In this series from GosuGamers, we are going to introduce you to some of the best players that Overwatch has to offer. A lot of the current top players have competed at a high level in various other games and genres before joining the Overwatch scene. These player profiles aim to provide you with information on their previous competitive history (including team history) as well as a brief overview of the player's Overwatch preferences. Let's take a look at a top North American Overwatch team: Luminosity Gaming.
Gaming History
Daniel "Gods" Graeser is no stranger to competition—while his background does not lie in shooters, he played both DotA2 and Heroes of the Storm at a very high level. In DotA2, he was consistently high ELO, hovering around 5500 MMR. In Heroes of the Storm, Gods maintained a position in the top 1000 on the leaderboard. After participating in scrims for Overwatch while in the beta, Gods decided to fully invest his time in Blizzard's shooter, and now plays professionally.
Quickfire Questions
- Esports or eSports? Esports
- Capture points or Control points? Capture points
- Favorite skin? Okami Hanzo
Overwatch Credentials
Team History:
- Mei is Bae (November 2015 - March 2016)
- Humblebrag (March 2016 - May 2016)
- Luminosity Gaming (May 2016 - Now)
Notable Achievements:
- 68% winrate
- iBUYPOWER Invitational (2016 Summer) - 4th place
- OG Invitational - 2nd place
- Operation Breakout - 4th place
- GosuGamers Overwatch Weekly #13 - 1st place
- Overkill - 4th place
Originally playing alongside friends on team Mei is Bae, Gods later joined the reformed team Humblebrag. He had solid showings on both teams, though in his own words, he found himself losing in every tournament to Mixup, originally the basis for the current Luminosity Gaming squad. After deciding that he wanted to try out for Luminosity, enigma noticed Gods's skill on McCree, and later offered him a trial position. As you can likely tell, the trial position led to a roster position for Gods, who has not looked back since. While Humblebrag lost often to Mixup, it was not an untalented roster—several of the team members now play for a top team in Northern Gaming Red. However, for Gods, joining Luminosity meant joining a top-three team in North America, and he has stepped up to the position without a problem.
Despite Luminosity's spot as a top team in North America, the team is likely looking to continue pushing forward in the rankings, as they've been rather stagnant in recent times. Cloud9 and EnVyUs have both found more success than Luminosity in tournament play, leaving Gods's squad to rack up mostly 3rd place finishes. In the ever-changing realm of professional play, Code7, now known by their new brand in TSM, have emerged as a team looking to challenge both Luminosity and Cloud9 for their slots in the North American hierarchy. We will continue to watch the growth of this Luminosity roster, along with their new support—indust—as they finish the summer trying to cement their claim to a top-three spot, while perhaps pushing for more.
Though he was originally noticed for his McCree, Gods finds himself most notable on hitscan heroes in general. In particular, his Soldier: 76 is one of the best in the world, and he plays the hero whenever the time (and metagame) calls for it. Gods thinks that his conservative style leads him to find more success than most with Soldier: 76, and in particular, his usage of Tactical Visor sets him apart: "Some Soldier: 76 players tend to be very greedy with Tactical Visor, often risking death when they don't need to. It's almost always better to get 1-2 kills and survive rather than risking your own death for more kills." For those of you looking for advice, Gods made sure to note that positioning is key, and that high ground is a Soldier's best friend.
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