against the Florida Mayhem. Months without competing in a competitive environment hurt his performance, and he was unable to synergize well with his team; this would significantly contribute to them subsequently losing the match.[7] The team's struggles continued throughout the season, as they finished the season in ninth place out of twelve.[5]

It was not until the 2019 season that Won came into his own. With the meta shifting to a three-tank, three-support composition, Won played as Zarya throughout the majority of the season to significant success. He is often considered the best Zarya player the league has ever seen.[8] Developing as a leader and a team player, Won ended the season leading the league in hero damage per 10 minutes and helped the team claim a second-best 23–5 regular season record, a perfect +28 map differential stage, all three stage finals appearances, and one stage title.[2][9] At the end of the regular season, he was awarded the Role Star commendation for DPS and won the OWL Most Valuable Player award due to his ability to flex onto a multitude of different heroes and hold his own as a championship team member.[9][10]

San Francisco faced the sixth-seeded Atlanta Reign in the first round of the season playoffs, but the team faltered in a heartbreaking 3–4 loss to fall into the losers bracket.[citation needed] The Shock rebounded from the loss by pulling off a dominant run in losers bracket; the team swept the London Spitfire in the first round, the Los Angeles Gladiators in the second round, the Hangzhou Spark in the third round, and the New York Excelsior in the losers finals to secure a spot in the 2019 Grand Finals, where they faced the Vancouver Titans.[11] Won played exceptionally well as Doomfist during the Grand Finals match as he and the team swept the Titans 4–0.[12]

Citing a "lost passion for the game" Won officially announced his retirement from Overwatch in April 2020.[13][14]

The Overwatch League released a commemorative, in-game skin for Zarya on June 16, 2020 in honor of his MVP award for the 2019 Overwatch League Season.[15]

International play[]

Due to his performance with Selfless Gaming, Won was quickly recognized as one of North America's best DPS players, most notably with his expertise on Tracer, and was voted in as a member of Team USA for the 2017 Overwatch World Cup (OWWC). At the time, the OWWC was the only tournament that pitted players from around the world. The team dominated in the qualifiers and moved on to the single-elimination tournament. Their first match was against the tournament-favorites South Korea; an exceptional performance by Won helped the team to take two maps from South Korea, but they ultimately lost the match and were eliminated from the tournament.[5]

After a disappointing showing in the 2018 Overwatch World Cup, losing early to Team United Kingdom in the Quarterfinals, Won and Team USA came back to the 2019 Overwatch World Cup to sweep the group stages with a 12-0 map record, including beating rivals South Korea. Having secured the first seed, Team USA received a bye in the quarterfinals and faced South Korea in the semifinals. After an intense and back and forth series, Team USA arose victorious, with a 3-1 scoreline with one draw on Horizon Lunar Colony. Team USA then faced Team China in the finals where they won 3–0, winning the United States the gold medal. Won received MVP of the World Cup for his performance on many heroes, including Doomfist, Tracer, Bastion, and Reaper.

Valorant career[]

Won joined the Sentinels Valorant team in April 2020.[16] The team went on to place 2nd in the FaZe Clan Invitational and 1st in the Ignition Series: Pop Flash tournament.[17][18]

In March 2021, Won was accused by his ex-girlfriend of sexual abuse,[19] which he has denied.[20][21] Following the allegation, Won was suspended by Riot Games throughout their investigation, and the Sentinels also suspended Won until their own internal investigation had concluded.[22] On May 17, 2021, Riot announced in a competitive ruling that Won would remain suspended for a total period of six months for "failing to fully cooperate" with their investigation. Won will also be required to complete professional conduct training before he is allowed to be reinstated back into professional Valorant competition.[23][24] Won's six-month suspension from Riot elapsed in September.[25]

References[]

  1. ^ Barth, Nicholas (March 18, 2018). "Sinatraa is Now Officially Eligible for the Overwatch League". Twin Galaxies. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Sinatraa named OWL MVP; Haksal earns Rookie of the Year honors". ESPN. Reuters. September 6, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Erzberger, Tyler (August 16, 2017). "Sinatraa gets his first taste of the Overwatch spotlight". ESPN. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  4. ^ San Francisco Shock (August 15, 2018). Shock Stories: Jay "Sinatraa" Won – via Youtube.
  5. ^ a b c d Rai, Jash (October 4, 2019). "Inside OWL's 2019 MVP: sinatraa Player Profile". Esportz Network. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  6. ^ Wolf, Jacob (September 3, 2017). "NRG signs 17-year-old Overwatch pro sinatraa for $150K". ESPN. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  7. ^ Meyer, Guilherme (March 27, 2018). "The Champions, LA Down and Lone Star Proud – OWL Stage 2 Week 5 Top (and Flop) Moments". InvenGlobal. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  8. ^ Howard, Brandon (October 2, 2019). "Who Is Sinatraa? An Overwatch League Player Profile". TheGamer. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Richardson, Liz (October 16, 2019). "San Francisco Shock's Sinatraa wins 2019 Overwatch League MVP award". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Richardson, Liz (August 31, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals Role Stars awards". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  11. ^ John, Ian (October 16, 2019). "San Francisco Shock Face Vancouver Titans in Overwatch World League Grand Final". EsportsBets. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  12. ^ Lauletta, Tyler (October 7, 2019). "We attended one of eSports' biggest events, The Overwatch League Grand Finals, and it was like a wild cross between a cosplay convention and an NBA playoff game". Business Insider. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  13. ^ Grayson, Nathan. "Overwatch MVP's Mid-Season Departure For Valorant Doesn't Bode Well For Blizzard". Kotaku. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  14. ^ San Francisco Shock [@SFShock] (April 28, 2020). "He came, he saw and he conquered" (Tweet). Retrieved April 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Richardson, Liz (June 16, 2020). "Sinatraa's Overwatch League MVP skin revealed". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  16. ^ "Sentinels Expand into Valorant - Signing Sinatraa, Zombs, ShahZam, and SicK". SENTINELS. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  17. ^ Galloway, Ryan (August 9, 2020). "TSM defeat Sentinels to become FaZe Clan VALORANT Invitational champions". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  18. ^ Erzberger, Tyler (August 31, 2020). "Pop Flash VALORANT tournament: Welcome to the sinatraa show". ESPN. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  19. ^ Heath, Jerome (March 10, 2021). "Sinatraa accused of sexual assault by ex-girlfriend". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  20. ^ Galloway, Ryan (March 11, 2021). "Sinatraa denies sexual assault allegations". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  21. ^ "Suspended Valorant Pro Sinatraa Denies Sexual Assault Allegations". GameSpot. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  22. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (March 10, 2021). "Valorant Player Sinatraa Suspended Following Sexual Abuse Accusations". IGN. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  23. ^ "Competitive Ruling: Jay "Sinatraa" Won". playvalorant.com. May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  24. ^ Cooke, Hunter (May 17, 2021). "Sinatraa suspended for 6 months for 'failing to fully cooperate' with investigation into sexual assault allegations". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  25. ^ Biazzi, Leonardo (September 10, 2021). "Sinatraa's 6-month VALORANT suspension is over". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 16, 2021.

Further reading[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Overwatch League MVP
2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Overwatch World Cup MVP
2019 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from ""