BlizzCon 2018 is fast approaching, and with it, the Overwatch World Cup finals are now just a few weeks away. Eight teams -- France, Canada, China, Finland, U.S., U.K., South Korea, and Australia -- advanced out of their respective regional stages to the quarterfinals taking place at Blizzard's annual gaming convention this November, and the competition is closer than ever.



Team South Korea’s star-studded roster is the clear favorite to take it all, and 2017 runner-up Team Canada will be looking for a re-match to knock the champion off its throne. However, before any of that, it will have to face a formidable Team France.



Four of the seven players on Team France’s roster are Overwatch League pros, and they had no issue getting through the Paris qualifier. Highlighting the roster is Los Angeles Valiant DPS Terence “SoOn” Tarlier.



SoOn began the inaugural OWL season as a workhorse, often known for putting in the hours and making the smart play in the face of some of his more mechanically impressive peers. However, he quickly developed into one of the best Widowmakers in the Overwatch League. His flexibility played an integral role in the LA Valiant’s success, especially when Brigitte turned the meta on its ear.



About a month before BlizzCon, Inven Global had the chance to speak with SoOn about the Valiant's stellar performance in the Overwatch League and Team France's upcoming World Cup appearance.

▲ Teams advancing to the Round of 8 at BlizzCon 2018 - via Blizzard



Outside of playing for Team France, what have you been up to since the end of the Overwatch League season?

Right after All Star Weekend, I went home to scrim with Team France. Since we were scrimming at home, I was able to take some days off and see my family. We got together to do a bootcamp up until the qualifier after that.



It’s less professional than the Overwatch League, because you don’t have much time to build synergy or innovate strategies. You have to prep a lot more maps than you do in Overwatch League - somewhere around 15 is what we prepped. It’s a challenge for every team.



What questions are you asked about being a pro player in the Overwatch League?

I guess in France, there are a lot of people who ask me about playing in the Overwatch League. But my family already know everything, because I call them from NA and keep them up to date.

That’s really nice to have that support. As a player individually, how do you think you’ve grown since last year’s Overwatch World Cup until now?

I’m a lot more flexible. Before, it was only dive meta, so I only played Tracer. Now, I’ve started to play a lot of heroes because of the frequent changes in the meta. I think during the Overwatch League I gained a lot of experience in regards to communication. Making strategies as a team and having a coach was a big difference, because we didn’t have that during the last World Cup.



This year, it’s much different. Every team has a coach, and some of them have experience like Jayne from Team Canada; daemoN and us; Aero for Team USA — a lot has changed.



You definitely have a lot more infrastructure as a team this year. When looking towards Blizzcon, you guys will be one of the 8 final teams in the Overwatch World Cup. Is there a certain team you want to play against?

Not really. Most of my teammates on the LA Valiant are at Blizzcon, so I don’t have a particular team that I want to play against since they’re all over the place. Of course, I’d like to face Team South Korea in the Grand Final. Their biggest threat is the individual skill of their players. They took the best mechanical players in South Korea — MekO, Carpe, etc. — so their greatest strength is their individual prowess.

▲ SoOn at the Paris Qualifier - Robert Paul for Blizzard Ent.



On the Valiant, your team communicates primarily in English. On Team France, do you guys speak French in comms?

Yeah, in Valiant we communicate in English, but for Team France, we try to do both. For example, Poko, Unkoe and myself all speak English during the Overwatch League, so when we started scrimming with Team France, we kind of communicated half-and-half. Sometimes a French word is longer than its English translation, so we’ll combine the two to keep things short in comms.



Have you noticed growth in your Team France teammates that also spent time in the Overwatch League this season?

It depends. For Unkoe, it’s the same as me. Since we played together on Rogue, we both have a better mentality and we are quicker to adapt. We communicate a lot better, too.



For Poko it’s a little different. Nobody knew him before the Overwatch League, so he’s made his name on his play from this year and this year alone, so there’s not much to compare him to since he wasn’t in the World Cup last year.

▲ SoOn fans at the Paris Qualifier - Robert Paul for Blizzard Ent.



What are your opinions on the meta right now? Do you like playing it?

I’m not enjoying playing it, and I’m probably sure it’s not really enjoyable to watch. I don’t really like the meta, but it’s just because of GOATS. If GOATS didn’t exist, there are a lot of comps you can play. You can play double sniper; dive — every comp is viable most of the time.



Brigitte changed things a lot. It seems like Brigitte is too important now, and it’s not really enjoyable to always play her.



We’re seeing you play her more than you ever have been due to GOATS. I wanted to get your personal opinion because she seems to have stagnated the meta a bit.

The problem is the skill-cap of the hero. I was playing Tracer for more than a year, and Tracer required a lot of skill. When you play Brig, you are very limited and it’s a bit frustrating. You can’t do anything other than left click and use three spells. It’s pretty linear.





SoOn, thank you for the interview, I really appreciate your time. Last question for you: You grew a ton in your first year of Overwatch League and learned to play a multitude of heroes. Do you have any goals for Overwatch League Season 2?

I would like to show people that I’m a flex DPS. I don’t like being an OTP Tracer, for example. When I was playing a lot of Tracer, I was good on McCree; Reaper; Roadhog — people don’t know that. So my goal in Season 2 is to show that I can play a lot of heroes.

Well, hopefully we get to see you play more than JUST Widowmaker and Brigitte, but in the meantime, great work on those heroes! Is there anything you’d like to say to close out the interview?

Thank you for the interview, and thanks to all of the fans for supporting us, especially Team France!