Overwatch League scrims can be chaotic.

Players and coaches are working meticulously on scenarios, hero composition, speed of attack, positioning during chokeholds -- there’s a lot to digest.

So in those short breaks between maps, when players can fiddle with their hand warmers or grab a fresh Red Bull, Lucas “NotE” Meisnner is refocusing his mind in a different way.

By watching cooking videos.

“A lot of the videos are slow paced,” said NotE, the Dallas Fuel’s off tank, acquired at the end of Stage 1 in a trade with the Boston Uprising. “There’s relaxing music and soothing voices.”

It's a 180 from the frenetic pace of an Overwatch match.

He’s sometimes met with bemusement from his teammates and coaches while diving into a new video recipe -- and NotE admitted he doesn’t cook all that much himself.

“Um, does a coffeemaker count?” NotE replied to a question about his kitchen specialty.

Sure. But more important than his ability to craft a café au lait is what these videos do for his mindset.

NotE is cool and collected during practice, scrims and on the Blizzard Arena stage. He’s been named the unofficial captain of the Fuel by his head coach, despite his relatively short amount of time with the team. Dallas, in the midst of a nine-match losing streak, can lean on NotE to keep things under control -- even when on-stage results are lacking.

NotE, right, listens to during a June strategy session with teammate Jung "Closer" Won-sik, left, and coach Kang "Voljin" Min-Gyu, center. (Special to The Dallas Morning News / Patrick T. Fallon)

Dallas (10-15) is on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second straight season, realistically needing to win all three of their remaining matches, starting with Thursday's 7:45 p.m. CDT tilt against Hangzhou (15-10).

If the Fuel turn things around, look no further than NotE's influence as a reason why.

“We made NotE kind of our unofficial team captain for now because he does have an extremely strong mentality,” Fuel head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins said. “He’s always up. He’s always good to go, and even when things aren’t going well, he’s never going to be impacted by it,

“He’s going to keep people focused.”

NotE, a 20-year-old Canadian off-tank player, was traded to the Fuel on April 2. NotE left the only professional OWL team he knew to join Dallas, a team that started the season off strong but had just missed the Stage 1 playoffs.

The Fuel have NotE’s former team to thank for that. The Boston Uprising reverse swept Dallas on the penultimate day of the stage, keeping the Fuel from the stage playoffs.

“Yeah that was an awkward scenario," said NotE, who has featured heavily in every match this season, except when the Fuel ran three DPS characters at some points.

NotE’s D.Va play has made him an integral part of the Fuel lineup. He’s adapting to RoadHog during this latest 2-2-2 role lock and Aero said the Canadian is one of the top Western off-tanks. NotE said he tries to be predictive of his opponents when rocking D.Va instead of waiting to see what happens.

Aero said NotE has a high ceiling, which means he should have a bright future ahead of him. But that’s on top of his demeanor, which sets him apart on a team full of personality.

“He’s more of the guy that keeps everyone focused and trees to keep the structure in the team and in the game,” Aero said. “I think in time he can become a shotcaller and be a strong voice in the team in addition to becoming one of the best off-tanks in the world.

“He’s definitely got it all there and with the right pieces and with time, I think he can prove it.”

NotE said he has always tried to be a consistent force with whichever team he is on, taking care of his role so others don’t have to worry about if he’s doing his job or not. During scrims, Aero tries not to interject too much, keeping a realistic atmosphere for an official match, and NotE will be the guy who rallies the players and keeps them on task.

His attitude and personality back that up, so as he's watching the latest of Binging with Babish, he's still engaged.

“He’s very easy to get along with,” said the newest member of the Fuel, Ash “Trill” Powell. “He doesn’t tilt, he’s never passive aggressive toward other players or anything like that.

“He’s always the level-headed player.”

On Twitter: @TommyMagelssen

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