As one of the original professional Overwatch players, Tim "dummy" Olson has a myriad of experiences under his belt. Reaching all the way back to Agents Rising in 2016, dummy has played for a number of teams, such as Team Liquid, NRG Esports, and now finds himself aiding a band of young aspirants in Last Night’s Leftovers (LNL) in their pursuit in finding their key into the Overwatch League. He has been away for some time but has returned now to test his mettle once again in Overwatch Contenders North America. Dummy took some time out to talk with Esports Heaven about the state of the game, his past and how he evaluated the match against Grizzlys Esports.

Before we jump straight into Overwatch Contenders, I’ve always wanted to get your take on the time you spent in South Korea when you played in OGN’s APEX Overwatch League. For you personally, what were some of the big takeaways from that whole experience?

Despite our results, I greatly appreciate the time I spent in Korea. Being there showed me the work ethic required to play at the top. Going into [APEX] I had a pretty bad work ethic, but while I was there I was forced to play way more than I ever had up until that point, and it still wasn’t enough.

One discussion that has completely vanished in the community has been map drafting, which Contenders has brought back slightly. With the ability for the loser of a match to decide the next map, it undoubtedly creates a little more depth to a match. Is this something that you’d like to see implemented in more third-party tournaments and possibly even in the Overwatch League?

I think predetermined maps is completely fine for a league format. I was always against it when it came to weekend tournaments and it always felt forced, but in the Overwatch League and Contenders, it makes a lot of sense since you have a week or more to prepare.

From the outside looking in, one of the issues I hear come up more often than not in regards to teams underperforming is the dynamic between the leadership structure and shot-calling. These seem to be some the “Achilles Heel” to some of the most popular teams and creates problems which wears on the teams down over time. That being said, could you shed some light on how exactly Last Night’s Leftovers works in terms of shot-calling?

I think a lot of it comes down to delegating responsibility. Ajax is our main shot caller, but everyone has a presence in the team's decision making. Ajax handles our ultimate management and a lot of pre-team fight planning, but pretty much anyone can make a plan for team fights depending on the situation. After Ajax calls out what ultimates they have, someone can make a plan based on an ultimate they’re about to have, our Tracer and Winston can make a plan based on their flanks and in compositions where we put a lot of resources into a hero like Pharah or McCree, that person can end up doing a lot of the calling while we play around him, etc.

Being in the professional scene quite literally since the beginning, you’ve undoubtedly seen your fair share of supports come and go. Reaching all the way back to Agents Rising and now to Contenders North America 2018, what are some of the biggest changes that have challenged you as a support player?

I think the Ana nerf really hurt me as a player. Even though [playing in] South Korea helped me improve my work ethic, I definitely lost a lot of my drive and motivation at the start of last year. After competing in ELEAGUE to APAC, APEX, then MLG, it was really hard for me to find motivation in 2017 because of burnout and a lack of tournaments to play in. As a professional gamer, I should have been putting in the time and effort regardless, but back then, my motivation was always dependant on whatever events were coming up. As a result, I wasn’t keeping up with other flex supports, especially on Zenyatta.

For a moment, try and think back to MLG Vegas. In an interview with over.gg, you mention that your team at the time, NRG esports, enjoyed playing a more aggressive style. Do you think the current metagame that Overwatch Contenders North America is playing under plays more into that aggression or, would you say that Last Night’s Leftovers’ style is different?

I think just like LNL, our best playstyle/comp on NRG was dive, but the difference is we’ve all been playing dive for over a year on different teams, so everyone on this team has a better understanding of how dive operates.

Expanding on that, would you say that aggression and proactivity are favored in the current climate?

I think being proactive is always going to be favored, but that doesn’t necessarily always mean playing aggressive, as long as you have a plan for the next fight to counter the other team or force the pace or flow of the game that suits your team. You can play to bait their dive into bad positions out of line of sight of their healers to split their team, you can be proactive by taking map control for your backline and sometimes it's enough to win a team fight by just having your backline in a free farm position uncontested.

How would you grade the overall performance in Last Night’s Leftovers during your match against Grizzlys Esports? What would you say your current team’s strongest attribute is? Also, where are some aspects that you all, as a team, are working on to improve?

I think we played pretty sloppy because we weren’t used to how much they played Sombra. We just finished Contenders Trials which was on an older patch and only had a week to practice on the new one and for the most part, no one we've practiced with has really been running Sombra that much. I think it was a good learning experience and while we don’t expect anyone else to run those strats, I think we’re more prepared for it now.

Numbani seemed to be a bit closer than what I would have expected. What do you think was the biggest hurdle that you had to overcome there? Grizzlys Esports’ seemed to run quite a bit of Sombra—did that play into that map at all?

They ran another comp we had never run into on Numbani. Running Orisa/McCree against what we had was pretty overwhelming because we had zero chance to break their shield with our Soldier composition, but at the same time, we can’t exactly dive into the shield with it either. Basically, we needed to instantly transition into a Genji dive to force them off the Orisa/McCree but we were hesitant to change because it wasn't what we practiced on that map. I think something we need to work on is pulling the trigger on necessary adjustments mid-match even if it means playing comps we didn't practice.

That said, how confident do you and the team feel about Overwatch Contenders North America? Where do you see your biggest competition coming from?

I think everyone in this group is really good, so it’s hard to say who our biggest competition is. If I had to choose, I would say Gladiators Legion have been the toughest in practice, but matches are always different.

Lastly, you and Last Night’s Leftovers were seeded into Group A which has a lot of talented players within many of the teams. Is there one team in particular that you’re looking forward to playing against?

I'm really looking forward to playing against Toronto next week. I’ve heard really good things about them, but I haven’t played them in a very long time. I’m really interested to see how we match up against them.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLGs of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment and NRG.