Gael "Poko" Gouzerch, off tank for the Philadelphia Fusion, has become one of the faces of the Overwatch League. Helping lead the Fusion to the Inaugural Season’s Grand Finals with explosive team fight winning self destructs, it was no surprise that Poko was voted by coaches as an Atlantic All Star reserve. This year, he earned a starting role in the All Stars Event.





Upcomer talked with Poko about this accomplishment, his excitement for playing in Philadelphia next year, and his thoughts on becoming a trading card.





Congratulations on being voted as an All Stars Starter!





Poko: It’s amazing. Last year I got voted in, but not as a starter. I got voted in by the players and coaches. This year I am a starter, so it’s really good, I’m really thankful to my community and all my fans who voted for me. I’m really proud to represent the Atlantic Division. It’ll be fun to play with a bunch of Korean players.





You have plenty of experience playing with others who speak different languages. The Philadelphia Fusion has been arguably the most successful mixed language roster.





Definitely. Last year, everyone was still trying to learn English, so we were using some basic words in English to understand each other. But the team house atmosphere with everyone helping each other and learning each other’s languages—like Carpe taught me some Korean words—it was funny. I feel like now we are kind of determined to speak English. We understand each other now—it’s good.





Coming up next year, you’ll be in Philadelphia. Are you looking forward to being in that community and playing in the new arena in 2021?





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For sure, it’s going to be insane. We have been to Philadelphia a couple of times already. It was such a great experience with the food, the people, even the city. Everything was incredible, and I can’t wait to be there next year. It’s going to be cool.









Are you also looking forward to traveling to Paris for away games with next year’s geolocation, going back to your home country?





I do miss home. The food is really good there, and I miss my friends and my family. So going there will be a good vacation. Kind of not really a vacation because we still have to work, but I really want to go to Paris. I wanted to go back to France during the break, but because I got voted for All Stars, which was in the middle of break, I don’t really have time to go. But I’m just going to just chill with the boys at the house and go see the Frenchies from time to time.





Do you have a lot of time to see players from other teams?





Yeah, for sure. We like to hang out a lot, especially in the hot tub [laughs]. Every team has a hot tub, so we go from hot tub to hot tub everywhere in the city. It’s really fun to see them. We like to eat and drink all the time.





Now you’re officially a trading card. How does it feel to be one?





It feels weird for sure, because people could trade you. They’ll be like, “oh no, I wanted Geguri!” [laughs]. “Oh no, I got Poko, come on!” But yeah, it’s always cool. It makes me think of the NBA and other sports as well, so I think it’s a step in the right direction.