It’s been a year of mixed results for the Atlanta Reign. After the departure of popular streamer and DPS player Daniel “dafran” Francesca at the end of Stage One, the Reign had to re-approach their roster and find a suitable replacement for dafran, who had quickly become a core part of the team. The result was the acquisition of Andrej “babybay” Francisty from the San Francisco Shock.

During the Inaugural Season, babybay had mostly played before Jay “sinatraa” won made his debut in March, after which he was played as a specialist hitscan DPS player. However, coming in for Atlanta during the GOATS meta, babybay had to become much more than just a hitscan DPS specialist. In his first few months with the Reign, babybay has proved he can fill the big shoes that dafran left on stage. He’s become a leader for the team and a more than competent Zarya in a meta that drastically differs from the one he was playing in last year. Overall, babybay has enjoyed the change. “It’s a lot of fun, I don’t regret making the change, but it’s a lot more work. People don’t actually realise how much goes into GOATS and how strenuous it can actually be on your brain. But I enjoy it, I like the role I have on the team. I’m glad that I’m able to step up a little bit and be a type of leader for the team, because I think it needed one after dafran left.”

“You’ve got to think of the long haul with this team, because it is a brand new team.”

With such a legendary figure departing, one would presume that babybay felt pressure to come in as a replacement. However, it wasn’t the shadow of dafran that left babybay a bit nervous before he debuted for the Reign. “I was more worried about the fact that I hadn’t played in a long time and the fact that I was on the bench for a while,” he said. “I didn’t feel pressure to [fill] his shoes, per se, I just felt pressure in general to be on that stage again. But I think I did pretty well – I’ve gotten used to it now and my gravs have gotten a lot better.”

Although he garnered a bit of criticism in his first few matches, babybay made a conscious effort to up his game on stage and improve wherever he could. “I specifically asked for individual feedback, especially with my gravs,” babybay admitted. “So all of the coaches have been helping me with my gravs. We have an analyst named Danny as well, who does statistics and stuff, so I get to see the stats and then I get to watch the VODS with the coaches. They’ve all pitched into to help me in some kind of way, whether it be positioning, gravs, stuff like that. They are helping out a lot, and I asked for it, so I’m just thankful that they’re able to present me with stuff.”

“I think I’ve shown a huge progression from when I first went on stage. You just looked at the London game and you look at now, it’s just way better. I think I would say I’ve become a top six Zarya in the league.”

Whether it’s the coaching staff or the organisation at large, babybay sings praises about the Atlanta Reign organisation, owned by Cox Enterprises. “It’s a lot more chill of an environment [than the Shock], which is not a bad thing. It’s pretty dope actually – some of the best owners that I’ve ever had in an esports org, by far. They treat the players the best by like a long mile.”

Working on the Reign also means that babybay has been reunited with Brad “Sephy” Rajani, former coach of the San Francisco Shock in the Inaugural Season and now Head Coach of Atlanta. “He’s changed his coaching style compared to last year. He’s doing a lot more now, and it’s pretty awesome to see how he’s grown and how I’ve grown as a player and just how far we have come. He’s actually a good coach, I appreciate him. Maybe there was doubts last season, but this season, he’s on it, man. He works hard.”

“I’m glad that I’m able to step up a little bit and be a type of leader for the team, because I think it needed one after dafran left.”

Despite a great organisation and a strong coaching staff, the Reign have had mixed results this year. They’re at 7-11 for the season, and struggling this stage particularly with an 0-4 record. If the Reign want to turn things around, it seems that they just need more time to build up consistency with the new roster. “A lot of these losses that we have… I swear we have a million game five losses, you know? Eventually, we’re gonna win one of them and clutch it out. As more time piles up, more experience together as a team, with that will come greatness. It’s more like, ‘don’t think of the results in the moment’ kind of thing.”

Despite recent results, babybay is bullish on the team’s potential. “You’ve got to think of the long haul with this team, because it is a brand new team. I hate to keep on saying that, but not only is this an expansion team, but they had dafran for a while and then dafran retired. So you basically had to start new again, so it’s like a whole new team. It’s like a new, new team.”

The Reign’s situation is comparable to the Shock last year – in some ways, while not discounting this year, they’re waiting for the pieces of this puzzle to fall into place with more experience and more time. “I feel like next year will be the year. Not to say we’re not gonna make playoffs this year, or we’re gonna do bad this year. But next year, you’re gonna see a really good Atlanta Reign that’s contending with the top three teams.”

The Atlanta Reign look to gain their first win of the stage today against the Philadelphia Fusion. You can see the full Overwatch League schedule here.

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