Jacob "JAKE" Lyon has become a leader within the Overwatch scene since rising to stardom as the United States’ Team Captain in the 2017 Overwatch World Cup. A shot caller and DPS player for the Houston Outlaws, JAKE’s play was integral to the Outlaws’ upset victory over the reigning Stage 2 Champions, the San Francisco Shock. Upcomer talked to JAKE immediately after the victory where he shared his thoughts on the Outlaws’ transition away from GOATS, philosophy on moving forward from failure, and hopes for the future of gaming and esports.





Congratulations on defeating the Stage 2 Champions! We saw Houston embracing more DPS-centered compositions with you flexing over to Doomfist, Pharah and Junkrat!





JAKE: We’re a team that doesn’t have a top-down command and control style when we make big decisions. One thing that I really appreciate about [General Manager] Flame is that he’s always brought players in as equals and hasn’t really tried to be the “big boss,” he’s part of the team. It was a team decision to try and move away from GOATS.





We weren’t having success with traditional GOATS, we felt like it’s not our strength as a team and as individuals. Some other teams are starting to have success with other compositions, so we said, screw it, let’s just give it a shot. It feels really comfortable for us, maybe we should’ve gotten there sooner, but we can’t complain after being able to take a win off of Shock. We’re all so stoked.





Houston also gave the New York Excelsior a scare last week, taking them to map five. What did you learn from that matchup so you could achieve victory against the Shock?





We finally won a map five [laughs]. Everyone was like, well you did a good job Houston, but we know map five is coming! But everyone was cognizant of that, we know we often make mistakes on map five and have underperformed in those final moments. But we were so calm and so focused, we had great calls the whole time. I think honestly everybody made such an effort that brought us across the threshold that last map.





We kind of did the same thing to Shock that New York did to us. We were starting to beat New York in the mirror, so we’re like, “oh crap, we just play GOATS mirror and beat these guys, we’re winning so far.” And because they saw that, they started going heavy on the Sombra-GOATS, and we weren’t able to adapt in time. We knew it would just be too tough to take Shock in the mirror after they had such a dominant performance on Eichenwalde, and normally we play traditional GOATS on Ilios.





So even though we never had Danteh on Ilios before, we had never played any of those strategies before, we were confident. On Ilios Well we all played comfort heroes and it worked out for the best, but we really played clean on that final round. That was a Sombra-GOATS vs. regular GOATS where it’s all about execution, and we were on point and focused. We didn’t get caught off guard, which usually has been the theme for us. We can slip up out there, but this win could be the start of something new for us.









Houston has been receiving a lot of criticism this season. Does that make this stage’s great performance even more meaningful?





I mean, we’re one of the bottom table teams and we’re taking a win off of pretty arguably the best team in the league right now. So for us, it’s not what other people think of us or criticism. We know ourselves - that we can do it and we’re the real deal. If Shock beats everybody else and we can beat Shock, we can find the weaknesses in other teams and exploit them. We’ve always known we were a talented team, last stage was a tough one for us. We had bad momentum and couldn’t turn it around in time.





But it feels like that mid-season break was a mental reset for us. We played really well against New York - we didn’t get the win, but we knew that we had made serious improvement. They’re still a top five team, so to go to map five against them was a confidence boost for us, even with the loss. We knew it was our mistakes, not a lack of skill. With that and how our practices have been going, we had the right mentality for this match.





Houston has been bought by Immortals. Has this changed the mood within the team and do you think this will help Houston moving forward?





I mean, there’s funnier memes for us now. Nothing has really changed in particular, we have such a strong community as just the Houston Outlaws. I think changing the ownership group hasn’t impacted us so much because we have such a great cohesive unit as a team and can deal with issues together. For us, it’s just nice to have the cloud lifted off of our head.





When your ownership group is selling, like we had no money for anything, had to keep the books as clean as possible, there’s instability there inherently. The sale of the whole team, nobody knows what the future is. But at least to have the security that somebody owns us - I guess they’ll have to sell the Outlaws to somebody else because they can’t own two Overwatch teams. But I honestly don’t think there will be any issue with that, the League is monitoring everything so obviously there’s not going to be anything like trading all our players to Valiant and vice-versa. If managed correctly, there won’t be any issues.

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There was also a long break between stages 2 and 3. What did you and the team do to recover from the first two stages and prepare for victories such as tonight’s?





Last stage was a real moment of maturing for me. I always struggled with failure, was a guy who was obsessed with wanting to succeed. I was embarrassed to fail, even if it was something I was expected to fail at. Failing relentlessly, going 0-7 in such a public arena doing your job, it’s pretty brutal. But you come out the other side, and you say, where am I now?





We were halfway through the season, in a break, what else could I do but mentally reset? Am I going to let myself stay down and go further down? There’s no future in that. The one thing I can do is change my focus and realize that I shouldn’t be scared of failing, I should just be focused on the process. If I don’t think about the final outcome, then the outcome will actually materialize better. When you start focusing on the win, like “oh, it’s right there,” that’s when you trip at the last second. But if you just put one foot in front of the other, well, the proof is in the pudding.





Photo via Stewart Volland for Blizzard Entertainment





And during that break it was great to see players pursuing their passions. You did a charity stream for with Ateyo for Girls Make Games, and you’ve also donate to the ACLU through them. How important is it for you to give back and use your platform?





We’re really fortunate as esports players to have a voice. Modern society has changed the demographics on who has power, who has that voice. Now it’s much easier for someone who gets popular by a different medium to have an impact on the world. I think there’s an element of responsibility, we see professional athletes in traditional sports setting the example and working for charitable causes, using their voice for good.





One thing that’s important to remember is that we’re so focused on wins and losses, but in the grand scheme of things, who cares? We’re so lucky to be here playing Overwatch League matches and whether we have no wins or win them all, we’re still so lucky. To take our position of power and use that to help people who are in a tougher spot in life, I think that’s natural, what we ought to do.





You are one of the more socially active players in the league, tweeting about topics such as gun control and the upcoming 2020 election. When did your passion for politics develop?





My family has always been very political. Even when I was a kid, we’d always discuss politics around the dining room table. We were just a family where nothing was off-limits and very intellectually curious, that was something my parents wanted to support. I think it’s always been interested in, I’ve been doing debate and thinking about politics all through high school and some college.





That foundation for me that made me interested, and in the modern day, politics is just in our face. We can’t ignore it anymore, times have changed and have taken a turn. I think it’s time for everyone to be involved in politics. No matter what you feel, your voice is important. That’s what democracy is about.





Gaming continues to be a politically controversial topic, as became quite clear in the Olympic Committee's Esports Forum you attended last summer. What was your experience like at that event, and talking with those who are quite vocal in their disapproval of gaming?





There can be conflicts, and I can understand how some games, maybe they’re just too much like war, something the Olympics really wants to be against. It becomes complicated for them, I think it’s like a square peg in a round hole. It’s hard for most people to realize what a game is about and that it’s not exactly what’s on screen. You see Counter-Strike, and you see the guns and the terrorists vs. counter-terrorists, that makes some people raise red flags.





But if you drill down under the surface and see that these teams are friends, and them “killing” each other - once you’re a gamer and you know what that means, you realize that it’s actually not a big deal. It’s not about violence or hatred, those things aren’t part of gaming, even when you’re competing. It’s a friendly competition. When people start to see that, and see the true nature of gaming whether they meet pro gamers or try it for themselves and think it’s fun, you realize that these negative stereotypes are just that- stereotypes.





It’s up to us as pro gamers to represent our community in the best light we can, but personally I think everyone is going to be a gamer. Look at the demographics, most kids are playing some sort of game, whether it’s on their phone or Switch. Wherever they are, they’re gaming somehow. It’s something that is changing the face of entertainment as we know it, so I think there’s no real limit on the future potential. Most of the issues that people have are surface level that will go away with more time and exposure.