After their decisive win against NYXL in the playoffs, Philadelphia Fusion celebrated on stage with hugs, high fives, and big smiles.

But then, during their group press interview afterward, the team seemed subdued. These were my words describing the mood on the day of their victory:

"Fusion stepped in front of the press core first and were remarkably calm after taking such a big win. In fact, the players didn't seem overly eager to answer questions or revel in the victory, instead focusing on quickly refuting any question or insinuation that denied the validity of their win."

From all my OWL experience, when a team wins big, they usually have a great time during group interviews. Still reeling with adrenaline, teammates often excitedly compare moments and key plays with each other. Usually, amidst the chatter, a screen starts playing highlights from the match and each player joyfully comments on tiny details and hidden dramas that their teammates might have missed.

But, after the biggest upset and arguably the most important game of the Overwatch League's first inaugural season, Gael "Poko" Gouzerch and his teammates weren't like that at all. I spoke with Poko after this press conference and our chat made me understand that Fusion just isn't that type of team.

Now that the season is coming to a close, what is something OWL fans don't know about you and they should?

That I can speak English, I guess.

*Laughs*

Most of the time people think I don’t know how to speak English but I think I have improved a lot since I’ve come here.

Also, I’m somewhat positive as well. I tried to keep calm most of the time and bring a good vibe to the team.


Can you talk more about that role on the team? You say you keep a good vibe – how was that on display during your match against NYXL?

When everyone is down or when we lose a map I usually come and say “it’s ok, it’s not done yet and we still a lot of maps left” or things like “we know this wasn’t our best map, let’s focus”.

We just have to focus on the next map and stay as positive as possible. It is very easy to get frustrated on stage so, if you don’t reset your mindset you can lose just because of that. 

I always try to remind my teammates “it’s fine, it’s fine, keep positive."


I’m not sure if you have seen much on social media, but when NYXL lost they were quite emotional. Rightly so, but, compared to your team, the difference was very apparent. During our group press interview, your team didn’t seem very excited or celebratory – a stark contrast to other winning teams I’ve talked to after matches that meant far less.

Is this a practiced mindset or are you, as a team, just a cool-headed bunch?

Yeah, I think we are all pretty chill. We don’t like to celebrate much when we are on stage and we are always ready to stay focused. We just aren’t a team that really celebrates.

Like, with NYXL: you can just see that Saebyeolbe just loves what he is doing. When he wins he is so happy and when he loses, he is very sad. But, for us ... I mean it is our job. We just aren’t like that.


Can you start to tell in-game when the emotions of your opponents start becoming a factor?

Oh yeah. You can see it like when Pine is doing some crazy flank. We know they have so much confidence and, if we don’t punish those types of moves they are going to get more confident, more confident, and then stomp us.

So, against them, we need to finish every fight with them feeling “ok, we can’t do this or that”. I think that is what we did and why we won.


So when they took those two maps, you think it was because their morale and confidence were surging?

Mmm, I don’t really know – I didn’t play playing the two maps where we lost. But, I was in the dugout and every time they were filming NYXL faces, they were laughing and having a good time. When they were like that, that is why we lost those maps.


Speaking of Saebyeolbe, he commented that the loss against Fusion in the playoffs was the most memorable moment of the league for NYXL. He said it was the lowest they have ever felt and they never want to feel it again.

Do you have any comment on that? Is that feeling something Fusion has gone through or something you might say about a loss in an attempt to move forward?

Yeah, I think so. That match was so important – if you didn’t win then you are out of the league for the season.

I think that we are the happiest we have ever been, even though we don’t really show it. It is totally understandable for Saebyeolbe to say that. They were the favorites of the league, the won so many maps and games. They won two stages and everyone was expecting them to be in the finals so it must be disappointing for them to not be there in front of their fans.


Is there anything you’d like to say to any new fans who may be rooting for you in the grand finals.

Yeah, I want to thank every fan that was cheering for us, especially the guys in Philly. Keep cheering for us and we are going to make you proud.

Some interesting Poko trivia:

As I walked out of Blizzard's LA Arena (about half an hour or so after this interview took place), I saw a tall jogger running towards me at a surprisingly fast pace. It was none other than Poko, running laps around the studio. Wearing a Philadelphia Fusion tank top, he sped past me and we both nodded our acknowledgments.

At first, I didn't understand what Poko was doing running at nearly 10:30 PM -- I had heard his team was off going to go celebrate, but then I remember what he told me about considering OWL to be his job and I was impressed at the discipline it must have taken to still keep to a fitness routine after such an intense series.