Dezachu · @Dezachu
12th Jan 2019 from TwitLonger
Hanging up my Contenders cap
TL;DR I'm stepping down from casting Contenders Europe to commit more time to my non-esports work. Moving into Rainbow 6 Siege and weighing up other options too.
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Friday night was the end of an era in many ways. The end of GOATS being so dominant in EU. The end of the 2018 seasons. The end of Gigantti's pursuit of a 2nd title. And for me, my last time casting Overwatch Contenders. Blizzard have been aware of the decision for about 2 months now so no big surprise to some people, but I felt it best I make it public.
It's been a fantastic pleasure and privilege to work on the Contenders broadcast these last 12 months. I came in as an unknown having barely touched Overwatch before and I won't lie, it showed in season 1. Between that season and season 2, I put in a lot of work to improve and I like to think it showed.
Regardless, we've had a banging few seasons of T2 Overwatch and whether you were a player, fan, coach, team member, you name it - I've really enjoyed interacting with you all.
My decision to step down didn't come lightly. I'll save the full story for another day, but outside of esports I own a software business that didn't do so well in 2017; 2018 gave me the chance to build it up whilst keeping myself afloat with esports work (70% of that being Contenders). The business is now moving further into five figures of monthly revenue and I can't justify half a year abroad working in esports when I have a team to lead back home in the UK, so sadly I need to hang up my Contenders cap.
I'll reel off some special thanks below, but there's something I need to say regarding Overwatch as a whole - across the 4-5 games I've worked on, no players/coaches grind like T2 Overwatch players do. For little to no money, all for the ambition of making Overwatch League, seeing players/coaches return season after season chasing that dream is massively inspiring and I'm in awe of all of you that have pursued it at one time or another.
I might cover the occasional local event in the UK but it's time for me to step back and turn my focus towards games I can cover in one-off events rather than lengthy seasons. Rainbow 6 is that game as I cast it a few times last year and found myself really enjoying the minutia in the game. I'm also terrible at FPS games so maybe I can take some Overwatch skills I built and translate them across eh? This all kicks off on Tuesday with the Nordic Championships and a few other events are in the pipeline too. If any R6 players wanna play some games sometime or just talk about the game (Pro League or not), slide into them DMs.
To the players, coaches and staff, keep grinding. To the fans, keep supporting T2 Overwatch - it lives and dies by you. To everyone else, watch T2 Overwatch. :)
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Special mentions time!
Promise: from coaching Young and Beautiful to working with Mayhem Academy, it's been one hell of a journey and I'm so pleased to see you succeeding. You were the first person I really hit it off with in Overwatch and your knowledge & insights were very useful for improving my game knowledge in the early days. All the best for the future, get that OWL bread.
Solheim: Promise v2, and the best Doomfist coach in the world ;-) Your style and mentality was wildly different to Promise's but it worked for you and I'm glad to see you working on some exciting stuff in NA too.
Packing 10: you American brute, how can I not mention you?! I think I've spoke about life with you more than I have anyone else in the Overwatch community. Got a whole lot of respect for your journey so far and the journey to come, both in and out of game. Got no doubt we'll still talk from time to time x
Blizzard EU staff: I won't mention you by name out of respect for some privacy, but the EU team I've worked with have been wonderful throughout the year. It hasn't been without frustrations and aggravations, but your heart(s) have always been in the right place and it's been a very enjoyable experience. Thank you for the opportunity.
Jayne: I don't speak to Jayne all that much (and don't imagine he'll read this!) but he was the pivotal piece of my transformation between season 1 and 2. As he followed his journey of quitting his job, becoming a streamer, then moving into OWL, I learnt from his vods every step of the way and was really happy to see him succeed. I know he's received some criticism from the community along the way but again, his heart was always in Overwatch and I've always been inspired by him. GLHF for season 2!
The many players and staff I had a laugh with: there's so many of you I could go in-depth about but big thanks to you all for making this a fun year. Txao for his in-depth, insightful thoughts on the game, Nagga/Emil for being a ball of PMA, Luddee for the best Bond villain impression ever, GetAmazed ANOTHER ONE, Shu KEEP THE DAMN HAT ON, the Staff Discord members for being awesome etc etc etc. Love you all, and I hope you achieve the success you're chasing.
And finally, the team: Sam, Jaws, Harry, Tridd (yes, we mix ingame and out of game names). It's been a pleasure and a laugh working with you all this year. Sam and her odd pronunciations (BAZOOKA PAPPIEZ, YIS, YAW, WOMAN), Legday for being the most gold-hearted and big-brained fellow I've met, Jaws for being the soloQ warrior & Mario Party addict, and Tridd for being the barrel of laughs he's always been (and Wario lover). On the note of Tridd, we've known each other for years now and it was genuinely a really exciting prospect being able to work with you for all of 2018 - I'm happy with what we achieved and hope you keep smashing it no matter what happens next.
Au revoir my friends, and I hope we all cross paths again someday.