ONSIDE and ZAN announce merger and Stage 2 roster
Two OWCS Korea Stage 1 participants, RØDE ONSIDE GAMING and ZAN Esports, have announced an organisation merger heading into Stage 2.
On Monday, May 19, the RØDE ONSIDE GAMING X account made the official announcement detailing the new partnership. Unlike a simple acquisition of players and staff, the two teams have officially merged branding and will now operate under the name RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING.
Along with the branding, the teams have also merged their rosters, with DPS players Kim "Becky" Il-ha and Jung "Probe" Jun-young, as well as tank player Cho "HEISER" Yu-hyun, all joining from ZAN. DPS An "SP1NT" Woo-jin and Kim "Attack" Jun-hwa will be departing from the Stage 1 ONSIDE core, alongside DPS Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong transitioning to a coaching role. The team will retain DPS Jung “Kilo” Jin-woo and two support players from the ONSIDE core, Kim “iRONY” Baek-kang and An “OPENER” Gi-beom.
Joining the new ZANSIDE team is former Shanghai Dragons and Seoul Dynasty tank veteran Kang "Void" Jun-woo. Void has not played at the Tier 1 level since the end of the 2023 Overwatch League season and will now return to the ecosystem after a three-year hiatus.
The official OWCS account for the Asia region also confirmed that ZAN Esports will no longer participate as an independent team and will be officially withdrawn from Stage 2. To replace them, the 3rd-place team from the Stage 2 Korea Open Qualifiers, SuperBad, will join the nine-team lineup for Stage 2.
Stage 2 will begin in the Korean region on June 5.
Current RØDE ZANSIDE GAMING roster:
- Cho "HEISER" Yu-hyun - Tank
- Kang "Void" Jun-woo - Tank
- Kim "Becky" Il-ha - DPS
- Jung "Probe" Jun-young - DPS
- Jung “Kilo” Jin-woo - DPS
- Kim “iRONY” Baek-kang - Support
- An “OPENER” Gi-beom - Support
- Park “KariV” Young-seo - Head coach
- Kim “Ir1s” Seung-hyun - Coach
- Chon “Ado” Gi-hyeon - Coach
- Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong - Coach