Overwatch’s Diamonds in the Rough: Daiya’s Journey Amidst the T2 and T3 Overwatch Scene [Part 2 of 2]

We pick up here with the second installment of my interview with Daiya. If you’re arriving here and have yet to check out Part 1, I’d encourage you to do so!

By this point, Daiya has just begun to break into the T3 Overwatch scene after several seasons of grinding through competitive play. Everything has culminated into an opportunity with Lovely Dwarves, which springboards him into a series of opportunities.

Talk more about your time with Lovely Dwarves. What was that like and how has it formed where you’re at now?

Well, I remember this because I saw a recruitment post in The O.W. from Team Norway player, Iko, saying his team needed a flex support for a top Open Division project and, well, I’m a flex support, I don’t have a team, so I tried out, and, they liked me. So, they signed me. The roster was a pretty decent roster. We always had decent results in scrims and I feel like if we wouldn’t have had an unfortunate tiebreaker stat, the map win-rate or whatever it was. Because several 9-1 teams did not make it into playoffs which is kind of sad. The only loss we had was a 3-2, as well.

Yeah, seems odd for sure. Seems like you definitely should have made playoffs with that record, that’s crazy!

Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Agreed. So, yeah, after that Open Division, the team basically went their own separate ways. I started to become busy with the World Cup tryouts. Iko was as well, as he went on to play for Norway in 2018. But, it was a very good experience and got me solid scrim experience against top T3 players, and even some T2 players.

Yeah, definitely. You mentioned that the team kind of dissolved when you were preparing for the World Cup. What was the process like, preparing for the World Cup? Walk us through what that was like.

Well, some countries had open tryouts where anyone could join, but the UK wasn’t like that. It was closed, so you had to be invited. I was lucky enough to be one of the people invited to try-out. At the time I only had experience in the tier 3 scene with Lovely Dwarves. My tier 2 experience was very limited, so when I went to my trial block it was very nerve-wracking. I was playing against these Contenders teams, and playing with veteran players like Fusions, numlocked who was triailing, and also ChrisTFer, Smex, Kruise – all these players with veteran experience who know what they’re doing. You’re just kind of sitting there like, not really sure what to do, and the game is on a completely different level. So, it was that experience that really allowed me to become who I am now because it gave me an entirely new perspective on how the game is meant to be played, essentially.

Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

That’s awesome. So, you got through that and made the 12-man roster. But, you were unfortunately not on the 7-man roster. Did you attend the qualifier after that? What was your involvement with the team, overall?

I know it differs from country to country, but personally, for the UK, the 12-man players that didn’t make it basically had zero involvement with the team. We didn’t go to the actual event and we didn’t scrim with them. I think the most involvement I had after the try-out process was spectating some scrims because I asked to watch.

Interesting. Well, regardless, I feel like that trialing and getting on the 12-man roster did prepare you for the future, at least. So, currently, you’re with We Have Org. Would you mind talking about your start with that team and what that process has been like?

Image Courtesy of We Have Org

Before I joined WeHaveOrg, I was with elo.Tick who was also managed by the manager of WeHaveOrg, JesterFarian. So, the two teams were under him. Elo.Tick went their own ways when players on the team got offers to go to other teams, including some to We Have Org. At that point, I didn’t have a lot of options. I only got one other trial from a trials team in North America, and they ended up taking a different player. So, without many other options,  I literally messaged Jester saying, “Do you want a flex support sub on We Have Org?” And he was like, “Why not?” So, he asked the team, and they were fine with it. That’s basically how I ended up joining We Have Org.

Even though I’ve just been a sub for them, I still feel like I’ve gotten a lot of recognition for just getting to the team in the first place, and that makes me happy. My hope now is that I’ll be able to just play a few maps in Contender Trials to show what I’m capable of.

That leads to my next question. So, with being on the team and subbing, what are your future plans right now? I know you have a stream that’s been growing in popularity. Are you looking to focus more on the stream, or is your focus more on the team? Are you trying to balance both? What does all that look like for you?

You can find Daiya’s Twitch channel by clicking on this image.
Image Courtesy of @DaiyaOw

Right now, with We Have Org, I’ve been able to focus a lot more on my stream. I definitely want to see my stream grow. I’m always looking for the opportunity to start scrimming very regularly. Right now, my goal is to get to contenders and my dream is to get the Overwatch League. I think it’s any player’s dream to get the Overwatch League because, ultimately, Contenders is meant to be the stepping stone for Overwatch League. But, for now, my realistic goal is to get into Contenders and improve myself in official games when I have my opportunity to. Getting my stream partnered is also a huge goal for me.

So, as I see it, you’re a player that’s shown that you can start young, playing different games, and then get into a game with a competitive Esports scene, like Overwatch, for example, and work your way up. You’ve shown that this is an attainable thing. What would you say is your number one piece of advice for someone who has either just started playing Overwatch on ladder, or even someone on a T3 team? What is your advice for that person trying to move up and make a name for themselves?

Build a brand for yourself. I feel like a lot of players don’t do this. They don’t really try to build a brand for themselves and market themselves whenever they can. That’s one thing I felt I did a good job at. I always looked for opportunities to get myself out there and get more well known and I feel like a lot of other players should do the same

But, they should have the right mentality, as well. They should always be focused on improving themselves, rather than being distracted by other things like what teammates did wrong, and so forth. If you always focus on yourself, and what you’re doing wrong, and make improvements, you will progress – even if it is tedious and slow. Especially when you’re top 500 and you’re already playing the game at a high level mechanically, it can become difficult. There are diminishing returns on improving the farther you go in the game – it gets harder to improve. So, you just have to be very persistent and very critical of yourself.

Gotcha. So, that was good advice towards players who are trying to get where you’re at now. Do you have a player or someone that you’re kind of chasing, or someone that you look up to? Maybe either another Zenyatta player, or just another player in the league?

Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

I definitely respect Boombox a lot, as he is the person above me in Overwatch League. He is the person I aspire to be better than, one day. I look up to his skill and his career. He has had a very solid Overwatch career even before Overwatch League, winning contenders season 0, and so on. He’s probably the most successful UK player in Overwatch and I hope one day I can have that level of success.

The Game Haus would like to thank Daiya for participating in this interview. If you’d like, you can keep up with Daiya on Twitter and follow his stream on Twitch!

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Featured Image Courtesy of @DaiyaOW

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