At the time of this interview, Dallas Fuel just lost 0-3 to San Francisco Shock and it didn't look close. I wanted to talk to Jonathan "HarryHook" Tejedor Rua, in particular , because Shock was making life a living hell for a support player. Their dives were lethal and, Danteh was playing out of his mind.

So what does a seasoned support player do when his team is getting rolled? HarryHook played a diverse lineup of supports during the match and, as it turns out, that wasn't a very fun experience.

As a support player, does it ever feel like the game is out of your control?

Right now, as a support player, It is so confusing. Playing Mercy, playing Ana, playing Lucio...

With this meta, you pretty much have to just keep your second support alive. They will die always -- you can't stop that. But if you help keep your Zenyatta alive longer, you can win the fight.


Is playing support currently a pretty frustrating experience?

Well, I think the most frustrating thing to play is Winston. Playing support isn't that bad. Usually, Winston gets all the focus fire and not you. But when the enemy is playing pure dive with Genji and Tracer, and you don't have a good strategy or synergy with your other support player, what are you even going to do?

In those cases, It is bad for sure. It is really awful.


From your perspective, what do you think happened this game vs. SF Shock?

From this game, where can I start?

I'll start with me -- I played like sh*t, there is no other way to say it. I never had a good teamplay moment with chipshajen the entire game. It is really important to have team play with your secondary support player. You have to rotate with them all the time. 

I didn't stay with him all the time as I should have.

In this meta, your support ally WILL die.

What do you think caused that separation between you two? Usually, you are quite synergistic together.

I think it is because right now, everyone has a different mindset. It's not just me and chip, it is everyone. For example, on Route 66 on the second point, we were going through the stairs and then chips went left side. I'm not sure whether he called or it not, but I was going top. Then, I realized Tracer was with him, I tried to help, but I was late and he died.

Stuff like that happens a lot and it's really hard. It's about team play and communication -- that is the main problem. 


What did you mean about everyone being on a different mindset lately? Can you elaborate a bit?

For example, say I want to do something specific as a Lucio player, right? Let's say they have a Reinhardt and I want to do boop combo with a teammate against him. But then, someone else wants to do something else, and another teammate wants to do something else. No one is on the same page ever -- it's really hard to have that team play you need.

If someone has a plan, and they say they want to do this, we should just do that. When it is confusing and it's out of control, you can't ever do that.

"Sorry for the fans, but every day we are trying hard and the best we can."

Do you think is a healthy meta that is good for the game? Or do you think Brigitte will be a much needed disruption for how powerful dive is?

I mean, she is very good vs. dive. You know, you can one-shot Tracer or kill a Genji very fast. But, still, you don't even need to play that full dive line up. Your opponents can just pick Soldier: 76, take the high ground and poke them down. What are you going to do then as Brigitte?


So do you think Brigitte will provide strong enough pressure against dive, or just be a speed bump and dive will still define the highest level of play?

I think it is going to be the same, the new hero won’t change anything. At best, you force the other team to change their Genji or Tracer, but, once again, they will just pick Soldier: 76 and never full engage -- ever. They will just poke you down and then dive when someone is low HP.

It seems as if there is a lack of coordination within the team and a lot of people thought aKm would provide a lot of insight and leadership. What do you think his role is on the team?

Overwatch is all team play: that is what matters. If you don't have team play, you lose. It is always about that. It doesn't matter how good you are, if you don't have teamplay you will lose.

You could have EFFECT, birdring, profit and all the best players in OWL on the same team and, if they just do whatever they want to do, they will still lose. It's going to happen every time.

The way to fix our team is not just through aKm. He is a great addition to the team -- he has a sick Pharah, sick Soldier and McCree, overall a very, very good hitscan. But still, we need someone to make the plans. Someone who can bring the team together and let us know what we are going to do before the fight. Someone to make plans and call what we are going to do before the fight, then help us execute.


Let me clarify something, are you saying you don't have someone doing that now, or the person doing it currently is ineffective?

Right now, the one who is doing it is Custa. Still, though, it is not enough. It is about the team -- one person cannot move everyone. Everyone has to work together or, once again, we lose. 

How do you personally cope with the stress of the Overwatch League?

For me, going to the gym helps. I use the gym as an escape when I am depressed or sad. When I have troubles with the team, it's the gym or the beach. That is what I do to escape from the Overwatch League.


What do you like to do at the beach?

Just chill. I walk, I go by the water -- I don't need to do anything. Just have my mind blank. I don't need to do anything else. I don't think about the game ever when I am there.

Any last words to fans?

I'm sorry for the fans. Every day we are trying hard and the best we can. We try very hard, it's not bullshi*t. We are actually working on it, but it's going to take time. I don't know how long, maybe until the next season, I have no idea.

But just know, we are working on it.

All photos inside the Blizzard Arena stadium taken by Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment and subsequently released by Blizzard for publication.