A Walk Down the Path (to Pro) with Crimzo

During the LA group stages for this year’s Overwatch World Cup, we had the chance to sit down and talk with Crimzo from Team Canada, who has one of the most impressive origin stories of any player on his team. Enjoy! 

You’ve had an interesting path to get to where you’re at right now. Having spent some time with Team Canada, what’s the difference between them and Team EnVyUs so far?

I think the big difference with Team Canada has been that all of them have been in the Overwatch League, so they’re very disciplined. They have a fantastic mindset and so much knowledge about the game. It makes it really easy, compared to contenders, which is a little more hectic. Everyone on Team Canada is so chill and confident – it’s great playing with them.

That’s something xQc has mentioned as well- that everything here is a little more relaxed; there’s no big tournament or major stakes quite yet. Do you like it that way, or do you actually prefer that pressure?

Eh… I think I having one of these kinds of tournaments that’s really relaxed is pretty fun, but having a tournament with that driving force is really exciting too.

Going back to the difference in player mentality – is that same point about this disciplined, yet relaxed player atmosphere true for the coaches as well? And how do your coaches for EnVyUs stack up to someone like Jayne?

Well for Contenders, there’s not a lot of time to prep. You need to prepare a set list of very specific things for specific maps in terms of compositions, strategies, and so on. With World Cup, since literally every match is in play, you work on a foundation. We branch out from there and figure out what we want to play, and how we want to play it. In Contenders it’s more like, “We’re gonna play this comp on this map because we know it’s good for this map,” but for the World Cup we find something that’s good at a foundational level (on any map) and adapt as we go.

Who’s your favorite Canadian teammate?

Photo Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

[Crimzo takes a long pause.]

I think Surefour is pretty good. He’s really chill. He really knows what he wants to do, and he communicates how he wants to control the fight. Like, when he’s playing Sombra, he’ll say, “I’m gonna go for an EMP here.” or “Ok, I’m gonna hack the D.Va so we can go for a grav here.” he’s a very clear-minded player, and he’s always telling us our win condition. I think that’s really cool.

How do you think the meta shift has gone so far? Could things still be changed, or are we in a good place?

I think this meta is really good. It’s really diverse, instead of just “dive everywhere”. Obviously, I don’t really like Sombra, because she’s really annoying. I have a feeling all of the players here would tell you the same thing. She’s just insanely overpowered. I think I definitely still prefer this over dive, dive, dive, though.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve improved on since you started scrimming with Team Canada? 

Something I’m still working on is being chill and thinking a lot. I used to be the type of player that yells and gets really excited, but I really want to tone it down and make sure I’m comming clearly and thinking, “What’s happening in the next fight that I need to work around?”

Ana has also surged in popularity recently, which I think is great. She’s a lot of fun to play, and these Nano Boost buffs have been great. Who are some Ana players you look up to or watch to improve? What’s your strategy for gittin’ gud at Ana?

I think you really can’t bring up Ana without mentioning Ryujehong. He’s the catalyst that developed the way Ana is played.

With Ana, a really subtle thing is knowing when to use your cooldowns. People will just say “Oh cool, my sleep is off cooldown, I’m gonna sleep this guy and throw my nade,” but really you need to be thinking “Ok, the matrix is low, I can look to nade here,” or “I’m gonna save my sleep for a Dragonblade,” or something to that effect. You need to really focus on when to use those two, because they’re huge abilities that can win a fight instantly.

Nano Boost healing is also really nice. One moment your Reinhardt has 1hp, and the next – [Crimzo claps his hands together] – he does not.

So you’re pretty confident coming into BlizzCon. When you talk BlizzCon, though, you have to talk about the big bad- what are you guys gonna do about South Korea? 

I think in the past, South Korea has really been up there, but I think with OWL and everyone getting better and more structured, I think – they’re still up there, but not as far away. Everyone has gotten better at the game, and they don’t seem that much higher than anyone else. They’re beatable. Definitely.

You’ve gone through every step of the Path to Pro – what has this journey been like for you, to start as a relatively unknown player and make your way up the ranks the way you did? 

Photo Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

It’s pretty crazy. The reason I haven’t been in the scene a lot is that I didn’t think I was good enough. That was the big thing. I bought Overwatch at release when I was like, 16. Just playing the game for fun with friends. I kept playing, and people would tell me in competitive that I was really good and that I should look for teams. I joined a couple, and they didn’t really work out. I used to be the type of player where, if I lost, I blamed myself really hard. I think I’ve grown past that mentality. It’s a team game. It’s 6v6. What I do is obviously important, but it’s also up to my team.

So I’ve been on an OD team, then Trials, then Contenders, then Academy, and now World Cup in the span of seven months. It’s been crazy. If I hadn’t made Contenders S1, though, I probably wouldn’t be here at all. I got picked up last second by Envision, just because they couldn’t get any of the flex supports they wanted. I was kinda the last pick. They literally looked through the comp ladder, found my name and gave me a trial. It’s insane.

So you’ve literally listed out every step you’ve gone through. There’s one more, though – do you think you’ll make it to OWL this season? Are you confident that you’ve got a spot?

I think I’ve made a strong case that I’m able to play against – and with – Overwatch League players. I have confidence in myself that I’ll make Season 2.

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Featured Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

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