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Spacestation Gaming sign Hawk, Kronik, Lep and ChrisTFer with the departure of Kellan, Bliss, Squid and Unter

by Finn “Fiñata” MacCarthy

Spacestation Gaming (SSG) will compete in Stage 3 of the Overwatch Champion Series (OWCS) 2025 with a fresh coat of paint. Chris “ChrisTFer” Graham will be taking the coaching position once again, replacing Max “Unter” Unterwurzacher. Xander “Hawk” Domencq has been promoted to a full-time tank position, and Rocco “Kronik” Lacobacci has been picked up after a dominant stage on hitscan DPS. Joseph “Lep” Lambriani completes the roster as the new main support.

The team’s Korean imports, Kim “Kellan” Min-jae and Kim “Bliss” So-myung, have both been let go, as well as backup support player Ryan “Squid” Ruffle.

ChrisTFer has been brought in to replace Unter as head coach following the dissolution of The Ultimates at the end of Stage 2. Unter will be moving to a content-creation role, signing with Team Liquid, and SSG will be welcoming back a familiar face in ChrisTFer to the coaching department. He had success coaching this organisation in EMEA OWCS in 2024, claiming two Stage titles, and he will be hoping to replicate this in a new region.

Unter, by his own admission, didn’t achieve the results he wanted, and stepped down from the role. His departure was announced in a now-infamous quote tweet from SSG.

Kim “Kellan” Min-jae, the previous tank player for SSG, has left the team. They found success in Stage 1, making it to Champions’ Clash in Hangzhou. However, the meta shifted in Stage 2, and made Winston and other dive compositions far more difficult. As a result, the team weren’t able to play to Kellan’s strengths, and fell short of qualifying for the Midseason Championship.

He has been replaced by Xander “Hawk” Domencq, who was previously an emergency substitute for the team in Stage 1. Hawk is an Overwatch League (OWL) veteran, previously playing on the very successful Atlanta Reign from 2020-23. They were never able to take the OWL crown, but had multiple strong Playoff runs, including a 2021 Grand Finals appearance, losing to the Shanghai Dragons. Hawk was a big part of the team initially, but was moved to a bit part role later on in his Atlanta career. After a brief stint on Timeless between OWL and OWCS, he joined M80 for the first NA stage. They finished in a strong 2nd place, losing only to the dominant Toronto Defiant. Hawk’s last competitive match was at the NA FACEIT Master Road to EWC tournament, in which M80 placed 2nd, losing again to Toronto Defiant. He now has the opportunity to compete back at the top level with SSG, and will be hoping to add to his long list of accomplishments.

The team also intended to sign Cartifan22 as a substitute tank player for specific Doomfist or Wrecking Ball strategies, but OWCS regulations didn’t allow the signing. The rules state that “during a single roster change period, a team may change a maximum of three players.” There was a lot of hype around Cartifan22 following the recent Faceit Masters performance of his team, Emote Down Mid, with them finishing 3rd in the playoffs. However, to the disappointment of SSG as well as a large number of fans, the signing had to be cancelled.

The SSG backline also has a new look for Stage 3. With Kim “Bliss” So-myung also leaving the team, SSG will not have any Korean imports going into Stage 3. This is significant, as in the past SSG’s Korean players would be playing from Korea until closer to the playoffs. Helping to solve any ping issues and allowing the whole roster to speak in their native language.

Additionally, Ryan “Squid” Ruffle has left the team, and has been replaced by Joseph “Lep” Cambriani, who played for NTMR in Stage 2. Lep will play with flex support Christopher “Cjay” Smith, who remains from the last stage.

Finally, the DPS line has seen some interesting shakeups, signing NTMR’s star hitscan Kronik with Alex “seeker” Taylor moving the other direction. This marks a shift in trajectory between both players; Kronik moves to a larger organisation, hoping to showcase his talent within a championship-contending team, while seeker and NTMR will continue to play underdog to the partner teams despite the team's higher place finish in Stage 2. Kronik is expected to slot in alongside Sugarfree as a like-for-like replacement for seeker, with Alejandro “Scissors” Léon still occupying the backup DPS position.

This is the full new-look SSG roster

  • Xander “Hawk” Domencq (Tank)
  • Alejandro “Scissors” Léon (Substitute DPS)
  • Kamden “Sugarfree” Hijada (DPS)
  • Rocco “Kronik” Lacobacci (DPS)
  • Joseph “Lep” Cambriani (Support)
  • Christopher “Cjay” Smith (Support)