With the Esports Collegiate Conference season right around the corner, we had some burning questions for Head Overwatch Coach Jakob Furgat.
Looking at the schedule, what opponents are you most excited to face?
“The team I’m most excited about playing against is Kent State because I believe we can make that match close and entertaining. Going the distance against any team, whether it ends in a win or loss is always exciting to me since it is more Overwatch being played.”
There are a lot of new players on the team this year, how have they all adjusted to playing with each other on a regular basis?
“I think it all comes from the team environment. Setting a team environment where everyone, including me, feels comfortable with each other is the most important thing in a team to me. Everyone is going to play their best when they enjoy being around the people they’re competing with. They were all quick to find similar interests outside Overwatch to make their ties stronger. For more of an in-game example, I think all the time we put in practice and all the time they spend playing with each other on their own really helps them notice every player’s tendencies and what they can do to benefit each other in game.”
What games are played in the What strategies do you see being commonly used by other teams to begin the year? ESC?
“I feel that Overwatch right now is all about being fast. Playing at a fast tempo was always very important, but I think there’s more to speed up the game now than ever. One big thing is Overwatch 2 having only one tank per team rather than two meaning both teams have fewer defensive capabilities than before. With teams wanting to play fast, I think a lot of teams will rush their opponents with Lucio and use tanks that can survive being closer to the enemy, while still being able to deal damage from afar like Orisa and Ramattra.”
Overwatch 2 reduced the team size from six to five players. Has this affected your planning or strategy at all?
“It definitely has. A lot of it is just trying to cover up the job that a second tank usually would have. Trying to figure out whose job it is to protect the supports, or whose job it is to push the payload while the rest of the team takes positioning. The hard part about it all is that it is never the same person every time. There are so many factors that come into play with these types of things such as the map, the team composition, what ultimate abilities your team has, and a lot more. The loss of a tank also benefits a lot of damage characters with teams losing defensive capabilities. A huge example is the impact Genji can make on a team. With one tank, there’s a lot less to shut down Genji, and a lot more he can get away with.”
Tune in to our Twitch page to watch every match this season. Standard starting time is 7:00 PM CST. Follow us on social media to be notified of any changed dates/times.
