Group Stage 2 of the 2018 Overwatch World Cup started off with a bang. A supercharged Team Canada steamrolled Team Austria, sweeping the series 4-0 with style points to boot.



Team Canada was the runner-up of last year’s OWWC, and this year, it doesn’t look like its settling for any less than the trophy. Team Canada’s core has returned with a wealth of Overwatch League experience and a far better understanding of team play. The addition of a support staff, headed by Dallas Fuel Assistant Coach Justin “Jayne” Conroy, has made all the difference in formulating strategies ahead of matches.



Regardless of what Team Canada’s plan was for Team Austria was, it certainly worked. Jumping out to a quick 2-0, Team Canada made a mid-series substitution that had spectators scratching their heads. DPS Brady “Agilities” Girardi was being subbed in for Flex Support Chris “Bani” Benell — to play Lucio.



Agilities played the hero to a surprising level of comfort. However, no one could have predicted how ready he was to break it down:









Team Canada was able to qualify for the 2017 OWWC Finals against South Korea with outstanding individual plays. Its stars return with more experience, skill, and far more infrastructure conducive to team success.



Agilities time on the LA Valiant has transformed him as a player. The Genji specialist has worked hard to expand his hero pool and the experience from the Overwatch League shows in his comfort on stage. I sat down with Agilities to discuss his slick Lucio mechanics, look ahead to Blizzcon, and reflect on his growth as a player.

Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Ent.

I’m here with Agilities from Team Canada. You guys just completed a 2-0 Day 1 and look very strong right now. Would you say Team Canada is the favorite of this group stage?



Yeah, I think we’re the strongest team. I think we have Norway and USA to look out for the most, but other than that, it should be pretty easy. We’re going to put more of our resources towards focusing on the match vs. Team USA most likely. We really want to win that match.



Team USA is the other roster in this group with a supercharged roster full of Overwatch League Players, but let’s talk about Team Norway a bit. They’ve been labeled as the dark horse of the group. What makes them more formidable than the other tier 2 teams?



I think that their DPS players are pretty good. Onigod is a really good player, and to have Decod as the Main Tank is really great for them. He’s the Main Tank for the best team in Europe, so that’s really scary to go up against. Their DPS lineup and Decod are ones we’re looking out for mainly. The other three players aren’t as experienced, so we feel we can pressure them a bit more. For me, Decod is the scariest factor against Team Norway.

You were on Team Canada last year, but now have a whole season of Overwatch League under your belt. How has this changed the Overwatch World Cup experience for you?



We’re playing on the same stage that we do in Overwatch League, so I just feel really used to it. I got back on stage today and everything kind of felt like it was clicking back in. It feels pretty easy for me to get back into it; much easier than last year. Last year, I wasn’t as experienced and I was a bit more nervous, but now I realize I’m doing pretty well in Overwatch League. So it’s easier for me.

How big of a factor is that comfort and experience in the results of this group stage?



The most important thing is having a lot of fans supporting us. When we go out there and see people cheering for us, it motivates us. I don’t think it’s directly related to the stage or the venue, but we have a lot of fans here to support us and that’s a really good feeling.

What aspects of playing on the big stage that are really jarring the first time? Is it the lights; the fans; the noise?



Absolutely, there is one thing — the stage is very cold. Players aren’t used to that, I’m assuming, and playing with cold hands is the worst thing ever. They have hoodies back stage, so that’s why I was wearing one when we were playing earlier. A player new to LAN play probably wouldn’t know that, so going into the match with cold hands is not the greatest thing.

Now that you have more experience in a team setting, how have you been applying that experience to strengthen Team Canada’s synergy?



I think there’s going to be more strategy this year. There are a lot more developed teams with full coaching staff. We had no coaches last year and we did everything ourselves, so we didn’t have a lot of time to come up with team strats.



We relied a lot on personal popoffs last year, but this year, we have a full coaching staff. All of the players are a lot more experienced. Bani and Surefour come up with great plans, and XQC and NotE are very good as well. It’s a lot easier than last year now that we’re able to formulate a gameplan and optimize strategies.

Since your last World Cup appearance, how have you changed as a player in the past year?



I think my biggest area of growth since last year is my hero pool. Last year, I was not very versatile and played only Genji. When I wasn’t playing Genji, I was definitely less comfortable, but now I can play a lot of different heroes at a high level. I think that’s the improvement that stands out the most.

What’s your take on the current meta?



For me, it feels like there are two set comps. You either play a dive comp with Sombra, Genji, Winston, and D’va; or you play GOATS. GOATS is very standard. The teams who have trouble running dive just default to GOATS because it’s easy and they just try and get free wins with it.







There’s a lot more versatility within the comps, though, because he supports are better this season. You can actually play Ana and not just have your Support be a perma-Mercy. That adds a lot of variety team-to-team, but outside of that, you’re not seeing a lot outside of GOATS, which is kinda sad.





We saw Mercy/Zenyatta backlines for almost the entirety of the first Overwatch League season. Are there certain players or teams that you think will benefit a lot from these changes?



Oh, definitely. There are definitely players who struggled on Mercy if they were primarily Flex Supports. Now that you can run both Ana and Zenyatta, teams with two flex supports who can focus on healing and doing damage are going to be really scary. Going against two people peeling perfectly for each other while simultaneously putting out damage is really hard to play against.





Since we’re on the subject of the Support hero pool in the current metagame, I want to talk about you stepping in for Bani to play Lucio for the second half of the match today. What went into the decision to sub you in?



I used to play Lucio in Quick Play when I was having fun with friends. That’s the only practice I’ve had with him, but I’ve played him in Competitive a couple times when I’ve needed to fill for my team.



Regarding the substitution idea: Bani couldn’t play for our last set of scrims yesterday, so I had the idea to fill in for him so we didn’t have to cancel the scrim set. We beat Brazil pretty hard, so I asked Bani, “If we’re doing really well against Austria 2-0 and it’s going to be an easy win, can I sub in for you and play Lucio on the last two maps?” And he said, “Yeah, sure. If we’re beating him that hard, we’ll do it.”





You certainly seem to have a leg up on the other teams in this group stage, but at Blizzcon, the Top 8 will be the cream of the crop. Assuming Team Canada qualifies for the 2018 OWWC Finals, are there any players or teams you’re looking forward to playing against?



Team South Korea is the favored pick here; they are the team everyone wants to beat. For me personally, though, I want to play against Team Finland. Taimou and Linkzr are really good, and I feel like they performed better than everyone thought they would. I think they’d be a fun team to play against.

Thanks so much for the interview, Agilities. Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?



I just wanted to thank you guys for all of the support recently. Seeing all of you in cheering for us in the crowd is really motivational and amazing. Thanks for cheering us on.