Australia’s Overwatch World Cup campaign came to an end on Saturday morning after a hard-fought game against South Korea fell the way of the two-time champions 3-0.

While the team has had moments of brilliance throughout the tournament, Huseyin “Hus” Sahin has been a consistently strong performer for Australia. The DPS for Team Australia, Blank Esports and now Sydney Drop Bears has been around in the scene since early 2017.

Just missing out on the chance in 2017 to go to the World Cup, he was ready to prove his worth in 2018. His Widowmaker in Bangkok was fearsome – and ultimately the reason Australia got over the line against China with some crucial picks on Temple of Anubis to qualify for BlizzCon – and against South Korea he was menacing on his Sombra.

While it wasn’t enough to pick up a map against the eventual grand finalists, Australia had already achieved their goal for OWWC – making it to BlizzCon. Now after having a chance to make a name for himself on one of Overwatch’s biggest stages, I sat down with Hus to speak about BlizzCon, Blank and Hero 29 – aka Ashe.

First of all, thanks for sitting down with me Hus. How does it feel to finally be here?

It feels really good, I’ve been super keen to come here for ages. I really wanted to come last year when Blank was sent to World Cup – and it was straight after APAC Premier, so it was a prime time to come. Unfortunately I couldn’t get tickets though so I couldn’t come.

Well instead of being a spectator you are now here as a player…

Getting a backstage pass is great – the player area chops!

What’s the best part about it?

I guess it’s playing on stage. Even if it was a short three maps or whatever, it was still so much fun.

It’s a massive change to fly halfway across the world to play the same game you play back in Australia. What’s been the biggest change?

The jet lag has been the biggest issue. Travelling to Asia is okay because you are only changing a few hours, but travelling to the US you are literally travelling a day in time difference. We got here at like 6am and we had to stay up but I slept at 2pm. Luckily I pulled an all nighter the day before though so I smashed a whole day of sleep and I woke up I was good.

Had time to play some ranked queues over here?

Yeah I placed my account. Went 8-2.

SR?

4450? It’s not bad. I thought I was going to get higher.

What’s it like playing on US West?

It was just a farm honestly. It’s easier to climb here because back in OCE, it’s harder to get games with decent rated players. Games over here, if you lose a game you lose less SR and the queues are faster. There’s a bigger pool of games to win from, if that makes sense.

Do you VPN back home?

Yeah, back home I play on US West on 180 ping which is garbage.

Do you ever play OCE queues then?

Very rarely. I have one account which is hovering around low Grand Master and even then that account takes a long time to queue so I don’t bother with it. I’ll only queue if the fellas are queuing up and we can queue snipe each other. “ANZ q now.”

Now playing for the Sydney Drop Bears next season, excited to be back playing in Australia?

For what it’s worth, yeah. The good thing about SDB is that they have a really good facility with really low ping to foreign servers. That’s the biggest reason why we joined and it’s exciting.

You guys have also had time to bond as a team over the World Cup because it’s pretty much everyone except Custa. Do you think you’ll have that advantage in not just mechanics but team play?

Yeah I think we do. We’ve got experience with an OWL player and an OWL coach. No one else in Australia has that. It’s priceless.

How much has Gunba (Australia OWWC Coach and Coach of Boston Uprising) been helping you?

A ridiculous amount. I can say that he has put in by far the highest amount of work I’ve seen anyone put in. I was on a team with him [on Blank] as a player and he was always putting in a lot of work. So much that you don’t get to know him outside of his work because he’s always working. It’s set a standard for me and the amount of work I’ve put in has increased compared to my previous teams and tournaments.

[After the games though] he’s relaxing now. He’s done his job and worked really hard and he should really be proud.

Did you enjoy your time on Blank with him and for Contenders Season 1 on LAN in Taiwan?

It was really good – we had Seksi with us as our coach and we played really well back then. I can say that we were competitive with the winning team of both Contenders Korea (X6 Gaming) and China (Lucky Future Zenith) at the time.

Oh, so you were scrimming with them?

Yeah and we were really competitive with them so that was a good time for us. Unfortunately we had some roster changes and we lost Seksi and we had to come back to Australia because of no LAN – that was a killer for us. Playing officials on 180 ping, that was rough. I can say that was the lowest point in my Overwatch career.

Did you have any Academy trials over the off-season?

After [OWWC] Bangkok, yeah I did. They are all on 180-190 ping though. I say 180 but realistically my minimum is 185 and it spikes to 200 sometimes. I got pretty far in some trials – like final phase – but then I’m competing with some Korean dude who sent in some VODs of him playing on Korean servers and it’s him on like 2 ping. The best VOD I have to send to them is me playing on 150 ping. That shows how Australians have to practice versus Koreans.

That’s also why our Control [maps at OWWC] have been so bad. You have to play on such high ping and you can’t make crazy mechanical plays because the ping just screws you.

That was a big point throughout the entire tournament – you only won two Control maps against Sweden and Thailand.

That’s right, actually. It’s a nightmare man. Our Control has been getting here though on low ping, it’s definitely improved. Throughout the practice before the tournament here we were consistently getting better at Control. We were getting more aggressive, confident and making what I like to call “feed plays.” It’s like plays that are out of the norm and they don’t expect it – that’s what wins you Control maps.

A high-risk-high-reward deal.

Yeah, and we started making those plays and we started winning Control maps so that was good.

At BlizzCon, they’ve also announced Ashe and while you haven’t had the chance to play her yet, what’s your first impression?

Her kit looks freaking awesome. I think Bob is a bit of a question mark. I saw some of the numbers and he seems ridiculously broken. I think the fact that he can contest point, he can get a nanoboost – it’s literally like adding a seventh hero to your team. It’s like a Torb turret, but he can knock up and contest stuff…

…and he has 1200 base hp…

Yeah. I think the rest of Ashe’s kit is great though. I’m a big fan of the skill shot on her dynamite. I also like the fact that they balanced her hip-fire pretty well to do a lot less damage than her scoped [shot], so people are going to require a lot more skill to hit those shots. I also like the mobility she has – she’s a good addition to the game.

Who would play her – you or Ckm?

I’m not sure honestly – it depends on the meta. Hopefully me though, I’m super keen to play her. Last time Hanzo got buffed, I really wanted to play Hanzo because I like him and then Ckm played Hanzo the whole time and that was lame. I was stuck on Widow the entire time – Widow’s fun, but new Hanzo was broken.

Speaking on being stuck on Widow, Ckm was on Widow all day yesterday.

Yeah and he popped off.

What was the change?

Generally on Anubis either me or Ckm will play Widow if they have a non-stationary comp because it applies an insane amount of pressure they have to deal with in the forward choke. We had the Sombra there already and they had a comp with Sombra-Genji and we could play Genji into that but we can give up the blade for some more consistent damage. Widow picks are invaluable on Point A and that’s why we were able to cap the point out because he got a pick on the Ana.

People were really praising you and Ckm for holding your own against Carpe and co, how do you think you played yesterday?

I felt like I played decently well. Gunba was saying I played really well and made very few mistakes. Throughout the series I thought I was doing fine – the worst parts for me were our first defense on Anubis because we made a mistake with our positioning and we were punished for it and I died on Widow so I didn’t think I’d make it back on point in time.

I swapped to Tracer but I didn’t really know how to play Tracer with that comp because every time I’d come back the fight would be over and I’d have to try and make a two second pick or something to stop the snowball. It was really awkward playing that into Sombra-Genji though and the supports already had the high ground so I couldn’t flank them. That was a rough point, and then on our second attack we screwed up our comps really hard.

Sanctuary on Busan…

That would have been your first official on Busan?

Yeah our first official – we had played a bunch of scrims on it and historically our best point was Sanctuary on that map. However, Korea’s play style with the Winston playing sneaky and solo-flanking our Ana forced a lot of peels. JJoNaK was also getting hard pocketed and he frags real hard so that was annoying to deal with.

Our combo was we would send our Wrecking Ball in and get some Pharah spam in and Sombra opens in from behind, however Pharah got hard pressured from the McCree-Zen – the Zen was hitting five-balls on our Pharah and killing her it was ridiculous.

Well then, any plans for the rest of the weekend?

Play Ashe, meet some people, watch the rest of the games, drink and have fun. I’m super keen!

The Overwatch World Cup is still on-going, with China and South Korea facing off in the Grand Final right now. You can watch it on the Overwatch League Twitch channel.

Hus will be playing for Sydney Drop Bears in Contenders Australia Season 3 starting on November 19. You can follow Hus on Twitter here.

Photos courtesy of Robert Paul/Blizzard Entertainment

Snowball’s own Andrew “Ducky” Amos is officially headed to the Anaheim Convention Center to cover the Overwatch World Cup playoffs and finals live on the ground.

He’ll be keenly following Team Australia’s journey after they qualified alongside China at the Bangkok Group Stage.

“If OWWC was monumental, then going to BlizzCon is absolutely out of this universe. As much as I can say the hard work put in can speak for itself, I wouldn’t have had the chance to test myself in the world of esports without building my base back home with Contenders Australia and OPL. A massive thanks has to go out to everyone who’s helped me make it that far – but definitely no one else more than Wray, Swifty, Reece and the rest of the Snowballers.

BlizzCon is going to have some amazing content over all streams, so keep your eyes peeled. I’m going to tell the stories to put Australia on the map on the world stage – and hopefully not nervously break down when I interview an OWL player again! See you in Anaheim!”
– Andrew “Ducky” Amos

Stay tuned for more details on our World Cup/BlizzCon coverage in the coming weeks.

Team Australia will take on South Korea at 11:15am AEST on the Overwatch World Cup stage at BlizzCon on November 3.

Make sure to follow Ducky and Snowball Esports on Twitter to keep up with Team Australia and our OWWC coverage.

Dario “Akraken” Falcao-Rossohka and Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist are two of Australia’s best up-and-coming players.

Akraken burst onto the scene explosively with the Drop Bears in Season 1 and has cooked up a storm since. Punk has been the rock of Dark Sided for a year, and while the organisation has left the scene he was critical to their success.

Once rivals, the 17-year-olds are now two crucial pieces of Australia’s World Cup puzzle. And behind them every step of the way has been their parents.

Cristina Falcao has adopted the role of esports Mum head on. While she works a ‘9-5’ during the week, during the big events she becomes the Mum of not only Akraken, but his team.

“At the boot camp in Sydney before the finals, I stayed with the team and did all the cooking for them – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Akraken’s rise through the Overwatch ranks has been meteoric. 12 months ago he was grinding the ladder, orgless but hungry. Now he is competing on the world stage but his hunger will never be satiated. For Cris, it’s been a whirlwind trying to keep up.

“We had a rule in the house that there was no playing on school days. When Dario came up to me one day about 18 months ago and asked if he could start playing after school I knew something might be up.”

“At the first LAN in Sydney for Season 1, I knew literally nothing. I knew Dario played Overwatch but I only caught a glance of it when I walked past his room. Going to the Sydney LAN was eye-opening – I asked so many questions to try and understand what was happening.

“Since then, I’ve been learning more and more about the game. I don’t understand all the strategies, techniques or skills, but I know when Dario is playing well and when they are winning. That’s all that matters.”

School, however, has been a different story. Going to a prestigious school, grades and his future was at the forefront of his life.

“We were really strict about his grades. His father is Russian and I’m from South America so we wanted him to follow the generic path – become an engineer, doctor, lawyer or something. However, he was never interested in that. While he was a top student at school, that’s not what his passion was.

“We realised that as he kept playing Overwatch, he was living his dream. He puts in 12 hours a day into the game just to improve and become the best. While he’s good at studies, his heart is in Overwatch. I want him to pursue his dream.

“There’s no point him doing something he doesn’t love. He lives in Australia – you have the opportunity to do anything. If he wants to play Overwatch and see his career out, I will support him every step of the way.”

He’s immediately soaked up to the limelight too. He is confident, outgoing, not afraid to speak his mind and has slotted right into place in the competitive scene.

“He was never really a sporty kid too. Obviously growing up we put him into sports like tennis and swimming, but one look at him and you know he isn’t the sporty type. However, he was really into debating and I think that helped him become so confident.

“When he was going to his first LAN, I was really nervous for him. I asked him how he was feeling and he was like ‘I’m fine’ meanwhile I’m completely losing it! Him and I are two different people – I’m all of the extremes and he is calm and collected.”

Akraken salvages Oasis: City Centre for Team Australia with a clutch coalescence against Denmark.

His performance in Bangkok was outstanding too. His Ana play was crucial in Australia’s triumph. While he was known more for his Zenyatta back home for the Drop Bears his versatility has been important. This has led to a busy period of trialling for academy teams in the school holidays since.

“Every single day he’s trialling for a different team. He’ll finish up and I’ll ask him how he’s done and some days he will be like ‘I did okay’ or ‘I could have played better.’ That’s the thing with Dario – he’s always looking to improve, there’s always something to fix.

“It means he’s going to have to make a big decision too. If he makes an academy team he will have to move overseas. Given that he hasn’t finished school that’s really scary for us. However, I’m sure no matter what he does he will find a way to finish it all up and live out his dream.”

For BlizzCon, Cris wants to be at the forefront. In fact, she asked me about the diehards and whether they are coming. While we aren’t sure, we both came to the same conclusion.

“I wake up before Dario so I had a chance to check Twitter before him when the matches for BlizzCon were announced. Having spoken to him a bit, he always glorified the Koreans and was like ‘they are literally gods!’

“When I saw Australia got matches with Korea, I ran over to Dario and woke him up and said ‘guess who you are playing?’ While I was in shock, he was just like ‘oh they might underestimate us, they might not watch our games, so we might be able to beat them.’ I can’t believe how calm he was!

“I am organising some posters with Patty (Punk’s Mum) for BlizzCon. The atmosphere with the diehards was great last time so I hope we can replicate that. The whole family is coming over too so I hope they’ll be able to enjoy it – Dario’s sister is only 9. Everyone’s proud of whats he’s done so far and we will have to see what the future holds.”

I caught Sean and Patty Gilchrist right after Sean’s weekend ritual with Punk.

“We always get the same thing week in week out. Leyton will get a bacon and egg burger with barbeque sauce; and he washes that down – no matter what the season, the middle of winter or summer – with an iced chocolate,” Sean laughed.

“We’ve been doing that at least every Saturday and Sunday for three years.”

Even though their little Punk has gone from local hero to global superstar in the space of a few short months, the Gilchrists have been with Punk for the entire journey.

“[At Punk’s first LAN for Season 1] we were walking through darkened corridors and then opening a door to a big stage set that was very professional and we looked at each other and thought ‘what’s going on here?’” Sean reminisced.

“We were surprised by how many people were involved in the whole scheme of things” said Patty, “We knew Leyton played games down in the office, but we didn’t realise how big it was. Seeing all the people at ESL Studios made us realise how big it actually was.”

However, Overwatch wasn’t their first taste of esports, with Punk always egging his dad on to go to events.

“Before Overwatch, he was playing Counter-Strike and he took me to some event early last year at Qudos Bank Arena (IEM Sydney) and he made me sit two or three hours through these games and I had no idea what was happening. “People would cheer and I would ask ‘What happened?’ and he would say ‘I’ll tell you later there’s too much happening.’

“Unbeknownst to me, last year’s [Overwatch] World Cup came to Sydney with the Group Stage. He said to me ‘C’mon Dad, let’s go again,’ and I was like ‘Nah, not again, that was boring what we did last time, so how about I drop you off and I’ll pick you up at the end of the day?’

“I think he ended up talking to Maid (ex-Kanga Esports coach) and went with him and when I picked him up I asked ‘how was it?’ and he said ‘bloody good’ and that it was all very exciting. I asked him what game it was again and he said ‘it was Overwatch – the Overwatch World Cup’ and I went ‘oh alright’.”

“In hindsight, I wish we both had of gone! I can’t believe it was right in our backyard and we missed the opportunity.”

While that was Sean’s first experience as a spectator, he had his first true experience at the Dark Sided bootcamp just before Season 1 Contenders LAN.

“The Dark Sided boys had organised a bootcamp in the CyberGamer studio in Adelaide, and me being an interested parent wanted to go check it out.

“The studio was located in an area with a bunch of smash repairers and mechanics so it was a bit weird. When we got there, the place looked terrible compared to what we then had in Sydney! There was Red Bull everywhere and it looked like a bomb had gone off,” Sean laughed.

“I had organised to work out of my work’s Adelaide office for the week so I could keep an eye on them and meet the boys and go to their apartment. They were a great bunch of guys just having a bunch of fun, and it was really good to see that Leyton was hanging out with a bunch of genuinely nice people.

“They set up their PCs and kept practising. The team were preparing really hard and I could see the work they were putting in. Then I got a call one morning from Leyton. Someone had obviously seen the expensive PCs and electronics and ram raided through the front door and nicked some stuff.

“Leyton was going off like how it was really exciting and how the police were there and I’m sitting there in my office completely stressing my head off! Luckily they didn’t take anything important, but it was a surreal experience that’s for sure.

“While they didn’t beat Sydney Drop Bears at LAN [in the Season 1 final] after the boot camp, I think everyone thought that was the real Grand Final.”

“He’s in the entertainment industry 100%, and hanging around people like Custa in Bangkok has helped him realise that. In Bangkok, you could see him start coming out of his shell a bit and as he moves forward in his career he will have to get used to it.”

Between his commitments for Dark Sided and Team Australia though, Punk is in Year 11 in high school. Trying to strike a balance when both are so important has been tough, but he’s figured it out.

“Leyton manages to separate school from Overwatch. When he is at school it’s all about school, but as soon as he steps through the door at home it’s all Overwatch. He will stay back in the library for one, two, three hours after school just to get all his work done so when he comes home he can focus on the game,” said Sean.

“Leyton was massive into soccer and basketball in school, but he tore his ACL 50% one day and he couldn’t get it operated on. In those 6 months when he couldn’t do anything, that’s when he dedicated himself to gaming.

“We obviously have an agreement with him that if his grades slide we will need to rethink the whole gaming situation, but he’s always been a good student at school. He’s super dedicated to everything he does and I’m really proud of him for that,” Patty stated.

Convincing the school wasn’t as hard as first thought, either, but it’s just another obstacle to tackle.

“His school has been super supportive of his career. I’ve been on a bit of a crusade to get them onboard. He goes to a fairly sporty private school which helps, but they haven’t had to deal with an esports pro before.

“I remember going to the school just before the Season 1 Contenders LAN and organising a meeting with the Deputy Principal. I went ‘I need to take my son out of school for a week’ and he was like ‘okay, why?’. I said ‘have you ever heard of esports’ and he said ‘yes’ but they had never had to deal with it before. Leyton was their first.

“Leyton being the captain of Dark Sided helped with the process. Being able to say he was in a leadership position definitely got more leverage than if he was just a player lurking on the side.”

“Since then, it’s been a whole load of back and forth. I let the school know how he does, but they don’t announce it. His tutors let his classmates know and a lot more people follow him compared to before, but otherwise, he keeps it between his close mates – he doesn’t like talking himself up.”

Punk keeps Team Australia alive against China on Rialto with a 3K Self Destruct.

However, Sean and Patty see the esports industry not just as a game, but as entertainment, and Punk’s slowly adapting.

“He’s good at the game – everyone knows that – but he also needs to be marketable. So much money in the scene rides on you being a fun, marketable person.

“It was funny in Melbourne he got the interviews on stage and he quickly learnt to never drop the ‘L’ word on stage!” laughed Sean. “He didn’t the second time around, so that’s an improvement.”

And as for what they call him, well it’s pretty straightforward.

“To us, he’s always been our little Punk.” said Patty. “We’ve called him that since he was little, so it’s a nickname to us as much as its a nickname to everyone else.

“We chop and change a lot, but calling him Leyton in public feels awkward, so usually we stick to Punk,” laughed Sean.

The Overwatch World Cup will wrap up at BlizzCon. Team Australia will take on South Korea at 11:15am AEST on November 3. You can follow Sean, Patty and Cris on Twitter.

Ashley “Trill” Powell was Australia’s superstar in Bangkok.

The ‘smasher of good ults’ performed outstandingly on Winston, Reinhardt and his signature Wrecking Ball to lead Australia to a third BlizzCon berth. In fact, he was the first person to play Wrecking Ball in a competitive match – he pulled it out multiple times in Australia’s show match against Hong Kong before the World Cup.

However, for the Blank Esports main tank, 2018 hasn’t been all smooth sailing. The team struggled in Season 2 of Contenders Pacific after getting a berth in the Season 1 Grand Final in Taiwan. His legacy in the region runs deep though, having been a part of Blank’s extremely successful Overwatch Pacific Championship campaigns in 2017 which put the region on the map.

Reunited with old teammates Rqt and Gunba in Bangkok, and playing alongside current ones Hus and Ckm, the Australian World Cup squad made it through the “Group of Death” alive. Thanks to Sweden beating Denmark on Day 3, Australia only needed one map against China to qualify – and when they did, the Australian camp went wild.

Trill cleans up Shy and Sky of China to keep the point in Australia’s favour.

First of all, welcome back home. Were your family cheering you on from home during OWWC Bangkok?

Yeah, both my parents are super supportive and I love them for it, especially my dad. He catches up with the games when he’s off work and sees how I’m going.

Do they understand the game well?

Probably not honestly! They just listen to the casters and hope they say good things about me and then they’ll be like “Oh he’s doing well.”

Was it nice to enjoy the journey to Bangkok alongside Hus and Ckm and having some familiar faces with Rqt and Gunba too?

It was definitely nice to see old faces but I do enjoy meeting people so finally meeting up with the other boys was really cool. There wasn’t a lot of time we could spend outside exploring or doing much in Thailand because a lot of focus was on the World Cup.

“It would be my dream come true, that’s where everyone wants to be – playing in NA on that OWL stage. I haven’t really thought about a backup plan because honestly I’m pretty confident I can play to the standards of NA”
Ashley “Trill” Powell

What was the most memorable part of the trip – in or out of the game?

With the short amount of time and busy schedule we didn’t really get to do much outside of the game, so the most memorable moment would have to just be qualifying for BlizzCon against China.

Which team did you enjoy playing against the most while in Thailand and which player was your toughest opposition and why?

Thailand or Sweden was the most enjoyable because I think I did the best in those two games over the other matches.

As for toughest opposition, it was probably Shax. Denmark ran the super anti-dive comp which completely countered our strat and me being the main tank player meant that I literally just died over and over again. Jump in, die, repeat – that was what it was like playing against Denmark.

Speaking of Denmark, apparently you guys were going nuts backstage watching the Sweden-Denmark game because of what it meant for qualifying for BlizzCon. What was going through your head throughout the series?

So, all the boys were watching the game in the player lounge screaming and shouting for Sweden because we knew if Sweden beat Denmark, it would make our run so much easier. Because we wouldn’t have to beat China. Even though I think we could of beaten them in the end, I was just hoping Sweden would take it so we had a super high chance of making BlizzCon.

You’ve had a lot more LAN experience than pretty much the rest of the Aussie roster with OPC, World Cup 2017 and Pacific Season 1. Did this come in handy?

Having a bunch of LAN experience does come in handy, especially with the nervousness and stress. I think I deal with it pretty well – I’ve gotten pretty good at adjusting to chairs and desks so I never have my keyboard and mouse in a specific way that would make me play worse if I wasn’t comfortably holding it like I was at home.

To follow on from that, what’s has been your best LAN experience?

Definitely would have to be the 2017 Sydney World Cup Qualifier. The hospitality was insane, the hotel was nuts, and it was the first LAN I played in Australia so having a home crowd was amazing.

Now something a lot of people don’t know about you is you play from Broome, a town about 2 hours flight from Perth. How is the infrastructure up there? Do you get a few weird looks from the other locals about playing Overwatch?

It’s just how you would expect a small beach town would be. There isn’t a whole lot of huge buildings and a bunch of shops – it’s just a small town with a beautiful beach. I don’t think a lot of the people know that I play Overwatch professionally besides my close friends so it’s pretty normal and never gotten looks or people come up and talk to me about it.

You received a lot of praise for your play during the Bangkok Qualifier, with many saying you are deserving of an OWL spot. How does it feel to get all this praise?

The praise obviously feels insanely good and if anything it actually makes me want to grind harder and work even harder to become a better player which I believe I can.

Anyone’s praise which has really taken you aback?

Not really, I haven’t seen any like top OWL players saying it besides Custa. It’s mainly just the coaches or casters that I’ve never really talked to or I thought never knew about me were saying good things about me which was super cool.

What would it mean to play in NA or even OWL for you? If it fails what is your plan?

Well it would be my dream come true, that’s where everyone wants to be – playing in NA on that OWL stage. I haven’t really thought about a backup plan because honestly I’m pretty confident I can play to the standards of NA and I think I can make it eventually.

You are the ‘smasher of good ults’ – what is the best ultimate you’ve ever done in your competitive career in your opinion?

This is a hard one to answer because I honestly have no clue! I literally just do not know – there’s too many to choose from!

Well how did you get the nickname in the first place then?

I don’t really know, but I think it was Cinderella (Main Tank for Legacy) who made it ages ago back in a couple of other Australian tournaments. He’s a bit of a funny guy.

Well thanks for your time and good luck in the rest of your prep for BlizzCon!

You can follow Australia’s BlizzCon campaign come November 2, where they will face off against defending champions South Korea in their opening match in Anaheim.

Follow Trill and Team Australia on Twitter.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard/Robert Paul

Team Australia and Team China have qualified for BlizzCon after one of the most intense group stages in Overwatch World Cup history.

Going into Day 3 it was anyone’s game. While Spain and Thailand were technically out of qualification, the other four teams were in with a shot of booking their ticket to Anaheim.

While Sweden dispatched of host nation Thailand 3-1 in the first match of the day, them losing a map knocked them out of BlizzCon contention having needed two 4-0’s against Thailand and Denmark to have a chance.

China’s match against Spain was like a warm up for the top dogs of the group. Displaying their flexibility with the core roster and Krystal the substitute, China made light work of the Spanish roster who put up a valiant effort in a 4-0 sweep.

Then, the first critical game of the day came along. Australia needed Sweden to beat Denmark 3-1 or better for them to get a free ride to BlizzCon. On the other hand, Denmark just needed to win the series to qualify for BlizzCon.

A tightly contested back and forth affair saw Sweden put Denmark on the ropes after a strong Hollywood and Temple of Anubis. With only one map separating Sweden from victory and Australia from qualification, Denmark looked cleaner and more practiced on the lesser used Watchpoint: Gibraltar to take it to a map five.

Shax has been the MVP for Denmark this whole tournament – and arguably the player of the tournament – and his efforts on Nepal were crucial to Denmark getting over Sweden in the end. His McCree among other things has been top class and the Mayhem Academy DPS has made a name for himself this weekend in Bangkok.

With Australia’s fate now in their own hands against China, the stakes were high. China, undefeated to this point, had looked shaky against Thailand in their slim 3-2 victory yesterday. Australia just needed one map to qualify for BlizzCon ahead of Denmark on map wins.

On Nepal, China wiped the floor with Australia. While Australia won Village thanks to Ckm’s Pharah getting some time to free fire, China took Shrine and Sanctum convincingly. In what has been a weak point for Australia all tournament, Australia’s coach Gunba said that “we were really under practiced on KOTH, and we’ve only scrimmed Nepal twice.”

Onto King’s Row, Australia posted a strong defence on point A to whittle down the clock for China who were only able to make it halfway through phase three. Hus’ Widowmaker was shutting down the China attack from the very first shot, sniping Krystal’s Pharah out of the sky.

On the attack however, Australia were stalled out in the streets phase. One last ditch attempt with a minute on the clock used up the remnants of Australia’s ult economy as they headed into halftime without a map on the board.

“The players came back really nervous after the first two maps, but I told them to not look at the short term and instead look at the long term,”
Gunba, Team Australia Coach

Australia’s luck changed on Temple of Anubis. A respectable first attack saw them capture point A and get some progress onto point B, but Leave’s Sombra was all over the Australian back line, hacking and shutting down pushes. GuXue was a menace too, constantly diving Akraken and negating his impactful Ana.

However, come the defense phase, Australia truly shone. With Trill’s Orisa holding steadfast on the high ground, Hus’ Widowmaker constantly picked off China’s stragglers, never allowing them a fair fight on the point.

Krystal snuck away from the Australian defense with 30 seconds to go with a Dragon Blade ready – much to the cheers of the crowd to warn Australia. However, when he went to use it, Akraken neatly stunned him up on Brigitte as he dove, nuking him instantly and turning the fight in Australia’s favour to win the map.

From there, focus turned onto the series win. Ckm and Hus kept the momentum going on Rialto, the former once again showing up on Pharah while the latter was on the form of his life. However, it was Punk’s 3 man self destruct to keep the attack alive that pushed the hype to full throttle.

Punk keeps Team Australia alive against China on Rialto with a 3K Self Destruct.

It opened up an extra push when the point looked stalled out. On China’s attack, they were fast out of the blocks but were stalled on the bridge like Australia. Lady luck was on China’s side too after GuXue got booped overboard only to narrowly land on a passion boat.

However, Hus kept the rest of the team at bay with his long range Widow snipes. Punk’s extra push was the difference in the end, taking the match to a decisive map five on Lijiang Tower.

Unfortunately, that’s where Australia’s run ended. Krystal shut out Australia’s last hope of a first seed with a dominant McCree display on Night Market and an equally strong Zarya on Control Tower. Australia’s control struggles continued, only winning two from a possible six control maps over the weekend.

McCree was also Australia’s nemesis in Bangkok, and according to Custa this was due to the team not being comfortable on the GOATs comp. “They played a lot of McCree and the counter to McCree is GOATs, but we aren’t a strong GOATs team.”

“Our flexibility was our biggest weakness,” Gunba added.

In the press conference after the day’s action, Australia were smiling ear-to-ear, much to the pleasure of the cheering media pack.

Not only did Australia had to deal with the nerves of playing China, but they had to deal with watching the Sweden match before to determine their fate. “We were going absolutely crazy,” Hus said. Gunba backed him up saying that “we were confident that Sweden were going to win.”

However when it came to China, Custa commended them for their strength on Control – the key difference in the matchup. “China are a tough team to play. They are much better at KOTH than us and we were trying to mix things up.”

Akraken was full of praise for the undefeated squad saying “they are a really talented team” who had performed exceptionally well throughout the qualifier.

In a fun little question though, when asked about what he had for breakfast today, Hus said “I had some Chinese.” While you can make your own mind up about this, you can’t argue that his Widowmaker and Sombra wasn’t crucial in getting Australia across the line into BlizzCon.

As for what to expect at BlizzCon, the players haven’t looked that far ahead. “We will watch the France stage next weekend to see who we play,” said Custa “but we think it would be one of South Korea, US or France.”

“Out of those three, we’d like to play France,” Gunba stated.

Thailand wrapped up the day’s action with an emphatic victory over the winless Spain 3-1. Dropping the first map of Oasis, they then full held on King’s Row, Volskaya Industries and Rialto as the Thai crowd burned the house down.

Thanks for tuning into Snowball Esports’ coverage of OWWC Bangkok, we will be back to follow the Australians in action in Anaheim come November for BlizzCon!

Follow Team Australia and Snowball Esports on Twitter here.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard/OWWC.

AVRL and Pixie are the English-speaking faces of Contenders Pacific. While they’ve been on the screens of thousands of Asian and Oceanic fans for the last year, the New Zealand duo has never casted live from the Pacific region until OWWC Bangkok.

In fact, they’ve both battled their ways to the top of the region. Pixie juggled bar tending and being a tournament admin on top of pursuing his dream of casting, while AVRL put his communications degree on hold to try and make it big.

They’ve overcome geographical distance, language barriers in a developing scene to cast Contenders Pacific, and they don’t plan on stopping there.

I spoke to them before the Contenders Pacific final against Taiwanese team Talon Esports and Japanese team Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) about Contenders Pacific, Korean teams and the Pacific region as a whole at OWWC.

First of all, thanks for taking time out before the match today to have a chat about Pacific Overwatch. I’m going to through the most difficult question at you first – who will win tonight?

Pixie: You can justify either team winning, and it’s really tough to decide. This is Pacific’s ORDER v Dark Sided – you won’t be able to call it at the start, and you won’t be able to call it until the final map has been played.

AVRL: For me, Talon are a lot stronger on paper. You also have to consider that CAG have had a lot on their plate with World Cup as well as Contenders (CAG recently lost their previous main tank player in SamuraiD and have had to put Ta1yo on main tank in a role swap). They’re required to do more preparation for this event while Talon will be fresh.

Continuing on with the Japan point, in Season 1 of Contenders they weren’t able to find much success with Yoshimoto Encount, while in 2017 they fell bitterly close to BlizzCon after losing to Australia. Do you think CAG’s success in Season 2 will help build the Japanese scene?

Pixie: With Japanese esports there’s a big cultural difference. PC gaming is small over there compared to mobile gaming, but success brings fans. You look at Australian esports and having teams perform well on the global stage in a number of games has helped grow the scene. For New Zealand, it took the All Whites to make the FIFA World Cup for everyone to get interested in soccer. A good breakout team like CAG will hopefully help the scene grow.

AVRL: To build on that, hopefully it’ll invigorate local players to try harder. If they can see their country having success internationally – whether it be in Pacific or OWWC – they will be more motivated to play and reach that top level.

Now, you guys cast Overwatch Pacific from New Zealand. Contenders Pacific spans multiple countries and the largest geographical area of all Contenders regions. How much of an impact has the geographical distance had on your ability to cast?

Pixie: Well, of course we need translators for all the countries and nationalities, but it would be like that in a live setting too.

AVRL: We’ve been doing it for a while too so it helps. I can speak Chinese Mandarin, so that helps with the Taiwanese teams and production. The hours aren’t as egregious as you would think – if it finishes at 11pm, 1am, that’s fine.

Pixie: Casting Pacific though is still really enjoyable. Because it’s such a diverse region geographically and culturally, you get different experiences from everyone you talk to. It also reminds of me of Australia about three years ago. These different smaller regions – Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong – get to compete on a big stage. I get the same satisfaction seeing these regions grow as I did when I started out in Australia and New Zealand.

How did you guys start out as a duo?

Pixie: Well, AVRL was running a Hearthstone tournament in New Zealand and I was just interested as a spectator. We ended up chatting about casting the finals of the event, so we loaded up the VOD and did just that. Before that, I was casting League of Legends but falling out of love with the game as the opportunities weren’t there.

AVRL: I started out in Dota 2 in New Zealand, but the scene went a different direction than I was expecting and died out really quick. I swapped to Hearthstone but even then Pixie and I only did 3 or 4 events together. I invited him along to cast some Overwatch just after release because in a small scene you remember who you enjoyed working with and we got along really well.

Pixie: I ended up repaying the favour as well by introducing AVRL to his first professional event. From there, we just started doing everything together.

AVRL: It’s funny because we have very different personalities too – it’s a very interesting pairing. But at the same time, it was like we were made for each other and we work well together.

Pixie: We have the same hard work ethic, and while it was a little bit of right place at the right time, we still did our best to get noticed to move up the ladder.

Because Pacific also encompasses Korea too, you have multiple Korean teams who possibly weren’t good enough for Contenders Korea so they play in Pacific. What do you think of Korean teams playing in Pacific when they can play in Korea instead.

AVRL: Well we have very different views on this ourselves, so this should be interesting for you.

Pixie: Yeah…

AVRL: It’s a very difficult issue to address. You have two types of Korean teams: the type who are based in Korea and play in Pacific – a region they are more likely to find success in – or teams with endemic roots in Pacific who pick up full Korean rosters. Detonator Korea, the team who won Season 1 of Contenders Pacific, were a Japanese organisation with a full Korean team.

However when half the teams are full Korean rosters and others have one or two here or there, you will need to eventually find a solution to limit the amount of Korean teams. It’s not bad to have Korean teams but it reduces the opportunity for wider Pacific who don’t have the chance to play in Korea. A hard block is not the solution, but down the line something will have to be done.

Pixie: Pacific covers all of Asia and Oceania. There’s an argument for teams with discrete Contenders regions to play in their region only, but some teams have made their name outside of their region. Blank Esports played in OPC and Contenders Pacific and made their name outside of Australia. It’ll be difficult to enact a solution for such a big region.

The region will only get better when better teams play. It’s pretty undisputed that Koreans are the best, but if they come to Pacific and stomp the smaller regions, the smaller regions won’t improve. I agree there’s an over saturation of orgs, and when Pacific was on LAN it wasn’t as bad.

However, from a business perspective, a local roster might not net a good return of investment. Korean teams are just the face of the issue which stems from a large variance in skill and infrastructure.

Well one place where Pacific players can shine outside of Contenders Pacific is in OWWC. Out of all the Pacific teams playing in any group stage, who has impressed you the most?

Pixie: Even though they lost today, Patiphan (Thailand, Xavier Esports) 100%.

AVRL: For me, it’s gotta be the Blank players (Hus, Ckm and Trill) on Team Australia. It’ll be a bit of redemption for them after a disappointing Season 2 in Contenders Pacific and this is the perfect opportunity to find some. It’s also a similar story for Thailand – MEGA and Xavier had an equally rough season.

Pixie: Japan (CAG) also had a rough run in OWWC after a great season in Contenders Pacific. They’ve got a chance to prove themselves after the World Cup finishes today, and while their own OWWC campaign in Incheon failed, their Pacific campaign is still alive in Bangkok.

It’s your first live Pacific LAN as well. Excited? Anyone you want to shout out to?

AVRL: I’m just excited to be in Bangkok. It’s our first live finals for Pacific, and I wanna kill it.

Pixie: It’s so satisfying to be here for the finals. We’ve got a special attachment to the region and we finally get the chance to meet the players behind that and I’m grateful for that. I’m just wishing to do a great cast for a great game.

Well good luck on stream tonight, I’m sure you’ll smash it.

Indeed they did smash it too. Talon Esports, a Hong Kong org with a full Korean roster, eclipsed the full Japanese lineup of Cyclops Athlete Gaming in a 4-2 thriller. Contenders Pacific is a melting pot of talent that Oceania’s own Blank Esports participates in, and it resembles a bright future for SEA esports as a whole.

You can follow AVRL and Pixie on Twitter here.

Photos courtesy of MEO/ESL Australia

This is going to be a more personal article than anything I’ve ever written.

I sat with the diehards in the crowd for most Australian matches at OWWC Bangkok. Sitting next to the 20 or so Aussies who flew from all over the country, sitting next to the parents of the young Akraken and Punk, our voices louder than the hundreds – even thousands strong crowd.

Coming into Day 2, Australia needed a few results to go their way. If Denmark lost to Sweden 0-4 or 1-3, we were straight through to Blizzcon. If it was a 2-3, we needed one map off China. As Sweden were led under the guide of Reinforce and the roar of the Australians, they closed out an intense five-map series.

We had honestly thought at that point we were through. It wasn’t until we returned to the media room, checked the rule book and saw that the tie-breaker was “map wins” and not “map differential” did we realise that we needed to win another map. Australia and Denmark were on 12 maps a piece and they held the head-to-head after beating us 3-1 yesterday.

Then it was our turn on stage. As I sat next to the diehards, we were totally and utterly outnumbered by the rest of the crowd. China’s fans took up a whole block while we took up a row. But, the fifth floor of the Siam Paragon was packed with spectators – some from either side, some neutral, but all were hoping for a great game of Overwatch.

And that’s what we got. A nail biter from start to finish. One map, we constantly told ourselves. Control hadn’t been our strong point the entire weekend, and we were exploited for it by China. We lost the first point on Nepal but it wasn’t over. Punk’s Mum said it herself: “It’s a best of three. We can come back.”

We managed to take Village thanks to Ckm firing from above on Pharah but it wasn’t enough to win the map. We went down on Shrine but hopes were still high.

One map. King’s Row was Hus’ playground. He was constantly landing headshot after headshot on Widow. He landed massive EMPs on Sombra and even did a cheeky back-cap or two to keep us in the map . While our defense was strong, we faltered in attack. One last fight, one last ultimate investment coming near the end of Streets, but it wasn’t enough.

A break. A breather. Time to calm down and just hope.

While Australia’s map choices had been a bit wacky throughout the World Cup, Gunba was sticking to the tried and true trio of King’s Row, Temple of Anubis and possibly Rialto. Our defense on Anubis had been strong all weekend.

We rattled out our Aussie Aussie Aussie chant in hope, trying to deafen the hundreds-strong Chinese fan base. Our attack was okay, it was a bit slow to start out with but we still captured the first point. Hus was still hunting heads, Trill was having a field day on the Chinese supports. While we weren’t able to capture the second point, we weren’t concerned. Defense had been our strong point.

Trill’s Orisa stood its ground. Hus’ Widowmaker was unstoppable. Ckm’s Junkrat and Pharah looked terrifying the entire series. Custa and Akraken were flexing onto every possible support to make it work. And then there was Punk’s trusty D.Va.

As three minutes ticked down to two, the tension was high. Cheering every kill, every dink, every hold. We had split China off and Hus was picking them off. Sitting next to Sandsh8rk, who was one of the leading voices of the diehards, we had an arm on each other’s shoulders as we braced for the win.

Then as overtime came and ticked down, we were on the edge of our seats. Then the play happened. China’s Krystal had just popped his Dragon Blade which he had held onto for over a minute. He had just snuck away from the chasing Aussies after winning the previous fight and as he dived on the back line, Akraken turned around on Brigitte and stunned him.

From there, we were on our feet. We knew we had it. The fight was ours to take, and then as Hus picked off Sky and Krystal on the return, the map had finished.

Australia were going to BlizzCon.

You probably saw the scenes of us jumping around on stream – the entire row was on their feet. For Punk and Akraken’s parents who were sitting behind us, it was a proud moment. Ashley led the Aussie Aussie Aussie after the win and we had the whole crowd behind us. A Chinese fan even gave us some Strepsils to soothe our aching throats. Being a part of that was something I don’t think I’ll get the chance to experience again.

Of course, there was another map and potentially a tie-breaker too. On Rialto, while our first attack was strong, we were still held off on the second phase just like King’s Row. Our defense was steadfast though. Punk came up absolutely clutch with a three-man Self Destruct and everyone was on their feet. Hus was spawn camping them with his Widowmaker – he was by far the MVP of this series.

Australia clinch their ticket to Blizzcon and the playoffs of the Overwatch World Cup 2018.

Then as the final fight came around, with China’s ult economy drained, we were in for a map five and a chance at being the first seed. The roars were even louder than the first time around.

While we were hopeful that we could miraculously take the series, it was also on Lijiang Tower. On Night Market, Sky’s McCree shut down any semblance of an attack before it started. We never got set on the map and while Hus pulled out the counter McCree we weren’t able to get on the board.

Then on Control Tower, the GOATs deathball was too strong. While Ckm’s Pharah was firing from above, it wasn’t enough to swing the tides in our favour. While the match ended in a painful 2-3, the deed was done and we were going to Blizzcon. The Chinese fans were going off like we did just two maps earlier. Fair play to them too, they had played amazingly throughout the weekend to get first seed.

However, as Custa led the crowd through one last Aussie Aussie Aussie, it all finally sunk in. Australia are going to Blizzcon and on my first ever international press tour I was able to see it with my own two eyes.

And that’s an experience I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard/OWWC

Scott “Custa” Kennedy and Jordan “Gunba” Graham are Australia’s lovable Overwatch League duo from the Los Angeles Valiant.

While Custa started off the year at Dallas Fuel, a mid-season trade to Valiant has done him wonders. The Valiant turned their season around in Stages 3 and 4 with Custa as the captain, even netting a Stage 4 Playoffs title. As for Gunba, the ex-Blank Esports player has found his way into a coaching role over at the Valiant since the start of the year and has been critical to the team’s success.

Now at OWWC 2018, the two are the experienced heads leading a young, talented lineup of Australian players. Alongside old teammate Rqt, Gunba has theory crafted some of the more unique map/hero combinations of the World Cup to keep opponent’s constantly on their toes. As for Custa, he’s been actively leading the team through shotcalling and strategy while still performing on his support A-game.

Akraken salvages Oasis: City Centre for Australia with a clutch coalescence against Denmark.

I got the chance to sit down with Custa and Gunba after their Day 2 victory over Sweden to talk about their innovation, Blizzcon and the future of the Australian lineup.

So, how was the game against Sweden?

Custa: It was a good win, honestly. It was the biggest win you can get – a 4-0 – so you can’t complain.

Gunba: As expected.

All to plan?

Custa: Trust the process, that’s Gunba’s line.

Gunba: Losing to Denmark was part of the strategy. It was to lower our confidence, it was too high after that 4-0 (against Thailand).

And the thing that’s been the most outstanding from watching Australia has been how innovative your map choices have been. We’ve seen Blizzard World, Numbani, Junkertown – not really what everyone else has been picking. Obviously that’s part of the plan but how do you think your diverse map pools helps you against other teams?

Gunba: I think what helped us a lot was that every single group stage, teams seem to pick the same maps in every slot and we kinda knew that because we had two group stages before this. So we looked at the numbers and we were like okay, everyone wants to play these maps (namely King’s Row, Temple of Anubis and Rialto), so we should really practice these maps. If we are good at these and have a few of our own maps up our sleeve, then we will win.

For some reason – I don’t understand why – teams are coming in and picking the same maps again. It feels like a mistake to me because it’s so easy to practice those and get huge value with less practice compared to some other maps. So having niche maps is definitely the play for the World Cup team.

Custa: It’s the idea that the amount you are going to learn on an map is x, and if you learn the core maps to x, but also have some other maps which you are just better at everyone else on them…

Gunba: The bar isn’t high up on Blizzard World. You know, no one’s even played it. It’s hard for us to practice though because no one wants to scrim on it.

Custa: Everyone just wants to practice KOTH (Control). I hate KOTH.

Another thing I’ve been a bit astounded by is Akraken on the Ana – who is known more for his Zenyatta in Contenders Australia – and you, Custa, on the Zen instead. That’s been an interesting combo to watch, but how well do you think it’s been working?

Custa: It’s a very different combo. The problem with Ana/Zen is that your survivability as a combo is really low – you don’t have anything that can keep you alive. We played it a lot more today because both teams weren’t really playing much Winston or dive – they were playing very turtle-y comps like Denmark on Brigitte/McCree everywhere.

You have to play Ana – but the role of a main support is all over the place at the moment. You see a lot of teams playing Mercy, a lot of teams playing only Lucio. I’ve pretty done a bit of it all in World Cup though. I’ve played a bit of Ana on Anubis, but Akraken takes Brigitte though.

Now you are the only two Australians in the Overwatch League. Custa’s story is very well known but Gunba’s story isn’t, so do you have an interesting story?

Gunba: I was a software engineer, but I quit to play on Blank Esports in Pacific and I was like “man, Australian esports is going nowhere, I should probably try and make that transition.” I have a lot of analytical skills – no people skills whatsoever – but a lot of logic and analytical skill so I felt like I could do the coaching thing. So I posted a video, analysing the World Cup funnily enough, and LA Valiant saw it and I got in.

“It would be great to go to Blizzcon would be for the rest of the team. They want to go to Contenders, they want to go to Overwatch League. Beating Sweden was nice, and our World Cup goal is to build a resume for these guys.”
Scott “Custa” Kennedy

And where would you see yourselves without Overwatch?

Gunba: Probably still coding.

Custa: Civil engineer, sadly. It’s been a turn for the good.

Gunba: Engineers.

Custa: We suck.

Someone’s gotta do the job. Anyways, you’ve just beaten Sweden, and you are in with a good shot of going to Blizzcon against China…

Gunba: It’s 50/50.

Custa: I haven’t done the math, but I think if we beat China we go through.

…yes, so how would it feel to wear a different kind of Green and Gold at Blizzcon?

Custa: Ah, we were talking about it before. We don’t really care about Blizzcon as much. Obviously it would be great to play there, but you know, realistically Australia won’t go so well at Blizzcon because there are some incredible teams.

But, the reason it would be great to go to Blizzcon would be for the rest of the team. They want to go to Contenders, they want to go to Overwatch League. Beating Sweden was nice, and our World Cup goal is to build a resume for these guys.

Gunba: I have a feeling we could beat half of the teams. Finland, Canada, UK, France.

Custa: Those are a bit of a stretch…

…well Canada had a pretty good glory run last year.

Custa: Well they beat Australia and then they scraped by another team.

Gunba: Maybe Russia or something? (NOTE: It was Sweden).

Custa: Yeah, I think they had a pretty easy run through. So, it’ll be interesting. Obviously I’d love to go to Blizzcon, but what’s more important for us is getting these guys to the next step in their careers.

Speaking of the rest of the team, Custa has spoken very highly of Punk in the past. Playing with him now here in Bangkok – do you think he has a massive future ahead of him?

Custa: Absolutely 100%. I’ve always thought that Punk and Trill have a very easy way to get into Overwatch League. They are very smart guys, very dedicated, willing to listen and very talented. But, the more interesting one is Akraken who is playing out of his mind at the moment so this has been great for him. I think all three of those guys can really go far and the other guys definitely have a spot in Contenders and I hope they can push themselves to the League.

Gunba: I expect at the very least to see Trill in the Overwatch League. Not even biased, but I think he is definitely better than the bottom five main tanks in the League. Then the two young ones – Akraken and Punk – to play on stage at that age, with almost no LAN experience whatsoever, and perform like that is incredible. I think they are really really good.

Possibly, if an Australian org appears in Season 3 could we see you there?

Custa: I’ve always said that I would love to play for an Australian team but as long as my run with Valiant keeps going then, you know, if I ever part ways with Valiant I’ll love to play for an Australian team.

Gunba: So when you’re washed up basically.

Custa: Yeah…actually no, that’s China. When you are washed up you go to China and they give you the big money once you are washed up.

That’s the Korean League pro way of doing it.

Custa: Yeah that’s what I’m aiming for.

And why don’t you wear your onesies on stage?

Custa: This is a big controversial topic of the players don’t really want to because you’d have to take the onesie off as well and it’s just a lot of hassle…

Who is the party pooper?

Custa: Mainly me.

Gunba: Yep. They are really hot, to be fair.

But it’s cold in the arena!

Custa: Yeah, but I think we’ve also done a lot of great content with the onesies and I’ve had a lot of fun doing it, but I think getting on stage with the onesies will be one step too far.

Gunba: I can agree with that. We should have done it earlier. We aren’t going into the match which decides our careers in onesies. (laughing)

Custa: Can’t wait to play against China in a onesie! We said if we won both matches today, because we would have been locked in for Blizzcon, we would go up against China tomorrow in the onesies, so really it’s Denmark’s fault!

Oh well. It’s been wonderful chatting with you guys. I hope you beat China and good luck tomorrow!

You can catch Australia take on China at 6:15pm AEST tonight for a chance to qualify for Blizzcon on Twitch.

Be sure to follow Custa and Gunba on Twitter.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard/OWWC

Pongphop “Mickie” Rattanasangchod is the embodiment of the Pacific spirit. His story is like a fairytale.

Scouted from this very tournament in 2016 by the late INTERNETHULK, he went from playing small LANs in Thailand to playing in front of massive crowds at APEX on EnvyUs. He has gone on to play for Thailand at all three World Cups, as well as becoming the off-tank for Dallas Fuel in the Overwatch League.

Thailand’s World Cup run has been unlucky to say the least. Losing to Denmark in a tough 3-1 to start the tournament. A close 4-0 against Australia, where any map could have gone either way. A nail-biter 5 map series against China, where they were so close to completing the reverse sweep. None of these games have fallen their way.

But for the nation who everyone discounted before the tournament, they’ve played with the heart and soul of a tiger. The roar of the crowd has been deafening for the hometown heroes in defeat, one can only imagine the seven floors of the Siam Paragon tumbling down if they take away a win.

Patiphan and Mickie combine to wipe Australia out on King’s Row

The ever smiling Thai hero of Overwatch is playing on home soil for the first time in his competitive career, leading a team of mostly unknown Thai players into the ‘Group of Death’ at the OWWC Bangkok Stage. I spoke to Mickie after the team’s tight loss to China, and he was smiling as wide as ever.

So, Mickie, how are you feeling?

A lot better, especially since I’m back home.

Got homesick a bit while you were in LA?

I got homesick because we lost a lot of matches, you know, and we were feeling down because we couldn’t relax.

I guess your tail end of the season – Stages 3 and 4 – were a lot better, and you spoke a lot about how you were really positive throughout it all. Now with the World Cup, with a bit of adversity in the team – it’s quite a tough group in your home event – how is the team morale?

I think people just underrated us. Also for me, I was underrating some teams in the group as well. It’s kinda normal because every time you think about how good they are, it’s according to last year. So people would expect Sweden to be one of the best, but for us, I think China is one of the best. Then going into the matches, I think we are close to any team. Even though the score is 1-3 or 0-4, but in the match, almost any map is close. I’m really proud of my team.

It was expected for China to be a powerhouse…

I thought we were going to be stomped by China! (laughing)

“I just told the team to go out and shine and show what we have. We don’t have stomp them hard, we don’t have to beat anyone, we just do our best and someone might notice us.”

…and quite honestly your match against China was one of the most amazing matches of Overwatch I’ve watched this year. How did it feel to have the home crowd roaring over the stage as you slowly took over?

While I’m in the game, I didn’t even take notice of it. I put 100% focus on the game and I also have to think about a plan. So, after the match, a little bit.

You said that you weren’t expecting much out of it, but as you took Temple of Anubi, then Gibraltar, then onto Oasis, how was the team morale?

At that moment, I’m trying to say “okay guys, everyone just keep it hype” because the ones who are about to get reverse sweeped are going to have lower energy, performance – everything is going to be bad. So I’m just like “do your best.” That’s what I’m saying before the match.

You’ve also had a bit of time to play with the Thailand team now that you’ve been back home. Who on the team has impressed you the most?

I think Teetawat (MEGA Esports) impressed me last year and this year. He has kept his performance consistent to this year. But for this year, I’ve never played with Patiphan (Xavier Esports) before – this is my first year playing with him and he crushed on them man!

As an Australian, even in the 4-0 yesterday he was absolutely phenomenal. Do you see a future for him?

I mean he is 15 so he doesn’t have a chance to go to Overwatch League but he might join an NA Contenders team…

…under your wing?

I have no idea (laughing). That’s the future.

Now this is your first LAN event in Thailand as a professional and the crowd here is bigger than say APEX or Overwatch League. Is it a surreal experience when you can walk around after the games and see thousands of fans?

I can’t even walk around! Like, if I’m playing outside of the country in the US, or Korea, or even in China – after the match I could walk around just fine. One person might take a picture with me and only 50 people would notice me. In Thailand, it would be 1000 and I can’t walk around. I don’t want to say “sorry I’ve got to go” – they are going to feel like I’m arrogant. But I can’t just stay for 2 hours and take pictures – I just can’t!

You’ve still got a couple more games to go tomorrow against Sweden and Spain and you can’t make it to Blizzcon now, but how do you think you will go?

Yesterday I told the team that the only chance we have of going to Blizzcon is if someone goes 5-0 and there’s a three-way tie at 3-2 – it was nearly impossible. So I just told the team to go out and shine and show what we have. We don’t have stomp them hard, we don’t have to beat anyone, we just do our best and someone might notice us.

Everyone knows you for your personality out of the game, but how would you describe yourself in game?

For Thailand, this is the first year I’ve become a captain of the team, which means I’m taking the shotcalling and the ultimate timing – like everything in the team. Mentality, coaching, I took everything and in game I never stop talking. They might go “can you like stop talking for a minute?” because I’m calling everything! I can say I’m trying so hard because I want my teammates to shine internationally.

Well it’s been wonderful talking to you and meeting you after seeing you on broadcast for so long. Good luck for the rest of the tournament and the future!

Thank you!

You can catch Thailand’s next game against Sweden at 1pm AEST tomorrow on Twitch.

Be sure to follow Mickie and Team Thailand on Twitter.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard/OWWC

Australia’s first day at the Overwatch World Cup Bangkok Stage got off to a shaky start. Dropping Lijiang Tower to Spain in surprising fashion, the team managed to bounce back and finish strong with a 3-1 series win.

Against host nation Thailand, the team defied the roaring crowds to give us the only 4-0 sweep of the day. The Australian diehards kept the chants going as Australia managed to constantly be one step ahead.

While the games today were close – closer than some would hope – there were some individual standout performances. Felix “Ckm” Murray, projectile DPS for Blank Esports and Team Australia, played superbly well on Pharah, Genji and Junkrat throughout the day. He was a menace against the GOATs-running Team Spain and a hyper-aggressive Team Thailand.

Blank team mates Hus and Ckm combine to keep Australia alive on Lijiang Tower against Spain.

I spoke to Ckm after Australia’s victory over Thailand about Thailand, playing at LAN and his performances today.

So, how’s Thailand been?

Good, hot and sticky. It’s pretty good to come over to play a LAN. We’ve been scrimming a lot while we’ve been over here, and I love the grind, so it’s been enjoyable.

How’s your preparation been like on the grind?

We have a lot of teams we can scrim – all 5 of the World Cup teams plus Talon and Cyclops from Contenders Pacific. We can share a few more cheesy strats with the latter, but we have to be a bit more reserved with the other World Cup teams. We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve though.

Your last LAN was for Season 1 Pacific, and that didn’t have a crowd. How does it feel to play in front of one?

It’s been great. For the Season 1 Contenders Pacific LAN, we would only play in a studio in front of 20 to 30 people. Here, you’ve got hundreds of screaming fans, which can be intimidating, but I love the adrenaline rush. I haven’t really gotten nervous – maybe a little shaky, but not nervous.

And that really showed in your play today – your Pharah was off the charts. How pleased were you in your performance today?

I mean, against Spain, they didn’t even look at me. Because they were running triple support, they didn’t really have much to deal with me in the air as Pharah. I thought I played terribly on Lijiang Tower but I brought it back. I had a couple of good plays but nothing spectacular.

My Genji on the other hand today was terrible for me. I didn’t have any decent blades, so I’ll be looking to brush up on that for tomorrow.

Your competition for tomorrow is pretty tough too – Denmark first thing in the morning and then Sweden. After getting today out of the way, how do you think you’ll fare with a couple more games under your belt?

Well, we’ve got scrims tonight so I’ll have a bit of time to practice my Genji. I think that we will go alright – we were the only team to 4-0 today so everyone is feeling pretty good. Tomorrow will be our toughest day that’s for sure.

Going into the World Cup, you’d suspect that Sweden would be tougher competition than Denmark, but I’ve been really impressed by them. We’ve scrimmed Denmark a few times and they play the same 1 or 2 deathball comps, and when they played today they played as expected, so as long as we play to counter them then we will be okay.

Well good luck in your scrim tonight, and best of luck on stage tomorrow!

Be sure to catch Team Australia play against Denmark and Sweden tomorrow, Saturday 15th September starting from 1pm AEST on Twitch.

Be sure to follow Ckm and Team Australia on Twitter.