▲ Jin's post-game interview captured the hearts of many within the Heroes of the Storm scene.

The road to the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC) circuit for Shawn “Jin” Boyle was not an easy one as he was added to the roster as a temporary sub-in after a player left. At the end of the red carpet welcoming him to the professional scene were pro players who wanted to decimate him and his team, No Tomorrow.





Beginning your career with twelve straight match losses isn’t necessarily the fairy tale that he envisioned and the trend appeared to continue over the weekend against Simplicity as they fell behind 2-0 early.





The Interview





What happened in Game 3 is where the Cinderella-story begins. Three straight map wins gave No Tomorrow their first win of Phase 2 and Jin his first win in HGC since joining the team four months ago as a sub-in.

After the match concluded, No Tomorrow gave their young padawan the opportunity to speak to the casters post-game on stream in an interview for the ages.

A visibly emotional Jin began opening up about the team’s decision to let him shot call and lead the draft against Simplicity and what the win meant for him.

“I’m a very theoretical thinker so sometimes it’s hard for me to apply that so I have to prep, said Jin. “It takes a while for things to kick in so I was up until 5 a.m.,15 hours a day literally draft-prepping the last two days. I’m just studying the game, other teams, my team and prepping everything I can; working as hard as a human can possibly work for this win and to get my first win after this is all the gratification I can ask for.”

Embracing the moment further as his confidence grew on camera, Jin began thanking his teammates for helping him grow as a player while shouting-out members of the community who have been integral to his improved performance as of late.

Once the interview concluded, Jin’s social media notifications were flooded with love and support from fans and community members which he was not expecting.

“I honestly expected to get flamed for my bad interviewing skills or divulging too many thoughts or being too open but I guess people just appreciated the honesty,” said Jin. “Some people’s interviews are going to be kind of simple and short answers that are straight to the point. Maybe the reaction was that way because it was a fresh perspective to some people.”

Confidence is key

As far as whether this No Tomorrow victory will be a one-off nice story for Jin and his team, he’s hopeful that his team’s changes of late will turn a corner but he knows he needs to first play more consistently.

“I’ve definitely had confidence issues that have gone fairly back-and-forth. I don’t feel like I’m consistent and that's probably the biggest factor in that. When I'm playing at my peak I feel like I can play verse anyone. I never feel like I have a ceiling too intimidating for me when I’m playing at my peak but when my inconsistency is showing, that's when my confidence will fall and I play worse. I think as long as I can maintain my confidence and be able to play as a level where I'm not creating disadvantages for my team, I will more and more often play towards my peak than my lower levels on my off-days.”

While he knows his play directly impacts how the team will perform, he acknowledges that he is not the sole reason they came back and won against Simplicity.

“It is a little weird to discuss it. Every time someone asks me about changes within the team and say we’re looking better I don't want to say, ‘Jin is drafting and calling now so things are better’ because a lot of credit goes to my team, it’s a five-person effort.”

That being said, getting this first win under his belt does solidify a very key element to his future as a shot caller and player.

“My confidence is definitely harder to waiver because I know what I'm doing and I can see the results of what I’m capable of doing,” said Jin. “It’s definitely easier to keep that confidence no matter what happens. As long as I'm playing within 10% of my peak at a given time, I don't have to be worried about hurting my team."