Gamechangers is a documentary following two pro SC2 players as they journey to Blizzcon 2015. The two players are MC and MMA, two of the most iconic figures to ever play the game. This is a journey that we already know the ending of. MC falls out in the ro16 at Blizzcon that year. MMA makes it to the finals to lose to Life. But it isn’t the result that matters, it is the journey.

Like many esports documentaries, it is never the matter of the material, but the focus. Who is the film targeted towards, what did they decide to focus on and cut to tell a coherent story in a certain amount of time. The film gives the necessary background information and context needed to understand the competitive scene, the players, and their careers. But this documentary isn’t about the entirety of the Starcraft 2 scene or the small interplays between strategy, tactics, and skill used by the players.

Instead it is about the human element. It follows the human stories of MC and MMA in 2015, one of the peak years of SC2 and at the cusp of change for both them and the scene. Think of this, within two years time the SC2 scene would diminish in popularity, WCS would be rehauled, KeSPA would pull out of SC2, Life was caught match-fixing, and proleague ended.

This documentary starts at the beginning of 2015 and by that time both MC and MMA have already achieved much throughout their SC2 careers by the time 2015 started and both are long past their primes. Despite that, both still have aspirations and dreams they still wish to fulfill and so this is after the fall. This is in the twilight years of their careers, the dusk, the ending of the light.

It is the transient moment between day and night, between one era and the next. Both for the scene and for themselves. This isn’t a documentary talking about the games they played or what strategies they used to get to Blizzcon, this is a documentary about the societal and internal struggles they must face. Both are in the twilight years of their careers where they must face the inevitability of military service, the future, personal ambitions, family pressures, and burnout.

It is not only about Starcraft 2, it is about the pressures that come with an esports playing career. The sacrifices you must make to do such a thing. These are two of the most successful players to ever touch the game and both are worried about the future, yet they cannot. As Yellow says in the film, “You can’t afford the luxury of thinking of the future like this.”

The documentary premiers at DreamHack Austin on June 2nd at 8:30 pm.

Epilogue

As this film doesn’t go into what eventually happens to both players, I’ll write it out here. MC moves on to become a League of Legends coach. MMA swears he will return to Starcraft 2 after his military service (and he has). The film gives some context as to what motivated them down their paths with MC already burnt out and MMA’s pure passion.