As Chao "Undead" Fang and his translator entered the press room to talk to me, there was a plate of food sitting between us that the Blizzard Arena catering services were kind enough to provide. They were appetizers, including caviar and a stuffed mushroom that, from my perspective, were delicious.

When I offered some to Undead, he tried to be polite and consider taking one. Eventually, he refused and he couldn't help but laugh while explaining how unappetizing it all looked to him. For me, it was a reminder of how far away Undead was from his native home. Little things like rarely enjoying food the reliance on translators must be exhausting, especially considering the Shanghai Dragons are now an incredible 0-17 with only 8 games won in total.

What is the first thing you think fans will notice about Shanghai Dragons when your new teammates arrive?

For sure, people will pay great attention to Geguri for she is the only female player in the OWL. That will be the center of attention for many fans. Apart from that, after they arrive we will be more aggressive in our play. This is partly because the double tanks from Korea have advanced synergy and their coordination is better. The tempo and pacing they bring in the match is very good and we will be more aggressive as a result.

" As a professional player though, I never think about giving up. "

It must be difficult to go into each match with hope and have those hopes dashed. How do you deal with the consistent disappointment?

Every day is a new day, we try to stay positive. But for sure, if any team has too many losses, your confidence will be dampened. After losing so many games, are enthusiasms is surely affected. Every single match, when we lose the first round and the second round, it feels very bad. Then, when it comes to the third round we feel worse.

It happens to most teams when they go on a losing streak.

Have you ever just wanted to give up in those moments?

Sometimes in a game, there are a lot of emotions. For example, if I see a member of our team does something alone or one of our tanks jump at their DPS or Widowmaker, only to find themselves right in the middle of the enemy team for no reason, I can be very discouraged. It's discouraging when my teammates are doing things I  don't want them to do.

I expect my tanks to pressure their DPS or Widowmaker, but they don't and it can be frustrating. It can be so hard to do my job and compete when this happens. Every team member expects their teammates to cover them and when that doesn't happen...

As a professional player though, I never think about giving up. I try to focus on what I should do and take it easy. After all, there are situations I can't control.

Is the Overwatch League what you expected it to be?

When I was playing in Overwatch world cup, I was asked what expectations I might have for this league. I said then I was expecting to go into this league and be surrounded a lot of top players from different parts of the world. The vibe would be very good, we will have fans applauding for us.

The Overwatch League has, actually, fit all of my expectations. The fans here have been so supportive, just as supportive as fans in China. It has fulfilled every piece of my expectations.

We have talked before and you told me your biggest wish is for a single victory. Has that changed?

That is still my goal, but now our new players are coming and I am expecting more victories in stage three. There will be time for us to practice with our new players, which is important because we haven't had much time yet.

With our new roster, I at least expect 6 victories out of the 10 matches.


Which team in the overwatch league do you think you have come the closest to beating?

Even since stage 1, we originally thought our biggest rivals would be Dallas Fuel and SF Shock. Our strategies are very similar to theirs and we think we have the best chance against them. I'd say today, Fuel and Shock are still our biggest chances for a win.

I'd like to also add that they are very nice people! 


Any last words before we go?

I want to thank all the fans for their continued support up to now. We have not scored our first victory yet, but we just want to have one so we can at least return the support of our fans. We ask again for our fans to be more patient -- we are going to win.

All photos inside the Blizzard Arena stadium taken by Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment and subsequently released by Blizzard for publication. All the not amazing photos were taken by the author.