The captain of Team USA is Jake “JAKE” Lyon — a 21 year old streamer, blogger, and professional Overwatch player with a competitive background in Team Fortress 2. One year shy of a bachelor’s degree, he, like many others, traded his pencil for a mouse and books for a keyboard, and committed to his esports dreams.

But unlike his World Cup teammates, Jake has had a relatively understated career thus far:

Team USA huddles in Santa Monica — Blizzard Ent.

Adam “Adam” Eckel, formerly of Cloud9, competed on the 2016 USA team and has long been renowned for his support play;

Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty and Russell “FCTFCTN” Campbell are both talented, key figures of FaZe Clan, one of the most enduring organizations in the scene;

Matt “coolmatt69” Iorio, formerly of Fnatic and FNRGFE, is respected by all for his top-level off-tank play; and, Jay “sinatraa” Won, formerly of Selfless, had recently made waves in the community as a Tracer player to rival the best-of-the-best.

“We all knew that the plan from the start was to create a winning team, not a collection of six solo carry players”

In comparison, Jake, as a member of Luminosity Gaming Evil (formerly -bird noises- and Hammers Esports), joined Team USA on a string of disappointing results in minor tournaments that culminated in a failure to qualify for Contenders Season 1.

“I knew that [World Cup] would most likely be my only chance to prove my worth to OWL teams,” said Jake. “That was the only nervousness I had really. I felt confident that we would qualify for BlizzCon, but I also knew that I had to play better than ever before.”

But from the get-go, Team USA was seemingly disadvantaged — Jake and sinatraa had zero LAN experience, and the roster’s youth, inexperience, and lack of one player or another had earned them doubt and disdain from the community.

JAKE team-wipes Team Brazil | via PlayOverwatch

“I might have selected a different team (as many other players on the team might have), but in the end, we all had faith in KyKy to put the right roster together,” said Jake, referring to the team’s coach and architect.

“We all knew that the plan from the start was to create a winning team, not a collection of six solo carry players.”

He continued: “We all know how little perspective the Reddit hivemind has. .. If anything, it was a motivation knowing that we were insanely underrated by the community.”

In Santa Monica, Team USA converted fans quickly.

The home crowd’s intoxicating enthusiasm consumed the arena. Cheers erupted as the team cinched their first 4–0 victory, and did not cease until the doors were sealed; the lights off; and Team USA had walked away with a BlizzCon invitation. Watching the spectacle, one began to think that Blizzard was mistaken in not quantifying the crowd as the seventh home-team player it became.

As LAN novices, Jake and sinatraa proved their worth: in September, sinatraa reportedly signed a $150,000 contract with San Francisco Shock, and while Jake’s OWL team has yet to be announced, he cites his above-average World Cup performance for his wealth of opportunities.

“If I had done poorly or even had an average performance, I doubt I would be in as fortunate a position as I am now. … The crowd was electric and it made me want to play better than ever before,” said Jake. “[sinatraa and I] were both feeling really confident and settled right into the energy of the crowd.”

Though already reasonably well-known from his time on LG Evil, Jake’s following and community presence have grown remarkably in the wake of the final World Cup qualifier. His stream has taken off, and his well-articulated criticisms of the current ranked system have made him a voice for pro and casual players alike.

Team USA makes a quick comeback on Ilios: Well | via PlayOverwatch

Behind the scenes, the roster prioritized teamwork and synergy.

It paid off — on stage, they were seamless and cohesive despite only having a few short weeks together. The presence of Kyle “KyKy” Souder, the aforementioned coach of Team USA, did not hurt either. His knowledge and experience as the head coach of Dallas Fuel (formerly Team EnVyUs), in addition to being a former pro player in his own right, helped the team to harness their potential.

“I think Team USA, even in those early stages, was stronger than any of our individual professional teams, or perhaps any team that was in NA at that time,” said Jake. “A lot of teams came [to Santa Monica] with great individual talent, but few were as coordinated as we were.”