Beyond his love for all things sloth related, Connor "Avast" Prince is headed to Burbank, California to play with the Boston Uprising in the Overwatch League. A bit of an Overwatch veteran in his own right, Avast has played for classic teams such as, I’m Your Huckleberry, -bird noises-, Hammers Esports, and Luminosity Gaming. He stopped by to speak with us shortly before flying out to California to chase the dream to chat about the new map, Moira’s impact, and his hate for elevators.

Other than the traffic troubles, how are you doing Avast? How does it feel being a member of the Overwatch League?

I'm doing well, busy trying to get ready to move. Also taking my finals early too. It feels very good to be in the league but also gives me a bit of anxiety for sure. Gonna be my first time leaving my immediate area for an extended time period.

Congratulations on signing with Boston Uprising! I know you’ve been playing with them for a little bit now, what were your first impressions of the team environment?

Oh yeah I've been practicing with the team for several weeks now. I had also been in the tryout process before being signed since August. So, I've had a decent amount of playtime and personal interaction with the team already. I wasn't very familiar with the Korean players that were picked up before playing with/against them in the tryout process and they are all very impressive, especially considering they've left me this impressed while playing with 150 ping and at 5am their time for practice. Those players being: Striker, Gamsu, Neko, Kalios.

Now, at BlizzCon we did see the unveiling of the new support hero, Moira. Have you had a chance to sit and play her at all? What are you thoughts on Moira?

Yeah many Overwatch League teams have been scrimming on the PTR to prepare ourselves for the next patch and I've had some chances to play with her. My initial impressions of her were that she would not be very strong, but she is actually a very strong hero in the right hands and can shift up the meta a bit I think. She has very strong burst healing and survival ability so I think you will see her run a lot in the coming months.

Recommended: A longform podcast which featured Avast and myself.

Something that I've been wondering about myself is lack of triple tank or control comps. Do you think Moira might help bring that back or do you think there is something that is better suited for her?

Triple tank will definitely be popular in the next patch in my opinion. It is actually relatively strong on this patch too, but not a lot of teams have experimented with it. The biggest thing though that is bringing back those compositions is the D.Va nerf more than Moira, along with Junkrat being so strong. She definitely has her place in those compositions too as I expect to see a lot of variation in this upcoming meta.

Something that I know you’re passionate about are maps and we did get to take a sneak peak at the new Hybrid map, Blizzard World. Coming from a support’s point of view, what was your take on the new map?

It gives me a very Hollywood feel due to the mixed area aesthetics. Honestly I haven't really seen it in its entirety so I can't really have an informed opinion about it right now. However, just looking at the theme of the map I worry it might be filled with some wild gimmicks that are casually fun but do not lend well to competitive play.

That being said, like I said, you're passionate about maps, so here is a hot one. Would rather have more new maps or would you rather have Blizzard fix or tweak the preexisting ones?

Well since Blizzard is introducing the map rotation system for OWL and possibly for Contenders as well I think more new maps won't be as much of an issue since it will let them focus on a subset of maps for certain periods. I do think that map releases could still be toned down to focus on perfecting existing maps still.

No more elevators, am I right?

Please, no more elevators.

Talk to me about the support staff around Boston. I enjoy hearing stories of the architects behind the scenes that help teams to grow. What has it been like working with Head Coach Crusty and the support staff?

I think Boston put a lot of emphasis on staff in comparison to other franchises which you can argue is good or bad. Crusty is someone with a history in APEX and is very knowledgeable which I think can be hard to find in Overwatch currently due to its relative youth as a game where staff and production talent generally have some catchup time. The support staff is also excellent as I had the pleasure of working with Mini before on LG Evil and Shake was a player I respected before he transitioned to a coach and I'm sure his experience will aid him a lot in the role. Overall I think the emphasis on staff helps promote structure and ease in operation of the team which I enjoy a lot about the franchise so far.

Many people have you all pegged as ‘underdogs’, do you think that is the case? The president of gaming with the Kraft group, Chris "HuK" Loranger spoke confidently in a recent interview that you all could cause some serious upsets. What are your thoughts?

When I began the tryout process for Boston and watched as the team was formed my initial impression were definitely leaning towards underdog as well but I think that is due to my ignorance of the players after my experiences playing with them and learning about them. I had a conversation with Huk during the process where I told him I believed he was doing the Overwatch League equivalent of moneyball and I think that runs true still. It's a team with players that are all talented on their roles but didn't necessarily have the spotlight from where they came from. Huk really wanted to build a roster where improvement and teamwork was key so he looked for talented players that have positive energy and an ability to digest criticism and implement it. Often this lead him to players that many considered not as strong or less popular but Huk wanted a roster his coaching staff could mold.

The Overwatch League finally has a date set on it and everything is about to kick off, does this feel like a surreal time for a player? As someone who has made it their goal to be in the Overwatch League, does it feel ‘real’ yet?

I think it's just now starting to feel real for me because I was very uncertain if I would be playing this season and I will be moving to Burbank a little bit later than many of my teammates due to me finishing my finals. But as I get closer to moving I'm very excited and a little tense to see what the experience will be like. Personally I think my view of how it will be is still to be determined especially considering the lack of information for the rest of the scene outside OWL S1.

Last but certainly not least, is there anyone or any team you’re excited to play against whether it be in scrimmages or in actually regulation play?

I'm always happy to play against old teammates so playing against San Francisco once Super is old enough to play and against Outlaws with Jake will be very fun experiences. Along with seeing how we stack up to teams people expect to be very strong (myself included) like Dallas, London, and Seoul.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLG’s 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.