Thank you to Nick D’Orazio for helping us get an interview with Agilities! Thank you to LA Gladiators for hosting college night!
Agilities
What do you think of the Junkrat and Mercy changes?
I am very happy about it. The game is just going to be much more enjoyable for everyone. Even on the first day when the patch came out, I was enjoying watching and enjoying playing the game more. I feel like Junkrat may need a bigger nerf than that because he’s still very powerful. Maybe a little too powerful. His tire is crazy.
How do you think the meta will develop? Do you see any other characters becoming stronger due to these changes?
I think more supports will become stronger. I think Moira and Ana will be played more. The main comps that I’ve run into right now are quad tank because Lucio and Moira just go in with the tanks. Speed boost in and Moira heals all of the tanks at once.
Thoughts on collegiate Overwatch teams?
I think there’s a place for it. Those players that aren’t in the Overwatch League, like from that [collegiate] to the Overwatch League is a really big step. I think it’s a good idea. It gives Blizzard a lot of publicity. It gets viewers from the colleges.
Advice/ tips for players looking to go pro after collegiate?
You can’t get too down on yourself if you’re not making it. You have to put in 100% effort and play every chance you get. If you put in the practice and review your own mistakes, using Overwatch as an example, if you record your own POV and watch it later, you can see what you’re doing wrong and then you could try to fix those mistakes. That will probably help more than just playing the game. I feel that if you watch your own gameplay, it’s the easiest way to improve.
If you’re really good at the game and you have 100% confidence that you can make it, then it’s probably better to focus on the gaming side. If you’re not confident in yourself, then you need to balance it and have a backup plan. If you don’t make it in esports and drop out of college, then you’re kind of screwed. The best way to do it is to have smart practice so that when you get the chance to play, you’re getting the most out of it.
LA Gladiators is hosting a college night/ meet and greet. Fans get the opportunity to play Connect 4 against Surefour. Do you think that you could beat him in Connect 4?
I don’t know, I used to be pretty good at Connect 4. I can challenge him.
LA Valiant viewing party at UCI?
I would like join them and be at one in the future. I think it’d be cool.
Shoutouts
Thank you to the fans, thanks for supporting us and we’ll hope to do good in the future as well.
Bischu
What do you think of the Junkrat and Mercy changes?
I’m pretty happy with the changes. A lot of the times the kills kind of felt robbed. You make a sick pick and then it doesn’t even matter anymore because res is up. It kind of rewarded you for playing aggressively, being unsafe, and having bad positioning. I’m happy to see Mercy go for sure. I think Junkrat is still a little bit too strong in my opinion but I’m still happy with the changes. People might not think that it’s a big change, but Junkrat not being able to 2-shot you with “skill” isn’t really a thing anymore. It was crazy. You could miss your shots and still be relevant.
Do you think they will still be viable characters to play?
Junkrat will still be viable.
How do you think the meta will develop? Do you see any other characters becoming stronger due to these changes?
I think the meta will shift to tank meta where teams will run at least three tanks. I think that Moira and Lucio will get a lot more play time. People don’t know how much AoE healing that is. When you guys are all clumped, the tanks can’t die. It’s crazy. There’s so much healing. If people remember back when Ana came out, it was all about building ults fast. It’s similar with Moira. I think she’s going to need a bit of an ult nerf. She’s getting it way too fast. It feels like season 3 Ana where you tell your team to just take hits and build ults.
If there were a need for a significant patch change in the future, do you think that they’d implement the patch immediately or after a stage?
If something was incredibly broken, I feel like they would hotfix it. As long as it’s not game breaking, I don’t think they’d patch in the middle of a stage.
General thoughts on collegiate Overwatch teams?
I think collegiate Overwatch being there is really good. I was on a collegiate team myself back when I used to play League of Legends. It’s a little bit weird though because if you look at traditional sports, people go from college sports into the professional scene. In esports, the transition from the collegiate scene to the pro scene isn’t really there. You don’t really hear about great college players going into professional esports. I’m a little disappointed that the transition isn’t as smooth but I feel like in the future especially with the Overwatch League being so well made and produced, I feel that it’s set a good future for aspiring talent out there
UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and University of Toronto are in the Fiesta Bowl Overwatch Collegiate Championship. Who are you rooting for?
I gotta root for my boys from San Diego!
[Bischu smiles and laughs]
Advice/ tips for players looking to go pro after collegiate?
It’s really up to them. I was only going to college for a year and I saw a good opportunity and took it. It’s not as scary as it seems. If anyone puts in the effort and remembers that they’re doing it for themselves, they can do it. I forget it sometimes too. I just play and then I get complacent and then I stop practicing and stop watching vods. Every day someone else is doing all of that. As long as you put in the effort anyone can do it, and don’t be too scared.
So you guys are hosting a college night and meet and greet today at the Guildhall. Do you think you could beat Surefour at Connect 4?
I don’t know. He’s pretty big brain so we’ll see. I’m pretty confident too, but Surefour is definitely the main boss here.
Any advice for climbing solo queue?
Play D.Va.
[Bischu laughs]
Shoutouts
To my family who supported me through all of this. I’m happy that they’re happy with where I am. I was stressed out and they were just as stressed out. I’m really happy with how everything turned out and they still support me. Big shoutouts to the fans. None this would’ve been possible without the fans. We would just be here (College Night at Guidhall in LA) in an empty bar.
Thank you so much to Agilities and Bischu for their time and good luck on their future matches. Follow their teams LA Valiant and LA Gladiators. Player photos taken by Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment. College Night photos taken by Oshin Tudayan.
