What drives you?

Starting a new game with your friends is something that you will always remember. The first time you touched a Gameboy, your very first Duel Masters foil card, and of course; logging into Runescape or BattleOn on your first computer.

It can even be a sport, or a hobby that you endearingly pursue.

Countless of hours, days and even years went by, until one fine day you had a sudden revelation – you are way better than everyone else at it.

I’m sure at some point in our lives, we have questioned ourselves this – “Do I have what it takes to take it to the next level?“

Some of us have took the leap of faith and pursued it; either for glory or for the thrill that only a competition can provide, while some of us made the conscious decision to deny it and carry on with our lives.

Today’s guest is a man who is no stranger to competition itself; one could say that it is neither glory nor the thrill of competition that he seeks; it has become a part of his soul that drives him to compete and to one day become the very best that no one ever was.

Representing Team Flash, I have Wesley Seek, or “LambySeries” as he is known in the Singapore Hearthstone Esports/competitive scene.

J: How did you get into competitive Hearthstone? Most importantly, how was the transition from playing it recreationally to competitively?

LS: I’m not new to Hearthstone or card games for that matter, however with regards to competitive Hearthstone – I’m relatively new to it, only recently joining the scene in March this year.

I guess the reason for the jump was mainly because I really love the game and me being me, I’ve always been the kind of guy that wants to be good at what I love to do. Therefore going competitive was the natural thing to do. I started becoming really committed to getting good end of the month Ranked ladder finishes, as well as taking part in a few LAN (offline) events which I did decently well in. Few months went by, and I got picked up by Team Flash – ultimately providing me with the resources to progress my Esports career to a decent level.

Regarding the difficulty of conversion from playing it recreational to becoming a competitive player, it wasn’t much of a hassle for me as it was me doing what I was already doing, while being more conscious of the competitive environment around me as well. Let’s just say when you decide to go competitive (at something), it’s less about what you want, but what you NEED to do to achieve greatness.

J: How is your journey so far? What are some of the milestones you have set for yourself?

LS: My competitive journey so far has been rather interesting. I would say things have been moving at a rather fast pace.

With the ranked ladder resetting every month, there’s always a constant need to attain strong finishes every 30 days. Sadly, I was unable to make the seasonal playoffs in 2017, so the first milestone would definitely be to make Winter playoffs in 2018.

As Hearthstone just beefed up their prize support for competitive players, as well as introducing further support for teams, I would say the end state is to bring glory home to the team and finish strongly – both locally and internationally.

J: All the best for that. Tell me about some highlights of your competitive Hearthstone career, what were some of the most memorable moments so far?

LS: One of the more notable highlights of my competitive journey thus far was getting Top 10 at the recent Thailand Hearthstone Major. It was my first Major since going competitive and having prepared decently well for it, I was satisfied with my performance. Not amazed, just satisfactory. Not to mention the wonderful people I’ve met there too.

There’s always the beauty of travelling for a competition and getting to enjoy the local culture amongst many other things. Though I don’t talk about this much also, I’m very grateful to Team Flash for giving me the support I require as well as the exposure to expand my sports career. I am definitely looking forward to much more in the near future from my team.

J: You have been streaming Hearthstone on Twitch for a couple of months now. How did you get into streaming, and what were some of the more memorable moments you had live on stream?

LS: One of the key resources that Team Flash provided me was the opportunity to stream under the wing of a team. I was never the best person to look for when it comes to technology so the huge amount of tech support I received from the team from the logistics side enabled me to stream seamlessly without any problem. Kudos to them for that!

I think the actual content of my stream was slightly less taxing as you could say I’m someone that naturally loves talking about how I feel so it shows very evidently through my stream. I too managed to hit affiliate status (with Twitch) which can be described with one word – wonderific.

I remember there was once that someone donated to me on stream and commented that I should “eat real food because I look skinny”, that was hilarious, coupled with the fact that I’m usually snacking on cheap bread while streaming.

J: Which class and card are your favorite?

LS: Ok so I did mention in a prior interview that I loved Hunter and Tundra Rhino was my favourite card but I kinda regret saying that within days of the article being up.

For the record my favourite class is Warlock, and my all time favourite card is Leeroy Jenkins, I have it in gold.

J: There will be a new expansion coming out soon, Kobolds and Catacombs. What do you expect and look forward to seeing from the new expansion?

LS: At the time of writing this Kobolds has already been released so I would just like to say I’m loving this expansion. A lot of decks are viable due to the introduction of the new cards.

I personally love CubeLock; it’s like Combo RenoLock from awhile back but possibly even more technical.

J: Which is more important to you – results or popularity as a Hearthstone player?

LS: My view on this might seem obscure, but here’s my take. I feel as a recreational player neither really matters much because the drive and intensity to want to succeed or be a starlet in this game is not there. So, let’s focus on the competitive player.

Being in Esports naturally means you got to show that you can stand at the top of the food chain; or at least have the hunger for it, and results are the gateway to the throne. At the same time, you cannot forsake the fact that if you want to put food on the table it’s not all about the prize money. Setting up your personal brand as well as having a fan base also contributes to additional possibilities like sponsorships, for example. So yes, I think both aspects are equally important.

J: Congratulation on your recent 3rd place finish at the Campus Game Fest Hearthstone 2017 tournament, what can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

LS: I do not want to spoil the surprise but both myself and for the team, we are currently planning to take the 2018 Hearthstone seasons very seriously, so just stay tuned for the news.

J: Thank you for your time. Last but not least, do you have any shoutouts?

LS: A huge shoutout to my friends in the scene who constantly playtest with me, without you guys I won’t be able to see things from certain perspectives. Mikkel, Zi Song, Noel and a few others, you know who you are.

To Team Flash for being there for me even during certain low points in the 2017 seasons, and for giving me hope for 2018 as well.

To Jason, who will probably never see this, for getting me started on the game while I was stuck in the army.

Last but not least, a shoutout to Cheryl for being my number one fan and girlfriend who always wants me to be the best version of myself.

You can find LambySeries’ social media and Twitch links here. Instagram: LambySeries Facebook: LambySeries Twitter: LambySeriesHS Twitch: www.twitch.tv/lambyseriesHS

You can find Team Flash’s social media links here. Instagram: teamflash.gg Facebook: Team Flash Twitter: teamflash_gg

You can contact me at johannlsn@outlook.com. Twitter: jlsnjlsnjlsn Instagram: jlsnjlsnjlsn