The stage is set for ’ Anthony “Fire” King, lead shot-caller for EnVision Esports, as they prepare for a rematch with FaZe Clan in this weekend during the Overwatch Contenders playoffs. After taking everyone by surprise with their tremendous 4-0 start of the season, EnVision dropped their final three games, which happened to be against the other three qualifying teams – EnVyUs, FaZe Clan, and FNRGFE.

Fire claims the team lost its footing towards the end of the season:


“After getting knocked out in Contenders Season Zero and buying Team Liquid’s spot, being able to secure the third seed in this major tournament means everything to us. The start of the Contenders Season One regular season for us definitely wasn't a fluke, but our rocky ending is undeniably the result of us losing our footing and not playing to our strengths".

As the Lúcio for the team, Fire assumes most of the responsibility when it comes to shot-calling. A tough 1-4 loss to FaZe Clan meant it was back to drawing board for EnVision. It was time to reevaluate their strategy for the upcoming offline event:

“Going into the rematch against FaZe, we definitely learned a lot from watching the VOD of our previous matchup including how well (Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok) and (George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha) compliment each other and how their team plays around them. Faze are a tightly-knit team that has shorter openings for engages, but if we go into this game composed and deal with ShaDowBurn's Dragonblades, there's definitely a chance for us.”

Practice, practice, practice.

Of course, Fire doesn’t do it all without a bit of additional support for his teammates. He mentioned Seb “numlocked” Barton, EnVision’s main-tank, helps pave the way into enemy territory.

“For the most part preparing with Seb comes down to going into a custom map and explaining our perspectives of how fights should play out, and in-game it's bouncing ideas off of each other and being proactive,” said Fire. “Thinking about it now it definitely seems as if he controls the tempo while the ultimate management and map macro come from me.”

To fans who regularly watch competitive Overwatch, it’s no surprise that playing in an offline setting means a world of difference for players. From no longer worrying about connectivity issues, to being in the same physical room with your opponents, to the wild noise of the crowd always within earshot, anything can happen on the big stage.

For EnVision, their FaZe rematch comes just two weeks after falling in an online setting:

“Going into the quarterfinal match this upcoming Saturday, it's beyond doubt that we have to feed off of each other's energy –being in person and all– but to make sure that we aren't being too hyphy by making silly mistakes. It'll be a familiar experience for most of us except this time around with actual LAN clients and less Pulse Bombs connecting through an EU matrix.”

Past LAN success

EnVision is no stranger to LAN events, having won Dreamhack Montreal in September. With the knowledge that next weeks playoffs games will be the first event held at the new Blizzard Arena, Fire can't help but sound hopeful:

“The two-time back to back international offline champs are here back for another LAN win! Jokes aside, we're all honored to play in the Blizzard Arena situated in Burbank Studios. Considering the finals of Dreamhack Montreal and not playing on a main stage, for Jason “Jaru” White and I this will truly feel like a LAN and I get goosebumps just thinking about the crowd roaring and feeling the vibes, but I'm curious as to what cutting-edge technology Blizzard has adapted for their state-of-the-art arena.”

Be sure to catch the start of the playoffs this upcoming weekend as things kick-off with Misfits and Cloud9 at 10am PT/1pm ET on Saturday, October 7th, at Twitch.tv/OverwatchContenders. Or, if you want to watch Fire stream some top-tier Lucio, his stream can be found at Twitch.tv/fire_ow.