Overwatch World Cup 2018 Bangkok Group Stage — Open Letter from Sandsh8rk
By: Ramsay E-F
Tags: Esports, Overwatch, Australia, Travel, Thailand

Overwatch World Cup 2018 Bangkok Group Stage — Open Letter from Sandsh8rk

This time last month, I was taking in the sights in Bangkok, Thailand to watch the Australian Overwatch World Cup team compete. From my Tweets, Snapchat stories and my brief features in the Twitch stream most of you probably saw over that week in September, it was easy to see how amazing of an experience it was. But, it’s a month on and I feel I still haven’t said everything I’ve wanted to say about the event. So, I’ve decided to pen this open letter to share my experiences at the OWWC in Bangkok, and thank everyone who was involved, so here goes!

Group picture with team after qualifying for BlizzCon

I decided to fly over mainly because of all of the fun I had at the 2017 World Cup stage in Sydney last year. For me, it was surreal seeing so many people in the one place bonded over the love of Overwatch, screaming passionately in favour of the Aussie team, topped off with incredible production value making the event quite the spectacle. I’ve been to plenty of loud and packed NRL (National Rugby League) games where I live, but I can say the crowd in Sydney last year made just as much noise as a local footy game does. It was also honestly a little bit inspiring seeing a bunch of guys around my age be able to go onto a stage in front of thousands of fans and showcase their skill in Overwatch — I find it to be very entertaining as an eSport, and although I was only able to go on the Friday last year, I found myself reminiscing all year about how amazing of a time I had. Furthermore, this year I had become quite the fan of the Overwatch League and all of the players and staff involved, and I knew that the OWWC would be one of the only opportunities I had to meet and greet people I had come to look up to.

So, with the 2018 World Cup announced and some money saved up from my new job, and having never been on an overseas holiday before this point, I bit the bullet and booked my trip over with my brother.

It turned out we were quite lucky in booking our flights — we ended up being on the same plane as most of the Aussie squad! It was fantastic to meet the team before all the formalities began — they’re so humble and friendly, and it was great to get a few insights into the professional side of OW from the team themselves.

These guys look familiar…

We flew into Thailand early in the week to give ourselves enough time to be tourists without event commitments, and also attend all 3 days of the World Cup Group stage. I won’t go into detail about what we did for the sake of being brief, but it involved endless hours of walking in parks and through the city, eating lots of traditional Thai food, exploring malls and temples, tuk tuk rides, massages, nightclub outings and befriending Thai locals just to name a few! It was an amazing experience for a first overseas holiday, and I definitely look forward to going back in the future.

Lumphini Park, Thailand

Random overpass selfie

Arriving into the event at the Royal Paragon Hall in Siam Paragon on the 14th, we first decided to rendezvous with all of the other Australian fans who had traveled over to cheer on the team. To my pleasant surprise, there were around a dozen of us in the cheer squad consisting of Aussie locals such as myself, fans of the LA Valiant who were cheering for Custa, eSports journalists who were covering the event, and the parents of the young Punk and Akraken. We all gathered up and took our seats, ready for the event.

Even though I had been to the OWWC in Sydney last year and sort of knew what to expect, I was still taken aback by the production value of the event. Inside the hall sat the enormous Overwatch stage, with the familiar logo glowing in the background. To the left and right, two LED displays as large as cinema screens shone brightly onto the crowd, with graphics as brilliant as anything. I had seen the likes of it before, but I was still blown away.

The first match soon began, with Denmark versing the hometown heroes Thailand. As the timer ticked down and the match begun, it was like being transported to another world. Every voiceline, shot fired, ability activated and ultimate unleashed I could hear pulsating loudly and vibrantly through the sound system. It honestly felt like I was actually there in the game universe, and the immersion really helped bring the event to life, and bring excitement and hype to the crowd. Being an NRL fan, I was honestly as hyped watching the OWWC as I am watching my beloved Cronulla Sharks play on the field, possibly even more. Full credit to the production team for that!

Then came the first of 5 matches to be played by the Aussies, versing Spain. I don’t know what exactly came over me, but I was compelled to cheer and scream at the top of my lungs at every team fight won, every elimination made and every point taken. We’d made quite the formidable bond with the other Australian supporters in attendance (labeling ourselves ‘The Diehards’), becoming very vocal and usually overpowering the cheers from the opposition supporters. Popular chants included ‘YEAH THE BOYS!’ and the classic ‘AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!’ chants. In fact, our cheering attracted so much attention from the production crew that we were invited to come on stage with Mica and Soe during one of the halftime breaks to lead the entire crowd in an ‘AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!’ chant. What a way to show our passion for the Aussie team to the world! I am more than grateful to the production crew who got us up there — thank you so much!

Some of us Diehards cheering after a win. Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Leading the crowd in Aussie Aussie Aussie chant with Soe and Mica! Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

There was more to my enjoyment than the event itself, and that was the people I met along the way. Not only did I get to meet and get photos with all of the people I had come to admire from the Overwatch League, I met so many friendly and amazing people from around the world showing their pride and love for their favourite OWL teams, brandishing posters and drawings of their favourite players, and dressed up in some amazing cosplay. Mingling with people who had come from countries all over the world such as Malaysia, China and America was incredible, and it was heartwarming to see everyone united over a game and community that we all love. Despite everyone’s passion for their country team, everyone was nice to each other regardless of the results and were able to bond over the game, with no bitter rivalry between opposing supporters — something OWL fans do a heck of a lot better than some NRL fans!

Ticking down to the more important matches, us Diehards became more and more vocal, doing more and more chants and jumping out of our seats at every opportunity. You probably know how the story goes from this point — after Sweden beat Denmark in the previous match, Australia needed to win one map over China to book their ticket to Blizzcon, and that’s exactly what happened. You could say we were a little excited…

Celebrating with The Diehards after Australia book their ticket to Blizzcon! Video: PlayOverwatch on Twitch

A lot of people at the venue and online through various mediums were commenting on how passionate us Aussies were and how amazing it was to see, with Doa and MonteCristo saying at the end of the match that they hoped to see the front row of Aussies at BlizzCon, and the team telling us during our goodbyes that they could hear us through their headset mics during breaks in play. That was definitely humbling to hear, and I was happy to see we were getting noticed. Heck, after all of our celebrating a kind Malaysian fan came over to us and offered some throat lozenges, which we gladly accepted with thanks!

Some may be wondering why I was so passionate, even though I am half-American and whenever I play a game of Overwatch people think they’ve joined an American server because my accent is so strong even after living in Australia for almost 20 years!

Well, I’ve always loved competitive sports. Here in Sydney, I am a an avid NRL fan, proudly a supporter of the Cronulla Sharks. For years I have attended matches and screamed my lungs out in support of my team — it’s something I love doing. On the other side, I also love video games and the communities surrounding them, as I have for most of my life. I’ve been a huge fan of Overwatch since the open beta, coming from a TF2 background, but I never really realized the excitement and the passion surrounding competitive play of the game until I attended the OWWC in Sydney last year, which just left me in awe of how fun it is and how much work goes into making it as professional as possible, both on the production side and on the player side, as I mentioned earlier.

I knew this year that the Australian team would be competing in unfamiliar territory, with legions of fans from all around the world cheering for the teams playing against them in a stage fittingly titled ‘The Group of Death’. I wanted to be there to cheer on and support the team as best as I could, and be part of the small but vocal support squad — I love cheering my heart out at NRL matches, and I knew I could carry that over easily to the OWWC. I like to think it worked considering the team made it to BlizzCon!

Now, about BlizzCon…As much as I would love to attend BlizzCon and continue to be a part of the Australian Diehards there, I unfortunately do not have enough leave or funds to book a spontaneous trip, as work does take priority. I am sure Ducky and the other Australians there will make up for our absence and continue the Diehards legacy —I have faith in you!

All in all, I had a fantastic and unforgettable time, and I wouldn’t have wanted to mark my first overseas holiday in any other way. Thailand was amazing, the people were friendly, the Australian squad were so accommodating and humble, and it was fantastic to see so many people in one place bonded over a love of Overwatch.

I thank everyone who was involved, but I’d like to extend my personal thanks to the following people:

Sean and Patty Gilchrist — Thank you so much for being part of the Diehards, lending us posters and banners to support the team and letting us meet the team for drinks after the event was over. It’s fantastic to see you both supporting Punk in his professional Overwatch endeavours, and I definitely enjoyed your company and support for the team. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to properly say goodbye during the event — I hope this will suffice!

Thank you so much for being part of the Diehards, lending us posters and banners to support the team and letting us meet the team for drinks after the event was over. It’s fantastic to see you both supporting Punk in his professional Overwatch endeavours, and I definitely enjoyed your company and support for the team. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to properly say goodbye during the event — I hope this will suffice! The Diehards — Where would I be without you guys. During the games and after the games, you were all the best people I could have asked to spend my time with in Thailand. Andrew H., Andrew A., Josh, Nicole, Lexi, Dimitrous (sorry I don’t know how to spell your name), Ashley and anyone else who I forgot, thank you for helping make my experience in Thailand an unforgettable one.

Where would I be without you guys. During the games and after the games, you were all the best people I could have asked to spend my time with in Thailand. Andrew H., Andrew A., Josh, Nicole, Lexi, Dimitrous (sorry I don’t know how to spell your name), Ashley and anyone else who I forgot, thank you for helping make my experience in Thailand an unforgettable one. Andrew Amos aka Dvcky — I really enjoyed our chats together, and the articles you put out and continue to put out about the Aussie World Cup team are absolutely fantastic and great reading. Your article about us Diehards was so humbling to read, and you 100% deserve your sponsored trip to cover Blizzcon. I hope you have fun! Cheer hard in our honour!

I really enjoyed our chats together, and the articles you put out and continue to put out about the Aussie World Cup team are absolutely fantastic and great reading. Your article about us Diehards was so humbling to read, and you 100% deserve your sponsored trip to cover Blizzcon. I hope you have fun! Cheer hard in our honour! The Aus OWWC Squad — Right from the start when we met you all at the airport, you were all some of the most friendly and chill people I’ve ever met. It’s evident how much work has gone in behind the scenes from you all to make this all happen, and even with the disadvantages Australia has against the rest of the world when it comes to eSports, you stuck through it, worked hard, and have showcased to the world what Australia is made of in Overwatch — even getting a 2–3 score against China is something to be proud of. Whatever the result will be against South Korea, you guys have already won. Good luck in furthering your competitive careers — I will be rooting for you all the way. Special mention to Oasis for the hilarious coverage of their adventures; the Kangaroo Onesies were a great idea!

Right from the start when we met you all at the airport, you were all some of the most friendly and chill people I’ve ever met. It’s evident how much work has gone in behind the scenes from you all to make this all happen, and even with the disadvantages Australia has against the rest of the world when it comes to eSports, you stuck through it, worked hard, and have showcased to the world what Australia is made of in Overwatch — even getting a 2–3 score against China is something to be proud of. Whatever the result will be against South Korea, you guys have already won. Good luck in furthering your competitive careers — I will be rooting for you all the way. Special mention to Oasis for the hilarious coverage of their adventures; the Kangaroo Onesies were a great idea! Blizzard — I have never had this much fun at a gaming event. Heck, me deciding to fly all the way to Thailand just to attend an event for one of your games says enough! The work and the professionalism that you guys put into Overwatch is extremely evident in the smiles on everyone’s faces and the good times everyone had. Seriously, thank you so much for all the hard work you put into everything with Overwatch and I am excited to see the continued growth of Overwatch eSports in the future.

Aussie team, I wish you the best of luck against South Korea. Thank you so much again to everyone I met during my week in Thailand — these will be memories I will never forget. Until then…

ヽʕ •ᴥ•ʔﾉ Raise your koalas ヽʕ •ᴥ•ʔﾉ

Embracing with dvcky and my Brother after the map win against China. Photo: Robert Paul

Ramsay aka Sandsh8rk ❤