It's been a long and winding road for the group known as Team Freedom, from their time as Grandmaster Jackets to where they are today. While the team is a blend of some seasoned players, and some newer talent, they hardly had any difficulty qualifying for the HGC Premier League. Although they made it through the second qualifier, they've had a fairly lackluster perfomance in league play ending the first half of HGC with a 2-5 match record and currently on a three game lose streak. As they sit in sixth place, they're right on the edge of being forced to play for their professional lives in the Crucible, but they're not worried about that yet. Five more weeks remain as they hope to solidify a better position before The Crucible.
We had the chance to chat with the whole team, including their new coach indieber and manager Goofy, as they prepare for HGC league play to continue.
When you guys put the team together and played through the qualifiers as Grandmaster Jackets what was the end goal? Did you want to get signed with an organization or just play and see where it went?
Nazmas: We decided to make a team as five people and stick together for the long run. That was our main goal when we we made the team instead of just see if we can qualify for the first time and disband if we didn't. Once we qualified we wanted to go step by step looking for an organization to join.
So once you did qualify were youexpecting to sign with an organization right off the bat or were you just comfortable where you were?
Insomnia: When we qualified we already knew how much compensation was being provided by Blizzard and obviously every team wants something else to rely on to make this a job. Team Freedom offered us the best deal. Some teams that aren’t signed right now are just looking for more.
Once the teams were rounded out after the qualifiers what did you think about their quality before you started competing in the first half of HGC?
Insomnia: We kind of knew that at least six teams would make it into the HGC and the bottom two were basically a coin flip. B-Step was nothing that they are right now and Gale Force was kind of on edge. The first qualifier was kind of a train wreck.
KilluZiion: I think the bracket was a huge part of it too, we got a good bracket in the second qualifier. For example: the third qualifier you probably could have switched a couple of teams and ones that qualified probably wouldn't have been the same.
So you guys are one of signed teams in the HGC (with only 50% currently sponsored). Does that give you more pressure to perform well each week?
Insomnia: I actually feel like having an organization behind us is a good thing. Having a community manager like Goofy and someone like indiebear to get on our ass to get on things helps. We constantly have a flame to make sure we’re on track and not slacking off.
Daneski: Team Freedom fuels me. We just gotta play well.
You guys are sitting at sixth in the standings, right at the line to be forced to go to The Crucible. What is going to drive you to reach a higher spot so you don’t have to go to relegations?
Nazmas: Our goal wasn’t to stick into bottom place, collect a paycheck and leave after that. Our goal was to get as high as possible in the standings. Going into the second split we’re looking pretty strong as far as scrims.
Zugrug: At the start of the season KilluZiion switched to being support main while I switched to being tank so we had to work on just playing different roles we weren’t use to.
So do you feel more comfortable now in those roles?
Killiuzion: He’s ETC God now [laughs]. I feel better as a support for sure. Our synergy between tank and support is getting so good right now. That's something we didn't see in the first half of the season.
Going into the second half of HGC, what teams do you think are standing in your way the most? And how do you hope to get past them?
Daneski: Right now our biggest competition is Team8. The rest of the teams, we’re not really having issues with.
I want to show up first game and destroy them [Team Superstars] and get the ball rolling.
KilluZiion: In my opinion I think Superstars is going to be a team to look out for. At the beginning of the first split we didn't show up against them at all. I want to show up first game and destroy them and get the ball rolling. The Canadian rivalry.
Most of you are seasoned pro players and you’ve been in the scene for quite some time now. How do you feel about the HGC format so far compared to formats in the past?
KilluZiion: It’s interesting. Having games every week forces teams to stick together. In the old format it was fun to fly pretty much every two or three months to an event and meet people but right now we don't fly very often. Overall the format is awesome. I like it.
Nazmas: For the viewers I think it’s great too. It’s great for them to watch every week instead of "oh there’s an event, I don’t know half the teams".
Insomnia: We’re able to build up rivalries to follow and drama to follow, it's like any sports weekend. Being able to fly and make it completely a LAN like other games are in the future. They [Blizzard] want to have a campus where we go and play. For the growth of eSports in Heroes I think it’s a step in the right direction compared to the past.
Have you watched any of the Open Division? What do you think about those teams so far?
Insomnia: The amateur scene compared to the current pro scene scene is hit or miss. The bottom two against the top two could be very interesting games that could pull for some upsets or maybe games dropped. If the pro teams stick to it and wake up I don’t see the current standings changing very much.
The amateur scene compared to the current pro scene scene is hit or miss.
There is a lot of strengths on the amateur teams right now but they definitely lack team coordinatotion. I don't think they can't win, but I'm not convinced. I still see them making the same basic mistakes over and over again.
Indiebear, as the newest addition to the team tell us about your background and your new role on the team.
Indiebear: I’ve been playing competitive MOBAs for some time now. I started on DOTA and even though I was a player in just the amateur scene I would go through replays When Team Freedom started to look for someone to help them oversee their games as a coach and analyst, I definitely wanted to take on that opportunity.
In terms of my role, I sit in on scrims and time stamp particular moments that I think they could have played better or how they can improve on their play. I’ve just been a sixth member that can provide an objective view so I can oversee discussions as well.
How important do you guys think that role is for a team? Not a lot of teams have coaches or analysts right now.
Zugrug: It's a vital role, it brings a lot to the team. First, it requires trust between the players and the coach themselves, which is the case with us. Everytime he’s been with us we really saw an impact in the game we were playing. I could see every team gaining from having one.
Goofy: He didn’t mention that he plays Heroes at a pretty high level. Generally he’s top 50, top 100. Knowing the game to that extent helps him being a coach.
Zugrug: That helps a lot with trust too. It's way harder for me to have faith in someone that doesn't have proof that he has the experience to speak to me about that.
Watching the Eastern and Western Clashes from the sidelines, what do you think is the biggest change in the meta going into the second half of the HGC in a couple of weeks?
Insomnia: The meta has completely shifted into double tank/auto attacker dive.There's a lot that works now and everyone can build their own strategy. This game is 90% draft and it always will be because of the diversity in Heroes. I like how Heroes is coming with a competitive level. However, adding another depth to this is leaving casual players in the dust.
What are your first impressions of the Heroes 2.0 update? Is it just a huge cosmetic change that everyone is blowing out of proportion?
Insomnia: I put a lot of hours into this game. One of the huge things I've noticed that people complain about is the lack of wanting to play and being able to do certain things. I feel like the cosmetic changes are huge for viewers. People love BM. B-stepping has been a huge thing for a long time so people are going to love that on the viewership scale. One thing I still want to see is MRR changes. That will make a lot of people happy about the game.
Daneski: I don’t know much about 2.0. I think it’s pointless, I would have rather have vetos. I don’t really care too much about cosmetics but maybe it’ll be cool.
Zugrug: It might get more people interested in trying out the game. Might be good for the growth of it.
Insomnia: I feel like map bans, vetos, and voice chat are coming this is just the first step they need to take because the player base is too small right now.
Who WANTS to play a certain hero that no one will let them play?
KilluZiion: Tyrande or Uther! PLEASE give me Tyrande or Uther.
Nazmas: Every draft he’s like ‘can i play this hero’ we’re like ‘no Kill, please'.
Who gets the saltiest?
All: KilluZion and insomnia.
KilluZiion We both have a good strong head. When we have an opinion we defend and fight for it. Sometimes it’s a stupid argument for no reason. It happens.
Daneski: I get tilted if I play bad but I won’t say anything. I’m sneaky tilt because I don't want to tilt the team.
Before this interview we opened up twitter for questions from fans:
Nazmas: Before going into tournaments we sit together with the coach and look how we want to address every map and we look at priotity picks what to draft. When we begin games most of the time there’s the classic moment when insomnia will link us a song to pump ourselves up.
Daneski: I’ve been planning on streaming I’ve just never been in the mood because I'm tired or I don’t feel like it. Eventually I’ll stream I think.
KilluZiion: For me, right now where I live I don’t have good enough internet to stream. I need to move first, that’s something I’m planning to do sometime in the summer.
Nazmas: In the meantime you can watch me, zug or insomnia stream [laughs].
Any last shoutouts?
KilluZiion: Shoutout to the fans and anyone that follows us, we’re coming out swinging second split.
Daneski: Shoutout to my boys on hero league that support me.
Nazmas: Shoutout to Team Freedom for the support and our coach. Follow us on twitter and twitch super appreciated.
Team Freedom continues their HGC Premiere League run as they face Team Superstars Saturday, April 15th at 4:00 p.m. PDT on twitch.tv/blizzheroes.
Team Freedom is:
Zach "insomnia" Hacker Twitter Twitch
Jerome "KilluZiion" Tanguary Twitter
Phillipe "Nazmas" Laberge Twitter Twtich
Merek "Zugrug" Kangas Twitter Twitch
Dane "daneski" Coleman Twitter
Coach: Inder "indiebear" Gill Twitter Twitch
Manager: George "Goofy" Gebhardt Twitter
