ENDGAME: The Superstars

After a disappointing return to Australia saw them miss out on LAN in season three, they pulled no punches in forming a super team of upcoming Australian talent and Korean veterans. Now, one of Australia’s most iconic Overwatch teams looks set to take IEM Sydney by storm with the most experienced roster in Australia.

“Missing out on LAN last season really did hurt,” says off-tank Noah “Nozz” McClafferty. “However, it inspired me so much more because I wanted to make LAN super badly to prove that I’m the best on my role in Australia.”

Taking a break from making sick clips to go get a slick clipping. Ready to fly from Auckland to Sydney tomorrow for #IEM! ?? ?#PointBLANK #OverwatchContenders #OverwatchEsports @owpathtopro @Blizzard_ANZ @BlizzEsportsANZ @IEM pic.twitter.com/CYfWkocRrQ

— Blank Esports (@BlankOCE) May 2, 2019

So, to do so, they moved the team house to Auckland, changed coaches to Team Canada’s assistant coach Alexander “Sword” Szymkiewicz, and picked up ex-Meta Athena main tank Kim “Modern” Su-hoon and Shanghai Dragons DPS Kim “Daemin” Dae-min.

“The introduction of Modern, Daemin and Sword has changed how we play, talk, and think completely,” said Nozz. “The biggest advantage for us as well is the team house environment. Everyone is committed to the game full-time, everyone is always trying to improve and we are always trying to win.”

These drastic changes paid off massively, as they became the first team in three seasons to defeat the Sydney Drop Bears. They also locked away third-seed heading into IEM Sydney and rematch with Order, who brought Blank back down to Earth with a 4-0 drubbing in the regular season.

“It was an achievement for us [to beat SDB] but it wasn’t that big a surprise. I would have called that result expected for us,” he said.

Blank have made a name for themselves by playing obscure team compositions and foregoing GOATS in even the most favourable of situations. While some people describe it as a lack of flexibility, Nozz calls it fearless.

“Blank are a team that have no fear of anyone we play against, and we try to stay away from GOATS to favour DPS comps.”
– Nozz

After all, when you have one of the best Pharah’s in the region in Rowan “Roro” Goldsmith, an off-tank who can play anything, and an ex-OWL DPS, why wouldn’t you try and run DPS? They do have a solid GOATS that can stand up to most teams, but if they do try and run it they run Winston-Sombra in more of a dive-esque comp. That’s just the way Blank rolls, and if it paid off in GOATS meta, it should pay off in the new meta since Patch 1.34.

“I don’t think any of the other teams will adapt very fast to the DPS comps and they won’t be able to play it like we do.”

Heading into their first Australian LAN appearance, Nozz is looking forward to making a mark and getting his name out there at his first major event.

“I’m super excited for my first LAN, and it being at IEM Sydney just makes it that much better. I think we are the team to beat, and we are prepared for it,” said Nozz.

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Blank Esports will have a chance to take home their first Contenders title at IEM Sydney, which starts on May 4. They will take on Order in their first series which starts at 6pm. You can catch the action on the Overwatch Contenders Twitch channel.

You can follow Nozz and Blank on Twitter.