Jay Won (born March 18, 2000), better known as Sinatraa, is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
professional ''
Valorant
''Valorant'' is a free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games, for Windows. Teased under the codename ''Project A'' in October 2019, the game began a closed beta period with limited access on April 7 ...
'' player. Won began his esports career as a competitive ''
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: ''Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fea ...
'' player for
Selfless Gaming
Selfless Gaming was an American esports organization with teams competing in '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', '' Killer Instinct'', ''Overwatch'' and '' Rocket League''.
The team was formed by former Enemy eSports CS:GO members on Februar ...
, before signing with the
San Francisco Shock
The San Francisco Shock are an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the San Francisco Shock ...
of the
Overwatch League
The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting lea ...
(OWL) in the league's
inaugural season. In his time with the Shock, he was named the league's
most valuable player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
and won the
2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals. Internationally, he won the
2019 Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) as a member of Team USA and was named the 2019 OWWC most valuable player.
Won left the competitive ''Overwatch'' scene in April 2020, signing with Sentinels to pursue a career in ''Valorant''. He was suspended from competitive play for six months in March 2021 due to sexual abuse allegations.
''Overwatch'' career
Professional career
After being ranked second in North America and fifth in the world on ''Overwatch'' competitive mode, Won was invited to tryout for
Selfless Gaming
Selfless Gaming was an American esports organization with teams competing in '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', '' Killer Instinct'', ''Overwatch'' and '' Rocket League''.
The team was formed by former Enemy eSports CS:GO members on Februar ...
, an esports team based in Georgia, United States; however, he did not make the team. A few weeks later, Selfless invited Won to another tryout, and after head coach and co-owner Brad Rajani viewed his play, he was signed to the team.
He left the team after it disbanded on July 7, 2017.
With the creation of the
Overwatch League
The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting lea ...
in 2017, scouts for the twelve franchises looked to sign players to fill their teams. After a bidding war between
NRG Esports
NRG Esports is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in '' Apex Legends'', '' Clash Royale'', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', '' Fortnite'', ''Gears of War'', ''Hearthstone'', ''Overwatch'', '' Rocket League ...
and
Cloud9
Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 ...
, Won decided to sign with the
London Spitfire
London Spitfire is a professional ''Overwatch'' team representing the city of London, United Kingdom. The Spitfire compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, London Spitfire is one of the le ...
, Cloud9's ''Overwatch'' team. However, after more discussions with NRG and his parents, he changed his decision and signed a -per-year contract – three times the league's minimum salary – with NRG's
San Francisco Shock
The San Francisco Shock are an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the San Francisco Shock ...
.
The signing reunited Won with head coach Rajani, who was the head coach of the Shock. However, as he was only 17 years 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
Florida Mayhem is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Miami and Orlando, Florida. The team competes in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West Division. Founded in 2017, Florida Mayhem is one of the ...
; the Shock lost the match, 2–3. Despite a meager performance in his debut, he soon established himself as one of the top damage players in the league. With himself and teammate
Matthew "super" DeLisi
Matthew DeLisi (born March 28, 2000), better known as super or supertf, is an American former professional ''Overwatch'' player. During his career, he played in the Overwatch League (OWL) for the San Francisco Shock, and prior to OWL's inceptio ...
becoming eligible to play around the same time, the team finished the second half of the season with a 11–9 record.
In the
2019 season, the compositions that teams primarily ran throughout the first three quarters of the season was three
tanks
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine ...
and three
supports; Won, who would usually play as the damage hero
Tracer, transitioned to playing as the tank
Zarya during this time. Through the first three stages, he helped the team post a perfect +28 map differential in Stage 2, reach all three stage finals, and win one stage title.
In July 2019, just prior to the final stage of the season, the league implemented a role lock, in which teams were required to run a composition of two tank, two support, and two damage players, and Won primarily played as the damage hero
Doomfist
Doomfist is a fictional, playable character in the 2016 video game ''Overwatch'', and again appeared in its 2022 sequel, ''Overwatch 2''. His design is based on a powerful, cybernetic gauntlet. As an offensive, brawler-style character, he use ...
thereafter. He ended the season leading the league in hero damage dealt per 10 minutes and helped the team claim a second-best 23–5 regular season record, he was awarded the Role Star commendation for DPS and won the OWL Most Valuable Player award.
After losing to the
Atlanta Reign
Atlanta Reign is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Reign compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2018, Atlanta Reign began play as one of eight ...
in the first round of the
2019 season playoffs, the Shock ran through the lower bracket to reach the
2019 Grand Finals. Won played in two of the four maps in a 4–0 win over the
Vancouver Titans
The Vancouver Titans are a professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Titans compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2018, the Vancouver Titans beg ...
in the Grand Finals on September 29, 2019.
Citing a "lost passion for the game" Won retired from professional ''Overwatch'' on April 28, 2020.
The Overwatch League released a commemorative, in-game skin for Zarya on June 16, 2020, in honor of his MVP award. However, the OWL offered refunds for the skin and removed the OWL Championship and MVP badges on the skin in March 2021 after sexual assault allegations arose.
National team career
Won was selected as a member of Team USA for the
2017 Overwatch World Cup (OWWC). Despite losing to Team South Korea in the quarterfinals, Won's performance throughout the World Cup led to NRG Esports CEO
Andy Miller signing him to the Shock.
Won was again selected for Team USA in the
2018 OWWC. The team claimed the top seed after the group stage, but they fell in the quarterfinals to Team United Kingdom.
In the
2019 OWWC, Won was selected for Team USA for the third consecutive year. Playing with his Shock teammates Matthew "super" Delisi and Grant "moth" Espe, Team USA ran through the tournament, not losing a single match, and swept Team China in the OWWC finals on November 2, 2019, to claim USA's first OWWC title. Won was named the OWWC most valuable player, and, along with super and moth, became one of four people to win both Overwatch League and Overwatch World Cup titles.
''Valorant'' career
Won joined the
Sentinels ''
Valorant
''Valorant'' is a free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games, for Windows. Teased under the codename ''Project A'' in October 2019, the game began a closed beta period with limited access on April 7 ...
'' team in April 2020. Within a few months, Won solidified himself as one of the top players in the scene.
Heading into the PAX Arena Invitational finals, the second-ever North America Ignition Series event, he led all players in assists with 122 — the only player at the event with over 100 assists — and had the fourth most kills-per-round at 0.90. Sentinels capped off the tournament by defeating
Cloud9
Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 ...
in the final on July 26, 2020. He found another tournament win on August 2, as Sentinels defeated
Team SoloMid
Team SoloMid (TSM) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''League of Legends'', ''Dota 2'', ''Apex Legends'', ''Valorant'', ' ...
at 30Bomb Summer Cup final. In Pop Flash, the fourth and final North American Ignition Series tournament, Won had his best performance in the group stage against
Immortals
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...
, where he had an Average Combat Score of 402, 32 kills, and 11 first bloods. Won secured another tournament title after Sentinels defeated
Team Envy
Team Envy was an American esports franchise based in Dallas, Texas, owned by Envy Gaming. Founded in 2007 as a professional ''Call of Duty'' team under the moniker Team EnVyUs, they fielded rosters in '' Counter-Strike, FIFA, Fortnite, Gears o ...
, 3–0, at the Pop Flash grand final on August 30. At that point in his career, he had over 700 assists in professional play and was the only player in the world to record over 600.
He went on to secure two more tournament titles with Sentinels, winning the JBL Quantum Cup in December 2020 and the
Valorant Champions Tour North America Challengers One in February 2021.
After sexual assault allegations arose against Won in March 2021, he was suspended by
Riot Games
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...
, as they worked through their investigation of the matter. Sentinels also suspended Won until their own internal investigation had concluded. On May 17, 2021, Riot announced in a competitive ruling that Won would remain suspended for a total period of six months, which would end on September 10, for "failing to fully cooperate" with their investigation.
Sentinels picked up
Tyson "TenZ" Ngo shortly after, replacing Won in the starting roster.
In April 2022, Won announced that he intended to return to the ''Valorant'' competitive scene. However, he was not signed to any team following the announcement and continued working as a content creator. In January 2023, he joined team Untamable Beasts, who played in the ''Valorant'' Challengers North America last chance qualifier.
Personal life
Won was born on March 18, 2000, in
Shoreline
A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...
, Washington.
His love for video games started at a young age, specifically with
first-person shooters
First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eye ...
such as ''
Halo 3
''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' and continued in 2 ...
'', ''
Call of Duty
''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...
'' and ''
Counter-Strike
''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preven ...
''.
The first time he made money playing esports was in 2014, when he won $200 in a ''Counter-Strike'' tournament. 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. He chose the name "Sinatraa" as his online name after rapper
Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
fourth mixtape ''
Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever'', appending an "a" at the end, since "Sinatra" was already taken.
Won threw the first pitch at the August 17, 2018,
Oakland A's
The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...
game.
In March 2021, Won was accused by his ex-girlfriend of
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
; Won denied the allegations.
A police investigation followed, but there has been no update since Won's suspension from ''Valorant''.
References
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
2000 births
American esports players
Living people
San Francisco Shock players
People from Shoreline, Washington