George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha has existed in the Overwatch scene for quite some time, but he recently emerged as a star player when he joined WEUNITED, captained by Erik “TwoEasy” van Hoorn. After a commanding performance at BlizzCon, where teams had to dedicate entire compositions just to attempt to deal with FaZe’s star, ShaDowBurn sat down with me to discuss some Overwatch!

So first off, we have to start with something basic: where did the name “ShaDowBurn” come from? It seems surprisingly fitting for a Genji/Reaper player…

It was long time ago, it really just came from nowhere!

People that are familiar with your history in TF2 will recognize your name. Many say you were an incredibly talented TF2 player, but you never attended any international events. Was there a reason you only competed domestically?

There wasn’t really many big tournaments, and the only most important one was in England. Insomnia, I mean, and it’s really hard to get visa in England for Russians, so that’s why.

Unfortunate. So can we assume that the reason you started competing internationally with Overwatch is that you finally secured a visa? Or has the USA just been more accommodating?

Yeah, it’s just easier to get visa in USA and I also have a good organization which could help a lot with it.

At this point, your name is basically synonymous with Genji, to the point where people think you should pick him even in unfavorable situations. Was there anything in particular that drew you to Genji?

I think it just fits to my role in TF2 (roamer). I just try to be as annoying for the enemy team as I can.

So right now there’s a lot of praise for your Genji for obvious reasons but I would like to hear your answer on one thing in particular. Do you think you are the best Genji in the world?

So in my opinion, it’s kind of impossible to tell who is the best at the moment, because it really depends on the style of play and how good your team can play around you.

From what you see, are there any other Genjis that you think are as skilled and get the same support you do, then?

In my opinion, the best Genjis I have seen are Seagull, TviQ, and Surefour.

So off of the Genji topic, what ended up bringing you to TwoEasy’s team (WEUNITED at the time)?

It’s more like we all just made a team together with our core of four players. At the time, it was Forsak3n, TwoEasy, zombs, and me who decided to form the team.

FaZe Clan // Photo credit: Turner Sports

And from what I recall, FCTFCTN and Rawkus got added when you were trailing with Immortals — how did they come to be a part of the roster?

It’s a bit of a long story, but essentially we just mixed four players from WEUNITED and two players from ohno to come up with the current roster, and it worked out well.

How are you liking BlizzCon so far? How far do you think Russia can go?

BlizzCon is really cool! Blizzard cares about players a lot, and everything looks cool. As a Russian team, I think we could reach finals.

Is there any chance against the Koreans, or are they too good?

I think we could win, but it’s going to be a really hard game since their roster is more powerful due to the amount of competitive players on their team.

So as a last note, are there any Genji tips or tricks that you use that people reading might find helpful?

The big one is try to not be that aggressive and just learn the ways to build your ultimate faster. Also, learn right timings for engages, so you can follow your team up in time instead of going in on your own.

Cool! Are there any last words you have for FaZe/ShaDowBurn fans out there?

Yeah! Thanks to all of you guys for the huge support all the time! It really means a lot to me.

Do the ShaDowBurn // Photo credit: Turner Sports

You can catch ShaDowBurn on Twitter (@FaZeSDBurn) or support his team come BlizzCon, where he will be playing for Team Russia once more against Team France.