Max: Hi Chips and thank you in advance for doing this interview, to start things off let’s talk pre-Overwatch. You played Bloodline Champions before going pro in Overwatch, considering this, how has the transition been from this game to Overwatch and how, if at all has being a pro in Bloodline affected your current playstyle in Overwatch?

Chips: Hi! In Between the two games I also played Dota 2 on a fairly high level, in both games I played the support role. What carried on to Overwatch is probably my love for playing the offensive ones. Bloodline Champions allowed supports to challenge every other class in the game, which is why Zenyatta appealed a lot to me.

M: During your dominating run of the beta as part of IDDQD earlier this year, your team was feared around the world for frightening synergy, hard practice and a devastating undefeated streak in matches. In this period of time you were renowned for very strong play on Zenyatta and almost flawlessly switching over to Mercy when the meta shift came around. Considering this, why was your team, and yourself individually so adaptable, and able to remain on top for so long?

C: One of the biggest reason was probably that we practiced a lot together, probably the most out of any team at that time. A few of us have backgrounds in MOBA’s or something similar, might be that we’re used to adapting to different metas/patches etc.

M: Now that you are playing under the EnVyUs banner, the game being in full release and with the addition of Talespin, how do you think your personal and team playstyle has changed since the IDDQD days?

C: With four of the original members from IDDQD still in the team, I think our playstyle is still kindof the same. As for me, having Talespin on the team allows us to play a lot of Pharah, which means I get to fly around a lot more dodging the opponents.

M: How do you feel about Mercy’s current perma-pick status in the game, and how would you change her to add more diversity of heroes in matches?

C: I think the way to start is reducing the rate of which her ultimate charges, it’s pretty crazy at the moment 🙂 Not a big fan of the perma Mercy, I want to play my Zenyatta!

M: With Mcree and Widowmaker both being nerfed recently how do you feel about the balance of the game as a whole, and moving forwards what do you see as the major challenges the scene will have to overcome in terms of the balance of the game?

C: I think Blizzard has to decide whether they want hero limits or not before they really can start balancing things. I feel like the game is pretty okay as it is now, obviously some heroes are slightly weaker at the moment but they’re working on that. Will be interesting to see what happens when they add new heroes to the mix 🙂

M: The topic of hero limits is currently a hot button topic amongst tournament organisers, fans and players alike. How do you feel the issue should be handled, based on your experience in tournaments?

C: I definitely prefer 1hero limit, but if we can’t get that, there should at least be a 2 or 3hero limit. Five tracers or divas are pretty silly.

M: You’re one of the only teams in the entire scene to be playing in a team house and playing online games together in the same room, despite all being from different corners of the globe. How has this changed your outlook on practice and how did the implementation of a team house come about in the first place?

C: With our team being five europeans and one american, moving to the same continent seemed like a good idea in order to be able to compete at the top level. EnVy already had a team house in North Carolina without any team in it, so just had to fly there 😀 Being at the same place allows us to just talk more about the game, different ideas or strategies. It’s also easier to make sure everyone shows up on time =P.

M: Your team is clear cut the best in the world after handily winning both the OG invitational and Operation Breakout, over many of the top NA teams. How far do you think that gap is between the rest of the teams in the world and your own, and how do you see the scene developing as time goes on?

C: Don’t think the gap is that big, we had a really good weekend and we managed to adapt quickly to the new patch which fit us. The game hasn’t been out for that long, a lot of new talent will probably come in and we’ll see more teams at the top level.

M: Which players/teams do you think pose the biggest threat to dethroning you from your number one spot moving forwards into big LANs like at Gamescom?

C: Obviously Cloud9 is one of the teams as we took back the number one spot from them that weekend, Luminosity looking strong aswell. There’s quite abit of team shuffling going around, mostly in Europe, so can’t be sure how those teams will turnout. Haven’t looked to much at their tournaments but Rogue and Misfits will probably be strong.

M: With Overwatch gaining steady ground in Korean PC cafes, and streamers/teams starting to form together, how do you think the impending Eastern storm will affect the current competition, considering their historical dominance in other games like League of Legends and Starcraft.

C: I’m really really looking forward it, as far as I’m aware the East and West have never really played the same FPS game before. I’m expecting them to be very strong, but I believe we’ll be able to hold them back 🙂

M: As a final point do you have any shout-outs to fans, sponsors or anything in that vein?

C: Thanks to all the fans who have been cheering for us, means a lot. Thanks to Mike “hastr0” and all the supporting staff for helping us and giving us the chance to do this. Also thanks to all our sponsors, Monster, HyperX, Zowie, DxRacer, NZXT, Scuf Gaming, Elgato Gaming and Twitch!

Chipshajen’s Twitter – @EnVy_chips

Chipshajen’s Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/chipshajen

Questions asked by Max Melit – @max_melit