San Francisco Shock interview: Friends, flexibility, and their best Heroes

The Overwatch League Grand Finals ended with the San Francisco Shock being the victors. Luckily enough, I was one of the two Daily Esports reporters at the event and got to interview the Shock both before and after the game. The two main press conferences were on the Friday before the event and on Sunday post-match.

A lot of serious questions were being asked, like if the players thought they would win or how they felt about the match. I took a more fun route, still wanting to know more about their teams but also wanting to see their moods for the upcoming grand finals.

Pre-Game Press Conference

One of the first questions I asked almost all of the players was:

“Who is your best friend who isn’t on the Shock?”

Smurf: Erster.

Moth: Dogman. (Both Moth and Dusttin “Dogman” Bowerman are known for their rise from collegiate Overwatch to the main stage)

Nevix: Danteh. (Former teammates on the San Francisco Shock)

Architect: NoSmite. (Former teammates for X6-Gaming in Korean Contenders)

Choihyobin: Korean player GodsB. (Former teammates for X6-Gaming in Korean Contenders)

Viol2t: Ivy. (Former teammate for O2 Ardeont in Korean Contenders)

Rascal: Birdring, I think? (Former teammates on the London Spitfire)

Sinatraa: Probably… Space. (Teammates for Team USA)

Super: Danteh. (Former teammates on the San Francisco Shock)

Striker: For me? Neko. (Former teammates on the Boston Uprising)

The next question I tried to ask every player was a bit more humorous:

“What is the word you’ve yelled the most on stage?”

Smurf: ‘Carry me’?

Moth: Generally… ‘push’.

Nevix: ‘Carry me’, a lot.

Architect: ‘Winnable’.

Choihyobin: ‘Have fun’ (coach then said no, saying it was actually ‘I believe you’)

Viol2t: I don’t really have anything I say.

Rascal: ‘Carry me’? Yeah, for sure, ‘carry me’.

Sinatraa: ‘Garbage’?

Super: ‘Feeding’. For sure.

Striker: ‘Carry me’.

The third question always depended on who I talked to on the team, getting one personal question per group of players. For example, I asked this to Matthew “super” DeLisi and Jay “sinatraa” Won:

“Is this truly something you guys were expecting since you faced [the Vancouver Titans] in stage one; facing them as Grand Finals opponents?”

Super: We definitely talked about it after stage one, like yeah, we’ll see these guys in the finals, you know. I mean, it just kinda makes sense. They’ve been good all season, we’ve been good all season, best two teams in the league…

Sinatraa: Yeah, we kinda knew. We talked about it before. We basically knew. It was either them or… New York, but we knew something was about [the Titans].

Michael: There were a couple other teams in that picture, but you definitely knew Vancouver was on top.

Sinatraa: Yep.

While that was the end for me talking to Super and Sinatraa before the match, I got some more questions in for the other players on the Shock.

“With the rapidly changing meta in this league, who would you say is your best hero right now?”

Rascal: My best hero? Um… Mei, I’d have to say Mei.

Viol2t: Moira.

Choihyobin: Since I’m forced to be a Sigma one trick, I would have to say Sigma.

Architect: Since I’m a flex player, I have confidence to play any hero, but right now I would have to say Bastion.

After that, the next simple question, aimed to star DPS player Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon, was met with a simple answer:

“After not playing much for the Shock in the first three stages, was playing a lot in stage four and the playoffs a surprise to you?”

Striker: …Yeah.

I asked a similar question to Myeong-hwan “smurf” Yoo, who replied:

Smurf: Because we always prepare for the next stage, I expected it and knew I could do it well.

My last question in the pre-match conference was aimed towards Grant “moth” Espe and Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson, focusing on their flexibility:

“With how complicated these past two metas have been, do you think the flexibility you provide makes you a worse player in your role or better?”

Moth: I think it makes me better. I like to think I’m a very flexible main support, so in a meta where I can play multiple roles, it’s an advantage.

Michael: You’d want to have those tricks up your sleeve; the opportunity to switch to whatever your team needs.

Moth gave a quick nod to that. Then we turned to their substitute off tank, Nevix, who talked about learning Sigma.

Nevix: When they release a new hero, I think I learn the new hero pretty quick. I kinda have an advantage that way.

Michael: Would you say you’re one of the best at learning new heroes then?

Nevix: I wouldn’t know if I’m the best, but I know I’m good at that.

Moth: He is the best at it.

That was it for the pre-game interview for the San Francisco Shock. Next one up will be the Vancouver Titans’ pre-game interview.

Disclosure: Enthusiast Gaming owns both Daily Esports and a stake in the Vancouver Titans.