On May 2nd, we joined SF Shock’s Mercy expert Grant“Moth” Espe and their coach Jae “JunkBuck” Choi after their win against Houston Outlaws.  Both were in good spirits as they sat down and we were eager to learn more about their history with Toronto Esports, their thoughts on Lucio for Stage 4, and whether Mercy pocketing Zen works for SF Shock.

A lot of players come from other FPS games, but you had to fight your way to the top through Overwatch Academy Gaming.  How do you feel about that experience?

Moth: Working my way up from the bottom of Tier 3 Overwatch, it wasn’t like I was trying to go pro, I was just having fun playing the game at a high level.  I kept getting better and better, joining better teams and eventually made it here. I took the opportunity when I got it.

Was there a defining moment when you were playing in Tier 3 Overwatch where you realized you’re ready for Overwatch League?

Moth: When we were in Toronto Esports with Panker, Nero, Dalton and Crakinlakin, we played really well against OWL teams when they were forming and that’s when we realized we were good enough.

With your former teammates, do you feel most of them are ready to be scouted?

Moth: A lot of my old teammates are ready to go into OWL.  Some of them are underage; they’ll be picked up when they turn 18.

JunkBuck: I was a coach on Toronto.  And I’m a coach for SF Shock right now.  That’s when I said, “we should pick up this Moth guy.”

In late March, you retweeted in regards anime and 2D “waifu’s”.  Who are your “waifu’s”?

Moth: They change season by season.  Right now, it’s Zero Two from DARLING in the FRANXX.  Also Rem from Re:Zero and Ren from the recent Sword Art Online.  It changes all the time.

You retweeted from Danteh about the “Avoid as Teammate” function.  Do you have nightmare stories on ladder or one-trick players you’ve encountered?

Moth: Specifically one-tricks: Symmetra and Torb.

JunkBuck: Or a Moira one-trick?  (laughs)

Moth: Hey, I flex on that account sometimes.  I played a lot of Moira when she first came out.

With the new Lucio changes, was there something in particular you were disappointed in?

Moth: They lowered the velocity of the speed boost you get when you jump off walls, but they added it back in.  It’s pretty much a net buff now, whereas before it was kind of a nerf.

Lucio can now stick onto a circular pillar and almost act as a turret.  Are you fine with that change?

Moth: I’m okay with that because they added an amount of time needed before the ability to stick to walls takes effect so you can wallride as usual, jumping back and forth off of things.

And as for Lucio’s right-click no longer consuming ammo?

Moth: It’s a really good buff.  It’ll increase peel and damage output.  It’s very helpful.

With all these Lucio buffs coming live for Stage 4, will he see more play?

Moth: He still won’t be played.  Mercy and Zen are too good right now, I don’t think it’ll change.  I think a lot of three support with Mercy, Zen and Brigitte will be played.  Maybe we’ll some Lucio and Moira with tanks and Brigitte, but I think Mercy and Zen is better.

You had a tweet in regards to fixing your offenses.  Can you elaborate a bit more on that?

JunkBuck: Numbani, we got full held.  Volskaya 2nd point, we got full held. Route 66 was better.

Moth: It was mainly regarding Volskaya and Numbani.  We struggled. We were running a Moira and Mercy comp on Numbani offense and we couldn’t pull it off properly, like we previously do.  We changed that today and it worked out on our offense much better.

JunkBack: Yes, our Genji popped off.

You’ve got a good synergy with Sleepy’s Zenyatta.  NYXL is famous for their Jjonak / Mercy pocketing Zenyatta strategy.  Is that something your team has considered as well?

JunkBuck: I hate it so much, but our team likes it.

Moth: Sleepy and I like it, but I’ve been trying to do it less and less.  It depends on the map and positioning. I’m mostly pocketing Architect and Sleepy.

So if you have to run it, you’re ready for it.  But your coaching staff may be opposed at times.

Moth: Yes.

Your team seems to remember the losses, even if it’s a game that was weeks ago.  When does a loss become forgettable?

Moth: There’s a lot of losses where you’ll remember exactly how you lost the fight.  Even in scrims, people remember what happens even if it’s weeks ago.

Is there a loss that particularly sticks with you?

Moth: Our loss against The Savages in Haste.  We were on a tear in Toronto winning everything and we lost to the Savages.

JunkBuck: We got knocked off… it was real bad.

Was it a case of everything going wrong or did they outplay you?

Moth: A little bit of both.  That was when we didn’t have Nero, which was frustrating, but we were still winning our games.

JunkBuck: We didn’t have our core player there.

Which feels worse: when you are outplayed or when you aren’t playing up to your best?

Moth: It feels worse when you don’t play up to your best.  If you can’t replicate what you’re doing in scrims, it’s really frustrating.  

JunkBuck: Getting outplayed is actually not as bad.

Moth: Getting outplayed; it means they pulled out something new and you can improve to beat it.

For any upcoming players who want to go pro, do you recommend the path you took: scrapping from the bottom?

Moth: If you want to go pro, I don’t think there is any other path you can take.  Even if people come from other games, they might get a headstart in Overwatch but they started from the bottom of those games.

Is there anything else you’d like to say to the fans?

Moth: JunkBuck, what do you think?

JunkBuck: Thanks to our sponsors.

Moth: No, that’s all.  (laughs)

JunkBuck: Thanks to the fans!

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