Home » Gesture from the London Spitfire talks Season 1, Resting Well, and Playoff Practice

Gesture from the London Spitfire talks Season 1, Resting Well, and Playoff Practice

Brandon Padilla

Publish Date: June 17, 2018

We sat down with Gesture from the London Spitfire after a tough loss against the Philadelphia Fusion. Easily one of the best main tanks in the game right now, Gesture had a lot to say about Season 1, his improvement as a player, and the need for change looking ahead to Season 2.

So today’s match was pretty crazy for you guys. What was it about the Fusion’s play style today that gave you so much trouble?

We went in playing as we normally do, and I know that they brought what they normally bring. In the strategies that we used, though, we kind of figured them out a bit too late.

So what kind of adaptations did you end up making in Map 4 to turn that around?

Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

In Map 3, actually, we started to figure them out- it was one of those really close losses where you go “Ah, I think I know what’s going on,” so I told the team “Hey, I think this is what they’re going to be doing.” So in Map 4 we went in with a different mindset on how they were playing. Even though it was still kind of iffy, we managed to pull out the win.

So in that last fight on Gibraltar, which was intense and generally crazy- you got something like two or three Primal Rages over the course of it, as I recall- how well were you guys able to maintain your normal comms structure when a fight is going crazy like that?

How communications go for us is determined by the composition of the team. Running a Brigitte allows us to play a little more steadily, and a little more calmly. We were able to keep our communication through all of that going because Brigitte was in play.

So what would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learned after Season 1?

This season has been a lot longer than what anybody has ever done before. Looking back on it now, I learned that taking care of myself, my mental state, my body- that’s really important. It really wears you down. Going into next season, maintaining that and learning more about how to take care of myself will be important lessons for me.

Do you think the schedule for next season should change?

So, obviously there are a lot of players in the Overwatch League who are from Korea, China, Europe- all over the place, right? A lot of these guys want to go home, but a one week break doesn’t allow you to really rest. A longer break during the middle of the season would be nice to have.

I was asking Pine about that desire to go home earlier, as well- is that desire to visit home fairly prevalent amongst all Korean players?

I mean, if we won every single game every season, maybe we’d be happy, but that’s not gonna happen. Around mid-season a lot of us do want to go home, back to what we’re familiar with.

Has the Overwatch League lived up to your expectations as a whole so far?

It’s bigger than I expected. As a player, it’s as I expected, except it’s really really long, and a little tiring- I want more of a break. In terms of the league itself, though, when you see these big-name sponsors taking part? I don’t know viewership numbers or anything, but that part makes me feel that it’s bigger than what I expected it to be.

Where would you want to see another Korean OWL team?

Probably Busan!

Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Are you glad that you played this stage on this patch, rather than the live one?

I think just having Brigitte is a really big change on its own, let alone Hanzo. In fact, I think it might have been better if we didn’t allow Brigitte in the tournament, just to keep things a little more consistent.

What do you want to work the most on personally between now and Season playoffs?

It’s hard to say, really. We’re going to try and get all the playoff teams together, and we’ll be practicing. During scrims is when I figure out what I need to focus on the most. So as of right now I can’t really give you an answer, but once we start to practice with those teams I’ll definitely know.

A big thank you to Gesture for the interview, and to London Spitfire’s GM Susie Kim for translating and facilitating!