Grant “Moth” Espe has quietly made a name for himself as one of, if not the best western Support players. He is not known for his outspokenness or flashy plays, but he is the kind of player to be in the fray doing everything that needs to be done for his team to win. Here is a look into Moth and his role within the San Francisco Shock.
Name: Grant “Moth” Espe
Country: United States
Jersey Number: 64
Twitter: @moth_OW
Twitch: moth_ow
A Defining Month
Before signing with the Shock, Moth played on a number of various competitive teams. The first being ‘doot doot’ before continuing to Rocket Esports and Virtue. He finally settled into Toronto Esports in September of 2017. With several first place finishes in weekly and minor tournaments, he received a call from the Shock organization announcing their offer to him.
San Fran signed both him and Min-ho “Architect” Park on the same day, March 13 2018. This marks a turnaround month for the organization as they became two strong pieces for the team. Then later that month, Jay “Sinatraa” Won and Matthew “Super” DeLisi came of-age and were eligible to compete on-stage. Moth, Sinatraa, and Super were essentially permanent starters through 2019, and Architect played a large part in the team’s deep DPS pool that kept opponents guessing.
Heading into the 2019 season, the Shock released Daniel “dhaK” Martinez Paz, leaving Moth as their only main support player. But this pressure was not a challenge for him, as his brilliant understanding of macro-plays and the meta allowed the team to flourish.
Consistency is Key
When thinking of the most consistent players in the league, Moth has to be in that conversation. Occasionally he will have a noticeable ‘pop off’ like the 4k boop against Atlanta in the playoffs. But more often, he is making more covert, behind-the-scenes plays. Whether it be perfectly-timed Sound Barriers, or masterful boops to displace the opponents just enough to win the fight, Moth feels like he is everywhere at once.
This consistency is even more impressive when considering that he played more maps than any other player throughout the 2019 season. As the only main support, he participated in 187 of the 188 maps the team played. The only time he was ever subbed out was to let Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim play Baptiste when the match was already won. Being able to consistently perform through that much playtime is the mark of a true master.
Looking Forward
With many concerns going into 2020 regarding player burnout and travel, San Francisco should feel comfortable with Moth in their back pocket. He has proven he can handle the workload and loves the game. In a September interview, he said:
“Like, before Overwatch League, I was never subbed out. [I] was always [the] only main support on every team I was on. I was always starting, every scrim, every map, every tournament. It wasn’t really something I had to adapt to. And I really enjoy the game, so it’s not like I feel like I’m going to burn out anytime soon. I’m just used to it.”
And with travel concerns, he already expressed excitement about it. Growing up, his family moved around a lot from Minnesota to England and Switzerland. While this may be a non-factor, it could potentially give them an edge if other teams are experiencing burnout.
There are only three things certain in this world: death, taxes and Moth leading his team to victory, map after map.
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Featured image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.
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